Browning Hi Power P.640(b)

[rebeldevil89]

Hi guys!

I picked up this Browning Hi Power P.640(b) today, and just thought I'd share it. I really love the patina on it, and lack of an import mark, and the matching serial numbers (not including the magazine) I only wish I knew the history behind it. If I'm not mistaken these were mostly issued to Waffen-SS and FJ troops, right?

I hope y'all like it as much as I do

[CVM]

Nice Brownig HP you got there.
But most of the finish is gone but it is still a nice piece

Best regards

[Mauser HSc]

These are highly collectible and tough to find in any condition. Don't know about mostly being issued to SS and FJs but I've always read that the Heer got the lion's share of the P38s and Lugers. Nice one!

[richardw]

Nice HP

[Bryant U.]

These are great pistols. Thanks for sharing!

[rebeldevil89]

Thanks guys! I really enjoy the fact that this is an American design, produced in a Belgium factory, for German soldiers haha. The patina, to me, just adds to the fact, that this very well may have seen combat.

[logictox]

Thanks guys! I really enjoy the fact that this is an American design, produced in a Belgium factory, for German soldiers haha. The patina, to me, just adds to the fact, that this very well may have seen combat.

It's true that it was partially designed by John Browning, however it was completed by a Frenchman named Dieudonné Saive. It is an amazing weapon though, it was years ahead of others in many things. Much of what you see on this pistol is still used and considered industry standard even today.

[whatthecrunchyo]

One German pistol that I don't have yet but would love to own!

[GerColctor]

Always wanted a nice German occupied made Hi Power and was able to pick one up last year. It was made in 1942, all matching and has the tangent sight system, but no cut for the stock slot. Great pistols, the first of the high capasity models that are so popular now.

[cossack1648]

Real combat veteran. Nice score.

Jack

[fdodge]

A late war pistol showing the typical lack of fine machining found on earlier models.
I must say, don't these pistols feel good in hand? I have never found a pistol that fit my hand better than than the Browning hi-power. What a classic design

Regards,
Frank

[Johnny Peppers]

It's true that it was partially designed by John Browning, however it was completed by a Frenchman named Dieudonné Saive. It is an amazing weapon though, it was years ahead of others in many things. Much of what you see on this pistol is still used and considered industry standard even today.

The pistol was designed by John Browning, but he tried to work around the patents on the Model 1911 Colt. The pistol was finally completed after John Browning died and the patents on the Model 1911 had expired. Features of the Model 1911 were then incorporated into the final design.

[Aktivisti]

Some of these patented features were incorporated in a interim design, but most of them were changed again by D. Saive before the final design.

If you look at the most important new design features of GP (fixed barrel bushing, fixed barrel cams and hi-cap magazine) it is very easy to see that they do not resemble 1911 at all.

[Johnny Peppers]

The bushing was made integral with the slide and the takedown procedure remained the same. It's parentage is obviously Browning. The original design was a sixteen round, but that was changed.

It has nothing to do with resembling the Model 1911, but in the design.

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. This version featured the removable barrel bushing and take down sequence of the Colt 1911.
By 1931, the Hi-Power design incorporated a shortened 13-round magazine, a curved rear grip strap, and a barrel bushing that was integral to the slide assembly. By 1934, the Hi-Power design was complete and ready to be produced. It was first adopted by Belgium for military service in 1935 as the Browning P-35. Ultimately, France decided not to adopt the pistol, instead selecting the conceptually similar Modèle 1935 pistol.

[Aktivisti]

The bushing was made integral with the slide and the takedown procedure remained the same. It's parentage is obviously Browning. The original design was a sixteen round, but that was changed.

It has nothing to do with resembling the Model 1911, but in the design.

I still fail to see the connection between the 1911's design and GP's main new design features, that is with integrated bushing, barrel cams or magazine. GPs barrel to slide lock-up and takedown are more or less classical Browning designs, but that's about it.

Though it could very well be that J.M Browning had patented also those "new" designs earlier, even if he had not actually used them. We all know Maxim's classical self-loading "cover them all" patent No 606 from 1884.