Inglis High Power: How a Chinese Whim Became A British Service Pistol
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 янв 2025
- During World War Two, the Canadian government set up a loan program to help Chinese companies provide all manner of material aid to Canada’s allies. Among many others, one recipient of this aid was the Nationalist Chinese government under Chiang Kai Shek. Chinese representatives asked the John Inglis company to manufacture no less than 180,000 Browning High Power pistols, and the company agreed.
After some wrangling, Inglis acquired a license from FH representatives to make the guns, got a complete technical package through the British government and FN’s representatives in exile, and the direct personal aid of Laloux and Saive from FN. Delivery proved difficult, though, with only about 4000 guns being shipped to Karachi and then needing to be flown over The Hump in cargo planes, along with massive amounts of other aid - and a few pistols didn’t get a lot of priority there.
By the fall of 1944, the contract was cancelled under concerns that it was not really contributing to any progress in the war against the Japanese, along with insistence from American General Stilwell that the Chinese forces be armed with weapons that could be supplied more easily through the American logistic network. Production restarted after the defeat of Germany, with another 40,000 or so being made and delivered before it was cancelled again when the Nationalist Chinese forces were seen to be clearly losing to their Communist opponents.
Each of these pistols was supplied with a combination shoulder stock and holster. In the US, attaching a stock to a pistol would normally subject it to registration as a Short Barreled Rifle, but the Inglis High Powers are among the guns exempted from this requirement. They are, in fact, among the least expensive and most modern guns to be exempted in this way.
/ forgottenweapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! shop.bbtv.com/c...
If you enjoy Forgotten Weapons, check out its sister channel, InRangeTV! / inrangetvshow
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85704
I've got an Inglis fully automatic .... washing machine. Completely unregulated in Canada!
M Riverlands
How can the people ever be safe when weapons like these are so hard to obtain?
Hey, my dryer is Inglis! :D
... for now
James Coombs i heard somewhere that some hi powers made by inglis were converted to full auto and used by the sas
I saw Inglis (English) appliances in Vancouver, BC. They make all kinds of appliances. I was impressed!
When I deployed to Iraq as a (British) reservist in 2003, one of the war reserve weapons issued to my group was a brand new condition, unused wartime Inglis HiPower - still complete with a maple leaf decal on the front of the grip.
By this stage, the British army had already replaced most of its very high mileage 1960s/1970s HiPowers with new ones manufactured by FN. Hence the 1945 Inglis must have sat right at the very back of some depot shelf, until finally scooped up as part of a mobilisation issue.
Surprised it didn't accidentally drop in your kit bag!
(Kidding, I know you'd get reamed, but what a nice find)
For what it is worth, when I got mine surplus from China in the early 80s, I would describe it's condition then as being NIB without the box. No bluing wear anywhere, not even on the barrel, and some machine tool marks on the slide rail vanished with the first box of ammunition fired and of course it now had wear marks. So my thought was it sat unissued through WW2, got captured in a depot by Mao's forces, then continued to sit unissued until finally years after the Chairman's death and the passage of the Gang of 9, someone decided to dump the old guns (Inglis, C96s, SKS, etc.) into the US.
Not surprised. Stuff gets stored away and forgotten until needed all the time. I used to work at a state police HQ and my job was requesting, distributing and keeping track of weapons acquired from the military by the various state agencies. Mostly shotguns, 1911a1s, M14s and M16a1s. The shotguns were usually well used and abused but still serviceable, the m16s were usually wore slam out but most of the M14s and 1911s were still brand new packed in cosmoline.
That's awesome
Agreed. GSA/FPS in Washington DC once had a huge stock of weapons other govt. agencies had declared surplus and sent to GSA for whatever disposition was proper. M81s from FBI, Thompsons and M3s from a dozen agencies, Reisings, Colt New Services, BARs, Bankers Specials, etc. Many were in very good condition as regulated police firing for annual or semi annual qualification hadn't really caught on yet and they just sat around in mini arsenals around the country for decades until eventually agencies were phased out (I saw old Colt and S&W revolvers with TVA, CCC and CWA property stamps) or the agencies replaced the guns with newer acquisitions and everything went off to Public Works (GSA) for re-issuance, sale (Ted Kennedy stopped that) or destruction. A lot of them sat around in a Navy Yard warehouse for decades before in the late 1970s a decision was made to torch it all and the order was (sadly) complied with.
