Restored WWII Belgian Hi-Power

[MarkV]

My father-in-law had this sitting in a drawer for years. It passed to me and I finally couldn't stand looking at it as it was. So, it went from this:



To this:



A close-up of the Waffenamts:



And with the holster I found at a gun show:



As much as I hate to touch the finish of an old war horse, I figured anything was better than the nickel-plated life it had been living. Plating war returns like this was a common practice here in the US after WWII.

I'm not sure of the history of this pistol. It has some unusual quirks. The slide and barrel have matching numbers...but the fram is not numbered as I've seen in other pictures, yet it carries the Waa140 Waffemamp on the frame.

The magazine is also not stamped with any inspection marks.

In any case, it shoots like a champ and I'm happy to have it in my collection.

Anyone here have any expertise in the WWII era Hi-Powers?

[talltom]

you have done a good job in getting it restored looks so much better well done

tom

[Nick Hessens]

you have done a good job in getting it restored looks so much better well done

tom

I agree! Nice pistol! Thanks for showing.

Regards

[Adrian Stevenson]

I don't like changing things, but this looks much better.

I just bought a holster for one of these the other week.

Cheers, Ade.

[MarkV]

Thanks guys! One of the things that made me finally decide to have the plating removed was that there was some rust starting to show where the plating had been scratched/worn. The value was gone after it was plated anyway so I figured a restoration wasn't going to make it any worse.

The gunsmith who did the work took more than a month of slow-etching to strip the plating. He wanted to make sure he kept the markings in tack. Not a bad job except he mistakenly finished the barrel instead of leaving it in the white. I might just have to have that stripped at some point, but for now it's OK.

Mark

[COLT 1911A1]

This GP looks better in it's original finish, Mark...
Regards, Thanos.