Help Identifying my old High Power

[hawkwind]

I'm fairly certain its pre-war based on the tangent sights and the slot in the grip. Pictured are all markings I can find. magazine isnt period and I believe the grips are replaced from something newer.  My best guess is that its a pre-war commercial gun. Any info on what I have and a ballpark value is appreciated. I doubt I will ever sell it as it came from a friend who's not around anymore, but I do like to know what I have.

Attachments:

[hawkwind]

pics

Attachments:

[ToddSig]

Welcome to HPC hawkwind

Nice early High Power. The tangent High Powers with shoulder stocks were both pre war and post war manufcature. You cant date based on tangent vs fixed sights. That said, I do agree it appears to be a pre war High Power, possibly manufactured in 1938 based on the serial number (but, FN also used contract numbers that do not correspond to dates). The 500 meter tangent sight with 2/3 coverage of the sight leaf corresponds to High Powers that were sold with a shoulder stock, and has the T-1 elevation ramp. Those with full leaf coverage of meters were sold without shoulder stocks, but most likely had the grip slot.

The * over an N is an inspector mark. This mark belonged to Henri Florkin who inspected between 1927 and 1958.

Two things I would like you to check which might assist in determing if it is a pre war High Power. Can you find any markings of an A within a box. This was a pre war final inspection mark. Might be under the tangent sight (you would need to remove the sight to check) and also under the left grip, possibly just above the frame opening. And two, remove the barrel and check to see if it has a round barrel cam. These were changed to a squared barrel cam around 1938. See image below from Vanderlinden's 3rd edition.

Again, check for the A in a box and the barrel cam and let us know.

Given the lack of military acceptance marks, I too agree it was probably for the commerical market.

[hawkwind]

Excellent information. Just under the rear sight, there appears to be a number "5" stamped, and present just under the left grip is an "A" with a box surrounding it.

[hawkwind]

Round barrel Cam also.

[cmdrcody]

Show photos of the marks and barrel please.

[ToddSig]

Excellent, so with the following observations

• The A with lines around it, a pre war mark
• The round barrel cam, which tranistioned to the square cam around 1938 onward
• The serial number, according to Vanderlinden, High Power serail numbers ended around 4800 for 1937, and 11800 was the ending serial number (for non-contract numbers) for 1938 
• no military acceptance marks noted
• Controller of the proof mark * over N, of Henri Folkin working between 1927-1958, it fits the inspectors working date range, although he did work over a large number of years.

Looks like a matching number, pre-war 1938 manufactured commercial market FN High power

Thanks for sharing.

[wycowboy]

Is the round cam barrel pictured above (pre 1938) the same as the barrels in my 1981 and 1986 alloy FNHP’s?

Attachments:

[ToddSig]

Feb 11, 2024 16:13:44 GMT -5 wycowboy said:

Is the round cam barrel pictured above (pre 1938) the same as the barrels in my 1981 and 1986 alloy FNHP’s?

Great question wycowboy , have you tried switching the barrels into the opposite frames? I dont have a pre '38 so cant try. Perhaps someone else has tried this. They certainly do look similar, but not sure if the tolerances are the same.

[wycowboy]

Yes it’s an extra barrel I bought and works fine in both the 81 and 86. I was a little worried when I pulled the trigger on the first shot. Surprisingly to me the accuracy at 25 yards was about the same in both firearms. I was just wondering if the design was the same because they look so similar. I bought the extra barrel because I noticed the difference when I cleaned the alloys and thought it might be a good idea to have a spare. One is none and two is one! Thanks