FN Nazi HiPower s/n on barrel question

[crotter]

I've had a nice FN HiPower in my collection for several years. Its a great shooter, and one of the highlights of my C&R pistol collection.

One thing has bothered me about it though, the barrel is not stamped with the serial number which is on the slide and frame.

Every Nazi HiPower I have ever seen pictures of has the barrel stamped with the serial number.

Is it possible this one left the factory without getting stamped? Maybe its worn away?

The only marking my barrel has is a faint "MI" stamping, which someone told me was correct for a Nazi occupied HiPower barrel.

Here are pictures of my pistol:





The barrel:



"MI" stamp




This is an example of what I'm talking about and what my barrel is missing:




Any comment by someone more knowledgable would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[milfalcon1]

Hi...yes , your barrel is either an arsenal replacement barrel or changed out after the war, which they don't stamp....Israel swapped out barrels a lot after the war...

[crotter]

Hi...yes , your barrel is either an arsenal replacement barrel or changed out after the war, which they don't stamp....Israel swapped out barrels a lot after the war...

Thanks... thats what I always suspected... but have had others tell me the MI stamp was still a war time produced FN barrel... Do you know if that is still the case? Or is this a post war replacement? (I understand it was likely replaced post war)

[Waffleobill]

Makes sense to have the unmarked replacement barrel. It's got the cool Parteiadler stamped on the slide. How much does a Nazi hi-power in that condition go for?

[crotter]

Makes sense to have the unmarked replacement barrel. It's got the cool Parteiadler stamped on the slide. How much does a Nazi hi-power in that condition go for?

If I recall correctly I paid around $900 for it about 5 years ago... Nowadays they seem to go in the $1000-1500 range for the late war (mine is a 1944 build) fixed rear sight examples like mine. I think the earlier adjustable tangent sight models fetch a bit more.

Of course all contingent on condition!

Kinda bummed mine seems to no longer have its original serial stamped barrel... but its still a great piece and shoots really nice groups!

[Capybara]

That gun is an incredible part of history and you bought it for a fair price. Yes, the non-original barrel dings the value a bit but the gun will still appreciate. HPs with Waffenampts don't exactly grow on trees and I bet it is a great shooter?

[Rogerbutthead]

The Germans made 63,000 "b" series HiPowers in 1944 before Liege was liberated on September 8th, 1944. This link has a pic of 15380 b which has the barrel with the serial number. http://www.handgunsandammunition.com...-hi-power.html It seems to confirm your belief that the barrel has been replaced.

Nice pistol.

[Milsurp Collector]

I don't shoot the WaA140 High Powers I own. According to FN Browning Pistols by Anthony Vanderlinden:

The WaA140 acceptance was introduced as production quotas were raised. Overall production quality decreased and sabotage increased significantly.

Starting with the WaA140 pistols, a large number of parts broke under the stress of repeated firing. This was due to improper heat treating, which made the parts brittle. Dimensional tolerances were also out of specification. Some of the most common part failures:

• Loose or easily broken front sights
• Broken extractors
• Broken recoil springs
• Loose safety pins

Sabotage increased in direct proportion to the number of forced laborers on the FN factory floor. Steel hardening and precision tolerancing were prime targets for sabotage as irregularities in these processes could not be easily detected. As a result, many WaA140 marked pistols fail to meet prewar or postwar tolerance standards. The firing of any WaA140 pistol is strongly discouraged.

Some collectors think the increased frequency of parts breakage was due to poorly trained forced labor, lower quality raw materials, and the pressure of wartime production rather than intentional sabotage. It certainly could be due to a combination of sabotage and those other factors. Regardless of the cause, I choose to not shoot my WaA140 High Powers.





I have a prewar High Power and a Canadian Inglis that I can shoot instead.

[Rogerbutthead]

I took some crappy pics of my 47378 b's barrel for comparisons.




The letters on the bottom seem to be MR or MB (bottom of B not there?)

good info on this link - http://www.handgunsandammunition.com...oof-marks.html
saw the MI info - nothing on MB or MR?

[crotter]

I took some crappy pics of my 47378 b's barrel for comparisons.




The letters on the bottom seem to be MR or MB (bottom of B not there?)

good info on this link - http://www.handgunsandammunition.com...oof-marks.html
saw the MI info - nothing on MB or MR?

Thanks for the pictures of your barrel... Mine looks like an MI but it very well might have been a weak stamping and be an MR or MB