The browning hi-power today: dominant high-capacity pistol no longer, the hi-power offers other virtues

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2004 by Massad Ayoob

The quintessential Browning Hi-Power remains a steel-frame single action semiautomatic chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. It is today imported into the United States by FNUSA.

Beyond History: The P-35's Attributes

It is far more than a sense or" history that drives the continued fascination of the shooting world with rids oldest 9X19 pistol design currently in production. Some elements of the Browning's design make it irresistible to shooters.

"Aside from its less-than-optimum cartridge, it is an excellent weapon." Jeff Cooper said of the 9mm Browning. "If it is not quite right as issued, it is readily modified by a competent gunsmith into the best heavy duty 9mm auto in existence." (2)

Ask a dozen Hi-Power enthusiasts to name three things they like about the gun, and one word will almost certainly be common to all of them: "feel." John Browning was a master of ergonomics long before the word was coined. His design work on the Grand Rendement would have been roughly concurrent with the U.S. Army Ordnance Department's review of Model 1911 features that could stand improvement, and would result in the updated Model 1911A1.

During a study that ran from December 11, 1920 through October 22, 1923, new features were discussed including a shorter trigger easier for small lingers to reach. These were set in stone in the "-A1" modifications made official on June 15, 1926, well before Browning's death, (3) and would have been well known to him while working on the large capacity 9mm pistol lot FN. The trigger reach on the Grand Rendement appears to have been retained on the P-35, and in turn is functionally identical to that of the 1911A1.

This is probably why, in spite of its double stack magazine, the Browning Hi-Power seems to fit so well in even small hands, while still being comfortable in large hands. The glory for this must be shared with Salve, who did the final fine-tuning of the grip shape, which so many shooters with hands of all sizes describe as a perfect fit with natural pointability.

So much care was taken not to make the grip too fat that the trigger linkage of the P-35 actually extends up into the slide area. As we shall see, the Browning trigger pull is notoriously difficult to tune, largely because of this strange geometry of its design.

The Browning has an extremely slim slide, elegantly tapered toward the front. when compared to modern duty-type 9mm autos, This makes it extremely discreet to conceal and noticeably more comfortable to carry inside the waistband. The gracefully slim barrel combines with the light weight to enhance speed of draw and target acquisition. As a rule of thumb, the loaded Browning 9mm will be about the same weight as the unloaded 1911 A1 .45 auto.

However, there is indeed no free lunch. The Browning Hi-Power, when seen in light of the way we use handguns today, was a flawed gem. Fortunately, most of those flaws can be polished away, so to speak, at the hands of an appropriate artisan.

Fixing the Flaws

Many of the Hi-Power's flaws were cured over time by the industry, and particularly by FN/Browning. Until 1962, the GP had an internal extractor that was very small, and prone to breakage. Notes master Hi-Power custom gunsmith Bill Laughridge of the Cylinder & Slide Shop, "The fastest way to break one of the old extractors is to lock the slide back, drop a cartridge into the chamber, and then slam the slide on top of it. Always cycle the first round into the chamber out of the magazine!" In '62, however, the Browning was strengthened by a much more durable outside-mounted extractor.