• However, these two have sequential serial numbers - 383588 and 383589. I always like firearms with something different about them, and these were interesting. Both have, on the left side of the slide 'FM HI-POWER INDUSTRIA ARGENTINA'; and on the right side of the slide 'SPORTARMS MIAMI FL'. The Sportarms marking is rolled in, not etched.
• BROWNING'S PATENT DEPOSE. Finish: military-finish: Grips: walnut grips; chequered: Serial number: 4-digit number with suffix right on frame. 4-digit number with suffix right on slide. 4-digit number with suffix right on chamber. Acceptance stamp: E/WaA 140 left on frame. E/WaA 140 left on slide. E/WaA 140 below muzzle. E/WaA 140 left on chamber.

How To Look Up Browning Serial Numbers

The Browning Hi-Power pistol, first produced in 1935, is one of the best combat pistols ever designed. Lightweight, accurate, with a comfortable grip angle and chambered in 9mm with a 13-round capacity magazine, the Hi-Power is still being used or has just recently replaced by military forces in over 50 countries worldwide.

Outside of the U.S., the HP—it goes by many different names—is held in high regard. Ask a grunt from Australia, the UK, Canada, most of South America, in the Mideast, India, and Southeast Asia and you’ll find out. Since it was the last pistol designed by John Browning (sort of, but I’ll get into that, too) who also designed the 1911 and which is held in the highest esteem by Americans, we want to like the Hi-Power…but many of us don’t.

Made in Belgium by Browning, 'Captain' model because of the tangent sight. If the serial number has two letters we can date it, otherwise not exactly. It is pre '62 though (post 62 had a different extractor). Proof marks look standard, Leige proof and View marks. No idea of price on your side of the pond.

So why don’t American shooter’s embrace the Hi-Power like the 1911? What could be more American than John Browning? What’s not to like?

An All-New Pistol

The design of the HP is seminal and innovative, with many design features copied by manufacturers today. Still, you’ll hear a lot of “buts” when shooters talk about the HP’s characteristics. Some will call them quirks or peculiarities. Perhaps it is because the Hi-Power is a French design (again, sort of, but I’ll get into it).

I doubt John Browning would recognize today’s Hi-Power as his last pistol design. In the 1920s, Browning was done with Winchester and crossed the Atlantic to design shotguns, machine guns, and pistols for Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium.

The last pistol Browning was working on was chambered in 9mm with a 16-round capacity double-stack column magazine, a slightly different grip angle and different barrel linking system than the 1911, and a pivoting trigger. Metal was shaved off from the slide and receiver to make the pistol lightweight and provide balance. Browning also incorporated a striker-fire mechanism. (Was Browning ahead of his time incorporating a striker fire mechanism? I’m nodding my head, and you should be, too.)

The French military, however, had a different idea of what the next generation of combat handguns would be, and in the 1920s embarked on a new pistol design called the Grande Puissance, which literally translated means “High Power”—hence one of the many names the pistol would be called.

The French spec called for the sidearm to be compact, durable, and simple to disassemble and reassemble. It also called for a magazine capacity of at least 10 rounds, a magazine disconnect device, an external hammer, and a positive manual safety. So, the striker mechanism was scrapped in lieu of a hammer mechanism.

Browning died before the design was finished, and FN’s Dieudonné Saive picked up where Browning left off. By 1928 the patents on the Colt 1911 has expired and Saive incorporated some of the 1911’s features. He also opted for a slide with an integral barrel bushing, and built in a magazine disconnect device per the French specs. By 1934, the pistol design was finished. But the French military, after years of testing and redesigning, opted out of the Hi-Power.

Too bad for the French military.

The Belgian military adopted the new pistol, calling it the Browning P-35 or P35. The “35” indicates the year the pistol began service.

If this was the first major name change for the Hi-Power, the next would come via the Nazi war machine.

The Blitzkrieg and the Hi-Power

In 1940, Germany’s preamble to World War II, the Blitzkrieg, had German troops occupying the FN factory. They decided to keep the factory and produce the new pistol, designating it Pistole 640(b). German Waffen-SS, among other troops, used the Hi-Power during the war.

Blueprints for the pistol were smuggled out of occupied Belgium and brought to Canada, where they were manufactured by the John Inglis and Company for use by Allied forces during WWII in China.

This was when the Hi-Power pistol gained traction among military forces as a superb fighting pistol. More names for it were introduced then as well:

• The British call it the L9A1, Pistol No 2 Mk 1, Pistol No 2 Mk 1* (yes, with the asterisk), or Mk 1.
• In Bulgaria, a licensed copy is known as the Arcus 94.
• In Israel, the licensed version is the Kareen.
• In Argentina, it is the FM90.
• RFI manufactures the Hi-Power in India and calls it the Pistol Auto 9mm 1A.
• In the U.S., the pistol is known as the Hi-Power, a distinction made by the Browning firearms company when importing the pistols from Belgium.

