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**james m** · 07-02-2012, 12:20 PM

Here's some basic information on the Browning High Power you many find useful. Although I own a couple of these I'm not that familiar with them to answer your questions.
Jim

"Browning Hi-Power pistols were used during World War II by both Allied and Axis forces. After occupying Belgium in 1940, German forces took over the FN plant. German troops subsequently used the Hi-Power, having assigned it the designation Pistole 640(b) ("b" for belgisch, "Belgian"). Examples produced by FN in Belgium under German occupation bear German inspection and acceptance marks, or Waffenamts, such as WaA613. In German service, it was used mainly by Waffen-SS and Fallschirmjäger personnel.

Hi-Power pistols were also produced in Canada for Allied use, by John Inglis and Company in Toronto. The plans were sent from the FN factory to Britain when it became clear the Belgian plant would fall into German hands, enabling the Inglis factory to be tooled up for Hi-Power production for Allied use. Inglis produced two versions of the Hi-Power, one with a fixed rear sight and one with an adjustable rear sight and detachable shoulder stock (primarily for a Nationalist Chinese contract). The pistol was popular with the British airborne forces as well as covert operations and commando groups such as the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the nascent British Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment. Inglis Hi-Powers made for Commonwealth forces have the British designation 'Mk 1', or 'Mk 1*' and the manufacturer's details on the left of the slide. They were known in British and Commonwealth service as the 'Pistol No 2 Mk 1', or 'Pistol No 2 Mk 1*' where applicable. Serial numbers were 6 characters, the second being the letter 'T', e.g. 1T2345."

As an aside: I'm still kicking myself for not picking one of these up when the Chinese sold theirs off as surplus back in the 1980's

**Douglas Jr.** · 07-02-2012, 01:09 PM

As far as I know both FN and Inglis High Powers have their barrels left "in the white".

In addition, here are some extracts from the book "FN Browning: Armorer to the World" by Gene Gangarosa:

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ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="******45;-"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> "With the help of several key FN personnel, including Dieudonné Saive, who had escaped German-occupied Belgium in 1940 to help the Allied war effort, the Inglis factory finally began production in February, 1944. (…) Canadian wartime production, which ultimately numbered 151,816 pistols also went through several variations. First pistols, based on prewar pistols which had gone to China, used an adjustable rear sight marked to 500 meters like the prewar FN military models. The British called this the Pistol, Browning, FN 9mm No. 1 Mk I. Inglis marked the left side of its slide as follows:

BROWNING-FN 9MM HP
INGLIS CANADA

The later Pistol, Browning, FN 9mm No. 1 Mk I* had an improved ejector for more reliable extraction and ejection of just-fired cartridge casings, the result of firing trials with the No. 1 Mk I and had some slight changes made to the rear sight to accommodate the enlarged ejector. Only about 50,000 of these two adjustable sights versions were made.

The Pistol, Browning, FN 9mm No. 2 Mk I and Pistol, Browning, FN 9mm No. 2 Mk II which followed the No. 1s both used a fixed rear sight and eliminated the slot in the stock so that a detachable stock could no longer be fitted. (…) Inglis marked the left side of the slides of No. 2 Mk I* as follows:

MK. I*
BROWNING-FN 9MM. H.P.
INGLIS, CANADA
(…)

The standard grips used on Inglis-made Hi-Power pistols were a checkered black plastic pattern. These had a small relief cut at the left rear edge to make room for the lanyard loop in that location on the frame.(…) Inglis pistols usually had a dull black parkerized finish."

Withiut pictures if difficult to give a proper evaluation but I hope this (plus James's message above) can give you some help.

Douglas.

**dougieboy1** · 07-03-2012, 05:54 AM

Not an expert but here goes:

1. date of manufacturing - Inglis manufactured 151,816 pistols from Feb 44 to september 45. Under the terms of the contract with FN, Inglis ceased production at the end of the war so all inglis models can be considered war time manufacture. The MkI* started production around September/October 1944 I believe, with 0T XXXX serials. As yours is 2T xxxx, this would indicate it is the 2x,xxx th pistol produced which is out of a total of around 93,600. I would assume, therefore, that yours is late 44, early 45 production.

2. is it correct that this fixed rear sight model has a 2T serial number? MkI* came in both tangent and fixed sight versions. As a rough guide, CH serial (Chinese contract) indicates tangent sight (early model), T serial indicates fixed sight so yours is correct. Another way to tell is if your HP has the slot in the back of the grip (5mm wide, 45mm long) into which the wooden stock would fit. It probably hasnt which again confirms a fixed sight.

3. What are the markings that must be found on the barrel to say it is a military WW2 one? All barrels produced in bare metal. The barrel should have the same serial as the slide and receiver. The barrel should also have the DCP Dominion of Canada crossed flags to indicate proofing.

4. is the magazine WW2 datable or not? Not really dateable. JI is the correct designation to find on an Inglis model - you find it on the magazine body and the base plate. Given Inglis stopped production in Sept 45, you can say all inglis magazines were wartime produced.

**argan** · 07-03-2012, 10:23 AM

thank you all!

**argan** · 07-03-2012, 10:35 AM

Breaking news:
I've just received this picture of the inglisa canada. Not really a good photo..

Anyway, I think this HP35 might be re-finished. The letters are quite faint..

Opinions?

Attached Files

a.jpg (56.7 KB, 203 views)

**argan** · 07-03-2012, 12:14 PM

..a little addiction: note the "A" of Canada... thy seem quite square on the top..
Is this correct?
Having a look at the chinese contract brownings they all have pointed "A" letters..

I don't know..

**Gary Cain** · 07-03-2012, 01:29 PM

Yes, it's been refinished. Also the slide stop is a replacement.

**argan** · 07-04-2012, 08:10 AM

Hi!
Thank you,

About the squared letter "A"? Does someone have this same model to let me see the letter style?

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Browning MkI* Inglis Canada

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