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- BROWNING HI-NINE
-
- Also known as P-35 and
- "Hi-Nine" (for high capacity),
- this, the last of John M.
- Browning's visionary pistol
- designs, anticipated the current
- abundant crop of "wondernine"
- handguns in all important
- respects - and it first appeared
- in 1935!
-
- Like the "wondernines," it
- employs a high-capacity (13
- rounds) staggered-column
- magazine. Also like them, it
- chambers the 9mm Parabellum -
- which, for better or worse, has
- entrenched itself firmly as the
- international standard for
- pistol and submachine gun
- ammunition. The High Power has
- a few design improvements over
- Browning's earlier .45 auto,
- including the provision of a
- magazine safety (which makes it
- impossible to fire the weapon
- when the clip is removed); a
- more comfortable, skeletonized
- trigger; and a fully-enclosed
- recoil spring assembly, doing
- away with the exposed barrel
- bushing of previous models.
-
- This pistol was primarily
- produced at the Belgian Fabrique
- Nationale (FN) factory, which
- scored a coup in the early part
- of the century by hiring John
- Browning away from U.S.-based
- Winchester Repeating Arms.
- Browning's numerous innovative
- designs (for shotguns, rifles
- and machine guns, in addition to
- pistols) helped catapult FN into
- prominence among world arms
- producers.
-
- Due to German occupation of
- Belgium and its FN arms plant
- during WWII, many P-35's were
- issued to front line Axis
- troops; the 9mm chambering was
- identical to that employed by
- the standard German sidearm, the
- Walther P-38.
-