FN Browning HP
| FN Browning HP | |
|---|---|
.jpg) ( John Inglis and Company ) |
|
| general information | |
| Civil name: | FN Browning HP |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre |
| Development year: | 1922 |
| Manufacturer country: | Belgium |
| Production time: | since 1935 |
| Weapon Category: | gun |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 198 mm |
| Total height: | 118 mm |
| Total width: | 36 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 0.99 kg |
| Barrel length : | 118 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 9 mm parabellum |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 13 + 1 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | double-row bar magazine |
| Number of trains : | 4th |
| Twist : | Right |
| Charging principle: | Recoil loader |
| Lists on the subject | |
The FN Browning HP (High Power) , also known as FN Browning GP (Grande Puissance) in French-speaking countries , is a pistol made by the Belgian arms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale Herstal . It was developed by weapons designer John Moses Browning and is one of the most widely used pistols.
As an innovation, he brought in a double-row magazine, which was then only used in the Savage pistol. Browning himself had hesitated to implement this because he feared it would jam.
history
Work on this weapon began in 1922 when the French government issued an order to procure a new standard pistol for their armed forces. The specifications of the order called for a pistol with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. John Moses Browning, who had left America in 1902 and now worked for the Belgian arms manufacturer FN, presented a first draft in 1925, at that time still with a single-row magazine. For the model, he relied on his experience with the Colt M1911 pistol . The high-power pistol had a single-action trigger and the tried and tested breech of the Browning system , in which the barrel is not rigidly attached but slides back briefly during the loading cycle. The mechanism was very robust, and accordingly the pistol also set standards in terms of reliability.
Browning died in 1926 before he could complete his development. This was done by his Belgian colleague Dieudonné Saive . As an innovation, he brought in a double-row magazine that was not used in any pistol at the time. Browning himself had hesitated to implement this because he feared it would jam.
The Browning Hi-Power has been continuously developed by FN since its introduction. The pistols were originally made in two models: an "ordinary model" with fixed sights and an "adjustable sight model" ("artillery version") with a tangential rear sight and a slotted handle for attaching a wooden shoulder stock. The adjustable sights are still available on commercial versions of the Hi-Power, although production of the buttstock ceased during World War II. In 1962, the design was modified to replace the internal extractor with an external extractor and improve reliability.
Function of the Browning FN locking system
As part of his later work for the Belgian FN Herstal , Browning developed a new version of his system in which the barrel was no longer pulled down by a chain link, but by means of a control cam attached to the barrel. This variant was first mass-produced by FN Browning HP, and the number of Browning systems produced with this variant has now probably exceeded the original version, see also SIG P210 .
commitment
When the pistol was finally ready for the market in 1935, the French government did not opt for the model, but instead opted for the Belgian military and police. The potential of high power was recognized in many other countries and the weapon was incorporated into equipment. When German troops occupied Belgium at the beginning of the Second World War , production continued under their direction. The weapon was then used in the German military as the Pistol 640 (b) and mainly given to the Waffen-SS . But the pistol was also used on the Allied side: In Canada, the FN High Power was manufactured under license during the war. Saive fled there during the duration of the occupation and helped with production.
After the war, production was resumed in Belgium, and the FN High Power was sold worldwide, either as a direct export or as a replica. Today the weapon is used by the police and the military in over 50 countries. Here is an (incomplete) list of licensed productions and copies:
- Canada: Construction under license by John Inglis Co. Limited
- Great Britain: L9A1 pistol
- Argentina: FM pistol (Fabricaciones Militares)
- Hungary: FEG FP9 pistol
- Indonesia: Pindad P1 pistol
- Israel: Kareen MKII pistol
Up until the introduction of the SIG Sauer P226 and the Glock 17 Gen 4 , the High Power was part of the structural armament of the British armed forces as the “Pistol L9A1”. Some of it is still in use there. She is also still in service with the Belgian military. Some time ago it was replaced by the Glock 17 at the Austrian gendarmerie . In the 1960s, when most of Germany's state police forces were equipped with pistols in the 7.65 mm Browning caliber , the High Power was used as a service pistol in North Rhine-Westphalia .
Others
A gold-plated copy of this make was in the possession of the Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi . He was carrying this weapon when he was caught and killed by insurgents near Sirte on October 20, 2011 . The trophy became a symbol of the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime.
literature
- Chris McNab: Small Arms of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Neuer Kaiser Verlag, new edition from 2009.
Web links
- FN high power . In: SALW Guide (technical data, distribution, images).
Individual evidence
- ↑ British Army relies on Glock. 11 million euro order for Austrian arms manufacturer. In: derStandard.at, January 11, 2013, accessed on January 12, 2013.
- ^ Gaddafi: the man with the golden guns , The Telegraph