The P35/Browning Hi Power in 2017?

[bofe954]

I had a browning practical model briefly. I read all kinds of raves about how thin and great to carry they were, got caught up in the JMB mystique. Had the ring hammer and I still got hammer bite. Trigger was terrible especially considering it was single action. Sights on the practical still were not that practical.

If I wanted one now I guess I would either buy the nighthawk, or more likely scour gunbroker for someone else's customed out safe queen done by a well known high power smith. Or maybe just buy a traditional looking one to look at and not really use for anything.

I was told (but have not seen or experienced) that they were not reliable long term for high round counts. Probably wouldn't matter for what I would use one for anyway but... It made me disinterested in the thought of buying a fairly expensive pistol that needs all kinds of work. It's kind of the same as the perpetual 1911 debate. Spend 3K, get a nice one, it'll be great, but it's utility is only marginally better than your $400 G17 when it comes down to putting holes in paper.

If I really had money to burn, maybe. As it is there are too many other things I'm more interested in.

[serialsolver]

I like the hi power. I had 8, currently 4. They have all been good pistols. Some random thoughts.

The triggers are different but like a glock they have take up then a wall. Like glocks different parts help you tailor the trigger. I have hp's with triggers measuring from 5 3/4 pounds to 3 3/4 pounds without gunsmith work.

Only use factory or mecgar magazines and the 15 round magazines work.

Hp's are 32 oz empty. In today's alloy and poly world that is heavily but back in the day when guns were steel they were light. A loaded hp weights the same as a unloaded steel full size 1911. An alloy version of the hp was made. It weighs 23 ozs unloaded.

Follow mr camps advice in the above posted link. A wealth of information gained from years of use.

All my hp's have been accurate including my current surplus hp's. my worst worn out abused hp still has acceptable accuracy.

Parts are available, cylinder and slide, Novak, brownells.

My mkiii browning with Novak sights, birdsong black-t, vz grips.


My alloy fn hp. When I carry a service pistol this hp is it. Cylinder and slide hammer and sear, flat bottom firing pin stop. I need to decide on sights before refinishing or maybe just let it be.







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[Jeep]

For their first thirty to forty years the BHP's were military/cop guns for militaries and police (mainly European) that don't shoot their pistols much. Most of the ones I saw were not high-round-count kind of guns and a lot of them broke after very moderate use. They were also popular house guns for guys in the Army who bought them in Germany or Japan, and more than a few were taken to Vietnam for use as a secondary weapon, but again they weren't shot all that much as a general matter.

Browning has improved them over the past thirty five years or so, but in the end there are better designs out there. BHP's are still very thin in the frame and slide and still are one of the more ascetically pleasing pistol designs of the last 100 years, but for an actual fighting pistol I'd take a Glock, SIG, Beretta, H&K, or S&W any day. I wouldn't feel disarmed carrying a modern one, however.

[luckyman]

Anyone have any data on reliability of CA-compliant 10 round magazines?

[MK11]

Anyone have any data on reliability of CA-compliant 10 round magazines?

I've got a bunch of CT-complaint HP mags that I first bought under the Clinton ban. No issues with reliability and they've got a spring that makes them drop free from the mag well.

As noted above, I've also had issues with a thumbs forward grip engaging the slide stop while shooting which is a far bigger problem that just riding the slide stop on a SIG. But as long as I'm mindful of my grip, the HP runs and runs. I agree there are many guns better suited for defense or competition today but the HP isn't some delicate relic, either.

[JAD]

I have had three. The first, a .40, I really didn't care for. It seemed clunky and oversprung. The second was a modern mk3 that I had extensively customized by C&S. it was a nice gun that got carried a lot and shot in IDPA quite a bit. I lost it in a divorce. The third is an izzy that got a light treatment from MARS. I own it because I feel like I should but I don't carry it much.

All three guns have been completely reliable.

The mag safety has to go. They're kind of dumb anyway and they make the trigger suck. That said, I don't love carrying a pistol which has a disabled safety.

The tang is sharp even after some dehorning. That means getting a perfect master grip is critical, or it beats hell out of my knuckle. I do not get hammer bite.

For what it's worth, Harrison's retro 1911 rear sight is awesome on a hp, the Watson is a great holster for it, and mars does damn fine work.

[okie john]

The ring hammer bites badly. The spur a lot less.

Depends on the hand. A ring hammer on a BHP will eat holes in the web of my hand, but the spur hammer is fine. It's the opposite with a 1911.


Okie John

[Palmetto]

I always liked the way it feels in the hand, but haven't shot one. Always had a placeholder for "going to add one to the safe one day." Not a fan of the trigger, though. Long, mushy, creepy out of the box. After handling one again at the LGS, I thought to myself, what I really want for concealed carry would be an aluminum frame, TDA or DAO, single-stack compact version of that with a better trigger, in 9mm. Went home and started googling, and that's when I found out about the S&W 3953. Eventually, I tried a P226, which I like for non-concealed-carry uses, and its ergos haven't left me thinking very much about the FN/Browning lately.

You should try the Sig P225A1 with SRT. Very nice in hands. Sig quality.


"Gun control is hitting what I aim at...not someone infringing on my 2nd Amendment Rights."

[SteveB]

I carried and competed with Hi-Powers in the early '90s. Back then, it was the choice for a single-action 9mm pistol. The thing about the Hi-Power was the way it fit most folks' hands; it had a comfortable, custom feel to it, and pointed beautifully. Milsurp guns were plentiful, but rough and even the new guns needed trigger work, sights and smoothing of sharp edges, on the mags as well as the guns. Novak, and, before he went off the rails, Kurt Wickmann, did great work on my guns. Until I picked up a CZ 75, I never had a pistol that felt as good in my hand.

[OlongJohnson]

You should try the Sig P225A1 with SRT. Very nice in hands. Sig quality.

I love the 226 and 229, but for some reason, the 224A1 and 239 just feel weird to me. Unbalanced and top heavy, with too small a grip. Haven't gotten far enough past that to shoot either of them.