Browning Hi Power

John Browning was perhaps the most gifted firearm designer of the 20th century. His contributions to firearm design set the stage for a hundred years of firearms production as we know them today. His influences are in nearly every "modern" design. He was responsible for one of America's most prestigious production-firearm nameplates, as well as providing this country's military service arms and a very large number of her sporting ones for most of the last century.

His father was a pioneer firearms designer, and taught the craft to John and his brothers as children. Though not nearly as well known as his famous son, some remarkable (for their time) firearms came off of his workbench. A tour to the Browning museum in Ogden, UT will provide a few examples of his work, including a beautiful single shot rifle (a Model 1878 if I recall correctly) built shortly before his death, and inscribed by him.

By the the 1920's, John Moses Browning had already designed most of the firearms that would make him famous the world over, including many of the Winchester rifles, and several Colt pistols including the U.S. service pistol, Model 1911.

With World War I providing a bitter lesson in the use of modern firearms to the French military, it decided to pursue a modern semi auto replacement for it's aging service revolvers. Though they had been evaluating them for several years, the post WWI period provided the French an opportunity to finally put some specifications to the design of pistol they desired. The first recorded request called for large automatic pistol, of 9mm caliber, with a long (nearly 8") barrel, and 15 shot capacity not to weigh more than 2.2lbs. It was also to have a graduated rear sight, and a removable shoulder stock. (I will mention here as well as later my thanks for much of this information coming from R. Blake Stevens' exhaustive research on the Hi Power's history)

The specifications were received at Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, with whom John Browning had worked for years. There are some accounts that show that John Browning immediately went to work on a pistol to meet these criteria, while others of the famed FN engineer Dieudonne Saive providing Mr. Browning with the initial high capacity magazine designs. However the beginnings, John Browning produced two models of pistol for the French trials of 1922. Both featured 15 rd magazines and graduated rear sights, but had different operating mechanisms, and were slightly over the weight restriction. The second design, a locked breech and striker fired pistol was the one selected by FN to further pursue the French contract. It was this pistol, with some improvements that was John Moses Browning's last pistol design, the patent being granted in February, 1927 shortly after his death. As Mr. Stevens' Hi Power reference (The Browning High Power Automatic Pistol) mentions, it is interesting to note that while the patent contained many detailed descriptions of the pistols function, nothing is mentioned of the then very exotic high capacity magazines. It was thought that a description of the magazine would aid rivals in their own design pursuits.

The French trials of 1922 led FN's Mr. Saive to further development on a short version of the Model 1922. He dispensed with the striker assembly, and added a hammer and lightened the pistol somewhat. This became known as the Model 1923, and was noted as the finest pistol yet tested by the French during the 1923 trials, though still slightly over weight. Continued development of this pistol, known as the Grand Rendement, found Mr. Saive shortening the slide somewhat, and reducing the number of cartridges from 15+1 to 13+1 in an attempt to bring the pistol's weight to within the French specification. At this point the pistol retained it's original "breech bolt" concept, and had a "stepped" upper slide and was a bit thick in the upper grip area. But the Hi Power's graceful lines were just starting to show in the trigger guard, and front of the slide. Fn actually started marketing this pistol as soon as 1927.

By 1928, Colt's patent protection had run out on the 1911, and Mr. Saive began his third update to John Browning's original design utilizing some of the features Mr. Browning had incorporated into the 1911, but had been unavailable to FN because of the patent time limits. The Model 1928 dispelled completely with the bulky breech bolt assembly, and the the P35 as we know it today was readily apparent with the addition of a 1911 style barrel bushing and a straight grip. By 1931 the pistol featured a curved backstrap and the fixed bushing of today's Hi Power. The pistol was completed and ready for production in 1934, being offered with either a tangent style adjustable or standard fixed rear sight. It was slim, held thirteen cartridges, and was the most advanced military pistol available. Production began, and in May of 1935, Belgium accepted the first 1000 pistol order from FN sealing the Hi Power's designation of Model 1935 forever. With a state of the art design, and the swirling murkiness of events counting down to World War II, The Browning Hi Power stood on the brink of becoming the most widely used military pistol in history. :target:

[Dallas]

No but I want one.

