Hello. Yes, they are both Mk III pistols. I've seen them with and without the lanyard rings. Both pistols are made by the same company, FN. The same pistol is imported by two different companies.
Hello. No, the Hi Power originally did not have the internal firing pin safety. As far as I know this did not start until latter production Mk II pistols; at least that's the first time I saw it. Technically, what we refer to as the "Mk III" is actually the Mk IIIs. Mk III's imported into the US are the "s" version. The Mk III w/o the internal firing pin safety has been sold in other parts of the world.
I would prefer not having the internal firing pin safety, but the way it was done is by adding a "paddle" at the rear of the sear lever and adding one spring. The guts were not complicated by all that much at all. The cutout in the slide so that the paddle can block the firing pin cannot be "good" for the strength of the slide and a few folks have reported cracking. That said, such reports have been relatively few. I've shot 3 Mk IIIs 9mm pistols pretty heavily over the years with no problems. The "classic" Hi Powers had humped feed ramps while the Mk III's don't. As a result the latter will feed about any JHP reliably. The original guns had forged frames while only the early Mk III pistols do. Current frames are cast. Ejection port shape is different as are the thumb safeties and sights.
If interested, there's more information at the link below:
Man, this is a great site! Where else can you get 24 hour tech support...and for FREE!!! :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
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