Browning HP 35

[CROLUGER]

Few days ago I have bought Browning HP 35. The barrel is in good condition, grips are very good, and it shoots very accurate. Number is 146127, on the left side with German WWII marks WaA140. Does anyone know priduction date? Thanks.

[lew1]

Nice pistol

All German production records appear to have been destroyed. So any estimation of production date is a guess.

I would say 1942.

[Frank]

I would agree with charlie, about mid year 1942.

[rolandtg]

Very nice! Some day I will find one like that.

[Cristi]

I have a GP 35 , serial 51719 , WaA 613 marked, tangent rear sight and slotted . Can you tell me the year it has been made?

[lew1]

I would think that it would be late 1940.

Although the Germans took over the factory in May of 1940, they acquire all of the existin military weapons. So a need for immediate production did not exist.

If the serial number on the barrel matches the serial number on the frame and slide, would you be so kind as to tell me the location of the barrel serial number.

Can it be seen thru the ejection port or is it on the reverse side of the barrel ?


(I have #s 51662 and 51998. The location of the barrel serial number varies between the two and I am trying to determne where the change occured.)

[Cristi]

Originally Posted by lew1

I would think that it would be late 1940.

If the serial number on the barrel matches the serial number on the frame and slide, would you be so kind as to tell me the location of the barrel serial number.

Can it be seen thru the ejection port or is it on the reverse side of the barrel ?


(I have #s 51662 and 51998. The location of the barrel serial number varies between the two and I am trying to determne where the change occured.)

The serial number on the barrel matches the serial number on the frame and slide and it is on the reverse side of the barrel

At the ejection port can be seen on the barrel two stamps WaA 613 and a stamp eagle with swastika

[lew1]

Thank you.

My 51662 has the serial number in the sampe place as yours. 51998 has the serial number on the front side of the barrel like the later German Hi-Powers.

So somelace beween 51719 and 51998, the Germans changed the location of the serial number on the barrel.

[lew1]

mine:

[Frank]

I agree with Charlie!! Maybe in the July/August 1940 timeframe!! Nice

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Cristi

I have...

Nice looking longbarrel Luger, Cristi...How's she shoot???

[Cristi]

Originally Posted by postino

Nice looking longbarrel Luger, Cristi...How's she shoot???

Now she sleep! See more here

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=127294

[Cristi]

Originally Posted by Frank

I agree with Charlie!! Maybe in the July/August 1940 timeframe!! Nice

Few pictures

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Cristi

Now she sleep! See more here

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=127294

Images Not Available; a common problem.

You mentioned it was unloaded; and cited the lack of magazine. It could still have a round in the chamber...

There was a news article some years back about a group of young boys who found an old rusted .22 auto pistol in a field or yard...They took it to one's fathers workshop, clamped it in a vise, and tried to clean it up...They got the slide back and were trying to clear a round out of the barrel when it discharged...

I can't post to that Forum, but that is not an "Artillery Luger". The tangent rear sight would be mounted on the barrel, on a stepped section next to the chamber, in a ramped dovetailed box. The grip frame would also be notched on top where the barrel screws in. As mentioned, it would not have the toggle sight. It also wouldn't have the curious protrusion on the end of the barrel.

There's better pics, but here's one I leeched off GB...

[Cristi]

Originally Posted by postino

Images Not Available; a common problem.

You mentioned it was unloaded; and cited the lack of magazine. It could still have a round in the chamber...

..

Thank you for the warning! I've allready stiked a wire in the barrel first time I cleaned, it'is no shorter then barrel and chamber! And also the Geladen marked extractor is down!

That forum requires registration to see pictures

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Cristi

Thank you for the warning! I've allready stiked a wire in the barrel first time I cleaned, it'is no shorter then barrel and chamber! And also the Geladen marked extractor is down!

Yes, it never hurts to check!

I was going to suggest bead blasting, or maybe crushed walnut shell blasting; but I have seen items that looked like there was metal under the rust just blow right through...Rust was the only thing keeping the shape...

That forum requires registration to see pictures

I was registered there; but it rejects my username/password, and when I tried to register, it said there was already a user from this address...

Things are wonky all over the Web today...

[pitsword]

Is it possible that the "barrel extension/muzzle protrusion" is the remains of a .22 cal conversion kit?

[Cristi]

Originally Posted by lew1

Thank you.

My 51662 has the serial number in the sampe place as yours. 51998 has the serial number on the front side of the barrel like the later German Hi-Powers.

So somelace beween 51719 and 51998, the Germans changed the location of the serial number on the barrel.

Another one, serial 84780 on barrel abd frame, not slotted, WaA103 on barrel (left side) and WaA104 on slide,placed in front under the barrel hole.Surprisingly for me, the marks Fabrique Natinale were erased,

[Cristi]

Both Brownings( the unslotted belongs to my brother)

[PhilOhio]

Your tangent sight sight Hi-Power brings back memories of a beautiful one I once owned, and foolishly sold because I thought it was not very accurate. I had been shooting a box of old surplus ammo and, in retrospect, that was the problem.

It was the late 1950s, and I was a young college student in Toledo, Ohio. Scanning the "for sale" section of the newspaper one day, I saw a Hi-Power privately advertised at less than $100. I called and got directions to the east side ethnic working class neighborhood where I could see it. I was greeted by a young man of Polish origin who was living with his elderly father, who spoke broken English.

The pistol was beautiful, in nearly mint condition, slotted, with tangent sight, and with all the Nazi Waffen markings. They sort of hated to sell it, but needed the money and were not collectors or shooters. I quickly bought it.

Then the elderly father told me about his sentimental attachment to the gun. During WW-II, he had been a slave laborer in the Belgian factory where they were making the guns. At the end of the war, somehow he managed to smuggle one back to the U.S. I didn't ask how. But now he was getting old and was ready to say goodbye to it, wanting the money more than the gun.

Yes, I let it get away, selling it a year or so later for maybe $100, after shooting less than one box of surplus ammo through it, one time, out in a woods some three miles from where I sit right now.

Ah, to turn back the clock. Enjoy your Hi-Power, Cristi. I have a finely made Hungarian FEG clone, but it is not the same as my Nazi 1935, once owned by one of the men forced to make them.