Solid video. I love both designs but for me the BHP simply points and shoots better for me in my hands. I will point out what I would consider to be a few mistatements in the video.
Thank you for a very thoughtful comment! I realized I did not mention Mr. Saive after I completed the video. That was an oversight on my part, and I'm glad you pointed it out. Partly, this was an omission resulting from the limited time I had to record the video. In my original review of the BHP, I gave him full credit for his efforts related to the Hi Power.
As to John Moses Browning, and his influence on the pistol we today know as the Hi Power, I think his influence was more than cursory. In the drawing you attached (thank you for that, by the way), there are quite a few features that eventually found their way into the GP35. As mentioned, the locking mechanism is nearly identical to that which JMB designed. The grip frame/profile is likewise quite similar. The magazine (another Saive design that was submitted to Browning for incorporation into the pistol in order to meet the French military requirement for ammunition capacity) is similar, but the original prototype actually held 17 rounds whereas the final design for the HP was reduced to 13. Lastly, while the firing mechanism is quite different, the trigger itself is nearly the same.
To say Browning was working to simplify the 1911 design is, perhaps, debatable. Nevertheless, it's hard to dispute the fact that the deletion of the barrel link and the removable bushing did not accomplish that end. The situation that DID exist for JMB, however, was the fact that he was working around is own patents for the 1911 which were sold prior to his commencing design on a new pistol for the French. This, as much as anything, may well explain some of the design differences between the 1911 and his prototype developed for FN in 1923 (I believe that was the year, I'm going from memory here).
It's also hard to know how much discussion might have take place between Browning and Saive between the time the prototypes (there were two, I believe) were developed and JMB's death in 1926. It is possible that some of the features that eventually found their way into the GP35 were actually Browning's ideas that were simply incorporated into the design by Saive.
As to the comparison between the HP and the CZ75, I think my statements in the video were accurate. While the CZ is certainly not a copy/clone of the HP, it's locking mechanism, grip frame/profile, and double-column magazine were certainly derived from the Browning/Saive designs. I also think the fact the outward appearance of the two pistols are so similar is not accidental. Considering the design of the CZ75, as I understand it, was a top secret undertaking in an Eastern Block communist state, can we really be certain at this point of anything pertaining to its development?
In any case, I appreciate your comments, and I look forward to more discussion in the future. Take care.
HRF