I was checking out these grips for the Browning Hi Power. You know, that Hi Power is a relatively handsome gun.
It made me wonder... let's say John Browing lived until he was 101 instead of 71. And let's say he was an active designer for the entire time, in full control of his faculties and just as good as ever the whole time. And ALSO let's assume that HE finished the Hi-Power on his own and it looked pretty much as it does now. Now, one further what-if... What if the US Army said "the 1911 is good, but lets modernize the army pistol and bring it up to 1950 modern standards. Design something new for us."
In 1955 he comes out with his final design submission. What do you think it would look like?
He had the influence to maybe sway NATO to a new round, or to keep the .45ACP.
I wonder how it would look. Externalish extractor like on the 1903 Pocket Hammerless and Hi-Power? How bout an improvement on the staked plunger tube of the 1911? I know it would look good. Elegant. Moreso than the Hi-Power and 1911 that already look functional and elegant. Look at the swooping sides of the Hi Power slide near the fore end. Maybe this fantasy gun would have the .41 caliber I have longed for.
It would be expensive, as even in the 1950s the plastic revolution was far in the future, and machinists and final fitting by experts would almost certainly be required. I'd still pay for that. Could Browning have gone for an alloy frame? Maybe...
That's the thing about what ifs. No way to know what route a gunsmithing genius would have travelled. And what of a John Browning Jr. Designing guns into the 21st Century with the new materials available now. We have inspired gunsmiths nowadays. Gaston Glock is no slouch. But is he in the same league.
Meh, I can wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which fills up first.
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If it came out in 1955, it would probably be a .45ACP version of the Hi-Power. Remember, there were about a TRILLLION rounds of .45ACP floating around from WW2 and Korea to feed not only the 1911's, but the Thompson and the Grease Gun also. I don't think Big Army Logistics would be all that happy with having to do a Gooberment-Wide Restock back then.
True, but this is fantasy land, and we're picturing the gummint giving the venerable designer a free hand.
Course, a nonagenarian might be a bit set in his ways, too.
O.G. Hi-Powers had internal extractors.
Rumor has it that Mr Browning was working a .40 caliber round for service pistols when the 1911 request for proposals came in requiring .45.
I could see him resuming his work on the .40 ACP for this.
Shouldn't an O.G. Hi-Power also have sights on the side?
Internal extractor? Then what's that thingy in the side?
O. G. ? Original Gravity?
NJT,
Hi-Powers didn't go to external extractors until the '60s, IIRC.
Check out these prewar examples...
WV: "arwar" Colt vs. Daniel Defense.
"Delta Elite" 10mm. The man was speaking to somebody from beyond...
Learn sumthin new every day.
Les; good buddy,
You have it backwards. The Army wanted to dump the 45 and go 9mm but had a bazillion too many M1911 guns on hand. (And they were wanting double-action to boot.)
Because someone will ask [Short version]: the reason the army wanted 9mm was that for the same cost you can make, and ship, twice as many 9mm rounds as 45 acp. And that NATO half of Europe went straight-across-the-board 9mm.
Remember the military BigWig's attitude toward handguns is that pistols “are all equally worthless.”
One has to remember that JMB was a pretty pragmatic designer. If you waved enough money in front of him, he would gladly create designs to meet what he thought were stupid requests, like a lever-action shotgun. He dumped numerous designs on Winchester that he knew they would never build, but would buy anyway for fear that he would sell them elsewhere.
JMB's original prototypes for the Hi-Power were to meet a French military request. He was reportedly not keen on pursuing the idea until D.J. Saive created the magazine. The prototypes were striker-fired with a sliding safety mounted on the rear face of the slide. The striker/breechblock assembly was removed en-bloc so as to allow the slide to be pulled forward over the barrel and off of the frame. Then the barrel could be lifted out of its captive abutment within the frame. Also of note was that the slide rode within the frame rails, like the later SIG P210 and CZ75.
Perhaps what would have been more interesting would be JMB's effects on WW2 and post-WW2 infantry weapons. Would we even know John Garand or Carbine Williams as anything other than trivia? Would D.J. Saive have created the SAFN or FAL?
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