John Browning's swan song handgun design, the Hi-Power, had reached its zenith by the mid-1980s, and a special run from that heyday is breathtaking.
Mr. Browning filed patents in 1923 for what would become the Hi-Power just three years before he died in Liege, Belgium, his workshop at FN left empty. This final concept pistol, finished by Belgian firearms designer Dieudonné Saive – the man from whose mind later sprung the FN FAL – entered production in 1935 and would remain a staple of the company until 2018 when it was discontinued.
Related: Two Guys One Gun, Episode 7 – Browning Hi-Power
Across that 83-year run, the Hi-Power, like any firearm platform, evolved through several generations with the Belgian-made T and C-series pistols of the 1960s and 70s often regarded as the high water mark of the design. By the late 1980s, the Belgian-made/Portuguese-assembled guns shipped with a magazine safety which typically meant a gritty trigger, a much plainer finish, and plastic grips.
To celebrate the Hi-Power, which was coming up on its 50th year of production in 1985, FN produced the Browning Classic series which included engraved "1 of 5,000" pistols and gold-inlayed "1 of 500" pistols, with some set aside for sale in limited three-gun sets with similarly engraved Auto-5 and a Superposed Superlights. However, actual production numbers fell short of the monikers, with less than 2,850 engraved Browning Classic Hi-Powers of all types constructed between 1984 and 1986.
The standard "1 of 5,000" Classic Hi-Powers featured multiple engraved scenes and fine scrollwork along both the slide and frame with a special silver-gray finish, presentation walnut grips, a gold trigger, and a matching walnut presentation box.
For a better look, check out the specimen from this run that we currently have in the Guns.com vault of certified used firearms.
Sure, there have been, are, and will be lots of Hi-Power clones out there, but only the FN-made BHP was a legend.