[jerry]

For a 9mm it would be a toss up between the hi power and the CZ75 for me.

been trying to sell my CZ-75 :target:

[jerry]

Don't like it?

[Rufus Rhastus J]

Do not currently have one but, have had several. I do like them very much. I have an FEG clone in double action which I think, has a great finish and has always functioned perfectly with any ammo I have ever used. I consider the FEG completely trust worthy!

Originally Posted by jerry

Don't like it?

not even a little bit... :guitar:

[Bookman]

I bought my Hi-Power back in '94. It's the only 9mm I regularly shoot. Nothing better.

[gunssb]

Originally Posted by Bulletproof

not even a little bit... :guitar:

Why not ? From what I've heard they are reliable 9mms. I might consider one sometime in the future...did you problems with yours ?

[Uncle Red]

I want one too, in .40 S&W.

-UR

it's just a bunch of cheap little shortcuts..it's like they tried to get it out of the factory as inexpensively as possible..I'm going to sell it as soon as I find the right patsy uhm er party

FN AND JOHN M. BROWNING
Although the P-35 is often called the Browning Hi-Power after the legendary American gun designer, its country of origin is in fact Belgium. It is a product of that country's huge arms company Fabrique Nationale, often referred to as FN.

FN was created in 1889 by a consortium of Belgian financiers to manufacture Mauser rifles under license for the military of that country. Ironically, Ludwig Lowe of Germany helped the Belgians set up the machinery and factory. Lowe is best known for his involvement in the development of the Luger pistol.

The Mauser rifle production did not provide the profit margin anticipated by FN's backers so the company began to look for other products to manufacture to increase profits. FN began producing sporting rifles, shotguns and bicycles.

These did not take full advantage of the company's production capacity. During the late 1890s FN came in contact with John M. Browning. At the time, Browning was working with Winchester but was dissatisfied with that company over the manufacture of one of his shotgun designs.

FN showed great interest in the shotgun and also a pocket pistol that Browning had designed. The company began production of the latter, completing the first pistol in 1899. The pistol was a success, and it began an association that was to last until Browning's death in 1926.

Belgium became Browning's second home, where he and FN collaborated in developing a number of successful firearm designs. Some four years before he died, Browning was working on a 9mm semiautomatic project that proved to be his final pistol design. Browning made several prototypes, but the design was incomplete before he died. The project was completed by his protégé, Dieudonne Saive, and the final design became known as the Modele 1935 pistolet autamatique Grand Puissance, or, in English-speaking countries, the Model 1935 High Power pistol. This designation was later changed to "Hi-Power."

DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS
Many 1911 adherents view the Hi-Power as Browning's ultimate design, one that simplified the Colt .45 Government Model and corrected what few faults it has. It is certainly true that the Hi-Power does share many of the 1911's characteristics and has a similar appearance.
(Top) Old internal extractor. (Bottom) New extractor.

Like the 1911, the Hi-Power is a locked-breech semiautomatic pistol that has a single-action trigger. Instead of the 1911's swinging-link barrel-locking system, a simpler cam-operated action is employed to unlock the action immediately after firing.

While the Hi-Power has an exposed hammer and the same slide stop, magazine catch and thumb safety as the 1911, the grip safety is absent. Instead the pistol has a magazine disconnect that disables the action when the magazine is removed.

The stirrup type of trigger used on the 1911 is replaced by a connecting bar contained in the slide. The latter is a lever that releases the hammer when activated by the trigger.

Perhaps the pistol's most unique feature is its 13-round, double-column magazine. It was Browning's intention to retain a single-column magazine because he was concerned about the reliability of the double-column type. It was Saive who decided to use the double-stack magazine. The amount that the higher-capacity magazine adds to the width of the grip is surprisingly small and does not detract from the pistol's handling characteristics.

