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Thread: The FN/Browning High Power-Revisited Part One

  1. #11
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    Update After 12/21 IDPA Match

    The spring refurbished, now magazine safety disconnect-less High Power shot superbly, with absolutely zero malfunctions, using harder-primered Sellier & Bellot 180 gr .40 ball ammunition throughout.

    My overall match score was unimpressive, but that had everything to do with my skill-set and getting re-used to the High Power. Concurrently using the Buffer Tech buffer with the new BH SS springs, I found the trigerpull to be superb, and splits, bot freestyle and one-handed to be excellent. I particularly noticed how well I was able to shoot support-handed in one stage, with excellent (and accurate) groups.

    Shot for some 4 hours in a match characterized with continuous rain (and when not shooting, I was performing as a range safety officer), the High Power performed without any hiccups whatsoever. I'm very much looking forward to achieving significant personal improvements with continued practice and applications.

    Best, Jon

  2. #12
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    I shot my last steel match (which was this summer, I'm sorry to say) with my MKIII 9mm. It shot great... I shot okay--middle of the pack. Which ain't bad, I guess, considering I shoot like 3 matches a year. Like you, zero issues. The feel and the ergos of the P35 really work for me. I'm finding now that certain guns are just better suited to the small-handed--the Hi Power among them. Digging my new Kahr (which is also a great for small hands), but I'm not sure there's a gun I enjoy shooting more than my Hi Power. I wish FN would make them again.

    Glad to hear BHSS's products are good. I watched a few of their videos--specifically on the SFS. I thought I'd do it on mine, but at this point I think I'm just gonna leave it stock. If it ain't broke...
    Last edited by MattyD380; 12-22-2019 at 10:08 PM.

  3. #13
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    Sparkyv, I have zero issues with hammer bite with the High Power, and I have medium-sized hands. On my 2 previous High Powers, I did have Novak's slightly knock off the sharp edges on the hammer spur and trigger, but my current one is stock, and I have no problems.

    Regarding my preference for the High Power in .40, I like how the gun handles the 3 ox heavier slide FN came up with to tame the .40. FN really did things right in their thorough revision for the .40 models-but the 20 lb recoil spring does require significantly more effort in manipulating the slide, and in re-installing after field-stripping, but there are some easily mastered techniques, and I believe Cylider & Slide even has a tool to assist in the .40 RSA installation.

    Mark Allen at BHSS has told me that while the .40 recoil spring is specced out at 20 lbs, theirs routinely test at around 24 lbs. I'm currently running mine with a Buffer Tech polymer buffer, but will probably soon compare that to BHSS's dual-action recoil spring guide. Incidentally, I believe Buffer Tech is out of business-for any interested- I obtained mine recently through DS Arms, the FN guys; they still have them in stock. Installation of the side on the frame with it when brand new requires a bit more effort, but the slide hold-open is unaffected in use. When subsequently field-stripping, it does require a bit more of a tug to free the slide from the receiver, but re-installation is without drama.

    https://www.dsarms.com/p-12084-buffe...il-buffer.aspx

    Best, Jon
    Last edited by JonInWA; 12-25-2019 at 09:22 AM.

  4. #14
    Not meaning to Hi Jack a Hi Power thread...

    Here's a 9mm worked over by Karl Sokol. Not an heirloom piece but rather a solid carry gun.

    Merry Christmas!


    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

  5. #15
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    No hijack perceived at all-thanks for sharing; care to elaborate on the details of the work he performed on yours? (and Merry Christmas to all!)

    Best, Jon

  6. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by JonInWA View Post
    No hijack perceived at all-thanks for sharing; care to elaborate on the details of the work he performed on yours? (and Merry Christmas to all!)

    Best, Jon
    The pistol above is more or less his $750 package which is a fairly extensive set of mods:

    Novak front and rear.
    Trigger job.
    Crown barrel.
    Throat and polish barrel, chamber, tune extractor, deburr breech face and firing pin hole.
    Fit and tune mags.
    Semi-bob hammer.
    Round and smooth trigger.
    Stipple front and rear of frame.
    Dehorn.
    Bevel mag well.
    Wolff 18 1/2 # recoil spring and F.P. spring.
    Refinish with black Mountian Tuff.