An Endurable Design

Pick up a Hi-Power and what immediately becomes apparent are the ergonomics. In hand, the pistol seems almost contemporary. It doesn’t feel like a combat pistol that first saw action nearly a century ago. That’s the attraction to the HP, and for some, it ends there.

There have been many improvements and variants over the years. Early guns had an internal extractor similar to a 1911, but in 1962 that was changed to a more robust external extractor. And as shooting tastes changed over the years, the HP tried to keep up. As ambidextrous safeties became popular, the HP incorporated them. A double-action model, called the BDA, was developed to keep up with Wonder Nines in the late 1970s and 1980s. Most Wonder Nines died out fast like one-hit wonder pop bands, and so did the BDA.

What dates the HP is the single-action mechanism. The grip angle is a comfortable 105 degrees. A 1911 has a grip angle of 110 degrees; a Glock G17 112 degrees. Natural and comfortable are the best ways to describe the angle. The grip itself is thin. Most double stack pistols feel bloated in your hand, making them difficult for shooters with small hands to grasp well. The Hi-Power packs 13 rounds in its magazine, and it is not that much fatter than a 1911 grip. That 13-round magazine was one trait that made the Hi-Power stand out before double-stack magazines became the norm. The fact that the Hi-Power is made of metal but is as light as a polymer frame pistol is impressive. It is also much simpler to field strip than a 1911.

The Disconnect and Other Differences

Here’s where the “buts” come in.

Serial Number Lookup For Browning Hi Power

The beaver tail is small. Shooters with large hands can experience hammer bite, and there is no simple fix. Modern polymer frame pistols have modular backstraps; the grip safety on a 1911 can easily be replaced. Doing so is not so easy on the HP.

The next “but,” and probably the most disagreeable to shooters, is the magazine disconnect safety. With the magazine removed the Hi-Power will not fire. Some shooters hate this and have the magazine disconnect removed from the pistol. Not only does this null and void the warranty on a new pistol, it also allows an empty magazine to fall free from the butt when the magazine release button is pressed. We Americans can’t stand a combat/defense pistol that doesn’t dump the magazine to our feet when we press the magazine release button. The magazine disconnect acts like a brake and holds the magazine from falling free. To fix this gripe, a metal spring was added to the magazine body to help it eject freely. Some think this is more of an afterthought than fix.

The last complaint shooters have with the HP is the trigger. It pivots and works with the disconnect. At best, there is plenty of take-up and a consistent break; at worst, the trigger feels like it is dragging through gravel and crumbles rather than breaks. (What we tend to forget is that most 1911s made prior to the 1990s had less than perfect triggers, too.)

At the Range

I first became acquainted with the HP when reading the book Serpico. Frank Serpico joined the NYPD in 1971 and uncovered massive corruption within the department. He armed himself with the 13+1 round capacity Hi-Power. In the movie, the gun salesman asks Serpico, played by Al Pacino, if he’s expecting an army. Serpico replies no, just a division, meaning the corrupt police division.

Since reading the book, I’ve handled and shot a few HPs. During the rise in popularity of the .40 S&W caliber, Browning offered an HP in that caliber, and recently a pal let me run his .40 HP. I liked it but it has since dropped from their catalogue.

In my opinion the best HP is a 9mm because that chambering offers the best balance of power, round capacity and recoil management. My latest Hi-Power is a blued target model made in 1994. The other finish option is a matte black epoxy coating. What the finish lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in function—it’s dull, so there is no glare like there is with bluing, plus it resists scratches and corrosion better.

I like the large target sights, serrated on the edges facing the shooter so there is no sun glare, and with clear adjustment directions. There never seemed to be a desire to improve the sights on the standard HP, as was done with the 1911—another drawback for some shooters. The grips are the iconic flat checkered walnut. Many shooters ditch the factory wood for Pachmayr or Hogue aftermarket grips. The thumb safety is ambidextrous and not as easy to manipulate as ambidextrous safeties on a 1911.

Since I’m well familiar with Hi-Powers and what I prefer to call their characteristics, I scrounged up two new aftermarket magazines from Mec-Gar. These are 15-round magazines that offer two more rounds than the standard factory mag, while still having a flush fit. There is no spring to help eject the magazine, which is fine by me.

