thankyou

Question
QUESTION: hello doug i have a question on a gun my father left me. it is a browning hi power 9mm. its sn is t262803. it has an adjustable rear sight and a circular hammer with a hole in the center.i have looked up info on these guns but cant find a manufactures date for this serial number. anyways hope you can give me a little more insight into this gun.

ANSWER: Gil,

First question back to you.  Does the serial number have a prefix of either 69C or 70C?  If so, that will give you the year of manufacturer.  From the looks of the serial number, you could have a very late 1969 or early 1970 produced gun.

The gun was made by FN in Belgium and imported between 1954 and 2000.  From the sounds of things you may have the standard model with a polished blue finish and a laterally adjustable rear sight.  The hammer with the hole in the center is called a 'ring hammer'.  Your gun also probably has an external extractor which was introduced after 1962.

The Browning Hi Power was John Browning's final design.  It was essentially an improvement on the 1911 design on a number of levels.  First, it introduced a 'double stack' magazine giving the gun a higher ammo capacity.  It was also 'the' U.S. military handgun during WWII.

It is interesting that this quintessentially "American" handgun has always been manufactured by Fabrique Nationale or "FN" in Belgium.  The relationship between Browning and FN dates back to the turn of the 20th Century.  FN manufactured a wide range of Browning designs over the years.  Browning actually died before completing the design and it was his protege, Dieudonne Saive that completed the design.  His primary contribution was the double stack magazine that Browning did not like as he felt it unreliable.  That certainly has not been the case with this particular type of firearm.

If you are interested in reading a lot more about the Browning Hi Power in general, I'd suggest reading the Wikipedia article on it as it is quite good in terms of providing history.  

If you are interested, your version would be worth between $500 and $550 if it were in 95% to 98 % condition.

Sounds like you have a nice gun...I'd love to add one of these to my collection.

Best regards,

Doug Little


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i couldnt find and prefixes on the browning. my follow up question is how and where would a guy go to become a blacksmith. i know that online classes are always an option but i am more a hands on type. i hope you can point me in the right direction.

Answer
Gil,

Sorry but I really can't help you on the blacksmith side of things.  Anything I'd tell you would about that would be something that I just looked up.  I'd not have any real recommendation to give.

As far as the prefixes, since they are not there, you definitely have a 1969 gun.  The prefixes first started in very late 1969 and continued after that.

Best of luck to you.

Regards,

Doug Little