    Personal additons/changes I asked for:

    Gold bead front.
    Blued finish rather than paint.
    Fabricate extended thumb safety.

    The work took about five months which isn't the fastest turnaround. But also certainly not years as is the case with some shops.

    Would I do it again? Yep.

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

  7. #17
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    Very, very nicely done. At this point, probably the only gunsmithing I'm considering in addition to my long-term testing of BHSS components would be to round and polish the trigger (or outright replace it with the newer wider-flanged trigger-with rounding/polishing done as necessary) and rounding the edges of the spur hammer; I'm not bitten by it, so no bobbing is necessary in my case.

    Best, Jon

  8. #18
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    Update With Additional BH/RDIH Components Added

    Mark Allan and Slav of BH Spring Solutions recently sent me several components to test; their Dual Stage Recoil Buffering Guide Rod Assembly (https://bhspringsolutions.com/index....-rod-assembly/), RDIH Extended Slide Stop (http://www.rdih.be/hp35-slide-stop.html), and RDIH polymer fingergroove grip (http://www.rdih.be/grip-hp35.html).



    I have been running my High Power with a Buffer Technologies polymer buffer, and been pretty pleased with it, but polymer buffers have a relatively limited lifespan (reportedly around 1K rounds), and will physically deteriorate with use, and can fragment/shred, potentially inducing operational issues. Additionally, I believe Buffer Technologies is currently out of business, although it's relatively easy to find their buffers BNIB at this point.

    BH Spring Solutions worked in conjunction with EFK Firedragon on the component; apparently EFK had a similar earlier component, but there apparently were low sales and possibly some issues with it, so BH SS stepped in and re-engineered the component, providing 3 levels of buffering springs. The heaviest of the replaceable springs is apparently EFK's original, which provides optimal results from a buffering standpoint, but is the hardest to retract the slide with, and has a very limited lifespan, of only some 500 rounds; BH SS provides re-engineered and component optimized springs for the Medium and Light spring options; the Medium spring provides, according to BH SS, 90% for the buffering result, with a significantly longer spring replacement intervals (approximately every 2K rounds); doing the math, I chose the Medium spring.

    BH SS provides a lengthy multi-page info/instruction sheet with each RSA; it's essential to 1) thoroughly read before tinkering with, 2) to have a new (or relatively new) BH SS recoil spring appropriate to your HP (my understanding is that now they're concurrently shipping an new BH SS recoil spring with each BH recoil spring guide rod assembly). BH SS is thoroughly meticulous in their guidance, instructions and philosophy in the multi-page packet provided. Two key take-outs: After experimenting and choosing your guide rod's spring strength, you then semi-permanently install and seal the end cap with either plumber's tape or blue Locktite. Once cured for 24 hours if Locktite is chosen, the plunger portion is lubricated, and the retaining ball inside the annular ring that the slide stop fits through is lubricated as well IAW BH SS instructions.

    In conjunction with the new RSA, I also added the RDIH Extended Slide Stop. RDIH is the Belgian company of Leon Hubert, a long-time FN engineer who was significantly involved with the High Power in an engineering capacity, particularly in the latter stage of its history; I'm surmising from Mk III on. FN apparently allowed him to keep his patents, which have been resurrected in RDIH, and in partnership with BH SS. The Extended Slide Stop was originally designed to be used in conjunction with the SFS trigger system, but can be used with the standard High Power action. It provides two primary benefits: 1) Significantly improved ergonomics in terms of efficiently accessing and using the slide stop as a slide release, and 2) in simplifying the field-stripping procedure; with it, the slide does not need to be locked back first to effect separation of the slide from the receiver-you simply push slightly up on the ESS, and then push it out from right to left, freeing the two main components.

    I found there to be several initial caveats to using the RDIH ESS: 1) It is designed primarily for 9mm Hi Powers, and if used with the larger cartridge/larger bullet .40, it's essential to file down the slide stop actuating tab, as was thoroughly explained to me by Mark Allen. It's easily done, and you simply file down the tab, retaining the OEM angle while filing, until actuating the ESS clears the bullet in the magazine. Your methodically determine this by placing a magazine with a cartridge in the magazine in the receiver (separated from the slide). You don't want to file too much of the tab down, or you'll lose the slide hold-open function, but there's plenty of material to work from-just proceed slowly and methodically. Hand-filing is recommended...

