Care, Feeding, and Maintenance of La Grande Puissance (aka Hi-Power)

[Chuck Whitlock]

Those sure are good looking! I have a set of "Ivory" VZs and I may just see about getting them laser skip line checkered.

Herretts offers checkered and smooth stocks....you could probably do the same to the smooth samples.

I forgot to add that the lady who answered the phone was an absolute pleasure to deal with! She told me what they had in-stock and I made my selection. This was late afternoon last Thursday. Payment was processed on Monday and I had them in-hand Thursday.

[Joe in PNG]

I went the other way and snagged some used Pachmayr wrap grips on mine, in addition to the SFS.

[Stephanie B]

I see @Tony Mayer has the SA-35 on his holster list. I imagine that’ll also fit a BHP.

Anyone know for sure?

I emailed Tony. He's not sure if it will.

[JonInWA]

Guys, after much experimentation, I've concluded that the best set of grips for grippiness for my High Power are a set of RDIH polymer grips from BH Spring Solutions, which are then subjected to David Barnes' VCD stippling.







They are slim, but the combination of the VCD stippling and the fingergroove strakes really lock the gun in place in use-and mine's a .40, with all the joys associated with the greater, and quick-spiking .40 recoil forces.

https://bhspringsolutions.com/index....power-by-rdih/

And an additional great thing is that they're a superb value-the grip from BH SS is only $25, and then sending them to David at VCD will only cost an additional $30.

http://vcdgrips.com/

While I'm currently running mine with a set of these figured and engraved walnut grips from BH Spring Solutions (because the grip is effective, due to the shaping, and I really like the aesthetics with my High Power),





the RDIH/BH SS/VCD grips are the operational best in my opinion.

Best, Jon

[Chuck Whitlock]

As requested:

Attachment 91884

Attachment 91885

Attachment 91886

Attachment 91887

The good:

These stocks are absolutely gorgeous, and the checkering is sharp and provides better traction than the Pro Slims included in the last photo. They really set off the bluing of this piece.

The maybe not so good:

These stocks are noticeably thicker than the VZ G10 Pro Slims, and make the grip feel more more circular in the hand. They have a little bit of palm swell action going on. I suppose that wood stocks really can't be made as thin as inert G10 without sacrificing structural integrity, and the BHP frame requires a lot of curves and contours as opposed to Ol' Slab Sides. This would probably not be a thing for those who don't possess Whopper Jr sized hands. I did note that I will need to relieve the upper rear corner of them to be able to get a solid purchase on the bottom of the safety levers.

I really want these things to work for me. Live fire with tell the tale about that, I suppose.

A little update:

I just could not get over how much bigger these felt, and how they seemed to jamb the web of my hand up over the tang and into the hammer.

So... I broke out a cloth tape.
Under the trigger guard, the Herretts measure 5 7/16", while the VZs measure 5 1/8".
At the bottom of the grip, just above the magwell, the Herretts measure 5 13/16", compared to the VZs at 5 9/16".

Perhaps not a whole lot, but it certainly makes a difference with small mitts. Needless to say, the VZs are going back on.

[Joe in PNG]

I ended up with a set of used Pachmyer grips on mine

[MK11]

I'm a big BHP fan but my grip tends to nudge the slide lever up, locking it back with rounds still in the magazine.

Based on @JonInWA's BHP experiments, I tried an extended slide stop from BHP Spring Solutions. I had no issues with 100 rounds of Norma 115 grain yesterday and no issues with the slide locking back after the last round, either. The extended lever is long enough that I don't have the leverage to accidentally bump it up. I need to put some more rounds through it but I'm excited that my BHP might be moving from safe queen to serious pistol again.

[JonInWA]

I also added a RDIH/BH SS extended slide stop/release lever on on my Colt Series 70 stainless Reproduction.





