1943 produced browning M1922

[Logictox]

My '44 HP is very similar if not identical in finish. What a kick @ss looking gun too... I just looked at it in some good light yesterday and it's got shades of plum colors, really something else! Hadn't looked at it in a long time, been going through some Luger madness... and Walther PP/PPK's ;-) Surprised this stuff still pops out of the woodwork local, really. All quiet right now... which is good or else I'll go broke ;-)

Here is some comparison. First a late war Hi Power.




Now a post liberation gun that was built for a US soldier right after the plant was liberated. Note no serial number and the gun has both WaA proofs and Belgium proofs.

[Doppelgänger]

Just wondering, do you use a lightbox? Lighting and detail are awfully good! Interesting, both your Hi Powers have plastic grips?

The liberated one has amazingly fine finish, compared to any last ditch built P 38's, or Walther PP's.

Here's the slide on mine, wood grips, JKH 4 WaA 286 (Carl Busse, Mainz) pebbled holster, two mags. Hand me down pistol I got out of the paper from a local Iraq vet who needed rent $$$... I've never put a round through it, but he said he shot it a few times growing up and he was surprised how accurate it was.

[Logictox]

Yours must have a serial number that ends in the letter "a". Looks to be 1943 production and grips. Most all of the 1944 produced high powers did have the bakelite brown grips on them but not all. I have three 1944's and all have the bakelite brown grips. If you see black grips they are post war or Inglis made. If you look close at the liberation gun you can see it has had no finish work at all. Even note the front of the grip strap looks like it came right off the milling machine. Seems the Germans took much of the equipment with them but left piles of parts that simply required assembly. They had not really produced much of anything at the plant since early June and didn't leave until the end of August but they planned to take the equipment across the Rhine and continue production in Germany but it never happened.

[Doppelgänger]

I didn't know about the plant equipment moving shenanigans ;-) Some really interesting history to these pistols... used by both sides during the war, and usually always the crack troops. Some of the Inglis HP's, I hear, are still seeing service in Iraq and Afghanistan...

Mine is 55xx b, so pretty close. I remember researching it back when I got it, and I think came up with 1944. Maybe very early 1944?

Edit; I just found this info, which hopefully is reliable.

WaA 140 = The third and final German WWII era made Hi-Powers will be found with the Waffenamt stamp WaA 140. These WaA 140 stamped pistols were manufactured from late 1941 until the liberation of the FN plant in Belgium in 1944. None of these pistols will have the shoulder stock slot, but the early made examples in the serial number range of 95,000 to 135,000 will have the tangent rear sight. When the tangent rear sight was removed, the Germans replaced it with a fixed rear sight that was drift adjustable for windage only. It appears that the first of these WaA 140 marked fixed rear sight pistols begin at around the serial number of 150,000 which leaves a gap in the serial number range between the tangent and fixed sight WaA 140 marked pistols.The fixed sight WaA 140 marked pistols continued until around serial number 200,000 which dates them toward the end of 1942. At the beginning of 1943, a new serial code numbering system is used which began at number 01a until number 99999a was reached. Then at the beginning of 1944 the serial number 01b began and continues to about 6300b, at which time German production ceased due to the liberation of the FN factory. All of the letter suffixed serial numbered pistols will be found with the fixed rear sight.

The Hi-Power is the only sidearm that this author is aware of that was officially issued to both sides during WW2. Nazi Germany acquired Hi-Power pistols that were manufactured in occupied Belgium, while the Allies used the Hi-Power pistols that were manufactured in Canada by the Inglis company.

The Fabrique Nationale firm is still in business today and is a subsidiary of the Herstal Group. The company now owns the Winchester U.S. Repeating Arms Company as well as the Browning Arms Company which was founded by the family of John Moses Browning. They are now located in Columbia, South Carolina in the U.S.A. The FN Manufacturing LLC company is responsible for the development of U.S. government contracted military and law-enforcement weapons.

So, the story continues, and takes another interesting twist... since this once Nazi run company now provides weapons for the US Govt.


Info found here;

Hi-power 640(b)

[Logictox]

Remember the plant take over at the beginning of the war wasn't as hostile as many other plants. Before the war it was more than 50% German owned anyway. All of these plants had a great deal of history. The Radom plant in Poland that produced the VIS was probably the most brutal run plant though.

There is only one 1944 in this photo, two 1943's and one 1942 produced.

[Doppelgänger]

Wow, what a mess o' Hi Powers ;-) What would you call them?

A murder of Hi Powers, a gaggle, a flock? Looks like with a little arranging you can make a Swastika of Hi Powers? Top and right are already there.

Man, those are nice!!! Really nice pic too ;-)

Funny you should mention a Radom, because as scarce as this stuff normally is around here, there was a guy not too far away trying to unload a Radom (for a while...) last summer, and I didn't even go look at it... ;-( Been sorta kicking myself the last couple months over it. I don't know what the h I was thinking... that it too ugly, or that it would hard to find a holster and extra mag for it, or something?

Anyway, regrets...

[Logictox]

If you didn't notice my avatar is all WWII hi powers.

[Doppelgänger]

I was kinda wondering that, but you couldn't tell for sure ;-)

Looks like you need a slotted one?

[Logictox]

There are a couple of those with buttstock slots. One is a very early production that I take to the range often. It shoots great and has a mirror bore still.

[Doppelgänger]

I guess the slots are pretty hard to see from that angle. How'd you find all them Hi Powers? That's quite collection! I want through my records and twenty some years ago when I was collecting pretty actively, but before the internet, I couldn't even find a waffen proofed Hi Power (never had one), but I had two different Inglis Hi Power, which was cool cause I had a ton of Nazi pistols, but I love Brit stuff too.