New Browning Hi Powers any good?

[thegoodfight]

I'm sort of confused as to the history of the browning hi power. Are they the original makers? Where are they made today?

 

[belus]

Made by FN, but marketed by Browning. Same gun, same factory. I don't believe there will be any new ones coming out with the FN role mark though.

The current generation (Mk 3) use cast instead of forged frames so they are stronger. This move was motivated by the adoption of a .40 S&W model. They also have much easier to see sights than the earlier guns.

edit: First handgun I bought, and still one of my favorites. You can't find a better pistol for someone with smaller hands.

 

[nalioth]

You can't find a better pistol <snip>

'nuff sed

 

[Browning]

I'm sort of confused as to the history of the browning hi power.

Here's some history on it.

http://www.weaponryonline.com/Reviews-req-showcontent-id-26.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Hi-Power

Are they the original makers? Where are they made today?

Browning and FN (and now Winchester) are all owned by the same people, so yes they're still currently made by the original manufacturers (FN). However BHP's have been made by other companies and arms manufacturers (Canada during WWII, Argentina, Hungary, Charles Daly). For the most part you'll usually run across HP's made by Browning and FN. There's little difference between them other than the name stamped on them and the finish.

Here's a little more information about it currently.

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=007B&cat_id=051&type_id=003

http://www.fnhusa.com/

http://www.herstalgroup.com/english/index.html

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/FAQs.htm

High Power made by Browning

High Power (GP 35) made by FN

Usually (but not always) HP's made by FN tend to have more of a matte black military style finish that's geared towards military use and the HP's made by Browning tend to be marketed a little more towards civilians and many of then have a gloss blue or hard crome finish.

 

[kentucky_smith]

Well, the new ones are assembled in Portugal, but the parts are still made in Belgium. Regardless, it's a great pistol.

 

[thegoodfight]

Was this gun ever made in the USA? John Browning was American, why did he have Belgium make this gun?

 

[Browning]

John Browning was American, why did he have Belgium make this gun?

He had a falling out with Winchester over money (they were basically screwing him and he wanted to re-negotiate his contract and they said 'No') and when he went to Remington the owner died before he could see him. So he packed his bags and went to Belgium and began a very long relationhip with FN.

http://everything2.com/title/John%2520Moses%2520Browning

http://www.m1911.org/browning.htm

The repeating shotgun that John invented was the primary reason for the break between Browning and Winchester. When Winchester denied production of this gun, John Moses, packed a sample of his shotgun into his luggage, crossed the Atlantic, and negotiated an agreement for Fabrique National de Belgique (FN) to produce his gun. FN was then a young company in dire need of products to produce. Browning's automatic shotgun revolutionized the hunting market. This same shotgun was later produced in U.S.A. by Remington, as their Model 11. Still later, variants of this shotgun were produced by almost all of the large shotgun manufacturers, including Savage, Franchi, and Breda.

 

[Pilot]

Was this gun ever made in the USA? John Browning was American, why did he have Belgium make this gun?

No the Hi Power was never made in the U.S. A reverse engineered Hi Power was made in Canada, however, by Inglis during WWII.

Browning helped design the gun for FN.

 

[nalioth]

Browning and FN (and now Winchester) are all owned by the same people, so yes they're still currently made by the original manufacturers (FN). However BHP's have been made by other companies and arms manufacturers (Canada during WWII, Argentina, Hungary, Charles Daly).

I was under the impression that the Charles Daly was made by the Hungarians. Today "Charles Daly" is just a recognized trademark that is rollmarked onto firearms from different places.

 

[Browning]

I was under the impression that the Charles Daly was made by the Hungarians. Today "Charles Daly" is just a recognized trademark that is rollmarked onto firearms from different places.

I actually don't know who makes the HP's for Charles Daly, it very well could be made in Hungary.

I just knew that that's who's banner they were marked with and sold under.

(5 minutes later after a search)

Yes, Charles Daly HP's were made in Hungary.

They were a joint venture between FEG and KBI.

http://gunner777.wordpress.com/2007/09/30/the-charles-daly-hi-power-compared-to-the-browning-hi-power/

They've been discontinued though.

Update from Charles Daly 2/13/08:

I’ve learned some sad news directly from Charles Daly this afternoon. The Daly Hi Power has been discontinued. I really hate to hear this news since I think a lot of this gun.

 

[BHPshooter]

I was under the impression that the Charles Daly was made by the Hungarians.

Yes, that is correct.

Was this gun ever made in the USA? John Browning was American, why did he have Belgium make this gun?

Browning has never been a manufacturer*, they are an importer/outfitter. John Browning was interested in designing guns, not manufacturing them.

*Excluding Browning's first design, the Browning Bros. single shot rifle (better known as the Winchester 1885 Low Wall/High Wall).

Wes

 

[kentucky_smith]

Let's add to the confusion.

The Charles Daly's were assembled in US by Dan Wesson and Magnum Research, using FEG parts.

We also shouldn't forget the FM guns made by FM in Argentina.

 

[MAKster]

If you are looking at a newer FN marked model, be aware some of them had what they called the Safety Fast Shooting (SFS) sytem. Basically it dropped the hammer when you engaged the safety. It was an attempt to resolve concerns some have about carrying a cocked single action gun.

 

[Charles Daly]

kentucy_smith has the correct information on who was involved with the Daly HP.

 

[HorseSoldier]

Was this gun ever made in the USA? John Browning was American, why did he have Belgium make this gun?

As has been already mentioned about Browning's relationship with FN -- he didn't have a Belgian company make the gun for him, he was paid to design the P-35/High Power/BHP (though he died years before the design was finalized and its final form does not, externally, bear much resemblance to his prototypes). The design was intended to compete for a French military contract after WW1.

 

[dogtown tom]

Fabrique Nationale of Belgium (FN) has manufactured every BROWNING Hi Power ever made.

I believe the only BROWNING brand firearms NOT manufactured by FN are/were:

-Shotguns and rifles are now made by Miroku of Japan.
-The Browning BDA .380 was made by Beretta under a contract from FN. It has Beretta, FN and Browning rollmarks.
-The Browning BDA 9mm, 38 Super, 45acp was actually a Sig Sauer P220. Browning was the importer of the first Sigs into the USA.
-The Browning BuckMark .22lr pistol is made in Utah I believe.


To furthur confuse matters, the Browning Hi Power design was licensed to Argentina. When the license expired. Argentina continued to manufacture the HP with their own "FM" rollstamp. A few were made that had "FM BROWNING" on the slide.

When the FN plant in Belgium was overrun by the Germans in WWII, the FN management staff was relocated to Canada and the HP was built by a washing machine company- John Inglis. The Germans continued to produce HP's for their own use until Belgium was liberated.

Somewhat recently, India bought the original equipment and tooling for the Canadian Inglis HP and has been importing a few into the USA.

 

[kentucky_smith]

Right, the P35 is more the design of Dieudonné Saive than JMB. He was able to integrate some of JMB's 1911 features after the patents expired. Same guy who also developed the FN49 and the FAL.