I used these pistols during my service as an armoured corp reservist in the 80's and a regular force RCEME officer in the 90's. They weren't fitted for shoulder stocks and they had plane notch sights. I was in a unit that repaired weapons and have seen slides with chinese markings and notch sites.
It is interesting to note that the main causes of failure of these pistols were cracked slides, where the retaining pin fits through, and cracked feed ramps on the barrel. The cause of these failures was the fact that we used really hot 9mm ammo that was intended for use in SMGs. It was way hotter than what the gun was designed for. I took this issue up the chain of command at the time, and the solution was to just keep repairing them because we had enough spare parts to last forever.
A new barrel had to be hand fitted by a weapons tech. You have to file the protrusion under the barrel to size so it will properly lock, after that the barrel is serialized to the pistol.
Perhaps if recrafted with special alloys, with titanium. Isn't Ti everywhere these days? Or Scandium as has been suggested elsewhere.
@@nichevo1
In most cases, it is better to change the design than to just make it from a different material. Trying to fix problems with a different steel is often bad engineering.
@@onpsxmember or you could use ammo that is within specs.
@@nichevo1
Indeed. +P ratings have their use.
@@nichevo1 AFAIK, the situation is that the Canadian Forces still has warehouses full of wartime-production surplus that they need to get rid of. That's why they were still using Sterling SMG ammo in pistols instead of buying new ammo. Why buy new stuff when the stockpile of parts and ammo you already have is probably enough to last you more than whole century?
We >still< see WW2 era Hi Powers in service. When I left the army, we use to just pick our pistols out of a milk crate and you never knew what magical mixmaster you got. We still shoot these guns in NATO competitions and somehow the boys win. A testament to the Hi Power's...power.
They are good guns. I had one of these CH variants for 3 decades. Never had a misfire with it, but I put about 2,000 rounds through it. The early MAB commercial 15 shot mags sometimes jammed, but the original military and stock commercial 9mm magazines never caused any issues. The only issue I ever noticed was with British Radford arsenal MKIIZ ammunnition. One or two full mags of rapid fire and the gun was noticeably hot afterwards. With standard 9mm commercial ammo the gun just got a little warm. Using stock magazines I had no jams, not even with the light weight 90 gr. hollowpoints around in the 1980s.
The Inglis Company still exists under the name Whirlpool and now makes home appliances
Yeah, we actually have an Inglis washing machine in my house. They made lots of things, and still do.
mukmuk723
How old is that?
Steve Sheppard no idea, but I'd assume mid 70s to 80s
Still working?
According to the Wikipedia article on Whirlpool Corporation it was started in 1911 as the Upton Machine Company and changed its name to Whirlpool Corporation in 1950. John Inglis & Co traces its roots back to 1859 and in 1987 Whirlpool Corp acquired majority interest of Inglis and changed its name to Whirlpool Canada in 2001. Saying Inglis exists under the name Whirlpool is a bit of a stretch then, no?
My unit still uses these, along with pretty much all other Army Reserve units. Ours are dated 1945 - 1953.
I carried an Inglis Hi power in Afghanistan back in 09'
That's awesome!!
Stock and all! 😆
Probably had mine that jammed 4 years earlier. Canada should be ashamed of giving this to me in Afghanistan. I was 19, now in my 30's knowing what I know I'm......rant over
I've heard that canadian grunts carry sidearms but we dont do that in the US (that may change if we get into a war with china)
@@boogaloo_weed it's almost exclusively decades-old Hi-Powers though. Some other models are used by non-grunts though.
I had that same pistol (the Canadian version)🔫while I was overseas in Afghanistan 🇦🇫. It actually wasn't that bad, super reliable but super heavy too. It never jammed or broke.
