Classic Handguns of the 20th Century: The Browning HI-Power

Handguns Magazine ^ | 2003 | David W. Arnold

[LibKill]

I own one of these.

It is a sweet-shootin' gun.

The ergonomics (it fits your hand well) are outstanding.

The only drawbacks are the puny 9mm cartridge and the magazine disconnect (remove the magazine and it won't fire).

I understand that nowadays the Browning is also produced in .40 cal.

That is an improvement.

[LibKill]

Actually, I think the only real improvement on the venerable 1911 has come from ParaOrdnance, with it's plethora of models

Got one. The only thing better than an M1911 is an M1911 that fires 14 times between reloads.

However, Browning designed the HiPower to EuroSpecs, which meant 9mm.

I'll bet that if it was .45 it would be a lot more popular on our side of the atlantic ocean.

[MarkL]

For anyone who ever needs to have a Browning HP worked on, I doubt that there's a better place to send it than to Bill Laughridge at Cylinder and Slide, in Nebraska.

I got a chance to meet Bill many years ago at a USPSA match, and he's a great guy and a top-notch gunsmith. While I didn't have a HP for him to work on, he did tune up my Taurus PT-99 and a Smith & Wesson revolver that needed some work.

Mark

[PoorMuttly]

I am really grateful to you for your post. I have and carry 2 H.P.s, and have been concerned about durability when using Cor-Bon loads, my favorite. I won't do it anymore though, except when necessity dictates otherwise.

I am encouraged to learn that the newer models are much stronger. I favor powerful handguns, and +P+ or more places the 9mm where I want it. Is it as reliable with stiffer loads ? Is there any data on this ? I have switched to revolvers for all but the most discrete carry situations, having had automatics balk, jam, and cause me to lose confidence in them, as a class...unless used as a last-ditch backup for a rifle or shotgun, which I suppose was and is the Military rationale for them. I often carry handguns as my primary arm, not just a side-arm. I hate it when they "go click," or don't even do that as my Mustang Pocketlite once did, and can do without the stressful apprehension. My Brownings, however, have never had a bad moment in our lives together, and I have learned to rely upon that...except for concern about what my old friend, an ex-sniper, jump instructor, employer, and SOF editor called a "European policewoman's cartridge," as it is typically loaded.

Flame-on world. When it's MY butt on the line, I makes my own choices.

[TERMINATTOR]

You could get a .40 version and a 9mm (or .357 SIG) barrel. They have an extra locking lug, for a total of 3 on the slide and barrel. Probably overkill and not really necessary, unless you're going to be shooting lots of hot loads. .357 SIG is a .40 case with a 9mm bullet, kind of.

[PoorMuttly]

Woah...another True Muttly !

You have genuinely given me a new lease on life, my having harbored a deeply-covered funk, because I really like sticking with my military-proven equipment, which has never let me down...and if it did, I would forgive it !

This new option (does the 9mm and .357 barrel stuff REALLY fit right into the .40..? I am probably going to get a couple of new slide assemblies anyway...for a quick swap if need be, like finding new or running out of ammunition in a "pinch," which none of us really hopes ever happens again in this beautiful country) relieves me greatly, along with the return of COLT...which really disappointed be terribly.

Muttly gets his stuff back !

Santa...get ready.

[TERMINATTOR]

You'll have to get the barrel from one of the aftermarket barrel makers like Bar-sto or KKM. Make sure you get a 3 lug barrel for a .40 slide. You'll need to use .40 mags for .357 SIG. You might need a stronger recoil spring if you're using hot 9's or .357 SIG.
www.barsto.com
www.kkmprecision.com

[PoorMuttly]

Muttly like Bar-Sto. I will experiment...hoping the heavy spring also cycles standard rounds...but heavy loads do the trick for me, and that's most important. It also seems that the record of the great-sounding 147gr. is pretty miserable, so it's 124gr. TMJ, JSP, JHP and such, at scorching velocities, if they cycle well.

I had read that it is very difficult to reload reliable rounds in .357 Sig, so may avoid it entirely, relying on brutal 9mms, and whatever .40s are around. .38 is .38, I figure, so velocity is the key.

Apart from "social" situations, I intend to use these Brownings (Muttly always gets at least 2 of what works) for defense against cougars, black bears and wild boar (gulp) while he is conducting his feral experiments in the field, and wouldn't even think of it, were it not for the proven "reliability" (for an auto) of my 2 standard Hi Powers, their flat dimensions, ease of carry/concealment, instinctive Luger-like pointability...and 11 tries at it, then a reload...or my beloved New York Reload, which seems to work. Then there's always Beulah, my friendly .44, and constant hiking companion. All part of the fun.

BTW, even though our present H.P. magazines handle 13 rounds...SAS doctrine stipulates only 10, for functional reliability, and they enforce it...so I have always followed suit, having been "advised" by certain persons with certain formidable qualifications, early in my "career."

[mamelukesabre]

The browning high power isn't the same gun that john moses browning designed.

The pistol that browning designed had an internal hammer. The high power has an external hammer. FN lies when they call it the "browning" high power. It's really a FN pistol, browning had nothing to do with it.

[mamelukesabre]

That's in fremonte nebraska. I've been there.

fremont is an interesting town. It's small, but they have the best places to get firearms, ammo, and harley's in probably a 500 mile radius, or more.

[45Auto]

Ordnance Notes

-- by Bob Stoner GMCM(SW) Ret. .

At first glance, the P35 Browning looks very much like its predecessor, the Colt M1911-series .45 ACP pistol. It ought to, because it was the last design produced by the small arms genius John Moses Browning. Browning designed what became the P35 pistol as a follow-on to the M1911 and his first working prototype was almost finished shortly before his death in 1926. (Subsequent development of the P35 through its adoption for service was done by Dieudonne Saive of FN.) During his lifetime (1855 to 1926) Browning was granted 128 patents and is credited with over 50 million sporting and military weapons manufactured to his designs.

