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My Browning Pro 40 has been needing a long over due cleaning so I have decided to break it down completely for some maintenance and document it for your viewing pleasure. Take heed that this is only a guide and will at the least help anyone better understand the workings and simplicity of these pistols. If you do not feel confident taking your pistol apart this far, do not do so. Myself or the folks running this site cannot be held responsible for any damages or breakage due to wrong assembly. It sucks to have to add any type of disclaimer, but in this day and age you almost have to.
This guide will cover the Browning Pro 9 and 40, The FNP 9, 40 and should cover the .357 as well, but that will need further confirmation. I know in fact it WILL NOT cover the .45. I have not picked one up yet to take apart.
The only thing I will not go over is taking out the magazine catch. There is already a good thread on it which thankfully will save me some time and explaining.
Tools needed are:
A punch "1/8 should work"
A small flat head screw driver.
A pick tool is handy too
I did this by myself, but if you can get come else to help you, another pair of hands is a major benefit.
Here is my Browning that I will be tearing down. I will go over the frame first and the slide second.
1. First start off by making sure the pistol is unloaded and remove the slide.
2. Now take a punch and push out the pin that holds in the fire control group. It shouldn't matter which way. The pin seems symmetrical.
3. Here you can see that the FCG is hooked to the trigger bar. The FCG must be tilted to clear the trigger bar. It is a little more difficult on the Browning pistols since the magazine disconnect will be limiting the travel of the trigger bar.
4. Here is a view of the magazine disconnect. It pulls down on the trigger bar disconnecting it from the fire control group. It also prevents the tab from pushing up the firing pin block which is another safety device.
5. The little tab protruding out of the side of the magazine by the groove is what pushes up the trigger bar engaging it to the FCG. All FNP 9 and 40 magazines that I have seen share this feature.
NOTE: The magazine catch must be removed before you can remove the magazine disconnect!
6. To remove the magazine disconnect assembly takes a little bit of careful maneuvering. First you will have to carefully pry the trigger bar over with a small screwdriver until the disconnect drops free.
Now pull the trigger bar up as far as you can, and while coming up through the magwell with a screwdriver, push the magazine disconnect up and out of the slot.
Here's the slot that it sits in.
Here is the magazine disconnect assembly removed from the frame. The reason it has to be removed after the mag catch is because there is a radius cut out of the tail end that the catch needs to go through. Of course my thumb is covering it up in this pic, but it can be seen in some others.
7. The rear frame pieces can be removed if you like. Note the direction of the spring.
8. Now comes the fun part. Taking apart the front frame rails and removing the trigger. First, the take down lever must be removed. This is done by pushing down on the slide stop lever spring right behind the lever with a small screwdriver. Once the spring is clear of the groove the lever should fall out. The pic is blurry, but should give an idea of how its done.
If you want, you can remove the trigger pin now, but it doesn't do any good since you can't take it out with the other parts in the way.
Now, to remove the front frame rails you have to remove the unlock block first. The only way I found to do this is to spread the frame and rails apart so the block unlock falls out. The rest of the parts should then come out easy.
Now you are left with an empty frame.
If you want you can run the frame through the dishwasher for a good cleaning.
9. Assembly is pretty much the reverse of dis-assembly. Here's a quick rundown.
Install trigger with slide stop lever with spring in correct location.
Install trigger pin with groove in correct direction. Make sure it locks together with spring. This is easier to do now than after installing the frame rail pieces.
Now install the LF and RF frame rails. Once those are in the correct place you should be able to slide the spreader horseshoe down and snap it into place with a screw driver or something blunt.
Now you can install the unlock block about the same way. Make sure it snaps in and is seated correctly.
Now install the takedown lever. It should seat right into the spring.
If your pistol is equipped with a magazine disconnect now is the time to install that if you wish to. The pistols work fine without them as anyone has experienced with an FNP. But even with it installed, I don't really notice any drag or effect on the trigger pull like some pistols have. With the mag disconnect installed make sure you can see that the radius is in line with the cavity for the mag catch.
Now install the mag catch.
Now install the rear frame rails and spring.
Now the fire control group can be installed the opposite as it was taken out. Once it is seated back into position slide the pin back into place and make sure its centered. Now check over everything, dry fire the frame, and make sure it functions as it is supposed to.
Ok, thats it for now as far as the frame assembly goes, I'm tired, so I will get the slide tear down posted later Sunday evening hopefully.
This guide will cover the Browning Pro 9 and 40, The FNP 9, 40 and should cover the .357 as well, but that will need further confirmation. I know in fact it WILL NOT cover the .45. I have not picked one up yet to take apart.
Tools needed are:
A punch "1/8 should work"
A small flat head screw driver.
A pick tool is handy too
I did this by myself, but if you can get come else to help you, another pair of hands is a major benefit.
Here is my Browning that I will be tearing down. I will go over the frame first and the slide second.

