WWII FN Hi-Power

Here is an FN Hi-Power that was made during German occupation.
The grips and mag are not original.
I`ve shown this gun to several WWII collectors around the area. A couple think it has been refinished at some point, most think it is original finish.
During that time these guns were made with finish that ranged from pre-war commercial grade to down right crude, so it`s hard to tell from that.
One thing is sure, if it has been refinished, it was done with great care by someone who took pride in their work.

Very nice. I love the Hi Power.

Very nice.
Could it be a commercial production gun from just before the invasion, say March 1940, that the Germans then added waffenampt proofs to?

Pete

Sugar River said:

Very nice.
Could it be a commercial production gun from just before the invasion, say March 1940, that the Germans then added waffenampt proofs to?

Pete

Click to expand...

Could be. From what the WWII collectors tell me, you find these with lots of variation. Anything from polished blue commercial grade finish down to poorly applied oxied type finish with no polishing out of the tool marks at all.
I`m no expert on the history of the Hi-Power, when I bought this gun last year I thought it was a 50s era FN. Didn`t find out how old it was until I got it home and started looking closely at the frame and slide markings.

The Hi-Powers are great shooters. I bought a new Browning Hi-Power in 1979. It was close to being a work of art. And it shot just as good as it looked.
A buddy convinced me to sell it about 20 years ago and I`ve been kicking myself ever since.

My WW-II HP has tool marks all over it. It also has usage marks all over as my Uncle carried for the rest of WWII and all of Korea after he liberated it.

Hi-powers were widely used by the Waffen SS, who originally got mainly weapons made in conquered and occupied countries: Polish Radoms and FN 1935s were common handgun issue for them, since the regular army got first shot at standard issue arms. In the beginning of the war, they used many Czech small arms (CZ33 carbines, Model 98/22 rifles, ZB26 light machine guns, for example) that were somewhat different from the regular Wehrmacht issue. That changed as the war progressed and the SS became more "regularized" but they continued to use many captured/conquered weapons all through the war.

They do NOT seem to have specially marked most of these weapons--they have the usual Waffenampt acceptance marks. So there's no way to tell if yours was SS issue. The grips look like postwar commercial FN replacements.

A great handgun.

A buddy of mine has one with shwastikas stamped in it. It has an ugly cheap-looking black finish, but is a great collector and shooter.