Heh. Nowadays they can't shoot a full mag without jamming twice
@@pepebeezon772 I don't doubt that, it's been about 13 years since last time I shot them
It's not heavy
Parents both served and they never let me hear the end of how unreliable these things were
One of my fellow officers when I served in Canada had a Chinese upper with the crazy site on his gun. There were at least a few of these guns till floating around in service in the 1990’s in Canada.
John-Paul Silke I still know a guy who was issued one. He mostly does work with cadets, but still 60 year old gun serving in Canadian forces.
I mean I can kinda see why, it’s not to terribly obsolete.
I did a pistol course (well, more of a primer) with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and one of the Brownings had Chinese markings. We didn't know why but I guess now we do.
Not true. Besides, Colt Canada (formerly Dimaco) firearms are highly regarded. The Colt Canada Commando is in use in numerous SOF units around the world.
Mozzie Regforce Army gets them too, it's only CANSOF and RCN (and maybe RCAF, but I'm not sure) that have the P226s currently.
The Inglis-made Hi Powers have served Canada to this day, though by now they have been quite worn through so many years of range time, a world war, Korea, Somalia, and Afghanistan, and they are looking to replace them. Funny that, they kept their legendary Browning design as long as us yanks did, about 80 years...
Hi-Power is one my favorite hand-guns.
Mine too. If I still played airsoft regularly, I would despair that you can't get a decent airsoft one. Such great ergonomics...
I actually have an airsoft Inglis Hi-Power, Canadian markings and everything. :D
The only one I could find was a WE, GBB, but with tangent rear sight (I'd like the simpler one) and non-adjustable HOP-UP. I got a KJW P226 instead.
Mine is a Tanaka, it's a bit older, and as with all Tanaka guns they're very well-made, but also plastic and lean more towards collector's guns rather than rough-and-tumble field guns, but I don't game it that much and I always treat my gear well so it works fine. Not sure how easy the Tanaka ones are to find now.
I also built a C7A2 to match it! i.imgur.com/sEWCZI2.jpg
High powers are a fun gun to shoot and it doesn't hurt that its s metal gun. I don't like the polymer frames that have been so popular since glock made their toy gun
Saive also worked in the FN pattern BAR and was a chief engineer on the FAL project. Easily one of the most under-rated designers out there. It's clear in the FAL that he took on Brownings knack for simple rugged reliability, it's no surprise he'd be involved with the Hi-Power in Canada nor that Canada would take serious interest in subsequent FN designs.
The allies used a lot of C-46's to go over the hump. It was bigger and better suited to that route.
Saive was an amazing understudy to the late and great browning. He used some of brownings designs when he developed the safn and fn fal
Got to love the Chinese insistence on putting long range sights on the pistols they order.
And even anti air sights on the wackiest things! Volley fire anyone?
The browning was also the favourite sidearm of Hong Kong’s police special duties unit before handover to China. They used them extensively in raids and hostage situations in the 1990s
My late grandfather flew planes over the hump but I never gave it much thought about what he likely hauled until now.
Another proof that flying the hump was not efficient was the fact that every 5th to 6th plane carried Aviation gas to refuel other planes for their return flights.
When my grandad was on the ground in Burma (Border Regiment 2nd Btn) he was only supplied by air for months so there's a chance your grandad kept my grandad alive.
my grandmother is from that generation....most of the sons went to the pacific,...4 iirc... one was killed, one was shot 3 times, the other 2 were good
riased on a homestead in north east montana......112 in the summer, -50 in the winter with 10 foot of snow
but even my grandmother.....tough old people
its hard to keep my grandmother form jumping in the truck and hauling hay bails, loading 4 wheelers..........she is 82
like.,...gramma stop, ya gonna break a hip
The Chinese will forever remember and grateful for your grandfather and his brothers did. They are great men.
Love the Inglis HiPower! Carried it on two tours overseas with the Canadian Army!
When my grandad served in Burma (Border Regiment 2nd Btn) he was only supplied by air for months. The allied air forces did an amazing job during the Burma campaign.
