In 2022, FN announced they would resume production of the Browning Hi-Power. These new Hi-Power clones began competing with each other by offering new finishes, enhanced sights, redesigned hammers, beveled magazine wells, improved trigger, and increased magazine capacity. From 2019 to 2022, with new Belgian Hi-Powers no longer being built, new clones were designed by various firearm companies to fill the void, including GİRSAN, TİSAŞ, and Springfield Armory, Inc. Although most pistols were built in Belgium by FN Herstal, licensed and unlicensed copies were built around the world, in countries such as Argentina, Hungary, India, Bulgaria, and Israel.Īfter 82 years of continuous production, FN Herstal announced that the production of the Hi-Power would end, and it was discontinued in early 2018 by Browning Arms. The Hi-Power is one of the most widely used military pistols in history, having been used by the armed forces of over 50 countries. Other names include GP (for the French term, "Grande Puissance") or BAP (Browning Automatic Pistol). The pistol is often referred to as an HP or BHP, and the terms P-35 and HP-35 are also used, based on the introduction of the pistol in 1935. The name change was kept even after production returned to Belgium. FN Herstal continued to build guns for the Allied forces by moving their production line to a John Inglis and Company plant in Canada, where the name was changed to "Hi Power". FN Herstal named it the "High Power" in allusion to the 13-round magazine capacity, almost twice that of other designs at the time, such as the Luger or Colt M1911.ĭuring World War II, Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany and the FN factory was used by the Wehrmacht to build the pistols for their military, under the designation "9mm Pistole 640(b)". Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal. The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and. 20 or 30 rounds made by Rhodesia ( 9mm). FNH contends the new-style release allows the user to "reliably change magazines in seconds without shifting grip while staying aligned on the target. The surface controls are also curious, featuring an ambidextrous slide catch located where a frame-mounted safety normally is, thus, according to FNH "prevents any accidental activation by the user," and a rotary magazine catch rather than a push-button, paddle, or heel release. For that matter, these specs read almost identical to the FN 509 Midsize.Īmong the more advanced facets of the HiPer are what FNH says is a straighter, more optimized grip angle, which helps with the controllability of the pistol's low bore axis. This puts it about the size of a Glock 19, S&W M&P M2.0 Compact, or CZ P-10 C. This is a change from the Hi-Power, which was assembled in its final years in Portugal, and from the newly-announced FN High Power which is made in South Carolina by FN America.īasic specs of the polymer-framed striker-fired pistol are a 3.94-inch barrel with a 7.08-inch overall length and a 15+1 magazine capacity. Belgian-based FN Herstal this week announced its all-new 9mm NATO handgun pitched to defense and security markets: the FN HiPer.Ī clear play on words from the old Browning/FN Hi-Power, which was the most prolific handgun in the Free World for most of the last half of the 20th Century, the new HiPer was fully designed, developed, and manufactured in Belgium.
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