Browning Hi-Power vs. Browning Hi-Power

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Did you mean Browning Hi-Power vs FN High Power?

You'll sometimes see the Browning version called the High Power or High-Power, but you'll also see the FN version called the Hi-Power. Hi-Power seems to be the name most frequently used for either version. I suspect that the HIGH POWER name has been around for a lot longer, as the Hi-Power term wasn't used until the 1950s, with the Browning version, when it first came to the Western hemisphere. According to various sources, "Hi-Power" was used in the US to minimize confusion with the long gun called the High Power. The following is from Wikipedia:

The Hi Power name is somewhat misleading and alluded to the 13-round magazine capacity, almost twice that of contemporary designs such as the Luger or Mauser 1910. The pistol is often referred to as an HP (for "Hi-Power" or "High-Power")[4] or as a GP (for the French term, "Grande Puissance"). The terms P-35 and HP-35 are also used, based on the introduction of the pistol in 1935. It is most often called the "Hi Power", even in Belgium. Other names include BAP (Browning Automatic Pistol), particularly in Irish Army service, or BHP (Browning High-Power).

The gun was also called the "High Yield" -- again referring to the HP's larger capacity magazine. A brief history of the gun's design and use can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Hi-Power Others have cited excellent and well-regarded references sources.

John Moses Browning (JMB) never saw the BHP we know today -- he died almost a decade before it was finally introduced. (When it was introduced, it included some design features from JMB's early Colt designs that had lost their copyright protection. The final gun was also the work of Dieudonné Saive, who became FN's chief designer, and who had worked with JMB on the design; Saive was the one who came up with one of the first practical double-stack magazine designs that gave the HP it's "higher" yield.) FN manufactured both versions of the HP in Europe -- Browning was the importer and distributor for the Hi-Powers sold in the Western hemisphere. I've never been able to learn whether the Browning HP version was available in Europe. While Hi-Power is an "Americanizaton" of the original name, not used until the 1950s, it seems to have taken over.

All of the BHPs I've seen were more nicely finished than the FN versions of the same basic gun, but the differences were only skin deep. FN bought Browning in 1977.

Note: nearly all periodicals (print or digital) keep an inventory of articles and pieces in reserve for use when they need to beef up an issue that's on the thin side. The NRA magazine article seems like one of those...

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Das Capitolin

Those were 5 interesting facts about the Hi-Power. I often wondered about the red paint on the back of the grips. Thanks for sharing.
 
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