WWII German Marked FN Hi-Power 4.7” 9mm Tangent Sight Pistol, C&R
SOLD FOR: $1,025.00
LSB#: LSB250822BL071
Make: FN Herstal, Belgium
Model: Hi-Power
Serial#: 114209
Year of Manufacture: Late 1942 (WaA140) / C&R
Caliber: 9mm Luger
Action Type: Semi-Automatic Pistol, Exposed Hammer Single Action with Detachable Magazine.
Markings: The right side of the slide is marked, “114209”, the left side is marked, “FABRIQUE NATIONALE D’ARMED DE GUERRE HERSTAL-BELGIQUE / BROWNING’S PATENT DEPOSE”. The barrel and frame is marked with the serial, “114209”. There are various “140” Waffenamt and a Reichsadler on both the frame, barrel, and slide.
Barrel Length: 4.7”
Sights/ Optics: The front sight is serrated barleycorn blade dovetailed to the slide. The rear sight is a sliding tangent V-notch pinned to the slide. The sight is marked out to 500.
Magazine Quantity & Condition: This pistol includes 1 x 13 round magazine in Fair condition.
Stock Configuration & Condition/ Grip: The grips are two piece, checkered walnut panels screwed to the frame with red undersides. There is to heavy handling wear with scratches, nicks, and pressure dents throughout. The right panel has a rough repair. There are worn spots of checkering. Overall the grips are in Fair condition.
Type of Finish: In The White
Finish Originality: Scrubbed, But Not Refinished
Bore Condition: The bore is light gray and the rifling is pronounced. There is moderate erosion and light fouling in the bore. The feed ramp is dull and worn. In this writer’s opinion the bore rates 7/10.
Overall Condition: This pistol retains about none of its metal finish. The entire firearm has been scrubbed of finish via bead blasting. There are several scratches, nicks, and cleaned out spots of pitting. The fitment of parts is very crude. The markings are worn and blurry in several spots. The screw heads are lightly tooled. Overall this pistol rates in Poor condition.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this pistol. As with all previously owned firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards. This pistol sports a thumb print extractor.
Box Paperwork and Accessories: This pistol includes one 13 round magazine.
Our Assessment: This FN Hi-Power stamped with Waffenamt 140 and a Reichsadler is a direct, tangible imprint of wartime production and control—a pistol made under the shadow of occupation yet finished to the practical standards demanded by mid-war service. Produced at Herstal in late 1942, the matched serials across slide, barrel, and frame and the multiple “140” acceptance stamps tie this example to German inspection regimes and the logistics of equipping forces in the European theater. The sliding tangent sight and barleycorn front blade are period features that speak to an expectation of deliberate, aimed fire; together the markings and sighting package read like a production ledger written in steel, provenance that places the pistol squarely into the material history of World War II handgunning. Chambered in 9mm Luger—the cartridge that became the lingua franca of 20th-century military pistols—this Hi-Power retains the forms that made it a service standard, even if its surface has suffered heavy use and corrective work. The metal has been scrubbed to the white and shows cleaned pitting, crude fitment in places, and lightly tooled screw heads; the walnut panels bear heavy wear and a repair consistent with field service or later restoration attempts. The bore, while showing moderate erosion and fouling, still displays pronounced rifling and grades a serviceable 7/10, which, combined with the pistol’s stamped provenance, frames it as an honest, unrestored wartime artifact rather than a period-fresh display piece.
As an object this Hi-Power reads as history held in the hand: an instrument that passed through inspected production, wartime supply chains, and the hands of users whose needs outweighed finish. Its value lies less in cosmetic perfection than in the narrative written into its steel—the matched serials, Belgian proofs partly overwritten by wartime acceptance stamps, and tangible signs of service that make it a compelling study piece for students of wartime manufacture and small arms provenance. It is a pistol that rewards close inspection for what it reveals about production priorities and the realities of arms in conflict. -R.E.
