The Browning 9mm Self Loading Pistol is the issue side arm for the Royal Air Force, RAFPC and RAF Combat Weapons Teams. The weapon is used "as issued" in competition in other words it is not allowed to be modified in any way.  

This is a 9mm semi-automatic pistol that is chambered for the NATO standard 9mm x 19mm pistol round. This round is also known as the 9mm luger and 9mm parabellum. Some modern literature refers to the gun as a "hi power", early literature refers to it as a "high power", this is a translation from its original title given to it by Fabrique National d'armes de guerre (FN) "grand puissance".

History
The pistol was designed by John Moses browning in the 1920s for the Belgian weapons manufacturer FN, the pistol first went into production in 1935. John Browning died in 1927. The final design work was done on the pistol by an FN employee Dieudonne Saive. A quick visual inspection of the browning high power will immediately show its pedigree. it shares many similarities with an earlier browning design, the 1911 colt 45. The Browning High Power, also known as the Browning 9mm and at one time in the U.K. as the Browning 38 has been produced by several manufacturers besides FN, millions of these guns have been produced. Some armories have produced copies with the help and blessing of FN, some countries have produced unauthorized "knock-offs". Of the various clones, some are exact copies and have parts interchangeable with the FN guns, some don't. At various times during its history, the high power has been the issue sidearm in over fifty countries. what follows is a partial list to give some idea of the usage: Germany, Denmark, Britain, Iraq, Peru, Israel, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, and Malaya.

Manufacturers of the high power
Browning high power pistols were used during WW2 by both the axis powers and the allies. the guns the allies used were produced in Canada by John Inglis & co, pistols have also been made in Israel, Argentina, Hungary and Indonesia. The current FN production is machined in Belgium and finished in Portugal. The Argentinean model, called the FM (fabricaciones militares), is a clone made with the blessing and assistance of FN. It will interchange parts with the FN Browning and is currently in production, it is not as well finished as the Belgian models, but is functionally good. The Canadian models went out of production at the end of WW2 the Inglis models are not 100% interchangeable with the FNs. The Hungarian model the Feg fp9 is a direct copy with some differences it has a ventilated rib and is believed to have some parts interchangeable with the FN. From Israel there is a clone called the Kareen. This gun is believed to made from parts machined in Hungary. Indonesia has also produced an unauthorized clone the "Pindad". This gun has not been sold outside of Indonesia and was made to supply the needs of the Indonesian military.

Basic models
Obviously, over the years there have been many variations of the high power produced. This is not a list of the minor differences, but a note on the major differences.
Early models were produced with a detachable stock and adjustable sights. The stocks were often wood and doubled as a holster for the gun it appears these were designed for cavalry use. The pistols designed for the detachable stock have a groove cut into the rear of the pistol grip, some models have a lanyard ring at the base of the grip. Late models often have an ambidextrous safety. The finish is usually blued. Some models have been made in nickel and chrome plate and many have been phosphated (parkerised). One finish that has also been used by FN is parkerising with black enamel paint over the parkerising. this finish is designed for military use. Guns made for the civilian market by FN are usually blued.

Ammunition
The high power uses the 9mm parabellum cartridge. A production browning should have no trouble feeding and firing any cartridge of this caliber, this includes various hollow point, blunt and round bulleted cartridges. Ammunition that fails to feed in modern semi-automatic guns will usually feed and fire with no problems when loaded into a browning high power.

Magazines
The standard magazine is a blued 13 round magazine. The standard magazine can be disassembled by removing the floor plate. The floor plate slides off by inserting a small screwdriver between the body of the magazine and the front of the magazine body, pulling the screwdriver away from the body will then allow the follower and spring to drop out of the body. The magazine is usually only disassembled to replace the spring or to thoroughly clean the magazine.

Magazine safety
As currently manufactured, the high power comes with a magazine safety. This means that when the magazine is withdrawn, the gun will not fire. The FN company put this in the gun so that if the shooter touched the trigger while inserting a magazine the gun would not fire if there was still a round in the chamber. Many civilian owners remove this safety, it is done for two reasons. First of all, many owners want to gun to be in fireable condition without the magazine so a fresh magazine can be inserted during combat. The other reason is that the magazine safety prevents the empty magazine dropping freely out of the magazine well. The German military during WW2, told the FN company to leave the magazine safety out, they did this so the gun would always be in fireable condition. When FN took back the factory at the end of WW2, they continued making guns without the magazine safety for a while. These guns have an "a" in the serial number prefix.

Field stripping
The high power is easily field stripped, it can be done in the dark. When disassembled, it should consist of the following pieces: the frame, the slide, the barrel, the magazine, the slide locking lever, the main spring and the main spring guide. seven pieces including the magazine.

I will be updating this part of the site in the next few weeks with a few pix and more on stripping the weapon.