Husqvarna M1907 Pistol in 9mm Long Browning

[lithgow]

This was the first automatic pistol adopted by the Swedish armed forces and ended up with a service life of some 70 or so years-the design was J M Browning's M1903 for Fabrique Nationale in Belgium-they sold a relatively limited number of these to a number of countries over 25 years but by far the biggest user was Sweden who adopted it as the M1907-early production for Sweden was done at FN but the German occupation of the factory in 1914 forced the Swedes to set up a production line at Husqvarna that started in 1917 and ran to 1942-10,000 were made for Sweden by FN pre 1914 and the main figure of 89,000 at Husqvarna for Swedish use-the pistol was a straight blowback design that was both reliable and easy to make but the 9 x 20 mm Long cartridge was relatively low in power and in the late 1930s attempts were made to modify the pistol to use 9 x 19 mm Parabellum-these failed as the round was too powerful for the design-it was to be replaced in 1940 by the German P38 but the outbreak of WW2 forced the Swedes to adopt and manufacture a licenced version of the Lahti M35 as the Husqvarna M40-However, this presented problems when use of 'hot' 9mm SMG ammo caused structural damage over time to the M40s and the older M1907 had to be returned to service use until the 1980s. The main service use in WW2 was in the hands of Swedish volunteers fighting alongside the Finns against the Soviets and some subsequent use by the Finns but the unusual ammo it used was a problem for a frontline type.
As was typical of Swedish weapons, the pistols are usually found with unit rack number markings, this late 1920s example being stamped 'T1 No.532' for 'Transport Regt No.1, weapon number 532'-the holster is pigskin leather with 2 mag compartments and embossed with the 'Three Crowns' emblem of the Swedish forces.
On a side note, the Browning M1903 was also the design basis for the 'Ruby' pistols in 7.65mm that were churned out in vast numbers during and after WW1 but couldn't be further removed from the fine high finish and materials of the M1907!