So long Browning Hi Power...

870P

870P

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http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/02/06/browning-ends-hi-power-production-1936-2017/

That's all she wrote, except for special editions drawn from existing stock, and possibly limited production runs at some point in the future.

I'll never forget the first time I held one, it was by far the best feeling grip I'd held on a pistol at that point.

I'm definately starting to appreciate steel framed pistols more now in this world of soulless utilitarian polymer...
 
I,ll be sad to see it go. They are a great pistol, and one of my favorites. I always wondered they were not even more popular.
 
One reason they weren't more popular is the price premium for the Browning brand.

Browning didn't manufacture the guns, FN did. Browning had the exclusive right to market them in N.America. I don't know if Browning not having them made anymore also means FN won't keep making and selling them with the FN designation P.35. If the P-35 is still available elsewhere in the world someone might be able to import them to N.America.
 
There's mention in the TFB comments about the tooling being worn out and cost to renew it being more than further sales could support.
 
I think a lot of people like them but the gun has had a few things working against it for the last few decades. First, volume customers all switched to striker or da/sa. On the civilian side they don’t really fit advantageously into the rules for any shooting sport, they are not an inexpensive gun, and they’ve been made for so long that used ones are not hard to come by at a deep discount. Collectors don’t want new production. Add the new Turkish copies into the mix, which by all reports are very good, and the market is saturated.

When you do the math what is left is a very small market; some dude with $1200 to burn on a fun “toy”. Sure, there are lots of people with money to burn, but there are also a lot of fun toys that compete with gun budgets.

FWIW, I love the BHP. First handgun I ever fired and still one of my favourites.
 
There's also the CZ75 and clones, which give you most of the positive qualities in a more modern and durable package.

Not nearly the history though.
 
Not surprised....I've thought that this was coming for awhile.

I suspect that fact that they didn't fit into any of the shooting sports categories didn't help either. (Both in terms of sales and in terms of aftermarket parts and support)
 
I read that FN offered to licence production of the High Power a few years ago.

The potential licensee turned it down due to the low volume FN was selling...somewhere on the order of 1,000 guns per year....in fact i believe that number (1,000) is high...

Funny that the clones easily have sold that in just canada in a year...kind of argues that the issue isn't a lack of demand, but rather an unrealistic price structure.
 
Who's still producing High Powers besides Turkey?

China, the Philippines?
 
We live in a plastic world - plastic politicians, plastic cars and plastic guns. People want cheap, even if it doesn't work.
 
Sad news... of all the double stack 9mm's I've ever owned or tried the BHP MKIII fits me the best!

Got one in 9mm & one in .40 S&W..... both keepers!

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Maybe it's just me, but with the history of the Hi-Power in Canada, and FN no longer producing them I definitely see a niche that could be amply filled by a Canadian gunmaker.
 
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