No idea where you saw them, so can't comment. But if they're rough, maybe due to refinishing in a Third World country, you'd be better off to look for an Argentine-licensed one or maybe the Hungarian copy. Or a Taurus. Even genuine used Beretta 9mms can be had for maybe $425-450.
My son carried a MK III Browning HP as a security contractor in Iraq. I've got photos of it and asked him about it. The finish was a normal gray military sort, but no tool marks, roughness, etc. It had the usual FN markings, but not, of course, any referring to North American sales.
It was totally reliable, and proved very effective, even with NATO hardball ammo. And it was not gelatin blocks that he was shooting with it... He says that if you hit right, a hardball 9mm will generally suffice, although one enemy he shot at maybe 15 feet took about a minute to die. But he was scrabbling around on the floor in agony and offered no further hostility. That fellow had just been shooting at US troops with a Dragonov (sp?) sniper rifle. He was shot with a Beretta M-9, but the Browning shoots the same ammo at the same velocity. A hit with either pistol is the same as if with the other, and he used both. Usually, his targets dropped at once and were heard from no more. In some cases, he remained under heavy fire and was unable to check fallen enemy, but they did always drop and didn't move before he left a few minutes later. He is a skilled shooter and very familiar with handguns, something that can't be said of most soldiers. I think that most failures to stop with 9mm are a matter of poor bullet placement.
I mention this partly because some Brownings won't feed JHP ammo. But even if you're stuck with hardball, it usually works, if you can put it in the right place.
This was confirmed for me by the late David W. Arnold, a senior police official in charge of anti-terrorist ops in then- Rhodesia. He saw many after action reports where 9mm pistols and SMG's were used.
That said, my son (and I) now load 9mm's with Gold Dot or Federal's HST ammo. I do feel that it gives an added edge in questionable cases. I am aware that Che Guevara said that 9mm hardball was questionable in many shootings, and that he preferred .45 pistols. He was a Commie, but he saw a lot of people being shot.
I personally wouldn't buy a gun like you described. Who knows where they came from and how they were maintained? Rough appearance is rough appearance. It may be more than skin deep.
