WVsig
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- Aug 17, 2012
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The development of the Browning High Power seems to be a point of contention that often comes up on this and other forums. There is always great love for John Moses Browning which I would argue clouds the narrative about the development of this pistol. There is no doubt that JMB is a god in the world of gun design. I put him at the top of the list of the all-time greats. That said I believe that he is only partially responsible for the development of the gun we call the Browning High Power. The other designer Dieudonne Saive of FN is IMHO the primary designer of the pistol we shoot today. It is his gun design of 1928 that is the true foundation for the pistol we shoot today. If you read R Blake Stevens’ The Browning High Power Automatic Pistol and Anthony Vanderlinden’s FN Browning Pistols, Side-arms that Shaped World History - Expanded Second Edition the real history and development of the pistol we shoot today comes to light. Most of the info I am conveying here comes from these two sources and a few knowledgeable collectors. I do not take credit for discovering this info I am simply cobbling together a summary of what my research has yielded.
The first place to start is with the myths that surround JMBs relationship to FN and to Saive. JMB was not an employee of FN. He was an independent contractor who had an office at FN Herstal and one at his residence in Utah. JMB did contract work for multiple companies over the years but by the time he worked on his last pistol he worked exclusively with FN and Colt when it came to pistol design. Many considered him the "lead" or "chief" designer. FN produced the m1900, m1903, m1905, m1910 and m1922 all of which were JMB's designs. Saive however was not his assistant. Saive was the lead production manager and a desiger at FN and was an FN employee. He later became the lead designer at FN. Still he worked on this project with JMB but he was not his lesser in that he did not report to JMB. He was a designer and had multiple duties in production at FN Herstal. He was not the equal of JMB in terms of knowledge, experience or talent but he was not his "assistant" in the way many refer to him in relation to JMB.
JMB did design the BHP in order to improve on or correct his “mistakes” on the 1911 pistol. I am not sure where the origins of this myth come from but it is simply not true. The development of the BHP did not begin with JMB. It was the results of the Frances desire to develop a new military pistol. Eventually this design resulted in the French pistol trials of 1922 and those that folowed. FN wanted to pursue the contact but JMB had no interest in developing a high capacity gun chambered in a military caliber. So FN turned to Saive. In 1921 Dieudonne Saive modified a 1903 pistol to accept a 15 round magazine which he designed. The magazine and the gun were presented to JMB at Herstal and he then accepted the project and returned to Utah to start working on the project. This account is documented in direct correspondence from Saive to a personal friend and a letter from Val Browning and published by R Blake Stevens. Saive is the one who designed the mag which is the foundation for the BHP design.
John Moses Brown and his brother Ed then designed 2 prototypes using the Saive’s magazine. One was a simple blowback pistol. The second was a locked breech version. Both of these original protypes were striker fired. These are the pistols what were patented. Colt and FN had an agreement to divide up the world into different regions where JMB pistol designs would be manufactured and sold. This included the filing and protection of each other’s patents in their respective regions. This is detailed in R Black Stevens book. The Browning High Power Automatic Pistol. Colt was under contractual obligation to file the patents on behave of JMB and FN in the US. They had no interest at the time in the development of this pistol so the production moved to FN in Herstal.
These pistols were shot during the French Pistol Trials in 1922. The guns were fired and tested. Both deigns passed the trials and the French chose the locked breech version for further development. The blow back design was never produced beyond the original prototype. The locked breech version became known as the Grand Rendement. This is the gun was JMB’s last patent. It was filed on 6/28/1923 and approved on 2/22/1927
Look closely at this pistol. This is the gun that JMB design. If you research the gun and its design you will find it bears very few similarities to the gun we call the Browning High Power. The design was refined during the 1922 trials. The striker fired assembly was abandoned and replaced with a hammer fired assemble because it was overly complicated and needed to be fully removed from the gun in order to field strip and clean the gun. The hammer design is similar to a Colt .38. Other refinements in the design of the exterior of the pistol continued until JMB’s death in 1926. This is where JMBs direct contributions of the development of the Browning High Power ends.
From there it is left to Saive to finish the pistol. At this point it is the best preforming pistol in the trials. There are some issues with rails and other minor problems but at this point it the front runner. FN put Saive to the task of developing the pistol and it became his primary focus. Over the next 12 years he continued to refine the pistol. He reduced the capacity to 13. He made changes to t profile of the slide. The gun still looked like JMBs Grand Rendement but by 1928 the gun was starting to look more and more like what we shoot today.
The Saive-Browning of 1928 is a watershed change IMHO. By 1928 the patents on the 1911 had expired so Saive incorporated elements of the 1911. A 1911 take down system was incorporated. A 1911 like muzzle bushing was incorporated. The slide profile and frame are now looking like the BHP of today. The ring hammer is in place. It originally had a straight rear grip profile. It was changed by 1929 to have a more curved profile. Saive continued to refine and develop the pistol. The stock market crash and the Great Depression came and killed development of the pistol for a while. The gun was basically shelved as the French pistol trials became a comedy of errors which eventually ended in them choosing the MAS 1932 Type B No 3.
FN then moved beyond the French and had Saive continue development of the pistol for other markets. Saive had designed a gun that was ready for production. This is the pistol that the Belgians adopted on 5/23/1935. It was named the Browning Grand Pruissance or High Power. It was also widely referred to as the P35.
If we look closely at the pistol adopted in 1935 and the pistol we shoot today vs the Gran Rendement it becomes clear that the only significant features of JMBs last patent id the locked breech design, the barrel lockup the multi articulated trigger and the high capacity magazine, which he did not design. There is no doubt that Saive used this gun as a starting point but he took JMB’s 1922 design and some of JMBs 1911 concepts and many of his own ideas and built a new pistol. The gun he developed by 1928 is the direct ancestor to the pistol we shoot today not the 1922 JMB design.
The confusions I believe arises from the naming of the pistol. FN chose to name it the Browning 9mm High Power Automatic Pistol and advertised it as Browning’s Patent Depose. It has always been my opinion that FN named the pistol what they did for three reasons. Neither one is because he “designed” the gun that bares his name. First I think they did it out of respect for the man they referred to as “Le Maitre” or The Master. The revered him and his FN Browning 1900 was the pistol that saved FN as a gun manufacturer. It was beloved by the company and the people who worked there. Second the success of designs with his name on it was considered marketing gold. The name Browning = automatic pistol in Europe. It translated into instant name recognition and sales. Finally, it help to maintain and honor the business relationship that FN and Colt had to divide up the world into two distinct pistol markets.
I know others will disagree with this narrative but if you look at the pictures and read the details of the development of the pistol we all know and love to be the myths fall away and the truth comes to light. Saive designed the magazine. JMB developed the prootype before he died. Saive took JMBs protoype and redesigned it and developed it into the pistol we shoot today. To say that that JMB is the designer of the gun we call the Browning High Power would be like saying Leon Levavasseur the man who patented the V-8 engine known as the Antoinette is the inventor of the Ford Flatheat V8 engine or the Cadillac L-Head V8. This does not diminish JMB in anyway but IMHO give credit where credit is due.
*Significant edits after will be in bold.
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