1. Fn P35 Pistol Serial Numbers

by Rick Hacker - Monday, November 19, 2012

Gents, Do we know when the Radom Model 35 pistols with E prefix serial numbers (with WaA77) were manufactured? The early E prefix pistols seem to be mixed into those with shoulder stock cuts while later ones without cuts still have slide legends without the added P.35(p) markings.

This was then followed by the serial number beginning with 1000. Example: 69C1000 = A 1969 Hi Power pistol with a serial number of 1000. T200 C=Hi Power: 1976-1997: In 1975 Browning standardized its serial number identification which it followed until 1998. FN manufactured very few pre-war pistols with fixed sights. Asides from pre-war serial numbers, these can always easily be identified by the fact that the frames are always slotted for shoulder. Serial numbers from 1954 through 1957 are estimates only. From 1958 on, better records were kept and the serial numbers are more accurate. The 40 S&W caliber was introduced in 1994This pistol is still in production today. To find your serial number, you will need to refer to your owner's manual. We have most owner's manuals online. Serial number matches the barrel, frame and slide. On the left side of the trigger guard, forward of the trigger was marked, what could be mp, mr, mb, not real crisp on the last letter. Also on the frame and slide were the markings, w8a140, with kind of like eagle wings above the number, and both magazines have the same number. When the Germans took over the factory, FN was into the 46000 serial number range. This was in May of 1940. Also consider that in 1939, FN sold 2400 Hi-Powers to the Finns which pistols were in the 12000 to 14000 serial number range. I think the factory is incorrect with the information they gave you. Nazi marked Belgian Browning Hi-Power. The FN P35 “Hi-Power” had been in production since 1935. Designed by John Moses Browning, and completed by Dieudonne Saive, the pistol was chambered in 9mm and had a 13 round capacity, and was a desirable military firearm.

11/19/2012

The GP-35, or Grand Puissance, as the Browning Hi-Power was originally called, was developed at the request of the French government for a post-World War I replacement pistol that was easy to field strip, had an external hammer, a minimum magazine capacity of 10 rounds, and was accurate out to 50 meters. It also had to have a magazine disconnect, meaning the gun wouldn’t fire unless the magazine was fully inserted. The man commissioned to design this wündergun was John Browning, who had created the Government Model pistol. In designing the gun that would become the Hi-Power, Browning had to circumvent many of his M1911 patents, which were owned by Colt.

Sadly, Browning never got to finish the job, for on Nov. 26, 1929, he died of a heart attack in Belgium. Fortunately, Fabrique Nationale (FN) had another talented designer, Dieudonné Joseph Saive. Saive perfected the gun’s innovative double-stack magazine, giving the gun a 13-plus-one capacity and consequently, its Hi-Power nomenclature.

Saive eventually had an advantage Browning did not, for in 1928 Colt’s M1911 patents expired, permitting some elements—such as a simplified take down system—to be incorporated into the Hi-Power. In 1935, the Browning Hi-Power, with a 4 5/8-inch barrel weighing 2 pounds, and able to print 2 1/2-inch groups at more than 50 yards in spite of its heavy trigger pull, was introduced.

Ironically, the French government passed on the gun, but Belgium and other countries eagerly accepted it. When the Germans occupied Belgium in 1940 and took over FN, the Hi-Power was renamed Pistole 640(b) (for Belgisch/Belgium). It was issued to both sides during World War II, with Allied guns made by John Inglis & Co. in Canada. Civilian U.S. importation began in 1954. Since 1971, some Hi-Powers have been assembled in FN’s Portuguese factory using Belgian parts, but contrary to rumors, the gun has never been manufactured in Portugal.

This Hi-Power Type II variant is a wartime pistol with the desirable tangent sights, German “WaA 140” Waffenamt (Weapons Office) inspection stamps, matching serial numbers and walnut stocks (subsequent stocks were Bakelite). At 85 percent finish it does not have Belgium’s pre-war polish but has yet to exhibit the roughness of later guns made under Nazi occupation. As such it is worth $950 to $1,250. Had it been an earlier gun milled for a shoulder stock, the value would have been higher. With any Belgian-made wartime Hi-Power, beware of fakes.

Gun: Browning Hi-Power
Caliber: 9 mm Luger
Serial No: 145XXX
Condition: Good (NRA Modern Gun Condition Standards)
Manufactured: 1941-42 (est.)
Value: $950-$1250 (add $100-150 for accompanying original German holster)

Fn P35 Pistol Serial Numbers