Hey guys,

I finally went out and bought the Hi-Power that I've been talking about.  I talked them down to $350 + tax cause it has a ding in the rear sights.  It's kind of interesting, cause it seems very plain compared to the ones I've seen before.  The serial number is 289### which doesn't fit into the number series listed on FNHiPower.com - I was wrong though, the same serial appears on the frame, slide, and barrel, so at least the parts are all original.

It seems to have some kind of ordanance mark stamped on the front left side of the trigger guard and also on the barrel above the serial number (visible in the ejection port.  It looks something like this:

http://www.mindspring.com/~drolsen/image3.jpg

and it also has a stamp on the right side of the slide at the rear below and behind the sight:

http://www.mindspring.com/~drolsen/image4.jpg

There's also a "P" below the end of the safety pin on the right side of the frame.

The only manufacturer markings are "F.N. BROWNING" on the left side of the slide.  It doesn't say "Hi-Power" anywhere.  The bottom the grip, behind the mag well, says

C. M. O.
Sav., Ga.

which I guess means it was imported at Savannah, GA?

Can anyone tell me anything about this pistol and what it might be worth if it's unusual at all?  I can provide a scan of the pistol if anyone's interested in seeing it.  Thanks a lot!

Dave in Kentucky

Dave

When guns were made for military, police or large volume companies, they often specified their own serial number sequence. So since that was a surplus import from somewhere I'm not surprised that the number doesn't sho. One question though. Are there by any chance two letters after the first three digits?

I've never seen the proofmarks that you show. If you can get a picture of them though it might help. There was a Spanish Proof mark that was similar to what you drew.

Don't worry about it not saying HiPower. That was only the designation for the ones that Browning imported. In the rest of the world it's a P-35, Grand Puissant. That translates into (Most Powerful ie: HiPower) in English.

Quoted: When guns were made for military, police or large volume companies, they often specified their own serial number sequence. So since that was a surplus import from somewhere I'm not surprised that the number doesn't sho. One question though. Are there by any chance two letters after the first three digits? I've never seen the proofmarks that you show. If you can get a picture of them though it might help. There was a Spanish Proof mark that was similar to what you drew.

The serial number is all numerals, six digits total.  Looks like one of those military or police batches you referred to.  I guess that's going to be pretty hard to track down...

I just moved and haven't unpacked my scanner yet, but when I do, I'll scan the pistol and blow up the proof marks and post the images.

Thanks for the reply,

Dave in Kentucky