Browning Hi-Power Question

[Watchdog]

I'm hoping someone with Hi-Power production knowledge can answer this question.

Was Browning nickel plating Hi-Powers back in 1964 as an option or maybe special order?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm looking at a T-Series Hi-Power that appears nickel plated and it is also engraved. The plating looks pretty good, and the 13-round magazine is also brightly plated. The engraving is okay, but has a slightly unfinished look to me. And the engraving appears to me to be two or three different types of scroll, some with shaded backgrounds, other parts without. It almost looks like the gun is engraved to show samples of an engraver's work...but maybe that's just how I'm looking at it.

I'm thinking this may be someone's pistol customized and engraved to their specs, but have no history of the gun to verify that.

Any thoughts/opinions on this will be much appreciated.

 

[axl911]

That is not factory engraving. It looked like someone took a nickel hi power and engraved it.

 

[Watchdog]

That is not factory engraving. It looked like someone took a nickel hi power and engraved it.

Thanks for the reply. I actually got to handle the pistol earlier this afternoon. I pretty much knew nothing about the finish or engraving was factory, but I did learn a little about the history of it. It's kind of an interesting piece.

 

[Protected One]

That doesn't look like anything you'd want to own Watchdog!
Give me the dealers name and I will remove the temptation.

 

[Watchdog]

That doesn't look like anything you'd want to own Watchdog!
Give me the dealers name and I will remove the temptation.

Your comment made me smile...a rare occurrence before 9:00 a.m.

I actually am thinking of buying it, believe it or not, although I'm halfway trying to talk myself out of it. I've been looking for an older fixed-sight Hi-Power, and this T-Series pistol from '64 fits the bill. I've also been looking for an engraved pistol that wouldn't bankrupt me. This one fits that bill as well. So we'll see.

The grips are not correct for the pistol, although they do have the red inside the panels. Someone also suggested that it may have a C&S hammer...but looking at side by side photos of a factory ring hammer and the C&S hammer, I'm not sure about that. The hammer on this pistol looks thicker than a C&S hammer. And needless to say, the gold trigger isn't correct for this gun. It's sorta like someone saw a Renaissance Browning and decided to make a less ornate version for themselves. Who knows?

 

[DWalt]

Back in the 1970s, I had a friend with a nickeled HP. Someone had installed a S&W adjustable revolver rear sight on it, but it looked and performed well. I don't know abiut the engraving, but at one time Browning sold a "Renaissance" grade HP which I think was both engraved and nickeled.

 

[Camster]

I'd say that the plating and engraving are both aftermarket.(I was a Browning guy,long before becoming a Smith guy,and I've owned a standard and a Renaissance model.)This one is someone's attempt to have something like a Louis XVI Brownng BHP,but built on an older frame and hand engraved.

 

[Watchdog]

Back in the 1970s, I had a friend with a nickeled HP. Someone had installed a S&W adjustable revolver rear sight on it, but it looked and performed well. I don't know abiut the engraving, but at one time Browning sold a "Renaissance" grade HP which I think was both engraved and nickeled.

Browning engraved two or three different models in their Renaissance style, and sometimes offered three of them together in a boxed set. The pistols had their satin nickel finish. This Browning here is definitely not one of those...it's just too shiny. Plus the Renaissance pistols featured engraving that was pretty much full coverage. And if I'm not mistaken, the Renaissance pistols came with faux mother of pearl grips. The grips on this pistol look like grips from the eighties series of Hi-Powers. If I bought this pistol, the grips that are on it would have to go.

The pistol continues to interest me...it has some appeal.

 

[Watchdog]

The End of This Story for Me...

The Browning has hit the financial ceiling that I'm not willing to go past in order to get the pistol. If it'd been any month other than December, I'd have pursued it. But instead of looking at it as a lost opportunity, I'll look at it as opening doors to other opportunities...like at the big gun show next weekend. There's a vendor who's always there with a couple of nice vintage Hi-Powers, not to mention several vintage Colt 1911s.

To be continued...