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I picked this HP up with a batch of Browning High Powers this weekend, at first I thought it was British because of the Suncorite Finish, then noticed the Dutch Crest on top of the Slide for Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
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Simon,
Well used and looks great, probably used on her detail for CP work looking at the smoothing wear on the body
Interesting! I've done a lot of reading over the years on BHPs, and I don't recall ever hearing of a Dutch crest. Back to the books!
Jonny,
Seen a few crests stamped on Browning HP in the past most UAE based, bujt this one is a pucker job by an accomplished engraver by the look of things!
Very nice gun, never even heard of this crest or anyone having it. Is it first done with the grey finish under the suncorite? Is there any showing anywhere?
Yes there are signs of phosphating under the SuncoriteQuote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
I would say that that is definately die punched Gil and not engraved. I say 'definately' with a degree of trepidation and stand to be corrected of course. If it is die stamped then there will be others too - that's why they use die stamps instead of time consuming engraving machines
"a pucker job"?
And this is Brit slang for.......?
I have and have seen a few factory engraved crests on HPs, and that one does not look like them, but I am as far from an authority as one can be.
Peter,
It looks too sharp on the edges of the letter and each ball of the crown to be stamped, but Simon is experienced enough to know the difference I am sure. I do know that the Dutch are very good at engraving in house on weapons systems they have as "pride of place" and not to be confused in a large armoury. "We" just box things and put the "don't touch" weapons if it ain't yours " behind wire in a corner of the armoury
Simon
I'm a new member to this site & joined so that I could address your post. I found this site while researching my Dutch FN High Power pistol. In a nutshell, here is what I have learned so far. From Steven's book "The Browning Automatic High Power Pistol": The Netherlands received about 12,000 Canadian made Inglis High Power pistols from Great Britain in 1945-46 to help the Dutch rearm after the war. From Anthony Vanderlinden's book "In 1946 the Dutch placed their first order with FN Herstal for high power pistols. They placed subsequent orders in 1949, 1955, 1960, & 1967 and possibly others. The first order in 1947 has Queen Wilhelmina's crest on top of the slide in front of the rear sight. Orders after that date have the crest of Queen Juliana in that place. I have not found any source that states how many units were in each order but by 1967 they commenced a major overhaul of all their High Powers. The main problem that they faced was that the Canadian made Inglis High Power and the Belgian made FN High Power did not have complete parts interchangeability. This was eventually solved in part by replacing sub assemblies such as hammer & strut with spring, etc. I do not know what the serial number format was prior to 1967 but I do know that the order placed with FN in 1967 specified that the serial number would begin with a KL prefix. That stands for Koninklijke Landmacht (Royal Army). All High Powers had the KL added to their serial number during refurbishment. I also received information from a collector in the Netherlands who has first hand knowledge of the High Power in Dutch Army use. He states that the letters and numbers on the right front of the receiver is the date that pistol was refurbished in Holland. The High Power has been replaced by the Glock in the Royal Army but the High Powers have not been surplus-ed as yet by the Netherlands. They want to sell the whole lot as one sale to another country but so far there has been no takers. I have found one pistol with the crest of Queen Wilhelmina that is in a Belgian collection. Yours and mine have Queen Juliana's crest and there are at least four without a crest in America. With the possible exception of the one in Belgium all have been refurbished. Those with out the crest on the slide are made up of mixed Inglis & FN parts. I think yours is from the 1967 contract because it has the KL prefix to the serial number on the barrel. Mine has the KL prefix on the slide & receiver but not on the barrel. So the prefix was added to mine during refurbishment. My was refurbished in April, 1980 according to the legend on the right side of the receiver. I would post pictures of mine but it keeps asking for an URL. My pictures are on my computer.
Dan in Texas