Inglis Hi-Power

The Inglis Hi-Power is a semi-automatic pistol made by John Inglis and Company of Toronto, Canada, as a Second World War production of the Browning Hi-Power. When it became clear that the Belgian plant of Fabrique Nationale would fall into German hands, the plans were sent to the United Kingdom, which let the Inglis factory be tooled up to build the pistol for Allied use. Production ran from late 1944 until September 1945, and the pistols were issued for the March 1945 airborne crossing of the Rhine in Operation Varsity. Like the original, it is a recoil-operated, hammer-fired, magazine-fed self-loading pistol that fires 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition from a 13-round magazine. Inglis built two versions, one with an adjustable rear sight and a detachable shoulder stock, made chiefly for a Nationalist Chinese contract, and one with a fixed rear sight. Pistols for Commonwealth forces were designated Pistol No 2 Mk 1 or Mk 1*, and when the Chinese contract was cancelled the Canadian military accepted the undelivered Chinese-style pistols as Pistol No 1. The Canadian Armed Forces used the pistol as their primary service sidearm until the SIG Sauer P320 fully replaced it in March 2024. It also served with the Special Operations Executive, and a lightweight aluminum-framed variant was tested but never adopted.