If you want to know what your grand dad went through, a great author, who you way know called George MacDonald Fraser wrote about his experience in Burma with the Border Regiment (I don't know if it was the same Bn or not). The book is called "Quartered Safe Out Here". It's a great book, and there is a good chance that your grand dad knew the author.
Thanks for the recommendation. Il defiantly check out his book.
My grandad was there as well with Orde Wingates Chindits, I don't know a lot about his service as he was one of those old men who wouldn't talk about it, I've still got his campaign medals including the Burma Star. He was from Workington so he would have been in one of the battalions of the Border Regiment.
I love when you make these tie-ins to lesser known bits of history
I just obtained one of these. It has a 4CH serial number. It's in pretty rough shape, but still operates flawlessly. I plan on restoring it fully. No shoulder stock though.
>>By the fall of 1944, the contract was cancelled under concerns that it was not really contributing to any progress in the war against the Japanese, along with insistence from American General Stilwell that the Chinese forces be armed with weapons that could be supplied more easily through the American logistic network.
Interesting point to know, The Canadian forces had many of the Ch series hi powers in stock decades later. They were modified by having the rear tangent sight milled off and a plane rear sight silver soldered in place. The grip also had the groove for the holster/stock filled in as well.
We still use them in the Canadian Army. Not the most modern of pistols but they are tough.
Right on Ian - Been waiting for this Video - THANKS ;o) I grew up with that P35 and Stock Combo (Stock was different with a detachable Holster) here in Canada except, if I recall, it was stamped a 1935 Herstal Belgium Browning FN Arms of War model with an 3 digit serial# and issued to Switzerland. My Dad was an RCAF Warrant Officer during WWII. Plus we had both 16 and 12 gauge Herstal FN Acier Specials a few Lee Enfields and one Martini-Henry.
From everything I've read, there was nothing a British factory could build that a Canadian factory couldn't build as good or better.
The Bren Gun girls won the war.
My uncle flew "The Hump" in WW2. He said they delivered fuel. He said they carried something like 16 50 gal bbls of fuel over and it took over half of the load to fly back out.
If I had the money, and lived on the right continent, I’d love to own this!
Well, move to the Czech republic, it's not that far. :-D
Václav Fejt the beer and women are great too!
Well, I don't have much experience with your women, but your beer is great, albeit expensive. And all the kinds! Bitter, lager, ale, stout...we have basically just light pilsener and dark pilsener, "tap" - 10°(about 4 % alcohol, depends on the brand) and "lager" - 12° (about 5 %), though some specials found their way in our taste (IPA, Bohemian ale...)
Getting off topic here, how do you feel about the foam? Czechs usually want the level on the 0,5 litre line and from the line up all foam (or liquid-foam equivalent to all liquid on the line, at least). When I got a beer in Scotland, it was either Guinness, or John Smith's. Decent amount of fairly liquidous foam, not a foam "cap", and I was worried I might spill some. I admit, having the glass filled up to the top gets you a nice feeling you're getting your money's worth.
Václav Fejt thoroughly dislike foam head, I want a pint of beer, not bubbles! I’m more of a stout drinker but had some great Czech lagers
anywere in europe you can own this,just not the UK.
The British Army (SOE) were already interested in the High Power before the Chinese asked for them. Some protypes were made in the UK in 1941, but there was no capacity for mass production of new pistols.
Sten guns were also made in Ontario at Small Arms Ltd. for the Chinese war effort, including by Chinese immigrant workers. Here's a picture of their production at Small Arms Ltd. from Library and Archives Canada: data2.archives.ca/e/e031/e000762128.jpg
James Bone the sten won’t make in Canada is make in the uk
"the sten won’t make in Canada is make in the uk" - English isn't used you first language not?
James Bone sorry mate I can’t help it
Anyway, while the Sten was designed in the UK, plenty of them were also made in Canada. In fact the Long Branch arsenal is best known for its high quality Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk.1 rifles, which fetch a premium among collectors. This video is about a Belgian-American designed pistol made in Canada, so I'm not sure why you think Stens could not or would not be made in Canada too.
