The Browning Hi-Power was first produced in 1935 and was adopted for military service as the P35 in Belgium. During the Axis occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1945, the German forces used FN's weapon plants to produce P35s for their own usage. The Germans designated it the P640b and it saw service with the Waffen-SS. Many soldiers, both Allied and Axis, kept the P35s that they came across on the battlefield because of its reliability and large magazine capacity (13 rounds).