Browning BDA notes w/ pic

September 11, 2023, 08:34 AM

Finally found a reasonable price on a Browning BDA. (Reasonable means cheap enough for me to be able to afford.) Have to say the BDA’s are much more attractive in real life than in pictures. Like a P220 in a Tuxedo! Most comment on the polished slides, but I have never heard mention of the unique grips. I don’t mean the “Browning” on the right grip. I mean all the edges surrounding the checkering are high gloss. (The normal P220 grips have obviously textured edges) This polished finish requires special polished molds. These grips blend very well with the polished slides for a very classy look.
The barrel is marked “9mm Luger” and the magazine is marked the same. I’ve checked as many advertising placements and catalogs I could find and found that Browning always advertised their pistols as 9mm Luger, while Hawes and Interarms used 9mm Para.
In looking at the BDA serial list, I’m wondering if all the 9mm’s there are marked Luger.

[/URL]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Udo,

September 11, 2023, 09:09 AM

David Lee

Yes, I've had 2 in .45 auto and 1 in 9mm. As I recall, the muzzle end of the barrel is also polished before bluing. Can you check yours? Thanks. They were a handsome pistol. Need to ba careful not to over tighten its grip screws. You would not find those grips today should they be damaged.

September 11, 2023, 10:52 AM

Udo

Good catch! Yes my barrel muzzle end is highly polished. I sure didn’t spot that.

September 11, 2023, 02:13 PM

Udo

quote:
Originally posted by Udo:
Good catch! Yes my barrel muzzle end is highly polished blue. I sure didn’t spot that.

September 11, 2023, 02:18 PM

12131

Do all P220 BDAs have the slide flats polished?

September 11, 2023, 04:30 PM

.38supersig

I've got a few P220s (and a P226) that are stamped as 9mm Luger, but I haven't seen a 9mm Para BDA.

September 11, 2023, 10:08 PM

David Lee

quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
Do all P220 BDAs have the slide flats polished?

As much as I know, yes. I can't say if all the 9mm models were the same in apearance. Mine had a pinched nose slide, which is another unusual aspect of that caliber BDA. You'll also read some different text on the gun about Browning and IIRC, People's Quebecer. Spell check that as it's in reference to Quebec,Canada.

September 12, 2023, 08:30 PM

p220cop

My 1977 "Pinched Nose" 9mm BDA is stamped 9mm Luger on the chamber.

I also own a 1976 "Pinched Nose" 9mm Hawes, and two 1977 "Pinched Nose" 9mm Swiss / Montage Suisse P220 9mm's. Their chambers are stamped 9mm Pars.

Magazines for the pistols are either unmarked, or marked 9mm Para or 9mm Luger.

September 12, 2023, 10:55 PM

tenkey

Congratulations on the BDA score.

September 14, 2023, 01:42 PM

Udo

quote:
Originally posted by p220cop:
My 1977 "Pinched Nose" 9mm BDA is stamped 9mm Luger on the chamber.

I also own a 1976 "Pinched Nose" 9mm Hawes, and two 1977 "Pinched Nose" 9mm Swiss / Montage Suisse P220 9mm's. Their chambers are stamped 9mm Pars.

Magazines for the pistols are either unmarked, or marked 9mm Para or 9mm Luger.

Am I assuming correctly that all Browning BDA's have "pinched nose" slides?
BTW I also have an early pinched nose Hawes enroute, but I can't confirm the proof date till it arrives next week.

September 14, 2023, 01:54 PM

12131

^^^ Don't own any, but I see pics online of the Browning BDA without the pinch nose slide, also.

September 14, 2023, 01:58 PM

Udo

In full disclosure, the lower price I paid was due to the BDA having a butchered left grip and a missing lanyard loop. luckily I had the correct psrts to make the repair.

September 14, 2023, 02:01 PM

Udo

quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
^^^ Don't own any, but I see pics online of the Browning BDA without the pinch nose slide, also.

Thanks Q. May need to add that to the serial list for the BDA nines

September 14, 2023, 09:18 PM

CAR

quote:
Originally posted by Udo:
Am I assuming correctly that all Browning BDA's have "pinched nose" slides?

Most, if not all the 9mm BDA's (and I have not seen that many) are pinched nose, all the .45 BDA's I have seen are the later configuration slide.

September 14, 2023, 10:13 PM

kingfish007

My Browning BDA .45 without the "pinched nose" slide

September 14, 2023, 10:28 PM

parabellum

Evolution of the slide types: 1975 – 1995 Folded slides only

1st Type Early slide with round front end and press mark on top, fix front sigth.

2nd Type Rounded front end, milled top and sides, fix front sight. (Very rare)

3rd Type Square slide, milled top and shaved edges, fix front sight. long radius ejection port

4th Type Square slide, milled top, shaved edges, fix front sight, short radius ejection port.

5th Type Square slide, milled top, no edge shaving, front sight on dove-tail, short radius on ejection port.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...100052494#4100052494

quote:
All BDA pistols chambered in 9x19mm, .38 Super and 7.65x21mm (this chambering is rare, and for the European market exclusively) have Type 1 slides.

All serial production BDA pistols chambered in .45 ACP, as well as all Hawes-imported P220 pistols chambered in .45 ACP (listed in the Hawes catalog as the Model 745), have Type 3 slides, as seen in the pics above- beveled edges on the slide rear of the ejection port and 12 slide serrations instead of 19 slide serrations.

With respect to BDA pistols in .45 ACP, I have evidence of at least one pre-production example being produced with a slide that does not fit into any of the five categories I listed on this page.

Notice how we've talked about Type 1 and Type 3 slides. Where's the Type 2? I get the impression these transitional slides appeared only on the P75. At least, that's the only place I've ever seen Type 2 slides.

I looked through my research materials and this is all I have in the way of pics of this slide type. In this pic, you see right and left side views of a P75 with a Type 2 slide. In the slides-only portion of this photo, we see a comparison of Types 1 and 2, with the Type 2 slide on the bottom. Very subtle difference. For commercial production P220 pistols, it appears they went from Type 1 directly to Type 3 slides.

The P75 is much like Walther's postwar P38, in the sense that engineering changes made to these pistols were the same for both the respective commercial examples and for the pistols intended for military use. Any change made to the design or to parts were made across both commercial and military production, so one would be lead to believe that there are commercial P220s out there wearing Type 2 slides, but I've never seen one, at least not that I can recall.