Browning Hi Power Magazines
Mec-Gar Factory OEM • FN GP35 / P-35 / L9A1 • 9mm Parabellum
The Browning Hi Power — designed by John Moses Browning, completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal, and introduced in 1935 — was the first successful high-capacity 9mm service pistol and became the most widely-issued military sidearm of the 20th century. Carried by 50+ national militaries across 82 years of FN production, retired as the British Army's L9A1 in 2013, and reborn in 2022 via Springfield Armory SA-35 and Girsan MC P35. Keep Shooting carries Mec-Gar factory-OEM Hi Power magazines in 10-round and 15-round capacities — the same Mec-Gar-made magazines that FN ships as factory production.
About Browning Hi Power Magazines at Keep Shooting
Keep Shooting carries Mec-Gar factory-OEM magazines for the Browning Hi Power in both the standard 15-round capacity and the 10-round compliance capacity for capacity-restricted states. Both are produced at Mec-Gar's Gussago, Italy facility — the same factory that produced Hi Power magazines for FN Herstal throughout the final decades of FN's production run. For the broader Browning magazine lineup, see our parent Browning Magazines category.
The Browning Hi Power is one of the most historically important service pistols ever produced. Development began in 1921 when the French military issued a contract requirement for a new service sidearm with a high-capacity magazine, manual safety, and 9mm Parabellum chambering. John Moses Browning — already the designer of the Colt 1911, the Browning Automatic Rifle, the M2 heavy machine gun, and essentially every foundational American firearm of the first half of the 20th century — took the contract and began work at Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Liège, Belgium. Browning died in 1926 with the design incomplete. His protégé Dieudonné Saive, also at FN, finished the pistol over the following decade. Saive's contributions were substantial — he is properly credited as co-designer — but the pistol entered service under Browning's name in recognition of his foundational work. FN introduced it as the GP35 / Grande Puissance ("Great Power," a reference to its then-unprecedented 13-round magazine capacity) in 1935. In Anglophone markets it was marketed as the Browning Hi Power or P-35.
The Hi Power's defining technical innovation was its cam-actuated locked-breech action. The Colt 1911 — Browning's earlier service-pistol design — used a swinging-link mechanism to tilt the barrel out of battery during recoil. The Hi Power replaced the swinging link with a machined cam surface on the underside of the barrel that rides against a fixed pin in the frame, tilting the barrel down during recoil without moving parts. This was simpler, more reliable, cheaper to manufacture, and more durable than the swinging-link design. The cam-lock became the foundational mechanism for virtually every subsequent 9mm service pistol — the SIG Sauer P226, the Beretta 92, the Glock 17, the CZ-75, the Walther P99, the HK USP, and dozens of others all use variants of the Hi Power's cam-lock principle. The 1935 Hi Power is, in design lineage, the common ancestor of nearly every modern 9mm semi-auto service pistol in the world.
The Hi Power's 13-round double-stack magazine was equally revolutionary. Saive developed the staggered-column feed geometry — two columns of cartridges stacked in alternating offset — specifically to deliver higher capacity in a single-handed grip. No previous service pistol had fed double-stack; the Colt 1911 carried seven rounds, the Luger P08 carried eight, the Walther P38 carried eight. The Hi Power's 13-round capacity was a step-change improvement that defined the template for every "high-capacity" service pistol of the subsequent 90 years. The staggered-feed geometry Saive worked out in 1934 is essentially unchanged in modern production magazines.
The Hi Power's service history is unmatched. During WWII, the pistol was uniquely issued to both sides of the conflict. After Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940, the FN Herstal factory was seized by the Wehrmacht and continued Hi Power production throughout the war under the designation Pistole 640(b) — issued to German paratroopers, SS units, and Wehrmacht armored troops. Simultaneously, Saive escaped to England with the design drawings and licensed Hi Power production to the Canadian firm John Inglis and Company in Toronto, which produced the pistol for Allied forces — primarily the British Commonwealth armies, Chinese Nationalist forces, and Canadian paratroopers. The Inglis No. 1 Mk I saw extensive Allied service from 1944 forward. The Hi Power is the only service pistol ever manufactured in active production by both sides of a major world war — a direct consequence of its Belgian occupation under the Nazis. After the war, FN resumed Hi Power production in liberated Belgium and the pistol became the standard sidearm of the British Army (as the L9A1, adopted 1957, retired 2013 — 56 years of service), the Canadian Forces (adopted 1944, retired 2022), the Australian Army, the Israeli Defense Forces (early years), the Indian Army (still in service), and the service pistol of 50+ national militaries total. No other 9mm service pistol has been adopted by more nations.