James Bone nah uk not Canada
I have one of those Inglis Hi power pistols w/ the tangent sight & shoulder stock groove. One of my fav pistols!
Utterly fascinating, as always. Thank you.
Always a pleasure to listen / see you.
The S.A.Ltd (Small Arms Limited) that made the shoulder stocks was the same S.A.L (in Long Branch, Ontario) that made No4 Lee Enfields.
Some years ago I was issued with an Inglis copy of a 9mm Browning HP. The fit and finish was dreadful. Fortunately, I only had it for 3 months. I walked into work one morning to find my Inglis had been scrapped and I had been issued a beautiful, brand new, FN Browning HP. My face lit up.
I don't comment often, but always enjoy your vids.
Shoutout to all the reservists who still use these weapons whenever they go for weapons qual!
My grandfather told me about the weapons he used in the 40's - he had a captured type 38 cavalry rifle and a pistol he said was a type of browning called "Canada". Now I know why! Cool piece of history, thanks!
I got to see one of these in person at the Washington Arms Collector's gun show today. Such a beautiful and fascinating piece of history.
when I was an air cadet back in about 1970 I had a summer camp at RAF Oakington in Cambridgeshire. I spent some time in the armoury where these were in greenish mottle flat cardboard boxes . I think that the guns were wrapped in some sort of green protective oil cloth. {IIRC} {Long time ago to remember one day} There were several stacks of boxes about 4 feet high. wearing white cloth cotton gloves, I unboxed , unwrapped and read the serial numbers out, and an armourer checked that against a list of inventory. I then handed the gun to the armourer who also wore white cloth gloves. He inspected it, racked the slide and then gave it back to me to rebox. This procedure when on all day. I asked if we could take one out on the armoury range but was told NO!! I don't know if they were new to issue or just stock being checked but they all looked like brand new to me.
Inglis made Hi Powers with the leaf sight were standard issue in the RAAF at least in the 1970's and may still be kicking around somewhere. I remember an Airforce team shooting in a Police & Services match when one of the pistols had the spring loaded buttons pop out of the sight slide and disappear which made the sight go from zero to maximum range every time it was fired - the shooter had to deal with it or forfeit the round and he still managed to get a reasonable score.
The first semi-auto handgun I ever shot was a Browning Hi-Power in .41 AE (Action Express) The Israelis had the round made to get more power out of their Uzi's and some Hi-Powers were made in the same caliber to ease logistics.
To quote a Canadian hero “We ain’t English!”
-first line of a quote said by Pte Slim Stanford C Company Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
This is the greatest high power of all time.
I have a friend who worked in the factory.....huge complex in a Toronto, redeveloped now. Highly motivated workforce that wanted to make high quality weapons. Said it was quite a sight to see aging women slinging Bren guns all day.
I enjoyed shooting the Inglis Hi-Power, back in the early 80's. They were still issue for the CAF then. My issued weapons were, a 1957 FN C1A1 7.62Nato, a SMG C1, and a Inglis Hi-Power, (with the pistol team.)
The Hump: some Dakotas (C47), but mostly C46s, aka Curtiss Commando
My dad knew one of the pilots who flew "over the hump". They flew C-46s almost exclusively.
Huh.....The two Chinese characters read "officially issued gun, aka property of..."， or "male gun". xD
(Character "公" has multiple meanings)
The answer is A.
My grandfather worked for the John Inglis Company and built these things and Bren guns for years. I've wanted to get my hands on them but they're becoming increasingly scarce up here, unfortunately.
I just found one in my grandfather's drawers. 5CH7981. However, I'm more than certain that it's a replica since there are little to no signs of wear&tear and it only has the basic Inglis markings, not the Chinese inscriptions.
Definitely underused. I have a later 5ch model as well that is original finish and not a scratch on it.
I have a lunch box special unit as well that is similar.
I was never curious about how the british ended up adopting the BHP- it was the best 9mm on the market at the time, after all. This story turns what seems like a no-brainer into something that might've never happened. Makes me wonder what they'd have replaced their webleys with otherwise... If they'd have held onto them long enough to make an actual production run chambered in .45 ACP that would've been pretty cool...
