WHY did Browning discontinue the Hi-Power?

[Talyn]

Browning officially discontinued the Hi-Power in 2018 due to escalating manufacturing costs and declining sales. As a traditional, single-action design, it lost market share to modern, polymer-framed pistols, while worn-out manufacturing tooling meant FN Herstal (the original manufacturer) would have needed to invest heavily to continue production.

Putting a Warhorse Out to Pasture: Browning Discontinues the Hi Power

Read: Putting a Warhorse Out to Pasture: Browning Discontinues the Hi Power from Iain Harrison on February 8, 2018 for Recoil.

www.recoilweb.com

Farewell To the Browning Hi-Power - The Shooter's Log

FN recently announced the Browning Hi Power pistol is being discontinued from manufacture. In the perfect handgunning world, all pistols would have the mix of history, performance, and collector interest of the Fabrique Nationale Hi Power. While John Moses Browning died in his office in Belgium...

blog.cheaperthandirt.com

The primary factors that led to the discontinuation include:

• Outdated Production Methods: The original manufacturing tooling at the FN plant in Belgium was worn, and updating it for mass production became cost-prohibitive.
• Shift in Market Demand:The Hi-Power’s single-action-only trigger and magazine safety were largely considered archaic compared to the modern "wonder nines" (double-action, high-capacity 9mm pistols) and polymer-framed service pistols.
  • High Price Point: New Hi-Powers carried premium prices (often around $1,000), making it difficult to compete with more affordable alternatives.
  • Design Quirks: The design was notorious for "hammer bite" (pinching the web of the shooter's hand) and featured a heavy trigger pull out-of-the-box

YouTube Vid link is scheduled for Jul 10, 2026

 

[mikep]

Some day i’ll get one. They are nice looking guns. I’m still liking the 4.25” SA-35.

 

[PieterCoetzee]

There are plenty clones out there, some are EXACT clones if you dont mind somebody else's name on it. One is even "named" Inglis if that helps get past the clone issue.

It lost market share because its Big, Heavy, and Single Action, requiring cocked and lock carry. Sadly too many of todays shooters want small and light and striker fired because cocked and locked scares them

 

[BarryinIN]

Browning did nothing with the HiPower line for ten years, maybe longer, before discontinuing it. Their catalog would have pages of socks but half a page on the HiPower.
They simply had no interest in it.

I feel they would’ve stopped making it years before, but waited until they were sure they could let it slip out of production peacefully.

I love them, but Browning didn’t.