FN Herstal ceased Hi Power production in 2017 after 82 years of continuous manufacture — longer than any other commercial firearm in continuous production. For five years the Hi Power was orphaned in the commercial market with only secondary-market and overseas-import supply. In 2022, Springfield Armory (working with HS Produkt in Croatia, the same manufacturing partner that produces the XD-series) revived the platform as the SA-35 — a 15-round, modernized Hi Power with a slightly improved trigger and extractor. The same year, Turkish manufacturer Girsan introduced the MC P35, another modernized Hi Power variant. Tisas (also Turkish) followed with the Regent BR9. The Hi Power design is now in active production by three manufacturers across three continents, 87 years after Saive finalized the design.
Magazine compatibility across the Hi Power family is excellent. The magazine body geometry has been essentially unchanged since 1935 — Mec-Gar Hi Power magazines will function in original FN GP35 production, WWII-era FN-produced Pistole 640(b), Inglis No. 1 Mk I Canadian production, L9A1 British service pistols, modern post-1990 FN commercial production, and the modern SA-35, MC P35, and BR9 revivals. The principal modern variant to be aware of is the Mk III (introduced 1988) which added an ambidextrous thumb safety and a heavier profile slide — but the magazine well and feed geometry are unchanged from the original. Modern Springfield SA-35 ships with a 15-round Mec- Gar magazine from the factory; the same magazine sold here is the factory magazine for that pistol.
The 10-round magazine is the compliance variant for capacity-restricted states — California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, Washington DC, and other jurisdictions with 10-round magazine capacity limits. The body length is shorter than the 15-round variant but fits the same magazine well; the follower and spring are scaled for the reduced capacity. The 15-round magazine is the standard full-capacity variant for unrestricted states — a 2-round upgrade over the original 1935 13-round specification, a change Mec-Gar introduced through improved follower geometry in the late-1990s production cycle.
Why Mec-Gar? Mec-Gar (Mec-Gar S.r.l., Gussago, Italy, founded 1965) is the largest pistol-magazine manufacturer in the world and the OEM supplier for Beretta, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, CZ, Springfield Armory, and — most relevantly here — FN Herstal for the Hi Power production cycle and Springfield Armory for the SA-35. A Mec-Gar Hi Power magazine and an FN-marked factory Hi Power magazine are, functionally, the same magazine with different markings — Mec-Gar produces both in the same facility on the same tooling. Mec-Gar's staggered-column geometry, spring tempering, and follower polishing are the industry reference standard against which aftermarket manufacturers are measured. For the Hi Power — a pistol whose primary application is as a service sidearm with 50+ years of deployed history — the factory- OEM magazine is the right choice. For the broader Mec-Gar factory magazine lineup, see our Mec-Gar brand page. For the Browning firearm and accessory catalog, see our Browning brand page. Hi Power owners cleaning and maintaining their pistols may also want the Browning Hi Power TekMat — a scaled exploded-diagram gun-cleaning mat showing every part of the pistol in proper nomenclature.
The Hi Power's civilian market today is driven by four overlapping communities. First, veterans who carried the L9A1, the Inglis variant, or the various NATO-allied service Hi Powers during their service years — a dwindling but still-active cohort that prizes the pistol for its service-history authenticity. Second, collectors of WWII and post-WWII military firearms — Inglis Hi Powers, Pistole 640(b) wartime German- contract production, and early FN commercial production command significant premiums in the collector market. Third, concealed- carry users who prefer the Hi Power's low-bore-axis single-action trigger and slim frame over modern striker-fired polymer alternatives — a small but committed traditionalist cohort. Fourth and most recently, a new generation of SA-35 and MC P35 buyers who discovered the platform through the 2022 revival and want factory-spec magazines for practice and duty use. All four groups are served by the same Mec-Gar factory magazine.
Keep Shooting ships all Hi Power magazines from our Pennsylvania warehouse with free shipping on orders over $49.95 and hassle- free returns. Magazine shipments comply with destination-state capacity restrictions; orders for the 15-round magazine will not ship to California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, and Washington DC (state-level capacity restrictions vary — verify before ordering). Whether you're an L9A1 veteran rebuilding your service mag inventory, an SA-35 owner stocking practice magazines, an Inglis collector sourcing working-use magazines to preserve your original WWII-production mags, or a concealed- carry user committed to a 90-year-old design that still sets the geometry standard for modern 9mm service pistols, every Hi Power magazine in our catalog is authentic Mec-Gar Gussago production.
Frequently Asked Questions — High Power Magazines
Keep Shooting carries a wide selection of High Power Magazines products from trusted brands. Browse our catalog to see the full range, and use the filters on the left to narrow by brand, price, or product type.
Yes! All orders over $49.95 qualify for free shipping, including High Power Magazines products. Orders typically ship within 1–2 business days.
Keep Shooting offers hassle-free returns on High Power Magazines products. If you're not completely satisfied, contact our customer service team for a return authorization. All products must be in original, unused condition.
If you need help choosing the right High Power Magazines product, our team is available to assist. Check individual product descriptions for detailed specifications, or contact us directly and we'll help you find the best fit for your needs.