While the Hi-Power is a simpler design than the 1911, its trigger cannot be custom tuned to the same extent. In addition, the thumb safety of the original models is small and stiff to operate. This has been improved on the current models.

MILITARY USE
The Model P-35 is one of the most widely used military pistols of all time. When it first appeared, it was immediately adopted by the Belgium military. Later, sales were made to Estonia, Lithuania, China, Peru and Romania. World War II interrupted further foreign sales.
Early variation with ring hammer

When the Germans invaded Belgium, FN management refused to work for them. The factory was confiscated, and German management was installed to run it. Over 300,000 Hi-Powers were made for the German military. These pistols were designated as the Pistole 640(b).

The British, Canadian, Chinese and Greek forces used Hi-Powers made by the John Inglis Co. of Ontario, Canada. Hi-Powers were generally issued to Special Forces such as airborne and commando units.

After the War, FN resumed production of the Model 35. Postwar military pistols are designated as the Model 1946, while the civilian models are called simply the Hi-Power. The British Army adopted the P-35 as its official pistol to replace the Webley and Enfield .38 revolvers. Other countries also adopted the pistol for their military forces, including Argentina (where it was made under license), Denmark, Holland and Rhodesia.

The Hi-Power has enjoyed good civilian sales worldwide thanks to its cartridge, reliability and high-capacity magazine. The latter feature was considered by many to rank the pistol high as a combat arm. In the United States the Hi-Power and other FN arms were distributed by the Browning Arms Company starting in 1954.

MODIFICATIONS
The Hi-Power today remains little changed from the original pistols of 1935. Some of the first models manifested a tendency for the internal extractor to break. This was corrected by replacing it with a short, more rugged extractor.

The first Hi-Powers were made with either fixed or adjustable sights. The latter was a tangent-type rear assembly. Post-war civilian Hi-Powers included a sports model that featured a small, fully adjustable rear sight.

Early Hi-Powers all had a round-shaped hammer. This was replaced with a spur-type hammer in 1972 for pistols that were imported to the U.S. Many military models were made to accept a detachable stock that also contained a flap holster.

During the war, the Inglis Company experimented by machining scallops to the slide of the pistol to make it lighter, but it was never produced in quantity.

Hi-Power finishes vary from profusely engraved presentation models to drab, Parkerized military-issue guns. Civilian models usually have a bright, polished blue finish. Late German Hi-Powers often have a very rough, gray Parkerized finish with much evidence of machine marks. Allied wartime model 35s usually have a matte Parkerized finish, although some may also have a black paint-like coating on the slide.

All post-war Hi-Powers were at first made with checkered wooden grip panels. Starting in 1986, grips made of black-checkered plastic were offered.

FN continues to make the Hi-Power much as it was in 1935. Changes include a spur hammer, larger ambidextrous thumb safety, form-fitting black plastic grips with a built-in thumbrest and external extractor.

The Hi-Power remains in service with a number of armies even to this day and has been used by FN as a platform for double-action, fast-action and compact versions. Elsewhere in this issue is my review of the modern version currently imported by FN.

[Jesse]

www.hipowersandhandguns.com


Great site...

His books on the Hi Power are top notch... I rewiewed them in 2004:

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/3-b...amp.17869.html

Mr. Camp is a guest moderator on GunandGame and a personal friend of mine.

I guess mine was one of the last ones made before they were discontinued now I need to find some good grips and a holster

Fabrica Militar Argentine copy of the Browning Hi Power 9mm :target:

[lefty o]

i own 3. 1-9mm practical, 1-40s&w MKIII, and 1-40S&W standard model. the hi power is still in production, it has not been discontinued. oh and it does not have a 1911 style barrel bushing, the 1911's is removeable, the hi powers is fixed. although at one time Austin Behlert made some with removeable bushings. :uzi:

I'd like to have a Renaissance Hi Power like this one someday

http://www.ahfrichmond.com/projectgraphics/341eagle.ahf

Originally Posted by Bulletproof

now I need to find some good grips

I got some Cocobolo wood grips for it :target: from CDNN Sports