Treblig, I don't know enough about firearms retailing in Europe in the period of 1895 to 1939 to confirm or deny.

I suppose part of the answer might stem from information regarding the percentage of output from manufacturers like FN and Pieper that came to NA vs what stayed in the domestic European market.

A significant producer like Manufrance in France had most of it's production stay in the home market.

We see both lower end guns and the high quality production in both markets today. The lower end in Europe got produced and retailed somehow. Pretty sure they weren't made to order, bespoke guns.

The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia