Nazi Marked Hi Power Pistol

Smitsauce

Smitsauce

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Hey,

Anyone know if you can actually get a date of manufacture from the serial number of an FN Browning Hi Power with Nazi stampings? I don't have any of the great books yet and was wondering if anyone had more information than what is contained in Wikipedia. Here are a few pics.

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IMG_2841.jpg


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Thanks,

Ian
 
Congratulations on your wartime FN GP Mdle.1935. I don't know of any reliable source for dating these pistols. The plant was run by the Germans during the war, and records were lost. If you poke around on the net you might find something, and maybe one of the knowledgeable members can point you in the right direction. My guess is that because of the high serial number, the Waffen Amt 140 acceptance stamp, and the tool marks that weren't buffed out, it's likely a gun from 1944. If it doesn't have the magazine safety, it's almost certainly one of the late war guns often referred to as the "third variation" of German production of the pistol. Good luck with your search.
 
Thanks MTF. It does have the magazine safety. I forgot to mention that. The bore is only about 60% or so and the throat is fairly worn. There is a little pitting showing as well. Not to worry too much as I have a very nice replacement coming that I will shoot and keep the original matching serial #ed one for collectors purposes.

Ian
 
Here’s the answer I got on another forum when I was doing research on my Pistole 640(b) (German Hi-power). Look at the Waffenamt stamp on your pistol and you’ll have your answer. I did regret selling it but I needed some cash to finance another firearm purchase. Good luck

''WaA 613 = The very first Hi-Powers with the slotted shoulder stock cut and the tangent rear sight will be marked with the Waffenamt stamp WaA 613 and were manufactured from from May 1940 until early in 1941 with a serial number range of 44,500 through 65,200.

WaA 103 = The next group of Hi-Powers were made from January of 1941 until May of 1942 and will be marked with the Waffenamt stamp WaA 103. Some reports claim that the WaA 103 marked Hi-Powers were only made during 1941 so the research is still ongoing. These pistols will be found with the tangent rear sight but no shoulder stock slot. They fall into the serial number range of 65,200 to 95,000.

WaA 140 = The third and final German WWII era made Hi-Powers will be found with the Waffenamt stamp WaA 140. These WaA 140 stamped pistols were manufactured from late 1941 until the liberation of the FN plant in Belgium in 1944. None of these pistols will have the shoulder stock slot, but the early made examples in the serial number range of 95,000 to 135,000 will have the tangent rear sight. When the tangent rear sight was removed, the Germans replaced it with a fixed rear sight that was drift adjustable for windage only. It appears that the first of these WaA 140 marked fixed rear sight pistols begin at around the serial number of 150,000 which leaves a gap in the serial number range between the tangent and fixed sight WaA 140 marked pistols. The fixed sight WaA
140 marked pistols continued until around serial number 200,000 which dates them toward the end of 1942. At the beginning of 1943, a new serial code numbering system is used which began at number 01a until number 99999a was reached. Then at the beginning of 1944 the serial number 01b began and continues to about 6300b, at which time German production ceased due to the liberation of the FN factory. All of the letter suffixed serial numbered pistols will be found with the fixed rear sight.''

Hope this helps
 
I didn't see the "Just Kidding" unitl I hit the quote reply button. Man, I was going red in the face! lol :D

ipscgraz said:
That pistol looks like it needs to be cleaned up a bit. Why don't you get it chromed? And the right grip has a chunk out of it so get some nice ivory or similar grips, don't you think?











(just kidding, of course)
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Truthfully, it is a little strange to think that this well used pistol was in the hands of some super-human-better-than-everyone Waffen SS or Fallschirmjager and may have taken some of our boys lives at some point from 1942-1945.

But in reality, any of the milsurps out there will have been directly involved in taking countless millions of peoples lives. It doesn't make the rifle or pistol bad or evil, the soldiers carrying them were mainly just doing the bidding of a few complete lunatics that started these incredibly wasteful and destructive conflicts.

If my right hand ever starts acting funny while using it, like Bruce Campbell's in The Evil Dead, I may have some other feelings on the subject... :)

Ian
 
bellero said:
Care to explain?
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Again, Personally...I believe items of that nature hold a sense of pure evil and I believe they hold no relevance and IMO shouldn't even be kept in a museum. For me to imagine the pain and tragedy of the stories that gun could tell if it could talk are something better left alone and I would find no joy in owning something that caused so much devastation. What if that gun had a counter on it for the innocent lives it took? Similarly would you be proud to own a machete that brutally hacked off the limbs of innocent men women and children in the genocides which Africa has seen? Remember this is just my passionate opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. p.s. sorry for hijacking this thread
 
QuietWhisper said:
Again, Personally...I believe items of that nature hold a sense of pure evil and I believe they hold no relevance and IMO shouldn't even be kept in a museum. For me to imagine the pain and tragedy of the stories that gun could tell if it could talk are something better left alone and I would find no joy in owning something that caused so much devastation. What if that gun had a counter on it for the innocent lives it took? Similarly would you be proud to own a machete that brutally hacked off the limbs of innocent men women and children in the genocides which Africa has seen? Remember this is just my passionate opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. p.s. sorry for hijacking this thread
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I understand your point and respect your opinion. But remember, the object used to commit those crimes is not what is responsible and should not be destructed or blamed. It's only by understanding what caused some nations to such hatred towards other nations that we can prevent it from happening again. Artifacts is a good way to keep history vivid in memories either it be a firearm, a piece of clothing or a vehicle.

I have owned numerous piece of Nazi regalia but I never shared any of the NSDAP views. A few family members served in WWII fighting the Germans which sparked my interest in military history from both side of this conflict.
 
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bellero said:
I understand your point and respect your opinion. But remember, the object used to commit those crimes is not what is responsible and should not be destructed or blamed. It's only by understanding what caused some nations to such hatred towards other nations that we can prevent it from happening again. Artifacts is a good way to keep history vivid in memories either it be a firearm, a piece of clothing or a vehicle.

I have owned numerous piece of Nazi regalia but I never shared any of the NSDAP views. A few family members served in WWII fighting the Germans which sparked my interest in military history from both side of this conflict.
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Well thanks for understanding, I respect your point as well. Im not saying to destroy all evidence of the past, I just get very passionate thinking about the things that have happened in those times that only the dead could be witness to. It is also hard to accept seeing that Nazi symbol (especially on a gun) and what it REALLY stood for. Im not try to argue, merely in awe of the reality of such hate.
 
I have one of these as well. I've often thought of the # of attacks/defense, maybe crimes it was involved in. Considering the length of service of the Waffen ss and Fallschirmjager units and the fact that they served on all the fronts....It does speak a bit louder than any allied piece I have.
 
QuietWhisper said:
Well thanks for understanding, I respect your point as well. Im not saying to destroy all evidence of the past, I just get very passionate thinking about the things that have happened in those times that only the dead could be witness to. It is also hard to accept seeing that Nazi symbol (especially on a gun) and what it REALLY stood for. Im not try to argue, merely in awe of the reality of such hate.
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The same would go for Soviet Tokarevs and Mosins then? Stalin and Beriev once signed 3,800 death warrants in a single day, and then went for dinner and to the Opera. He was our ally and we could not have won the war without him.
 
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