In 1928, when the patents for the Colt Model 1911 had expired, Dieudonné Saive integrated many of the Colt's previously patented features into the Grand Rendement design, in the Saive-Browning Model of 1928.
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The design was refined through several trials held by the Versailles Trial Commission. This model was striker-fired, and featured a double-column magazine that held 16 rounds. The locked breech design was selected for further development and testing. Both prototypes utilised the new staggered magazine design (by designer Dieudonné Saive) to increase capacity without unduly increasing the pistol's grip size or magazine length. One was a simple blowback design, while the other was operated with a locked-breech recoil system. Browning built two different prototypes for the project in Utah and filed the patent for this pistol in the United States on 28 June 1923, granted on 22 February 1927. Army automatic pistol to Colt's Patent Firearms, and was therefore forced to design an entirely new pistol while working around the M1911 patents. Browning had previously sold the rights to his successful M1911 U.S. It was to accomplish all of this at a weight not exceeding 1 kg (2.2 lb).įN commissioned John Browning to design a new military sidearm conforming to this specification. This last criterion was seen to demand a caliber of 9 mm or larger, a bullet mass of around 8 grams (123.5 grains), and a muzzle velocity of 350 m/s (1148 ft/s). the gun be capable of killing a man at 50 metres.the gun be robust and simple to disassemble and reassemble.the gun have a magazine disconnect device, an external hammer, and a positive safety.the magazine have a capacity of at least 10 rounds.The Browning Hi-Power was designed in response to a French military requirement for a new service pistol, the Grand Rendement (French for "high yield"), or alternatively Grande Puissance (literally "high power"). Ī FN Browning High Power, belonging to the Indonesian Marine Corps Although new Belgian Hi-Powers are no longer being built, clones are still being built in several countries around the world, including India and Turkey. After 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. Although most pistols were built in Belgium by FN Herstal, licensed and unlicensed copies were built around the world, in countries like Argentina, Hungary and Israel. 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 initially named the design the "High Power", which alludes 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 Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium. The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic handgun available in the 9mm and. 20 or 30 rounds made by Rhodesia ( 9mm).