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Finally coming into the TNP gun review catalog is perhaps one of the best combat pistols ever designed: the Browning Hi Power. Having served in many militaries (and still does), I find its WW II German use fascinating and I discuss it in the video. The FN factory was used by the Wehrmacht to build the pistols for their military, under the designation "9mm Pistole 640(b)." Some 319,000 Belgian Hi-Powers were manufactured by the Nazis during their occupation. The original production HPs in that factory were beautiful, adhering to FN production standards. But by the time the Allies liberated Herstal, the German occupying forces used forced labor and the guns they were producing were the some of the worst Hi Powers of all time, with ugly finishes and often poor fit. And yet if you find a papered example of this BHP will command a high price...still.
Equally cool is the Canadian use of the Hi Power during the War. Dieudonné Saive, its final designer, was instrumental in founding a production line at the John Inglis Company in Canada, where the Hi-Power would be produced throughout World War II for Canada, England, China, and other Allied nations. Troops coveted it and would trade, steal, or borrow to get a HP35, P35, and 'Pistol No 2 Mk 1' [British version].
This is understandable. The Hi Power had at that point unheard of capacity, high accuracy, ground breaking ergonomics, and it was reliable. Its only competitor was the 1911A1 really. The P35 has stood the test of time and for the last decade, perhaps thanks to influencers like me who've talked about it a lot, is more popular than even. You'll have to pay well over $1000 to get a nice example, one of which functioned as the test bed for this Nutnfancy GRV.
Covered here with be a short run down on the Hi Power use in military and special operations circles and how it stands up today. Then I get down to business of the review. Be prepared to be amazed at how this 1971 Belgian produced HP shot. Also making an appearance will be a few of its modern clones which are reviewed separately here in TNP. But none of them will satiate the high demand for the original Browning Hi Powers, these pistols stay in a dude's collection until dude dies.
This will be another touchstone GRV in my catalog, long overdue but its here now. It was made possible by long term donors to the Project, thank you kindly!
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