Towards the end of the war British forces were using (and quite liked I believe) a number of 1911s acquired from the U.S., if the Hi-Power hadn't got that exposure, it's quite possible the 1911 might have been adopted.
That's a pretty cool story. I'm gonna need one of those now. Thanks for the details.
I used some of these in the Australian Army in the 80s and early 90s with the 500 m sight and slot for the stock. Never saw the stock though.
When you wrote "a loan program to help Chinese companies" in the description, it looks like you meant Canadian companies, right?. Just a small thing!
Came here for cool history and gun facts.
And now I will leave for Larry Vickers shooting the gun.
Perfect YT session.
Bloody love the Hi-Power, such a good looking gun.
Hi Ian. Seeing as you have done a full course on British issue weapons, any chance of discussing the Walther P5C? This was issued to members of the Royal Irish Regiment during the Troubles in N. Ireland as the L102A1. Not much out there on it.
So this is a pretty successful pistol carbine thing, nice!
The Canadian military still uses as the browning high power mk2 as their main side arm.. A pistol very similar to this both in design and age. Still used in 2018....
I used one of these as a reservist in Toronto. Chinese markings and all!
This was my service pistol for 13 years...a great service weapon!
Matthew Dobbs Can't wait to use one once I get trained on to it this summer! Everyone I've ever heard that's used it like yourself loves the damn thing
Almost 35 years for me. I laugh at people who say, "oh, you're better off throwing it at the enemy" etc. That's not the pistol's fault - it's your fault. On work up training for Afg deployment I scored perfect on the pistol qual (not that hard actually).
@@lib556 agreed, a natural shooter. I am in fact on the hunt for one to use on the range where I live. I served for 23 years so I had training on the the browning, but had the SLR, SMG and LMG, later after a change of messes shall we say, I started with the SMG and SA80, briefly M16 and HK, and then the good old browning. 35 years, good job!
@@braedengriffiths4249 yes its a smashing pistol in every sense. Sadly its gone out of British Army service, but I am trying to get hold of an old british army issue for my own use. I have a range near by, so it will be nice to associate with an old familiar friend again. Good luck to you!
Matthew Dobbs Hey man thanks for the kindness, I’d keep an eye out for surplus Canadian hi-powers in the few coming years. Only a matter of time before they sell of the bulk and upgrade!
There is allot of these floating around here allot with no serial numbers “lunchbox” models some even in the white. The stock where made locally and some still pop up at garage sales from time to time.
As usual an Excellent video.....
I have a soft spot for the Hi Power. Maybe it's a British thing, i don't know; but i just love em.
Been looking a wooden stock/holster for my airsoft replica, but they are like hen's teeth.
GenerationSmashed it's not just a British thing. I've always liked them, too and I live in California.
It's also an Irish thing, too. They used to use them in the FCA (Our reserves.) under the nickname 'BAP' because we called it the 'Browining Automatic Pistol', my father tells me.
We had a habit of using good old workhorses that were probably considered out of date but still did their job. That's why we used the Bren until the 90's.
Not a British thing, Aussie who loves these checking in. I think it's a pretty universally liked gun, many others are polarising but who could hate a high power?
peepsbates a brother from the south. Greetings from over the border.
Yes, we do have a habit of using things past obsolescence; but as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
British Army were still using the Bren in 2001 when I was in the territorial reserves. Troops in Afghanistan ued a few borrowed off the Indian Army
C47’s and C46’s suffered massive losses from the hazardous flight over the Himalayas, considered one of the most dangerous flights in aviation at this time and to this day
The flight path for the "Hump Pilots" was known as "the aluminum highway" because of the high number of goony birds that went down along it. I knew 2 hump pilots when I was growing up.
It's perfect! Tangent sights and everything. I've wanted one since geeking out over the new TinTin movie. I should bid...
Browning has discontinued the Hi-Power after 82 years of service. The last batches were made in 1st quarter 2017 and now their website has officially updated in January 2018 that production is done.
I bought a British contract Inglis Hi Power from a guy at a estate sale for $300. Serial number 3T120. Steal of a life time!
