WWII German Hi-Power P-35

[Seahawk]

Pretty cool.

My wife's uncle gave us the pistol this week. It was his uncles. His uncle, Ralph, was a sniper in WWII and brought the pistol home with him.

He carved his name in the pistol grip and the holster, which he modified.





Here is what I could find on the interwebs. I bolded the applicable marks and serial number.

In 1940, the Germans seized the Fabrique Nationale factory and continued to produce High Power pistols for the Wehrmacht. Collectors recognize 3 variations of High Power pistols manufactured under German occupation.

First variation models are the most valuable, they have serial numbers under 53000, and were manufactured from pre-occupation parts that were in stock at the FN factory at the time of takeover. These pistols have walnut grips, a high polish commercial grade finish, a tangent 500 meter rear sight (this is the sliding sight that you mention) and slot for a holster/shoulder stock attachment.

Second variation pistol serial numbers are in the 53000 to 145000 range. These pistols are just about the same as first variation pistols with walnut grips, a high polish commercial grade finish, a tangent 500 meter rear sight but they are not slotted for a holster/shoulder stock.

Third variation pistols were manufactured towards the end of the war, they have serial numbers over 145000 or serial numbers with letter suffix. Finish on third variation pistols is a poor quality military grade, sights are non-adjustable 50 meters and grips are either wooden or brown plastic.

The High Power pistol was designed by John Moses Browning and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Herstal, Belgium. The Belgians were first armed forces to adopt the High Power as an official sidearm, they did this in 1935. Between 1935 and the German capture of the FN factory on May 29, 1940 contracts were filled for the armed forces of several countries including Belgium, China, Peru, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and France.

From the plant's seizure by the Germans in May of 1940 to its liberation in September of 1944, over 319,000 High Powers pistols were manufactured for the German Wehrmacht. The first several thousand pistols were made up from captured parts and had a high polish finish, a shoulder stock slot cut into the rear grip strap and tangent rear sight. To speed production, the Germans eliminated the shoulder stock slot and then the tangent sight at about serial number 145000. As production continued, the quality of finish was reduced to dull blue over a progressively less polished metal. The Germans used three Waffenenamt stamps on High Power pistols:

Eagle over WaA613
Eagle over WaA103
Eagle over WaA140.

Your pistol is the third variation, these were stamped with eagle over WaA140, had fixed 50-meter sights, wood or brown plastic grips and dull military-blue finish over rough machine marks. The approximate serial range for this variation is 145000 to 210000, then 01a to 100000a and finally 01b to 63000b.

Yearly production of High Power pistols under German occupation was as follows:

1940..................... 8,500
1941..................... 65,700
1942..................... 80,600
1943..................... 101,200
1944..................... 63,000

[Steve F]

Very nice!! I love BHP's!

[GH85Carrera]

Nice family piece. If you have a nephew you should try to give it to him someday.

[onewhippedpuppy]

That's very cool. Totallly agree that you should keep it in the family someday, it's a great piece of history.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Nice family piece. If you have a nephew you should try to give it to him someday.

I should have been more clear - my wife's uncle gave it to Jack, my son...I think the "us" in my OP was a bit of wishful thinking on my part.

[pwd72s]

The Hi-Power is still one hellofa pistol. I will confess to some prejudice here.

[Don Ro]

Pretty cool.
.
Love my Belgium BHP. It lives in my RAV4.

[JCF]

VERY COOL Seahawk

These are the most interesting of guns to me.
Been there, brung back.
You see so many "vet bringbacks" for sale.
Most without papers, and therefore not 100%ers

These are different.
Not only the real deal, but with someone trusted to pass along the details.
To me better than papers even if not as marketable.

This 29M was given to a guy that works for me by his uncle. Couldn't get the mag to drop and gave it to me to fix/clean. It didn't look like it was touched since the war.
There was a dagger picked off the same officer that was also passed down but sold.
And the piece of red cloth was part of an armband.

Strange feelings working on it. Tried to leave as much grime as I could.

[black_falcon]

Nice example of a Nazi Hi-Power. If you decide to sell it in the future, I collect bring backs.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by JCF

VERY COOL Seahawk

VERY COOL right back attcha: I had no idea what an 29M was/is:

Hungarian Weapons Femaru Frommer 29M Pistol

We shot the P-35 last weekend. It was as nice and accurate as my 1984 BHP.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by black_falcon

Nice example of a Nazi Hi-Power. If you decide to sell it in the future, I collect bring backs.

I don't think my son will be selling - it is his family gun now.

If you feel compelled, what type of bring backs do you have? This is my first experience and I, like JCF, find them very interesting with a story to tell.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

The Hi-Power is still one hellofa pistol. I will confess to some prejudice here.

I agree. I really like my 9mm. It just fits my hand, like the 1911.

