Erik Brownell, Founder & CEO
Promethean Tactical was founded on the realization that the Browning Hi-Power lacked wider aftermarket support. It started as a passion project while I taught myself CAD software between college classes—both as a way to procrastinate and to make custom modifications for my own Hi-Power. A year later, with minimal funding, Promethean Tactical set out with the aim to add functionality to this legendary handgun using modern additive manufacturing techniques.
The Hi-Power has a long history for a sidearm. Designed in the early 1920s by John Browning and a young Dieudonné Saive (Designer of the FN FAL). While Browning would pass in 1926 the handgun would enter use in 1935 with the Belgian Military. Browning and Saive had developed what was the first “Wonder Nine” offering a capacity of 13 rounds of 9MM and reliability that would come to be unquestioned. It would quickly receive this reputation for reliability being used by both Allied and Axis powers during WWII. After WWII the Hi-Power would be sought out by most NATO Nations for use in their militaries, eventually being used by almost all NATO countries and adopting the nickname “The Sidearm of The Free World”. At the height of its use 50 fighting forces and 93 different countries fielded the Hi-Power. Special forces such as the MACV-SOG in Vietnam and the SAS during the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979 used Hi-Powers as sidearms, along with FBI HRT teams domestically. There are also many examples of the Hi-Power being used in the war on terror as it was the standard service pistol of the Canadian Armed Forces until 2017 and the British Armed Forces in 2013. In 2018 the Hi-Power would be discontinued by FN, Leaving many disappointed. Ultimately this firearm has found its way into the most iconic small arms in the 20th century. At Promethean Tactical we find it still serves with distinction for carry by everyday citizens as well as a firearm for duty use.