[fred cook]

I just saw some pictures of Browning Hi Powers produced under the German occupation of Belgium that began in 1940. The serials on the occupation guns have a suffix of "1a". Since your gun does not have that, it is probably one that was made for the Belgium military between 1935 and early 1940. The occupation guns will also have a German "Waffenampt" proof on it. Judging by the condition of your Hi Power, it most likely saw some hard service during WWII.