Great example of the only handgun officially used by both sides in WW2!

Offered for sale here is a hard to find Canadian made Inglis Hi Power made in the 3rd batch for British & Commonwealth special forces which is in great original condition, with all markings ‘in the white’ having never been refinished post war.

How the Hi-Power came to Canada & Inglis is an interesting tale of wartime intrigue & resistance. When it became clear the Belgian plant would fall into German hands, plans were sent from the FN factory to Great Britain, enabling the Inglis factory to be tooled up for Hi-Power production for Allied use. After Belgium fell to Germany in May of 1940, FN became a subsidiary of the Germany’s DWM, producing weapons for the Wehrmacht. However, the director of FN & his deputy were in England when Belgium fell & did not return.

As part of Canada’s ‘Mutual Aid Plan’, John Inglis & Company would make the pistols. Despite Britain & the Commonwealth being the only thing standing between worldwide domination by the Nazi’s, legal Intellectual Property (IP) was considered important & so licensing of the design was subsequently undertaken with representatives of FN & Browning. In August of 1943, an agreement was reached to pay FN a royalty of 25 cents for each of the 180,000 pistols, plus 15 cents on pistols over that number, but to not produce more than 250,000 total.

As Inglis neared production of the Hi-Power, more interest in the pistols came from the Canadian armed forces, British Special Operations Executive (SOE) & for use by Commandos & other special operations type military forces. Interest was particularly due to increased capacity over the revolvers currently issued as sidearms (6 rnds v 13) plus the obvious increase in rate of fire.

As such, the Browning Hi Power became the only firearm used officially by both sides during WW2 notwithstanding the Colt 1911 was licensed to the Norwegians so technically was also officially used by the Germans in Norway but this is another story for another time.

The serial numbers on the slide, frame & exposed barrel ejection port are matching & engraved “in the white” (revealing bare metal beneath the finish), which is a signature characteristic of original, un-refinished factory engraving by Inglis pantograph machines.

After WW2, the Hi Power was adopted by British Armed Forces as the standard sidearm replacing the Enfield No. 1 Mk 2 & the Webley MkIV & over the years, most Inglis Hi Powers underwent the FTR program.

This involved a recoating of the gun with 'Suncorite', a thick black finish resembling high temp engine paint, which covered all markings.

Unusually, this gun escaped this process & as you can see, is in the original parkerised original finish. This is evident by the fact the S/N is still ‘in the white’,meaning all numbers & markings should be the colour of the metal underneath, referred to as being white.

The fact this was obtained from Germany, where it has been hidden away since 1945 probably explains why it was never presented to be FTR'd.

Not only has this one remained in original condition & escaped being doused in black paint, it comes with the original canvas Commando holster (unissued?) & the original 13 rnd magazine correctly marked JI.

These guns are getting very hard to find & are highly collectable in their own right especially is in this condition with an original wartime magazine.

You will know if this is for your collection so view the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information.

Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & these are sold on an as is basis.

As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.

Call for shipping cost to your dealer.