    2) Once installed, the ESS is VERY stiff to initially operate. You need to ensure that you've properly lubricated the retaining ball in the RSA annular ring that the ESS fits through, and you'll need to reciprocate and release the slide some 20-25 tines before things loosen up to the point where one-handed/thumb operation is possible.

    Some images of the RDIH ESS: The tab requiring filing for .40 High Powers is the shorter one:











    Conclusion: The RDIH ESS does afford a significant ergonomic improvement in using the slide stop as a slide release.

    Best, Jon

  9. #19
    Member JonInWA's Avatar
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    RDIH Grips

    While I was very satisfied with the Hogue G10 checkered grips on my High Power. BH SS wanted me to also try two of their grips; the polymer RDIH fingergroove offering, and one of their sculpted wood grips; as the wood ones were temporarily out of stock, the RDIH ones became first by default.

    Looking at them on both the BH SS and RDIH websites, I was initially pretty underwhelmed; my fiorst though they were kind of a European variation of the Hogue rubber fingergroove grip, which I'd previously run for many years, and my first thoughts were analogous-ugly but probably operationally efficient.

    The RDIH ones are available in black, FDE and white; when Mark Allen of BH SS threatened to send me a white set, I told him my testing would be fairly brief, and what part of "Mutiny On The Bounty" didn't he understand?...he relented and sent me a black set. Wise man...

    The grips are designed by Leon Hubert as an ergonomic/tactical improvement over the OEM High Power grips. They're also a nice value at around $22; mine also included gratis a set of screws.



    They feature aggressive/pronounced frontstrap finger grooves (or, probably more accurately, protruding finger separation strakes) and left and right abbreviated thumb shelves and are moderately, but not excessively thick:




    The inset concave dot depressions appear to be aesthetic, as I couldn't derive any actual operational advantage or purpose for them otherwise. The grip polymer is an even matte in appearance, and are very nicely molded, slipping easily on the frame, with screw holes matching and no perceptible gaps present once secured. I use red computer fiber washers to help anchor the screws, preventing unscrewing from recoil vibration. Immediately underneath the lowest frontstrap fingergroove there was a bit of irritating mold flash, easily removed with an X-Acto knife. For the hipsters amongst us, think "Hogue meets Trausch" and you've got the theme.

    Operationally, I'm more impressed with these than I thought I'd be. The pronounced fingergrooves provide good vertical control-the rubber Hogues may be more comfortable, but these seem to be very effective when firing, particularly at speed. The primary benefit of the vestigial grip side shelves seems to be best realized in strong-hand and support-hand only firing; for freestyle/two-handed firing, I prefer for my strong-side thumb to rest on top of the left safety lever, not the shelf. In fact, at least for my hands, the only real way to utilize the side shelf in two-handed firing is with a thumb-over-thumb grip; years ago I converted to thumbs forward positioning, and intend to remain with it-but some of you might prefer the alternative. Aesthetically, the grips provide a very business-like appearance that goes nicely with my MK III's black matte epoxy finish, for whatever that's worth. I'll definitely be running these for a period, and it'll be interesting comparing them to the to the sculpted BH SS master grips (which come in various flavors of sculpting, wood aesthetics, and checkering/artistic embellishments) (and to compare with the Hogue G10s).

    My thoughts so far on the BH SS offerings is that while some aspects of their offerings are stand-alone in nature, they're better approached holistically, with first performing base-line respringing (and, as much of a pain that it can be, a complete respringing), and then adding or layering on other BH SS components. BH SS has very extensive marketing information and links to their YouTube videos on their website that I've found worthwhile (and, in some cases, frankly necessary) to delve into.
    https://bhspringsolutions.com/index....r-mkii-mkiii/; similarly, the RDIH website is also worth a trip (but be prepared for somewhat dated style graphics and colors, at least to my jaded eye...)
    http://www.rdih.be/00-home.html

    Best, Jon
    Last edited by JonInWA; 01-07-2020 at 05:16 PM.

  10. #20
    I'm enjoying this. I bought my Browning HiPower new in 1981. The only faults I ever noted were a draggy trigger (long since fixed) and a mushy safety which I have to glance at to verify position. Springs are always on my mind, so this thread is very interesting.

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