Since I think folks here are into history, and since Ian brought it up...a little factoid:
My next door neighbor patented a heating system to prevent the navigation/flight gyros from literally freezing and throwing them off course or into the mountains, when flying over the hump...
It was a VERY dangerous endeavor...
Snip:
No fewer than 700 Allied planes crashed or got shot down and 1,200 airmen died.
“Every 340 tons delivered cost the life of a pilot,”
Of the 700 planes that went down trying to cross the Hump between 1942 and 1945, some 500 remain missing more than 70 years later.
Inglis later made very good quality washers and dryers. They ran forever.
I hear the Canadian Army still swears by them.🌌
I bought a High power despite the fact we still use them in the Canadian army. Why, you ask? Because I wanted to shoot one that wasn't overused and sloppy, and the slide flew off the frame when firing. When new they shoot nice.
Cool, I have 5CH4XXX. Good vid. Some history I did not know... Very nice weapon.
9mm with sights that zero up to 500 :D "rather optimistic" is a bit of an understatement
I've come across a few of these Chinese contract pistols still in circulation in the Canadian Armed Forces
Canada almost got a replacement for them (Sig P320?) but Glock got that procurement paused while they take the government to court over the bidding process. So maybe in 2044 Canada will get a new pistol to replace the hi-power
Was waiting for a video about this
Best pistol I've ever carried.
When I was detailed to liase with the Royal Thai Border Patrol Police, I wanted not to be out on patrols unarmed. The RTBPP had no objection to me being armed, but for administrative reasons couldn't provide me with a weapon.So, I asked our Provost Marshal and he directed me to a source.
I appeared at the appointed place and asked the gentleman at the desk about getting a weapon, said who had referred me and was asked what I wanted."Some sort of rifle and a sidearm would be good" I said. So, what I got was a totally unmarked US M-3 submachine gun and an Inglish High Power. Like the gun Ian was showing us, it had Chinese markings and was not US marked, at all. Sadly, for the cool factor,it didn't have the shoulder stock/holster. (I carried it in a knock-off of the US M-7 chest holster.) The M-3 was in 9mm and I don't know if it was one made in the US for issue to our allies - or to resistance units operating in foreign areas where a US marked weapon would cause problems.
When my time with the RTBPP was over a month or so later, I returned to the small office at the far end of the runway at a Royal Thai/USAF airbase and went to turn the weapons in. The guy there, the same one who had chosen the weapons, seemed surprised. He said, "Why are you bringing them back?" I said, "Because they're not mine." He shrugged and said, "There wasn't a hand-receipt, was there?" And I realized, at that point, that if I had just kept them and shipped them home with my other personal gear when I rotated back to CONUS, I'd have a pretty nice P-35 and a Grease Gun, both pretty much untraceable. Boy was I green.
Cool to learn that the Canadian and British came to the P-35 sort of by accident. The last and in some ways best John M. Browning design and still suitable for use, today.
The holster for this gun is made of one solid piece of wood (apart from the lid and the "inserts"). So in order to machine out the hole for the gun, the blank piece of wood would have had to have been machined with a MASSIVE router cutter, about 10" long! I DEFINITELY wouldn't like to have been the person routering THOSE out! Scary!
Thanks. Very informative.
Anyone know what the original finish was like on these? Im looking at one on Armslist right now and something doesnt seem right... The seller says hes owned it for decades and that it has never been refinished. I read online the Inglis guns were actually parkerized. But his is a medium grey finish (lighter in color than the one in the video) and theres no wear even on the edges. Ive handled a lot of surplus guns and something doesnt seem right. But im holding out hope he is telling the truth because its a good price on a collectible piece.
Anyway my long-winded question is; what did the orignial finish look like? Was it a lighter grey?
The trigger pull is less than stellar on these.
I carried one off and on for years. Sure beats lugging a smoke pole.
The NFA (SBR) Exemption only apply to the Chinese contract, with CH in the Serial number.
Thanks for the info, I will keep my eyes open for one. Since I also want an actual WW1 1911, serial number under 700,000.
