Browning BDM

The Browning BDM is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by the Browning Arms Company up until production ceased in 1998. Similar in appearance to Browning's (FN Herstal) P-35 model "Hi-Power" pistol, the BDM was actually a new design created to compete in service trials as a standard issue pistol for the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, the BDM was not ultimately adopted for issue by the FBI, and was instead sold only in the private market.

Design

The Browning BDM was developed in 1991 by the Browning Arms Company, and unlike Browning's (FN Herstal) P-35 Hi-Power model, was manufactured only in North America.

The pistol is a magazine fed, self-loading, hammer firing type which was designed with a trigger "mode" switch installed on the left-hand side of the slide (actually only a flush inlaid disk with a bisecting groove), toggling between double-action/single-action(DA/SA) pistol mode, and the double-action-only (DAO) or "revolver" mode—though, of course, other than the similarity of the trigger mode, the BDM has no resemblance to revolvers. This mode switch is what gives the handgun its name, with BDM standing for "Browning Dual Mode" or "Browning Double Mode".