At the 2017 Armed Forces Skill at Arms (AFSAM) competition, the Canadian Armed Forces brought their top shooters equipped with 20 Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistols—firearms that had been in use since World War II. However, most of them didn’t hold up. Out of the 20 pistols, only five were still usable, while the other 15 malfunctioned during warm-ups and had to be taken out of service.
During the competition, the 10 Canadian shooters faced an average of 4.5 malfunctions each while firing a total of 2,810 rounds. Meanwhile, the 20 British shooters fired 5,620 rounds without a single malfunction.
Why does this matter? It shows just how outdated Canada’s military sidearm was. Despite the availability of newer, more reliable pistols, the Canadian Armed Forces were still using a handgun that was nearly a century old. It wasn’t until 2024—almost 90 years after the Hi-Power was introduced—that they finally replaced it with a more modern service pistol.
Development of the Browning Hi-Power
John Browning invented the Browning Hi-Power in 1911 for Fabrique Nationale, a company in Belgium. It was created following a request from the French military for a new pistol that could hold a 10-round magazine, remain compact, effectively hit a target from 50 meters, and be easy to take apart and put back together.
The final version was officially introduced in 1935 and featured a detachable magazine that could hold 10, 13, 15, or 17 rounds, depending on the user’s needs. It could fire 9x19mm, 7.65x21mm Parabellum, and .40 S&W bullets. The pistol was compact and well-suited for combat situations.
One of history’s most reliable pistols
Over time, over 50 militaries around the world adopted the Browning Hi-Power as their service pistol, with it considered the most reliable of the era. It was so popular that it became one of the few to be equipped by both the Allied and Axis Powers during World War II and its associated conflicts, including the Winter and Continuation Wars.
Outside of the Second World War, the Hi-Power saw use with elite American units during the Vietnam War, as well as with the French during both the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. The pistol began to fall out of favor in the 1990s, as modern weapons began to show their capabilities, and production was ended in 2017. However, it was restarted in 2022, with upgrades made to the pistol.
Browning Hi-Power and the Canadian Armed Forces
Before the Browning Hi-Power was retired from service, replacement parts had become so scarce that the Canadian military was forced to cannibalize other pistols to keep damaged ones operational. As fighting increasingly shifted toward close-quarters urban environments, where service rifles were often less effective, the Canadian Armed Forces found themselves relying on an aging and increasingly unreliable sidearm.
The problem became so severe that Canadian troops joked it would be more effective to throw the pistol at an enemy than fire it. Bob Kinch, a former Canadian Armed Forces competitive marksman, quipped that although he would choose the Browning over a sharpened stick, he would still “look fondly” at the stick.
Until recently, the British Army also continued using Browning pistols dating back to the Second World War. Recognizing the dangers of relying on such aging firearms, it evaluated modern replacements before settling on the Glock 17 (Gen 4). Although Canada faced similar issues, its military took considerably longer to replace the Hi-Power.
Why does the Canadian Armed Forces have so many units?
The Browning Hi-Powers equipped by the Canadian Armed Forces were manufactured by John Inglis and Company in Toronto, Ontario. They were intended to be sold to China to help combat the Japanese, but the latter surrendered before the pistols could be delivered, meaning Canada was left with a surplus of units.
There were so many, in fact, that, in the early 2000s, there were still unused Hi-Powers sitting in their original factory packaging.
Pursuing an alternative to the Browning Hi-Power
The Browning Hi-Power is showing its age in other ways, too. There’s no place to mount a flashlight on the original models and the small sights are difficult to aim in low-light conditions. The pistols can’t be fired while wearing gloves or with the left hand, and the long hammer can cut open the shooter’s palm. They’re also pretty heavy, due to their all-metal construction.
The Canadian Armed Forces began looking into purchasing replacement service pistols in the mid-2010s, but the process became bogged down. To fill the gap left by the aging Hi-Powers, the military introduced the Army Interim Pistol Program to purchase around 7,000 pistols. The gun’s successor, the SIG Sauer P320 (designated the C22 in Canada), was chosen in 2022. Units began to be distributed in 2023, with it reported the process was completed the following year.
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As for the Hi-Powers, it’s currently unknown how they’ll be destroyed. It’s been suggested they’ll be smelted, but this hasn’t been confirmed.