The Browning Hi-Power.
The Browning Hi-Power (often referred to as the Browning Nine Millimeter) is a Belgian single-action, semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized. The Hi-Power is one of the most widely used military pistols in history, having been used by the armed forces of over 50 countries.
History[]
The Hi Power name is somewhat misleading and alluded to the 13-round magazine capacity; almost twice that of contemporary designs such as the Luger or Mauser 1910. The pistol is often referred to as an HP (for "Hi-Power" or "High-Power") or as a GP (for the French term, "Grande Puissance"). The term P-35 is also used, based on the introduction of the pistol in 1935. It is most often called the "Hi Power", even in Belgium. It is also known as the BAP (Browning Automatic Pistol), particularly in Irish service. Although the Browning name will appear on pistols imported to the United States, the model name "Hi-Power" will not be seen on any genuine FN/Browning manufactured pistol, regardless of country of origin or location of sale—clones will, however, place the "Hi-Power" mark. Based primarily off of the CZ 75 and the Colt M1911, the Hi-Power can be considered the 9mm 1911.
The Browning was a novel handgun in the 1970s, having also been seen as the "hero gun" in the 1977 Roderick Thorp novel, Nothing Lasts Forever, which would later be made into the famous action film Die Hard.
First Blood (novel)[]
Will Teasle carries the Browning as his main weapon here. In the film he carries a Smith & Wesson Model 66 revolver.
"Rambo shifted his eyes down to Teasle's left side and the handgun he wore. It was a surprise, not the standard police revolver but a semi-automatic pistol, and from the big handle Rambo decided it was a Browning 9 millimeter. He had used a Browning once himself. The handle was big because it held a clip of thirteen bullets instead of the seven or eight that most pistols held. You couldn't slam a man flat on his back with one shot from it, but you could sure hurt him bad, and two more would finish him, and you still had ten more shots for anybody else around. Rambo had to admit that Teasle carried it awfully well, too. Teasle was five foot six, maybe seven, and for a smallish man that big pistol ought to have hung awkward, but it didn't. You have to be pretty large to get a grip on that big handle though, Rambo thought. And then he looked at Teasle's hands, amazed at the size of them."
First Blood[]
In the film, Teasle's Browning Nine Millimeter is replaced with a Smith & Wesson Model 66 service revolver, chambered in .357 Magnum. Ironically, in the novel, Rambo mentions a revolver, surprised that Teasle doesn't carry one. In the film he does, and the Browning is not mentioned.
Appearances[]
- First Blood (novel)