Springfield Armory, long a maker of M1A rifles and M1911 pistols, is teasing a new product with some interesting clues. 

In a post on the company's social media pages late Wednesday is an image of a worker at an assembly station. To his right is an M1A1 rifle propped against the bench. Over his left shoulder is a digital clock with 19:35 next to a photo of famed firearms genius John Moses Browning.
 

Springfield armory 10.25.21 teaser
Springfield Armory's teaser, note the Browning portrait and 19:35 time on the clock. (Photo: Springfield Armory)


While Browning didn't have a hand in the M1/M14 series rifles, he did invent the M1911 from whole cloth – along with the .45 ACP cartridge it used. The inventor's swan song, however, was the double-stack 9mm Grande Puissance Model of 1935, best known to history as the Browning Hi-Power.

A staple of NATO militaries and a handgun eagerly sought out around the world, the BHP was the first successful locked-breech combat pistol, and its 13+1 capacity was tough to beat in its day. Heck, the BHP is still used as a military sidearm in Australia, Canada, India, and other countries. Sadly, and to the heartbreaking disappointment of many firearm purists, FN stopped production of the Hi-Power in 2018, leaving the field to generic clones made in Turkey and elsewhere
 

Browning Hi Powers
The Hi-Power, because what's not to like? (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)


"We're bringing it back," is the only text included by Springfield Armory on its cryptic workbench photo, with the date "10.25.21," on the image itself. As a bonus, if you look closely to the right of the worker's right hand, it looks like a BHP frame, with its characteristic double-stack mag well, is on the counter.

We're not saying it’s a BHP, but all signs point to a BHP, at least how we read it. 

One thing for sure, though, is that it won't be called the BHP, as FN owns both the Browning brand and thought enough to trademark the term "Hi-Power" when used in relation to firearms last November just in case.

Watch this space Monday when Springfield will likely debut...something, anyway.

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