BIRDS OF PREY - Jeffersonian

owning p35
Continued from page 51
ones were only for the latter type. The
Germans took all the FN P35s they
could get of either version.
Duke’s Guns
My “Nazi” P35 must have been made
fairly late in the war, as its finish is obviously
not up to that exquisite FN pre-war
commercial standard. Still it is blued steel
with checkered wooden grips. The Inglis
P35s were given a Parkerized finish and
checkered grips of some synthetic material.
I can’t tell if it’s plastic, Bakelite,
hard rubber, or something else from the
early 1940s. My first Inglis P35 was part
of the Chinese contract with tangent sight
and wooden shoulder stock. My second
one was part of the Canadian contract
with ordinary sights and not fitted with
slot for shoulder stock. Blake’s booklet
says the “CH” in the serial number of the
former and the “T” in the serial number
of the latter cinches their origins.
Of my three P35s the Canadian contract
one shows far more use and wear
than the other two. It actually rattles
when shaken. But it also shoots more
accurately, so go figure. And here’s an
interesting observation from me. In the
last six months I’ve fired several hundred
rounds of 9mm from these three P35s,
plus a 1938 vintage German P08 Luger
and 1943 vintage German P38. Never
have the P35s jammed even once with
assorted modern factory loads, NATO
military surplus loads made by Federal
in 1988 and cast and jacketed bullet handloads.
The P38 will fail to eject cases
occasionally, and the Luger absolutely
refuses to feed even a single round of the
NATO stuff from magazine to chamber.
I’ve not really tried shooting my
P35s from sandbag rest for accuracy.
What would be the point? I’ve fired
them from two-handed, standing position
and then moved their sights as
needed to be zeroed. After that I’ve
just shot them at “things” such as steel
plates, dueling trees and targets of
opportunity, as it were.
Of course anyone who buys a
handgun with accompanying wooden
shoulder stock/holster has to give it
a try. It does steady you up a bit but
I can’t say it makes a tackdriver out
of a pistol. The “cool” factor is really
high, though. Prior to buying these
three “Brownings” I had fired precisely
one other in my life and that was back
in 1971. I’ve been missing out. They
are good shooting, easy handling handguns.
They may not be of the same
breed as today’s pistols with synthetic
frames but they’re not overly heavy
and both Inglis and FN ones are finely
made. Issued to both sides in World
War II, I’d have to say they
were well ahead of their time.
*
82 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010