Handguns, Rifles & Shotguns > Featured Firearms

The Browning Hi Power - the first wondernine.

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bkoenig:
Pretty much everyone is familiar with John Browning's most famous design, the Model 1911 autoloading pistol.  I would argue that his last design, while not quite as famous, was even more influential. 

After developing the 1911, Browning set to work designing a new service pistol for the French military.  Since Colt owned the 1911 patent he had to develop an entirely new design.  While working for Fabrique Nationale in Belgium he came up with the idea for what would eventually be known as the Browning Hi Power.  Browning died before he completed work on the design, and it was finished in 1934 by Dieudonné Saive at FN. 

The pistol was designated the Grande Puissance, literally "High Power" in French.  The name referred to the extremely high capacity of the magazine - 13 rounds.  Having this kind of capacity was almost unprecedented in a handgun, and the general design set the stage for virtually every handgun up to the modern day.  Anyone who has stripped a modern recoil operated pistol will immediately recognize the design.  It is single action only, with an external thumb safety just like the 1911, but it lacks the grip safety of its older brother.  This pistol started the modern high capacity 9mm trend that is still going today.

Through the years, FN has made numerous upgrades and changes, and the pistol has been built under license by other manufacturers all over the world.  From a collector's standpoint, FN Herstal made Hi Powers are the most desirable.  During WWII FN production was appropriated by the Germans, and a WWII German Hi Power in good condition will command very high prices.

Despite not being quite as famous in America as the 1911, the Hi Power has been the military sidearm of many countries around the world, with Canada and the U.K. being the most notable.  In 2013 the British finally started replacing the Hi Power with Glocks. 

Even today, the Hi Power remains a very good choice for anyone looking for an accurate, reliable 9mm.  Although it's a full size gun, it is very narrow and would conceal easily with a good cover garment.  Although handguns today are trending toward polymer framed, striker fired weapons with capacities approaching 20 rounds, I would feel very comfortable carrying one.

pics to come....

bkoenig:
My example (ok, it's actually my wife's) is a postwar, mid 50's production gun.  Dating postwar guns is a little dicey up until the mid 60's or so as FN's record keeping was lax.  The inside of the grips has "1955" written in pencil, so I'm going with that.

This particular gun has an internal extractor similar to the 1911 as well as the "thumb print" half moon cut at the front of the slide.  Around 1962 FN switched to external extractors, which are easier to manufacture.  It also has very small, somewhat hard to see fixed sights similar to a WWII GI 1911.  Later production models had larger sights, often adjustable ones.




The controls will be familiar to pretty much any modern handgun enthusiast.  The thumb safety is rather small.  This is another thing that was enhanced in later models.  This gun has a ring hammer, while most later ones have a spur hammer.  One complaint many people have is hammer bite, especially with the spur hammer.  The minimal beavertail along with a spur hammer can draw blood if you have big hands.

bkoenig:
The slide stop works just like any other modern handgun, when the magazine is empty it locks back.  Notice the pin in the trigger - this is for the magazine disconnect.  Hi Powers come with a mechanism that prevents them from firing if a magazine is not inserted.  This safety makes for a gritty, creepy, horrible trigger pull.  Fortunately, it takes about 5 minutes to drive out the trigger pin, remove the trigger, drive out the pin for the disconnect, remove it, and then reinstall everything without the disconnect.  The result is the crispest trigger pull I've ever experienced in a mass produced handgun.  It's still heavy due to the fact that the factory mainspring is extremely stiff, but with new springs it would be VERY nice.



To field strip you pull the slide back and move the safety lever up into the middle notch in the slide.  This locks the slide in takedown position:



Then you just push the slide stop up a little and pull it out, and the whole slide assembly slides forward and off.




Unlike some more modern designs, the guide rod for the recoil spring does have to be fitted to the barrel in a specific way during reassembly.  If you assemble it wrong it will really jam things up.

bkoenig:
If you're a 1911 guy you would probably like this gun.  The grip is a little wider but the controls and overall feel are similar.  Yes, it's a little outdated, but it's still a very serviceable design, and the older ones like I have a are a prime example of old world craftsmanship that you just don't see very often these days.  It's an elegant gun that I think would fill a nice spot in any collector's safe.

gsd:
I do appreciate the metal things in life...i will have to check this little fella out one of these days.

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