I am still kicking myself for not buying one of the $400 .40 cal units that were selling on Gunbroker a few years back. Can't find one for less than $800 now. My Sig226 in .40 is probably superior in many ways, but I keep getting drawn back to the Hi-Power.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by JCF

VERY COOL Seahawk

These are the most interesting of guns to me.
Been there, brung back.
You see so many "vet bringbacks" for sale.
Most without papers, and therefore not 100%ers

These are different.
Not only the real deal, but with someone trusted to pass along the details.
To me better than papers even if not as marketable.

This 29M was given to a guy that works for me by his uncle. Couldn't get the mag to drop and gave it to me to fix/clean. It didn't look like it was touched since the war.
There was a dagger picked off the same officer that was also passed down but sold.
And the piece of red cloth was part of an armband.

Strange feelings working on it. Tried to leave as much grime as I could.

Most Vet bring backs came in the Service mans Duffle bags without the Army Certificate. Then over the years an inconsequential piece of paper gets lost. So either it is a WW2 or even WW1 vintage spoon or it isn't. Until the 1960's there need not have been importers markings on the spoon. A lot of material was brought in as war surplus.

As far as certificates go, I had a US ARMY bring back certificate for a Luger, a 38 cal (sic 9mm) pistol and Hitler Youth dagger. I only had the Luger and Dagger which I sold. The new owner added another pistol to the certificate and tried to sell them as a WW2 vet bring back package. The SHARP eyes on GB alerted me of the situation suggesting I contact GB to alert them of the fraud. I obliged.

On another old timey percussion rifle made by Carlos Gove of Denver fame I sold the rifle at auction. A year or so later the rifle resurfaced at another auction house, this time dressed up as if it had been in Indian hands...the bidding ended as a did not meet reserve at 9K. Whether the perpetrator of the fraud or a chump of a buyer who bought it from him tried to auction the piece is an unknown?

The Krauts being the Anal Huns that they are liked to number everything. During WW1 as pressure to produce war material increased they ceased to number the screws just numbering the major components. However the field service depots (or arsenal rebuilt) were not so particular where parts would get mismatched. So it is rarer than one would think to find all matching spoons from either WW1 or WW2.

Hand spoons not being the primary weapon saw far less use and abuse. As such the need for servicing was much less with condition and originality being much higher. It is interesting that at the Custer massacre site the archaeologists found very few 45 LC shell casings. Indicating that the 7TH Cav troopers did not have time to deploy or reload their Colt SAA's. They were wiped out that quickly.

[JCF]

I have a few that were claimed to be or show evidence that they were a Vet bring back - and very well might have been as they are all matching and one rifle with a duffle cut and a Model 1842 Springfield with initials carved on the stock, and they show some real out in the elements use - I find it difficult to believe many clean guns stayed that way in combat for very long. Can't say they weren't, and as Tabs points out pistols were probably not pulled very often even in the front line... but it just takes it down a notch for me (unless it has real papers or a trusted source).

Hard to imagine how many ended up in duffle bags being the valuable commodity they were to those behind the front (the farther behind, the more they were worth no doubt) and I love those pics of unshaven Dog Faces with any number of pistols, a couple knives and 100 lbs of gear all mudded up...

But it's those that are my Holy Grails - especially the ones that they held on to and passed down.
It's amazing how different the feeling to hold the sure thing compared to one that probably, was very likely, to have been there.

I imagine the Great Great Grand Kids being told how that old gnarly piece of living history ended up in their hands.

[JCF]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

VERY COOL right back attcha: I had no idea what an 29M was/is:

Hungarian Weapons Femaru Frommer 29M Pistol

We shot the P-35 last weekend. It was as nice and accurate as my 1984 BHP.

Funny - the fellow who entrusted it to me isn't much of a gun guy and over the years he would mention it and I kept asking what kind it was, what it looked like and in my head, from his rough descriptions I formed this image of it being a High Power.

I only knew vaguely that there was a Femeru pistol because it is Hungarian (- on my Moms side)
It is a real sweet little gun - the more I handled it the more I appreciated how well built and simple it is ( except for the finger hook being part of the mag which seems crazy, manufacturing wise...)
They seem to have been quite popular with German Officers, tankers and pilots - the Germans even had a 7.65 version made for the Luftawaffe.

This one though is an early Hungarian marked pistol and it makes me wonder about its journey and how it ended up in the Ardennes.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Paul, have you guys tried shooting it?

[911boost]

I have a WW2 Luger bring back by my grandmothers brother (great Uncle?) with all of the Nazi markings on it from Africa where he served. We don't have any paperwork for it, but I know the story.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Paul, have you guys tried shooting it?

We did.

Uncle Buddy (the one who gave Jack the gun, Jack and me each put two clips of five through it. No issues.

I have a BHP made in 1985 and the old BHP shot just as well. The gun was stored and maintained properly since it was brought back.

We used lower grain stuff.

I have to echo JCF's feelings again: You can't help but wonder where the gun has been and with who.