It seemed appropriate to run my HP through the Mozambique Drill, which is part of HP lore (though political correctness requires the drill to be renamed the Failure Drill or Failure to Stop Drill). The technique originated with Mike Rousseau, a Rhodesian mercenary engaged in the Mozambican War of Independence from 1964 to 1974. During a battle, Rousseau encountered a guerrilla about 10 steps away. Rousseau fired his Browning HP35 and hit the guerrilla in the chest with both shots, but the guerrilla continued to advance. A final, accurate shot to the head stopped the threat.

The drill has the shooter stand in front of target five yards away. On the buzzer, the shooter draws and fires two shots center of mass and one to the head. If you can do it in four seconds, you’re doing good.

I used three types of 9mm ammo: Aguila 124-grain FMJ, Hornady American Gunner 115-grain XTP, and SIG Sauer 115-grain FMJ—a good assortment of bullet weights and types. I didn’t draw and fire but started at the low, ready position. The HP made me look good and in fact jacked my confidence up. Recoil is pleasant. The trigger on my gun a bit gritty, but the center of mass shots were easy to pull off quickly and accurately. The head shot took more focus on the trigger.

Moving to accuracy testing, I used a rest to shoot at a target at 25 yards. Five-shot groups with the Aguila and SIG ammo averaged about 1.5 inches; with the Hornady, 2.5 inches. I have no doubt that the groups would have been smaller if the gun had a better trigger, but for a combat/defense pistol, the groups were stellar.

Reliability is built into the DNA of the Hi-Power, and I found the HP would do my bidding with no issues. It ran with no malfunctions. Magazine reloads needed to be modified since I had to strip out the empty magazine. Smoothness and speed would be gained with continued training.

The Hi-Power is iconic. You can say it is long in the tooth, dated, and insignificant in this age of polymer pistols. I say long live the Hi-Power.

SPECIFICATIONS

Browning Hi-Power

Caliber: 9mm Capacity: 13+1 Trigger Weight (as tested): 6 lb. 14 oz. Barrel Length: 4.62 in. Overall Length: 7.75 in. Weight: 32 oz. MSRP: $1120

Variants

Genuine Browning Hi-Power P35s are still manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium and Portugal, and under license by Fabricaciones Militares (FM) of Argentina. The Hi-Power remains one of the most influential pistols in the history of small arms. It has inspired a number of clone manufacturers (including Charles Daly of the Philippines & USA, FEG of Hungary, Arcus of Bulgaria, IMI of Israel, and others). Many modern pistols borrow features from it, such as the staggered column high-capacity magazine, and the Browning linkless cam locking system (which on modern pistols is often simplified so that the barrel locks into the ejection port, meaning the barrel and slide do not have to be machined for locking lugs). Until recently, FEG made an almost exact clone in 9mm and .40 S&W, but the company now manufactures a version with modifications to the barrel, linkage, and slide stop that are incompatible with genuine Hi-Powers. Arcus has also superseded its Arcus 94 Hi-Power clone with the Arcus 98DA, a model that draws heavily from the Hi-Power but is capable of double-action operation.

• The original P35, as noted earlier, featured an internal extractor. During World War II, it was manufactured by Inglis of Canada for Allied use, and by FN in occupied Belgium for German use. Most Canadian P35s were manufactured with a parkerized finish, while most P35s manufactured in occupied Belgium had a blued finish. In 1962 the internal extractor was replaced with a more durable and reliable external extractor alongside other modifications, including a 2-piece barrel and modifications to the locking system for improved durability. Later barrels and frames are not interchangeable with earlier ones.
• The L9A1, was the British designation for the military version of the post-1962 Hi-Power, and is marked 'Pistol Automatic L9A1' on the left side of the slide. It started to replace Inglis variants in British service from the late 1960s, and the two types remained in service together until the Inglis variants were finally retired in the late 1980s. It is still in service with the UK military forces, although now fitted with the more ergonomic Mk2 ambidextrous safety and grips. The L9A1 was also widely used by other Commonwealth armed forces. The Hi-Power was the pistol of choice for the British Special Air Service throughout the Cold War era.