1. First start off by making sure the pistol is unloaded and remove the slide.
2. Now take a punch and push out the pin that holds in the fire control group. It shouldn't matter which way. The pin seems symmetrical.

3. Here you can see that the FCG is hooked to the trigger bar. The FCG must be tilted to clear the trigger bar. It is a little more difficult on the Browning pistols since the magazine disconnect will be limiting the travel of the trigger bar.


4. Here is a view of the magazine disconnect. It pulls down on the trigger bar disconnecting it from the fire control group. It also prevents the tab from pushing up the firing pin block which is another safety device.

5. The little tab protruding out of the side of the magazine by the groove is what pushes up the trigger bar engaging it to the FCG. All FNP 9 and 40 magazines that I have seen share this feature.

NOTE: The magazine catch must be removed before you can remove the magazine disconnect!
6. To remove the magazine disconnect assembly takes a little bit of careful maneuvering. First you will have to carefully pry the trigger bar over with a small screwdriver until the disconnect drops free.

Now pull the trigger bar up as far as you can, and while coming up through the magwell with a screwdriver, push the magazine disconnect up and out of the slot.

Here's the slot that it sits in.

Here is the magazine disconnect assembly removed from the frame. The reason it has to be removed after the mag catch is because there is a radius cut out of the tail end that the catch needs to go through. Of course my thumb is covering it up in this pic, but it can be seen in some others.
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7. The rear frame pieces can be removed if you like. Note the direction of the spring.

8. Now comes the fun part. Taking apart the front frame rails and removing the trigger. First, the take down lever must be removed. This is done by pushing down on the slide stop lever spring right behind the lever with a small screwdriver. Once the spring is clear of the groove the lever should fall out. The pic is blurry, but should give an idea of how its done.


If you want, you can remove the trigger pin now, but it doesn't do any good since you can't take it out with the other parts in the way.

Now, to remove the front frame rails you have to remove the unlock block first. The only way I found to do this is to spread the frame and rails apart so the block unlock falls out. The rest of the parts should then come out easy.

Now you are left with an empty frame.



If you want you can run the frame through the dishwasher for a good cleaning.

9. Assembly is pretty much the reverse of dis-assembly. Here's a quick rundown.
Install trigger with slide stop lever with spring in correct location.
Install trigger pin with groove in correct direction. Make sure it locks together with spring. This is easier to do now than after installing the frame rail pieces.
Now install the LF and RF frame rails. Once those are in the correct place you should be able to slide the spreader horseshoe down and snap it into place with a screw driver or something blunt.
Now you can install the unlock block about the same way. Make sure it snaps in and is seated correctly.
Now install the takedown lever. It should seat right into the spring.
If your pistol is equipped with a magazine disconnect now is the time to install that if you wish to. The pistols work fine without them as anyone has experienced with an FNP. But even with it installed, I don't really notice any drag or effect on the trigger pull like some pistols have. With the mag disconnect installed make sure you can see that the radius is in line with the cavity for the mag catch.
Now install the mag catch.
Now install the rear frame rails and spring.
Now the fire control group can be installed the opposite as it was taken out. Once it is seated back into position slide the pin back into place and make sure its centered. Now check over everything, dry fire the frame, and make sure it functions as it is supposed to.
Ok, thats it for now as far as the frame assembly goes, I'm tired, so I will get the slide tear down posted later Sunday evening hopefully.