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If you’re a passionate gun person, then you surely get shivers down your spine when you hear the name of the Browning Hi-Power being spoken. A masterpiece handgun, the Browning Hi-Power is the most widely used 9mm pistol of all time.
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Police forces and special military units in over 50 countries all over the world use this handgun and swear by it. Proven to be a pistol with one of the best shooting performances ever, the Browning Hi-Power stood the test of time for almost a century and it keeps getting better.
John Browning, the ideator of this pistol, died in 1926, before having a chance to complete the gun’s design. Dieudonné Saive was the person who decided that there was something special about this pistol, so he decided to finalize its design.
The Browning Hi-Power uses 9mm Parabellum and Cartridges.
One of the main reasons why a lot of people love this handgun is probably because it uses a 13-round magazine capacity (almost twice the capacity of the original Luger pistol) that holds the popular 9mm caliber rounds. We all know that these rounds are a very economical ammunition and have a better availability in the market.
This is especially true when you’re rooting through your neighbor’s drawers after the economy collapses. Or where ever you root through.
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The Browning Hi-Power was originally made in two design models: the Ordinary Model and the Adjustable Rear Sight Model.
The adjustable sight models are still available for purchase, but without the shoulder stock mounts that you can see in the picture below; they were available up until World War II and then their production was discontinued.
The standard Browning Hi-Power is a single-action pistol, so it’s different from the usual semi-automatic pistols that we’re used to seeing. In order to shoot the first round, you need to cock the pistol by pulling the slide all the way back and then releasing it.
Like with every other pistol out there, the Browning Hi-Power has some design flaws as well. The hammer bite or the pinching of the hand, is something that happens when shooting with the Browning. The only way to fix this issue is by replacing the hammer or adapting to a different way of holding the pistol so that you can avoid the injury.
The Browning Hi-Power was used by both sides during World War II. The German army started using these pistols after they invaded Belgium in 1940 because that’s where the FN factory, that produces the Browning Hi-Power, was located.
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After the war, the pistol was adopted officially by more than 50 countries and also was often cloned because of the high demand. Some famous Browning Hi-Power owners were Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s former ruler, and Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s former dictator. Gaddafi’s pistol was gold plated.
Since its first production, the Browning Hi-Power has changed very little in its design. The original one is called the P35 and it’s the pistol that was the most influential in small gun history. It has inspired many other gun manufacturers to create models based on it. Licensed variations of the Browning Hi-Power are still available commercially.
The Mark I is the most popular model of the Browning Hi-Power and it first appeared in USA in 1954. Other variants include the Mark I Lightweight, an upgraded variant called the Mark II that appeared in the 80s, and the Mark III, which is the model that came afterwards and had a firing pin safety and a black finish.
The Standard Browning Hi-Power is just a variant of the Mark III with walnut grips and gloss finish. It’s the model that we see used mostly these days.