• The Mark I is among the best-known models of the P35 developed over the last 50 years. P35s were first imported into the USA in 1954 – the USA civilian market P35s had the 'Browning Arms Company' stamp on the left side of the slide (to meet the import requirement for USA sales). These P35s lack the provision of the lanyard ring – the left side pistol grip for a Mark I is fully covered unlike those produced for military and law enforcement use. A wide variety of options and features are available on the P35 models. Recently, Hi-Power pistols have become available in the .40 S&W and .357 SIG loadings. However, the use of these calibers in guns designed and built for 9x19mm Parabellum has created cases of broken or warped frames. Only Hi-Powers specifically built for these rounds should be used to fire them. The pistols manufactured for these two rounds are easily identified by examining the left side of the slide – a groove is machined into the side of the heavier slide to allow clearance for the slide release. Genuine FN-produced P35s (either FN (Europe/international) or Browning (USA) for the civilian market will have a 245-prefix serial number. Some Hi-Power variants (Type 65, Type 73) incorporate production changes e.g. spur hammers (commonly seen for 1971–present civilian market P35s) and/or 2-piece barrels (1965–present). The 'Type 73' variant (with an elongated barrel bushing) of the Mark I was produced into the late 1980s (to 1987) by FM Argentina when Mark II production commenced in the early-mid 1980s (Belgium).
• The Mark I Lightweight is a very rare variant of the Mark I made with a lightweight alloy frame. According to Massad Ayoob, these were introduced commercially in the 1950s but never caught on. The Lightweights are only marked with Fabrique Nationales' rollmarks, not Brownings.
• Mark II is an upgraded model of the original Hi-Power introduced in the early '80s. Some of the upgrades were ambidextrous thumb safeties, nylon grips, 3-dot sights, and a throated barrel.
• Mark III was another advancement over the Mark II released in 1988, which featured a firing pin safety and grips similar to the M9 pistol. The Standard is an original Hi-Power with the Mark III firing system. The Capitan and Practical are also slightly different configured Mark IIIs.

• The Silver Chrome featured a silver-chrome frame and slide, and Pachmayr rubber grips. The magazines for the silver chrome BHP had a dull finish and a black rubber Pachmayr basepad.
• The Practical features a matte-blued slide and contrasting silver-chromed frame. In addition, this model has Pachmayr rubber grips and a rounded Commander-style hammer (same hammer used on pre-1972 Hi-Powers for civilian and military use). The Practical has fixed or adjustable sights, and is available in either 9 mm or .40 S&W. Magazines for all Practical models sport Pachmayr base pads; magazines feature a cartridge capacity of 13 rounds in 9 mm and a cartridge capacity of 10 rounds in .40 S&W.

• The HP-SFS (Safe-Fast-Shooting) is a current variation on the Hi-Power Mark III with a modified firing mechanism. After the weapon is loaded, the hammer is pushed forward, which automatically activates the safety catch. When the shooter is prepared to fire, the safety is pressed down with the thumb, releasing the hammer to spring backwards into the usual, single-action position. A similar system is available for modifying Colt M1911A1s. Magazines are interchangeable with the Mark III and others.
• The BDA and BDAO models were first produced in the 1980s by FN. The BDA model is double action, and the DAO model is 'double action only,' both versions differing from the usual single-action operation of the P35. These designs have been marketed as the HP-DA and BDA. The DA and DAO models retain many features of the P35, and both are available in full-sized and compact versions. Performance of these models is consistent with FN's high standards. These models resemble the P35, but the most distinguishing feature is the extended SIG-Sauer style trigger guard. Many parts are interchangeable with the P35, but the magazines (although similar) are not. The compact versions also utilize shorter magazines.
• The Browning BDM Model is sometimes erroneously attributed as a special model of the Hi-Power family of pistols. However, this is actually a unique pistol design only bearing an external similarity to the Hi-Power. The BDM was produced during the 1990s only in North America by Browning Arms Company, and not by FN. The Browning BDM (Browning Double Mode) pistol incorporates many features of the BDA model, but can be switched from double action/single action mode to 'revolver' mode (DAO) by the flip of a slide mounted switch.
• Both the DA/DAO models and the BDM model borrow features from the SIG Sauer SIG P220 pistols marketed under the name Browning Double Action (BDA) in the 1970s. The Beretta Cheetah has also been marketed by Browning under the name BDA 380.
• The Rosario, FM90 and FM95 models are manufactured by FM. The Rosario is an almost exact copy of the Mark II intended for Argentine and Latin American sales. The FM90 was an export model based on the Mark II, but with a 'Colt style' slide without the characteristic beveled front end. Rubberized pistol grips (similar to the Pachmayr grips used for P35s) with finger grooves were used in place of the traditional slabside wood grips. The FM95 was the current export model (until 2002) based on the Mark III, also with the 'Colt style' slide. The last models, until 2010, are the M02 AR (modernized version of the M95, with a new single action system by Fabrique nationale) and the M03 AR (not dated 2003, as it would seem, actually a .40S&W version of M02 AR) with their Detective versions.
• Pistol AUTO 9 mm 1A is manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Board at one of its factories as a licensed copy of the Canadian Inglis 9mm pistol.
• The Detective is a short-slide HP produced by FM. The Detective slide group was also available without the frame, and is interchangeable with other FM and FN Hi-Power P35s. The pistol and slide group have not been available for North American sales since the late 2000s, but can be found in resale outlets.
• Fabricaciones Militares of Argentina has also developed a double action pistol, not using the HP DA system.