Dieudonné Saive Dieudonné Joseph Saive ( 1889 – 1973 ) was a Belgian small arms designer who designed several well - known firearms for Belgian armsmaker Fabrique Nationale , including the FN Model 1949 and the FN FAL ( " Fusil Automatique Leger " or Light Automatic Rifle ) . He is also known for modifying several of John Browning ' s firearms designs , including the 1931 Baby Browning and Hi Power pistol as well as the Browning . 30 cal machine gun . In 1921 , the French military requested that Fabrique Nationale create a new semi - automatic nine millimetre pistol with a 15 - round magazine . John Browning , who was FN ' s chief weapons designer , initially declined to respond to the French request because he felt standard single - row magazines holding seven or eight rounds ( such as was used in his Colt ' s Model 1911 ) were sufficient . Saive , who was then Browning ' s assistant at FN , set to work designing a high - capacity , double - row magazine . Saive mated his experimental magazine to a modified FN Model 1903 for testing . Saive then provided the completed magazine to Browning who developed two 9mm pistol designs alternately using locked and unlocked breaches . Browning and Colt ' s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co . submitted a U . S . patent application for the locked - breach version of the pistol on June 28 , 1923 . The patent was granted on February 22 , 1927 , four months after Browning ' s death at FN ' s plant in Liege , Belgium . Colt ' s elected to concentrate on manufacturing its hugely successful Model 1911 instead of either of Browning ' s new 9mm pistols so Browning ' s son , Val , offered the design to FN . This pistol design , modified after Browning ' s death , was offered as the 13 - shot FN Browning Model 1922 or " Grand Rendement . " ( meaning High Yield ) Following the expiration of the patents on the Model 1911 , Saive redesigned the " Grand Rendement " to incorporate the best features of both pistols in the FN Model 1928 , which still bore Browning ' s name . Saive traveled to Yugoslavia in 1928 to set up the state arsenal in Kraguoujevac . In 1929 , Saive returned to Belgium where he oversaw the manufacture of the commercial version of the Browning Automatic Rifle . By 1930 , Saive was promoted to become FN ' s chief weapons designer ( " Chef de Service " ) . Saive improved the operating mechanism of the . 30 cal . M1919 Browning M2 AN aircraft machine gun in 1932 , increasing its rate of fire to 1 , 200 rpm . In 1938 , he made additional improvements to the M2 further increasing its rate of fire to 1 , 500 rpm . During the same period , Saive continued to improve the " Grand Rendement , " and by 1934 the French term " Grande Puissance " ( " Hi - Power " ) was first applied to the evolved design which became the French GP - 35 self - loading pistol or FN Browning Hi - Power . The Hi - Power was the first 9 mm handgun to utilize a true staggered - column magazine . The large magazine enabled the weapon to carry a total of fourteen cartridges without an excessively oversized or protruding handgrip . France declined to adopt the Hi - Power for its armed forces , instead using the Modèle 1935 pistol . Despite this rejection , the Hi - Power was a sales success with more than 56 , 000 produced by May 1940 , mostly for the Belgian military . It was used extensively in World War II by many nations including the British Commonwealth and Chinese forces . More than 65 , 000 Hi - Power pistols were also used by German forces , renamed " Pistole 640 ( b ) , " after the Nazis captured FN ' s manufacturing plant in Liege , Belgium on May 12 , 1940 . Saive fled the German invasion , eventually arriving in London in mid - 1941 . He was soon at work at the Enfield Design Department at the Drill Hall in Cheshunt , England , recreating production drawings for the Hi - Power and further developing his design for a gas - operated rifle called the EXP - 1 , later the FN Model 1949 . By June 1943 , the British modified Saive ' s technical drawings to produce the Mk . I U . K . model of the Hi - Power . After the war , the Browning Hi - Power was adopted as the standard military service sidearm of many Western countries , including the United Kingdom and Australia . Modern versions remain in production today , three - quarters of a century later . Saive ' s Gas - Operated Rifle Designs Saive is most famous for his series of gas - operated self - loading rifle designs , which used a tipping bolt to lock the action . His FN - 49 rifle went into production , and was later developed into the widely successful FN FAL selective - fire battle rifle .