GUNS & AMMO
and, in a joint effort with FN’s Dieudonne Saive, the P.35
Hi-Power pistol — one of the most important handguns
in history.
Having origins in a contract with the French government
for a service handgun, the P.35 Grande Puissance was
actually regarded as an improvement over the legendary Browning M1911 design in that it did away with that
handgun’s most questionable feature — a swinging barrel link. As well, the magazine capacity of 13+1 rounds of
9mm Parabellum ammunition gave the pistol the greatest capacity of any mainstream handgun during that period. The P.35 was made in a number of different variations and became popular with civilians as well as the
military and police of many nations. During World War
II when the Germans overran Belgium, FN was forced
to produce the P.35, along with other arms and equipment, for the Nazi war effort. Retitled the Pistole Modell
640 (b) by the Germans, many thousands were turned
out before war’s end. Before the factory’s capture, however, FN sent the plans for the Hi-Power to Great Britain,
which forwarded the designs to Canada. These Hi-Powers were subsequently manufactured in Canada by the
John Inglis Company for use by British forces. Despite
modern advances that have been made in handguns,
many by FN itself, the Hi-Power remains a favorite with
many shooters and is still a viable military and self-defense arm. To digress slightly, FN has produced many
non-Browning firearms and other products, such as motorcycles and automobiles, making the company one of
the most important, vibrant firms of its time. After World
War II, FN rebuilt and again began making military and
civilian arms of many different types and varieties — too
many to recount here. Two arms that particularly stand
out, both designed by Dieudonne Saive, are the superb
Model 1949 FN Semi Automatique Fabrique Nationale
(SAFN), commonly known as the FN-49, and the later
FN Fusil Automatique Leger (FAL). The SAFN was adopted by a number of countries in different calibers, including Belgium, Argentina, Luxembourg, Colombia, the
Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Brazil and Venezuela. The rifle saw action during the Korean War, in the Congo and
the Suez, though it remained in some inventories well
into the 1970s. Saive’s FNFAL [also called LAR (Light
Automatic Rifle) and SLR (Self-Loading Rifle)] is simply one of the finest military arms ever designed. It was
rugged, reliable, accurate and incredibly effective. First
appearing in 1953, this selective-fire 20-shot repeater is
still an important component of many armies throughout
the world. It remains one of the most important pieces of
military equipment ever designed.
What about FN today?
Some of the major hurdles FN has faced in more recent
decades have been the fall and disintegration of the Soviet Union, the changing political situation today and the
start of the Global War on Terrorism. With the end of the
Cold War, the worldwide arms race came to an abrupt
halt. This had a dramatic effect on all European small
arms manufacturers. Some survived, others didn’t. FN
leaders overcame this period by reshaping and resizing
the company. Eventually, it was downsized to approximately 1,000 employees in Belgium. At the same time,
the focus and strategy became one of consolidating
FN’s position as a worldwide leader.
Within the last 15 years, the company’s management
also had to face the fact that their facility and much of
their machinery was becoming old and worn. So they
set out to modernize, but with the catch of doing it without compromising the quality of their product. To accomplish this they [