It makes the Colt purists wince, but I like it better than the OEM slide stop/release. Leon Hubert did an excellent job in designing these, ergonomically, aesthetically (well, likely as best possible...) and in terms of mass. I've experienced no premature slide lock-back or release bounce on either my High Power or Colt with the lever installed. I prefer to think of it as a modernized version of the 1914 Colt Norwegian Kongsberg 1911 slide stop/release, so historically it's not totally without precedent.

The baby isn't thrown out with the bath water-I still have the OEM component, and recently re-installed it to verify that I preferred the RDIH/BHSS component; I do prefer it, and I quickly removed the OEM and have probably permanently installed the RDIH/BHSS lever.

Aesthetically, the silver of the lever isn't an exact match for the Colt's stainless steel surfaces, color- and texture-wise, but the thing works, and it's not horribly jarring or glaringly dissimilar. For any interested, BH SS has them in both stainless or blued for both the High Power and 1911. Or, for that truly garish touch, gold plated...

Best, Jon

[Chuck Whitlock]

I asked Herretts the exact same thing last week. I wound up ordering some checkered Zebrawood.

The VZ Pro Slims I have are a little too slick, and they don't have a lot of products for the BHP, particularly in my preferred black cherry coloring.

I was looking at LOK's offerings in either grenade pattern or Mayhem, but the deep bluing on my example cries out for natural wood.

The grenade pattern (like the VZ Frag) should work the same as the skip chekering, but the cuts are on the vertical and horizontal, rather than the diagonal.

As requested:

Attachment 91884

Attachment 91885

Attachment 91886

Attachment 91887

The good:

These stocks are absolutely gorgeous, and the checkering is sharp and provides better traction than the Pro Slims included in the last photo. They really set off the bluing of this piece.

The maybe not so good:

These stocks are noticeably thicker than the VZ G10 Pro Slims, and make the grip feel more more circular in the hand. They have a little bit of palm swell action going on. I suppose that wood stocks really can't be made as thin as inert G10 without sacrificing structural integrity, and the BHP frame requires a lot of curves and contours as opposed to Ol' Slab Sides. This would probably not be a thing for those who don't possess Whopper Jr sized hands. I did note that I will need to relieve the upper rear corner of them to be able to get a solid purchase on the bottom of the safety levers.

I really want these things to work for me. Live fire with tell the tale about that, I suppose.

A little update:

I just could not get over how much bigger these felt, and how they seemed to jamb the web of my hand up over the tang and into the hammer.

So... I broke out a cloth tape.
Under the trigger guard, the Herretts measure 5 7/16", while the VZs measure 5 1/8".
At the bottom of the grip, just above the magwell, the Herretts measure 5 13/16", compared to the VZs at 5 9/16".

Perhaps not a whole lot, but it certainly makes a difference with small mitts. Needless to say, the VZs are going back on.

After some coon-fingering, I believe that the issue with the VZ pro slims is that the serrations are in line with the recoil impulse, and therefore give me no purchase against it.

After going through another round of analysis paralysis, I noticed that VZ offers nothing for the BHP in black cherry, and that LOK no longer offers the grenade pattern for the BHP. I ordered a pair of checkered thin LOK grips before they disappeared, too. I think I found my goldilocks grips...great purchase and not too thick, and sharp looking to boot:




Anyone want some gently used VZ and/or Herrents BHP stocks?

[Notorious E.O.C.]

Here's an odd question for the BHP cognoscenti. Back around 2011, I managed to score two of the last batch of lightweight alloy-framed Hi-Powers that AIM Surplus brought in. Both are serialized normally but have additional markings: respectively, "GVA" and "GVB," each followed by three digits, a space, and an additional two digits.

Threads on a couple of 1911 forums suggest that these were added by whatever European law enforcement agency originally purchased them. The digits probably indicate inventory number and year of acquisition, judging from rough correspondence to the date codes in the serial numbers. I'm curious about the GVA/GVB, though. The 1911 forumites' best guesses were Gendarmerie Véhicule plus a unit identifier (connected to the story that the original users were Belgian Gendarmerie motorcycle cops) or Gendarmerie Version Allégée ("Gendarmerie Light Version," which does not explain the -B).

Anyone have additional insight?