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Belgian GP-35: Pre-War Browning High Power Complete Rig (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2022-08-17 12:01:03 +0000 UTCThe Browning High Power (“Grand Puissance”, aka GP-35) was developed by Fabrique National in Belgium, designed primarily by John Browning’s apprentice Dieudonné Saive. It began in the very early 1920s as a pistol designed for a new French Army requirement, but eventually split into two separate development tracks. By the early 1930s the French procurement process was still ongoing, but FN felt that the current iteration of their pistol (the Grand Rendement) was succificently mature to be a viable military sidearm. They began offering it for sale, and the Belgian Army quickly took an interest. One thousand were purchased for Belgian field trials in 1933, and with a few minot changes it was adopted by Belgium as the GP-35 in 1935.
The first guns are delivered in May of 1935, and the first troops to receive them were troops like machine gun crews, tank crews, messengers and other men who needed a weapon, but not a full-length rifle. By 1938 enough have been delivered that the specialty troops and NCOs have been fully equipped, and guns begin to go to officers, replacing things like the FN Model 1900. By the time of the German invasion in May 1940, some 30,000 - 35,000 High Powers have been delivered to the Belgian Army. In addition to this, several other military contracts were made by FN, selling the pistol to Estonia, Lithuania, Paraguay, China, and Finland. However, the Belgian orders account for the significant majority of all pre-war made High Powers.
Note that in the US, original pre-war High Powers with original stocks, 500-meter tangent sights, and serial numbers below 47,000 (no prefix) are exempted from the NFA, and are not legally considered short-barreled rifles.
Comments
Rick Notkin
You solved a mystery for me. I have an Inglis with a stock, but it doesn’t fit. The stock must be from an FN pistol. Thanks.
Wayne Parris
I love my Hi Power. It was purchased by me while I was at Ft Bragg, N.C. in about 1977. It was a used police duty arm. Heck for stout, I can't remember ever having a jam, miss fire or any other function issue.
Guido Schriewer
full package huh. nice. saw a lathi with stock and all going for 4000 today niiiice condition. well by ww2 there were enough smg around. with a ww1 p08 stocked not so much. and they still come out with stocks for glocks today, don´t they.
ViejoLobo
Stamp happy!
Terry
By the spelling, the apprentice’s first name is pronounced dyuh-dun-ay.
Steven E
Having shot the GP-35 and the C-96 Mauser with the shoulder stocks, they are fun to shoot and accurate too.
