FN Surplus Hi Powers

[WVsig]

Originally Posted by Fishbed77

I have 2 recently-imported surplus Hi-Powers that I've acquired in the last year.

One is a force-matched and refinished (parkerized) Israeli-marked Mark III, and the other an all-matching Mark II with original (and scratched/worn) matte blued finish. I replaced the recoil on spring on each out of habit, and have done no other work to them.

The all-matching gun feels tighter, and was clearly shot very little, but both are reliable and accurate shooters.

That makes sense that the matching gun would be tighter. Were they Mach 1 guns?

[dogtown tom]

Drm50 I have had several FN Browning HPs and like amount of clones. The only ones that came close were some under Mauser than were made in Germany after WW2.

Mauser never manufactured a Hi Power clone or copy.
FEG of Hungary did manufacture a Hi Power clone with "Mauser" rollmarked on the slide. FEG would have put "Lexus" on a pistol if they thought it would sell and are well known for manufacturing counterfeit/fake Hi Powers with FN markings.

Once Brn started farming out to Portugal they weren't the same quality gun.

Horsehockey.

They were assembled not fitted as they were at FN. Some of the clones are not
bad when compared to the Portugese models but not near as slick as the originals from FN.

As noted above the only FN Hi Powers marked "Assembled in Portugal" were those imported into the USA by Browning Arms. Those imported by FNMI, FNUSA, Cassi, Vector, etc were not marked as such.

[Drm50]

By the time they got into mark series they weren't quality of original models reguardless of
who made them. The HPs marked Mauser were first made in Germany. They are stamped
Germany near trigger guard if so. I had one a couple years ago and still have pictures of it.
I don't keep any but original models and have had enough of them apart nobody is going
to convince me the newer series has the fit & finish of the older ones. They were cost cutting during this period just like everyone else in gun business. If you have some and they
make you happy that's all that counts. I'll stick with my older models of Brn HPs just as I
do with other brands. There is a point of time that fit, finish and other cost cutting measures
were used by all the major gun manufactures. In Brownings case that's why some guns were made in Japan, and FN parts assembled in Portugal. Guns made the old way couldn't compete with new modern methods.

[dogtown tom]

Drm50 By the time they got into mark series they weren't quality of original models reguardless of
who made them.

Being that the Hi Power MkII were marketed specifically to LE/Mil with their parkerized finish, you could argue that they weren't the same quality. But those guns were manufactured side by side with the commercial polished blue Standard models......same factory, same tooling, same machining, same everything but the finish and cosmetic changes to the slide and barrel ramp.

The HPs marked Mauser were first made in Germany. They are stamped
Germany near trigger guard if so.

Again, Mauser NEVER manufactured a single Hi Power pistol. Those were made by FEG of Hungary. This is old, old "news".

FEG also made Hi Powers with "Luger" on the slide, I suppose you know where the Luger factory is?
You confuse guns made under contract vs actually manufactured by the company who's name is on the slide. The Browning BDA .380 wasn't made by FN, but by Beretta. It has all three companies (Beretta/FN/Browning) markings on it.

I had one a couple years ago and still have pictures of it.
I don't keep any but original models and have had enough of them apart nobody is going
to convince me the newer series has the fit & finish of the older ones. They were cost cutting during this period just like everyone else in gun business. If you have some and they
make you happy that's all that counts. I'll stick with my older models of Brn HPs just as I
do with other brands. There is a point of time that fit, finish and other cost cutting measures
were used by all the major gun manufactures.

I too have FN Hi Powers from pre war, Nazi occupation, post war, T & C series as well as MkII and MkIII.
I won't disagree that a parkerized MkII isn't the quality of finish on my T's.....but that isn't a QUALITY OR MANUFACTURING ISSUE.....it's a deliberate MARKETING issue. Same as with the polished blue MkIII's vs the MkIII's with the black epoxy finish. Both finishes manufactured side by side with the other. Imagine that.

In Brownings case that's why some guns were made in Japan, and FN parts assembled in Portugal. Guns made the old way couldn't compete with new modern methods.

You have a near total misunderstanding of FN firearm manufacturing.

[Ibmikey]

I have fourteen Hi Power pistols (FN) and five FEG Hi Powers from Israel ( four of these are consecutive numbers) half of my FN pistols are from Israeli contracts. Of all the pistols only one a Browning marked “Capital” is marked assembled in Portugal although several are 1976 “C” series and 245 from the eighties and nineties. Of the two cast frames only the Capitan is Portugal marked and that pistol has the nicest high polish blue of any H P I have seen.
My “collection” consists of: Firstyear of production Belgian Army issue, Inglis 0T series, Eseries, post war, T Series, Browning Capitan, Mk II, Mk III pistols all of which get shot on a regular basis. The FEG pistols are clones of the Mk II and can pile brass with the best of the FN’s....love em’ all.

[Fishbed77]

That makes sense that the matching gun would be tighter. Were they Mach 1 guns?

The force-matched Mark III was likely one of the last guns sold by CDI before their warehouse fire put them out of business. The matching Mark II came from Mach 1.