Browning BDA The Browning Hi - Power BDA is a 9mm semi - automatic pistol developed in the early 1980s at the Belgian Fabrique Nationale arms factory in Herstal . The pistol was conceived in 1983 to compete in the U . S . bid for a new sidearm chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge that would equip all the branches of the United States armed forces ( ultimately , the Italian Beretta 92 F would emerge as the winner ) . The weapon was however accepted into service with the Finnish Defence Forces as their general service pistol under the designation 9 . 00 PIST 80 and 9 . 00 PIST 80 - 91 . The overall design layout of all versions of the pistol is based on the Browning Hi - Power , but the firearm features significant ergonomic changes designed to update the weapon to modern military requirements . The most notable is a shortening of the hammer spur , which would tend to cut into the web between the thumb and fingers of the grip hand if an original Hi - Power was held incautiously . The BDA ’ s name is an abbreviation for " Browning Double Action " . The pistol was marketed in Europe as the HP - DA . Design details . The Browning Hi - Power BDA is a semi - automatic short recoil operated locked breech firearm . It has a vertically tilting delayed camming action . This locking mechanism was borrowed from the Browning Hi - Power . The handgun features a double action trigger which cocks and then releases the hammer . The recoil of the slide recocks the hammer , and all consecutive shots are fired from the single action mode . A disconnector ensures the pistol fires in semi - automatic mode only . The spring - loaded external claw extractor is mounted in the slide , while the fixed ejector – inside the pistol ’ s frame . The BDA is secured against unintentional firing with an automatic firing pin safety which blocks the firing pin and is released only when the trigger is pulled to fire . Immediately after a round is fired , the safety reengages itself even if the trigger is not released . The BDA also has a decocking safety that safely releases and captures the hammer in a safety notch . A decocking lever is mounted on each side of the pistol ’ s frame . The BDA feeds from a dual - column box magazine with a 14 - round cartridge capacity . The magazine release button , located aft of the trigger , can be configured for either right or left - hand users simply by swapping out the push - button . The BDA is fitted with a slide catch that holds the slide open after depleting the magazine . The slide can be released by pressing the slide release lever , placed on the left side of the frame . The pistol is aimed using fixed iron sight s with contrasting dots – a front blade and dovetailed rear notch . As an option , tritium - illuminated Meprolight night sights can also be fitted . The BDA is chambered in the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge , but a 9x21mm version is also available for those countries where military calibers ( such as the 9x19mm ) are prohibited for civilian use . Variants . Apart from the standard version of the BDA ( initially designated BDA - 9S ) two compact variants were also produced : the Medium ( known interchangeably as the BDAM or BDA - 9M ) – aimed at the law enforcement market and the Compact model ( called the BDAC or BDA - 9C ) – designed for air force personnel . A variant of the BDA is the BDAO pistol ( short for " Browning Double Action Only " ) , which received a different trigger mechanism that cocks and then releases the hammer which is automatically decocked following each shot . Presently , Fabrique Nationale no longer advertises the pistols in their sales offerings .