@@ScottKenny1978 Good luck? I don't believe that there's an NFA exception for 1911s. It would be a C&R, but with regards to the SBR classification, you still can't attach a Shoulder Stock without paying the Tax. (I think it's like $200 extra, but it's mostly the paperwork/registration with the BATF)
@@Psiberzerker no, I meant I will keep my eyes open for an Inglis hipower with a ch serial number, in addition to an early 1911. I now want both.
@@ScottKenny1978 Oh yeah. Try Cheaper than Dirt.
Having looked up the barrel of more than one FN High Power issued to the Belgian Congo's Army. And used for freelance armed robbery in Zambia. The hole in the end may be 9mm, but it looks more like 9 metres when pointed between your eyes...
Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek was a major figure in raising Allied support (and a major cutie).
"During the Second Sino-Japanese War she rallied her people against the Japanese invasion and in 1943 conducted an eight-month speaking tour of the United States of America to gain support."
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soong_Mei-ling
Her being charming and western educated had a major impact.
I love pistols with detachable shoulder stocks. Great video and story. I knew Americans(now deceased) involved with "flying the hump". I don't think any allies paid back on their loans for war materiel. I believe the UK paid off their post war reconstruction loans to the US.
I think us Brits have only just recently finished paying off our war loans to the US.
J.L. Roberts Not sure, but I think New Zealand did.
31st December 2006 was the last payment.
Polish gold reserve was evacuated to Canada in 1939. All expenses of training and supplying Polish Armed Forces in the West were later deducted from this reserve. All fuel, spare parts, equipment, rent for lending barracks, everything including food expenses iirc for 250,000 polish soldiers in Britain was subtracted from polish gold stock and our government wasn't in any position to negotiate that.
If you say the UK started really paying for WWII in 1938 when re-armament got into full swing then between 1938 and 1945 plus reconstruction till 1960 the UK per head of population paid almost three times more in cash or kind and lost trade for WWII than any other nation. The nations that gave the most in war aid per head of population was Canada 1st, UK 2nd, US in 3rd
If it was chambered for .30 Mauser, the rear sight might not be as over-optimistic. I've always wondered if the design could handle the 7.62 Tokarev.
One of the last pistols that Canada ever adopted
we still use it in the army today, and why is that sad verren? its a great pistol and they could keep going for another 100 years.
Not true. The MPs, aircrew and RCN boarding parties all use Sigs. MPs have had them for approximately 20 years. CANSOFCOM (JTF 2 and CSOR) use whatever they want. The infantry will be last to get new pistols as they are only a back up. Our primary personal weapon is a rifle...and ours is quite good.
Just picked up a 89 model today. Not shot it yet but I am just wondering if I should refinish it or not? It is not horrible but aged. I know I shouldn't if it is a collectors gun but not sure if one made in 89 qualifies as such?
I have a browning hi power, love it big time... however the pin which holds the trigger group is a bit loose, is it normal guys? Your input is highly appreciated🙏 many thanks in advance
Can't believe how expensive these have become. I bought a pair 10 years ago with replica stocks for about $600. Now they are 2 and 3 thousand dollars on some websites.
I know someone with a Hi-power that some one JB Welded up the stock slot to make it "legal". Made me sad.
That is stupid, I mean the fact that he was required to do so for it to be legal
@@elementalist1984 probably actually wasn't inglis hi powers are exempted
the Chinese marking on the slide simply says "Government owned gun", written from right to left.
Some will have markings of "Property of the Republic of China" marking in Chinese, written from left to right
Used one of these on my DP1 had the CH markings on it as well.
Chinese: Can we get an English High Power?
Canadians: Here ya go.
China English High Power?
Canada: Inglis High Power! Close enough, eh?
Inglis high Powers are still the standard side arm of the Canadian army and It bums me out when I see them in museums lol
And instead of spending more money on the military Trudeau pays Omar kadr 10 million dollars after murdering an American service member and blinding a Canadian member...
Thank you anything more I can learn more about one of my favorites is great
I got one of those stocks as a curio...