Browning had developed a very close working and marketing relationship with the Belgian firm of Fabrique Nationale. He was developing a double-column magazine pistol based on the M1911 that would be lighter, simpler, and have increased firepower (14 rounds as opposed to 8 rounds -- hence the "High Power" name). After Browning's death, Dieudonne Saive of FN continued development of the pistol and marketed the prototypes to the French Army as a replacement for their aging 8mm revolvers. The P35 was not adopted by the French as their service pistol, but it was adopted by the Belgians and the Danes. The Chinese were also impressed by the P35 and they had an FN-licensee, John Inglis, make them for the ROC Army in its fight against the Communists and Japanese invaders. Meanwhile, the British were very interested in the P35 for their own troops' use when Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939. The FN factory was flooded with orders when the Germans seized Belgium in the spring of 1940. Fortunately, prints for production of the P35 as well as finished guns were spirited out of Belgium before the Germans arrived.

After negotiations with FN officials, the British decided to produce the pistol in Canada under FN license. The Inglis-built P35s were for use by the Chinese Nationalists and Commonwealth Forces (that is, British, Canadian, and Australian). Production was to cease after hostilities to protect FN's market around the world. While Inglis churned out its version of the P35 in Canada, the Germans were building their own version at the occupied Liege, Belgium plant. (Like a few other guns, the P35 had the distinction of being used by both Allied and Axis powers during World War 2). During 1943 to liberation, the Germans produced P35's without the magazine disconnector. These guns are prefixed by "A" before the serial number.

The Browning P35 closely resembles the M1911 except that the physical size of the pistol is smaller. The P35 dispenses with the swinging barrel link system of the M1911 for a cam-locking system. The hammer of the P35 is reshaped (resembles the "ring" hammer of the Colt .45 "Commander") and the P35 eliminates the grip safety and disconnector safeties of the M1911. The thumb safety of the P35 is similar to the M1911 in that it locks the slide, hammer, and trigger when the hammer is cocked and the safety engaged. The P35 differs from the M1911 in that it has a pivoting trigger and trigger bar to actuate the s ear and hammer to fire the pistol. The P35 also differs from the M1911 in that it cannot fire with its magazine removed; the P35 incorporates a magazine disconnector.

The P35 pistol has been in production by FN and its licensees since the end of WW2. It has or is used by the armed forces of at least 50 countries around the world. It is still in first line service with the British Commonwealth countries, as well as police departments worldwide. P35 pistols have been produced with detachable shoulder stocks and rifle sights; double-action versions for today's users; fixed sight combat models and adjustable sight completion models; specialized target shooting versions; and factory modified plain clothes" police pistols or smaller, lighter versions of the P35. There are very few pistols that have earned the title of a "go to war" pistol. Among this select fraternity are the American M1911 Colt (and its clones), the Belgian Browning P35, and German Walther P38. These guns have a well-earned reputation for reliability and performance from arctic wastes, to desert sands, to the foulest tropical jungle. Navy SEALs used limited numbers of P35 High Powers in Viet Nam. The P35 was highly-prized by them. Specifications: Caliber: 9mm NATO (9x19mm) Length -- 7.75 inches. Height -- 5.0 inches. Barrel -- 4.75 inches. Weight (empty) -- 2.0 lbs.

[45Auto]

Sometime in 1910 or so, Browning was working on what was to become the Model of 1911 for Army ordnance tests. At the time he built two prototypes for Army inspection: one had the exposed hammer and the other had an internal hammer. (Pictures of these two prototypes were published in Dean Grennel's Book of the .45) The army chose the exposed hammer model and the rest is history. I don't know if the original Hi-power was also designed with an internal hammer. I need to do a little more reasearch. I have never thought of the Hi-power as anything different from the one shown above.

[45Auto]

Perhaps you were thinking of this one: the FN/Browning Model of 1900

[45Auto]

Here's a picture of the FN/Browning Model of 1910, chambered in .32 and .380 auto

[45Auto]

And here's the FN/Browning Model of 1903, also chambered in .32 and a round called the 9 x 20:

[45Auto]

Looks like you are both right and wrong. Here's a photo of Browning's first prototype of what was to become the Hi-power:

[45Auto]

Here's a link to a short history of the Hi power:

Browning FN Hi Power

Browning died in 1926 (in Belgium) and the FN did in fact redesign the original prototype that Browning had first made in Utah in the late 'teens or early 1920's. It was called the model of 1935. Because the original pistol design was Browning's, FN gave him full credit for the gun.

[mamelukesabre]

nope, that's a predecessor to the 1911 colt

[mamelukesabre]

That's also a predecessor to the 1911 colt.

[mamelukesabre]

THat sounds about right.

But I dissagree with the reason for FN giving full credit to browning. They didn't do it out of respect or admiration or honesty or anything like that. They did it for marketability and profit. "Browning" has name recognition and anything with "browning" on it will sell. FN knew this and so they called it the browning high power. It's like when someone very much loved dies and the public still wants more of them. Someone comes along and claims to have found "unfinished work" and then finishes it and sells it as the famous one's work.

Louis L'Amour, the famous writer is a good example. After he died, someone started writing books "in the style of" L'amour and claimed to have written the new books from actual notes that Lamour had written. In other words, they claimed to have finished work that he started before he died. I'm sure they are still very good books, but they are not really Louis L'amour books.

The FN highpower is the same. It is a very good pistol, but it is not really a browning firearm, no matter how much all of us want it to be.