The first one is a Prewar 1937 or 1938 Belgian army accepted High Power GP (Grande Puissant).  It still has the Magazine safety,

The left side


The right side




The second one is a early1972 Belgian made Browning High Power.  The previous owner had the grip straps stippled.  At the time the serial number was on the front grip strap.  So he rather sloppily stamped the serial on the side of the frame. The magazine safety was also removed and the sights are factory.  It's going to be the third gun in my carry rotation.  Next week it will Crimson Trace laser grips installed.  Bring a lefty the ambidextrous safety is nice.The grips on the gun are really nice I'm going to keep them.

The left side


The right side

Nice looking BHPs. The hard chrome looks like the grips have been checkered not stippled to my eyes. That is a rare modification. Many smiths will not checker a BHP because there is not much material there to work with. Do you know who did the mods? The hammer, trigger guard, thumb safety, trigger and sights have all been modified along with a short beavertail.

The thumb saftey is factory and the sights too per Anthony Vanderlinden book. As far as the rest I really do not know who did it.  You are correct on the checkering my error.

Thumb safety has been modified. The lever is too long to be a FN/Browning part. Someone used the factory safety and welded the longer lever on to it. The front sight maybe stock I can't see enough of it from the pic but the rear is not. I am 100% positive on those statements.

Nice

Always wanted one of the former, plus a modern Practical model

ALMOST had one of the early style made up for me, but sad to say I never owned a BHP - even though I was working at the UK branch of the firm at the time!
They'd just brought out the Mk.III/Mk.II (?) which I thought were horrible looking things with that new style safety.

The wages sucked, the management (aside form one bloke) REALLY sucked & the employee discount was a joke....a pity as I was/am a huge JMB fan & love the GP.35 & have a few of his other designs that are UK legal

The fact that he moved the serial number and destroyed the original one is still a violation of the law from my understanding. You cannot remove the serial number period. Destroying it and stamping it else where still counts as destroying it.

Not necessarily. A pistolsmith or manufacturer can ask for a variance or exception to relocate a serial number. It is not unheard of on BHPs because of the serial number location on the front grip strap. They will not always grant it but it has been known to happen. The location where the serial number is now would be an "Approved" location because many vintages of BHPs have their serial number in that location.

First I've heard of it.

 

It happens with BHPs often because the stamping on the front of the grip strap is so light. People have had to get it restamped by Browning/FN or relocate if because of wear, checkering or stippling. Many smiths like Don Williams (The Action Works), Novak, Garthwaite, Yost etc... have run into this over the years. Guys like Williams and Garthwaite often put a border around the serial number on the grip strap when they do stippling. I believe Yost will only checker FN frames which do not have a serial number on the fornt strap.

When you ask nicely and are in keeping with the general notion or spirit of the law and the request is not crazy the ATF often allows all sorts of variances. I have witnessed an Agent go as far as to provide a letter from the local field office authorizing a deviation from the normal course of Busniess or even sign the margin of a 4473 acknowledging the ATF is aware of it.

I've always seen the serial number never moved and checkering or stippling done around it.

Thank guys i'm not too worried about serial number thing cause the other mods were done well.  I'm pretty sure the person who move it jumped through the necessary hoops.  I checked the date on interior of the slide it's 71 so it could have been late enough to get a 72 year in the serial.  

The front sight is original.  I can see what has been said about the safety levers.  You can see the difference between these and the original levers.  It's going to be the third leg in my conceald carry triad.

On another forum someone suggested that my gun was worked by Armond Swinson i believe they are correct.

The first one is most likely 1937.  Mine is the same and in the low 6000 range and that was 1936

Love them both.

The sights are absolutely NOT factory...period. You say Anthony Vanderlinden indicates factory? Where is this coming from?

I miss read the info in Vanderline's book on the FN Guns the rear sight is not original but add later.  The original sight of the type in my gun would have been adjustable mine is not.  However the front sight is factory.  I you want to check it out, get your self a copy of "The FN Browning Pistols" buy Anthony Vanderlinden.  It is the bible that most if not all the Browning pistol collectors use as a reference.

Surprised to find the above response this afternoon .

You sound sincere Don...if a bit confused, so I'll start with and reiterate my original post: "The sights are absolutely NOT factory...period. You say Anthony Vanderlinden indicates factory? Where is this coming from?"

