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Alerion · October 31, 2006, 11:34 AM

For what it's worth, one of the Indianapolis gun shops had two new Hi-Powers on display with one priced around $400 and the other at around $675. I asked what the difference was and the owner said the first one was an "SFS" and the second one was an "S". Unfortunately I didn't ask what the functional difference was between the two. I was more interested in the gun I was actually purchasing and I'm used to different model guns within the same line having different prices.

Also, as part of this "Hi-Power History Lesson,"

John Moses Browning (JMB) was an employee of Fabrique National (FN) when he designed the Hi-Power. In fact JMB dropped dead in his office at FN. In his honor FN named the gun after him, the (John Moses) Browning Hi-Power. Also supposedly in his honor, but as more of a marketing device since JMB's name was becoming recognized, FN also created a Browning division to market guns largely in the US. Browning was never a separate company from FN nor did it exist during JMB's lifetime. So all of the FN produced Hi-Powers are properly called Browning Hi-Powers no matter how they are marked (as could accurate copies of the design if FN didn't hold trade-rights to the name.)

As far as the marking on the guns go, FN has been pretty sporadic in recent years. Proving that the Browning name still sells, the most desireable guns (at least in the US) are the guns marked "Browning", second are the guns marked "Fabrique National" in large letters, and finally are the guns without a large rollmark on the slide simply marked "FN" as the manufacturer. However even though the markings have some effect on the value of used guns as collectables don't expect any real difference in the price of a new gun.

FN is about as sporadic in marketing the guns as they are in marking them. They've gone in and out of production several times in recent years. It seems like when Hi-Powers go out of production long enough for demand to grow high that FN does another production run. After that batch begins to sell out FN takes them out of production again. Anyway, that last part is just my opinion.

Tom

October 31, 2006, 11:34 AM	#6
Alerion Senior Member Join Date: January 13, 2002 Location: Bloomington, IN Posts: 287	For what it's worth, one of the Indianapolis gun shops had two new Hi-Powers on display with one priced around $400 and the other at around $675. I asked what the difference was and the owner said the first one was an "SFS" and the second one was an "S". Unfortunately I didn't ask what the functional difference was between the two. I was more interested in the gun I was actually purchasing and I'm used to different model guns within the same line having different prices. Also, as part of this "Hi-Power History Lesson," John Moses Browning (JMB) was an employee of Fabrique National (FN) when he designed the Hi-Power. In fact JMB dropped dead in his office at FN. In his honor FN named the gun after him, the (John Moses) Browning Hi-Power. Also supposedly in his honor, but as more of a marketing device since JMB's name was becoming recognized, FN also created a Browning division to market guns largely in the US. Browning was never a separate company from FN nor did it exist during JMB's lifetime. So all of the FN produced Hi-Powers are properly called Browning Hi-Powers no matter how they are marked (as could accurate copies of the design if FN didn't hold trade-rights to the name.) As far as the marking on the guns go, FN has been pretty sporadic in recent years. Proving that the Browning name still sells, the most desireable guns (at least in the US) are the guns marked "Browning", second are the guns marked "Fabrique National" in large letters, and finally are the guns without a large rollmark on the slide simply marked "FN" as the manufacturer. However even though the markings have some effect on the value of used guns as collectables don't expect any real difference in the price of a new gun. FN is about as sporadic in marketing the guns as they are in marking them. They've gone in and out of production several times in recent years. It seems like when Hi-Powers go out of production long enough for demand to grow high that FN does another production run. After that batch begins to sell out FN takes them out of production again. Anyway, that last part is just my opinion. Tom __________________ Well, sometimes we’d travel right down the green river To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie hill. Where the air smelled like snakes and we’d shoot with our pistols But empty pop bottles was all we would kill. -John Prine, Paradise