At the moment, a brand new Browning Hi Power handgun isn’t so easy to come by in the U.S., and it looks like it’s going to stay that way.
Browning has announced that it will no longer produce the venerable 9mm pistol, designed by John Moses Browning, which has been made since the 1930s.
According to this story from shootingillustrated.com, “Current dealer inventories will be the last available from Browning for the foreseeable future.”
Supplies at gun shops are already scarce, as availability to dealers ended at some point last year, the story says.
The Hi Power was the first pistol to use a staggered magazine, designed by Browning, which doubled the capacity of the handgun compared to what was available at the time, with 13 rounds.
It’s an iconic 9mm combat pistol designed by America’s most famous gunmaker. It’s considered one of the best combat pistols ever designed. But it never caught on like the 1911. What’s the story behind the HP?
Since its adoption by the Belgian military in 1935 (after the French, who commissioned the design, passed on it) more than a million of the handguns have been made, not including copies and knock-offs.
In today’s market, the single-action, all steel Hi Power seems quite antiquated when compared to polymer 9mm striker-fired handguns with more capacity and far less weight, but this is certainly the end of an era.
The story says it’s not clear if the gun will still be produced overseas or not, but for now, it’s going to be tough to get a new Hi Power in the U.S.
For a deep dive into the history of the Browning Hi Power, go here.