I asked "where" meaning where in the AV book you reference, what page specifically? Are you referring to pg. 350: "1972: The adjustable rear sight (with higher front sight) is introduced."? Or were you referring to pg. 362: "...1971. This change occurred at the same time as the addition of a new model with an adjustable rear sight and correspondingly higher front sight."? These are the only references to the post 1970 adjustable sight BHP AV presents in the book you reference...except for a single washed out pic of a 1980 engraved (Louis XVI/Sport) BHP found on pg.363. Incidentally Don, a better view of the original BHP adjustable sights themselves can be found on Pgs. 354, 355 and 366 where they are mounted on various Model 125/130 (10/71) .380 pistols. These pistols shared the same exact sights...front and rear, with the BHP and you'll note the front sight is nothing like your aftermarket front sight.

Right up front, AV is a well respected author who is very knowledgeable regarding early "collectable" BHPs...in my personal experience corresponding with him in threads and via PM, he's a very decent guy and I personally respect him a great deal, but when it comes to the "T", "C" and later BHPs multiple...even conflicting (see above), errors have crept into that book. FWIW, the adjustable sight was actually introduced into BHP production in 1971...not 1972. The rear sight of those BHPs is designated Type A…as other rear sights followed. It’s colloquially known as the "Beer Can" rear sight. The name comes from the thin spring steel “beer can” shaped portion of the sight that contains the rear notch. There is a large screw on either side used to make the windage adjustments. The front sight…used for almost 20 years, is machined as one piece, it’s relatively large and tall, it consists of a wide serrated ramped base that narrows into the less wide serrated ramped front sight blade...see Figure 354-1 for a top view. These front sights were silver soldered to the slide. This is the adjustable sight BHP front sight AV referred to on pg. 350 and 362…and is pictured on pg. 366. Again, it is nothing like the aftermarket front sight fitted to your 72C.

Further Don, you insist your 72C started life as an adjustable sight BHP, how did you arrive at that? The modified condition of your 72C makes such a claim impossible to determine. Judging by numbers produced, it’s more likely your 72C started life as a fixed sight Vigilante Model. In fact, the dovetail cut for the rear sight is different between the Vigilante (smaller/shallower/further back) and the Sport (larger/deeper/further forward). MMC never made that sight for the Sport Model because the factory Sport Model front sight is too tall. If your 72C started life as a Sport Model, the rear dovetail would have had to have been welded up…usually using a “Dutchman”, before a new (smaller) dovetail could be cut. I’ll go one further, your aftermarket MMC rear sight appears to have been meant for a 1911 which…if that’s the case, would have required the fixed sight BHP dovetail to have been opened up slightly…an easy/common gunsmith procedure. Or the 1911 MMC sight could have be reduced in size to fit the BHP fixed sight dovetail. In any case, the current dovetail containing the MMC rear sight is in the location associated with the fixed rear sight of BHP.

DUH, why didn’t I think to post this link BEFORE taking the time to write the above? Stephen Camp…while not a BHP “collector/historian” per-se, was (RIP) THE BHP end user guru. He was/is HIGHLY respected by anyone who knows the BHP. This link will allow those who don’t have a fortune invested in a BHP library to view pics of the BHP Sport Model…and specific to this discussion the front sight which is clearly not what is mounted on Don’s 72C.


http://hipowersandhandguns.com/classic_hi_power%20sport%20model.htm

Sorry I did not mean the original rear sights on my gun were adjustable but that the type illustrated in Verlenden's book looked similar.  Thank you very much for a more detailed and informative post.  I believe the rear sights are just as you describe.  Bye the way the info stamped on my gun on the firing pin channel does say 1971.  I assumed it refers the slide production only and that the gun was assembled in 1972 hence the 72C number.

UR most welcome Don , I was looking mostly to clear up the: "However the front sight is factory." from your previous post, as you can now see...it is not. Clearing up...actually speculating , the original nature (Vigilante v. Sport) of your 72C just kind of happened.

Re: BHP production; FN produced parts, inspected those parts, marked those inspected parts...all large/some small, that passed inspection with a code...a "Part Date Code", placed those parts in storage and made those parts available to the assembly floor by placing them in parts bins...used to be actual wicker baskets. These bins/baskets were periodically filled with more parts, so there was virtually always a mix of parts from different parts runs with different Part Date Codes. Consequently, during assembly parts with different Part Date Codes would be assembled together into a finished pistol...it's more the norm than the exception. When you say your slide "says 1971" I assume you mean there is a Part Date Code consisting of a small diamond...or partial diamond (denoting trimester), surrounding a number 1...this denotes a slide inspected in 1971. If you have the AV book you mentioned earlier, you'll find the chart on pg. 88.

Enjoy your gems.....

Thanks realsubmoa I didn't know much about the post war HP as to what was factory and what was not. The pre war GP and the 72C are the first ones I have has since the nickel one I had in 1983.  It was in a wood box with red velvet lining.  I traded it of for something else a year or so later.