Bhp?

[bountyhunter]

While I really like to shoot a 1911, it is not the gun that comes to mind when I think of a reliable defensive pistol. FLAME SUITE ON!!

TRUE. I also own three 1911's. They are great for comp shooting, but I would never bet my life on one. They are designed to feed ball ammo, and have a lot of problems feeding the typical defense round hollow point. 1911's also seem to be infinitely creative in finding ways to not feed or extract at just the wrong moment. The most reliable auto I own by far is a Beretta 92FS. Probably 20k round fired and it has yet to jam.

 

[bountyhunter]

All S&W revolvers the same? I have a J Frame new model 60, what are the right areas to polish and what do you suggest to do it with? I'll try doing it myself if you can tell me the right way.

The J frames trigger can not be made as good as the K/L/N frame because the J uses the stupid coil mainspring. That said, you can still improve it's smoothness immensely. The main area to polish is the rebound slide faces that ride against the frame (bottom and LHS as you look from the rear). Use a very fine stone or a popsicle stich with 600# paper taped onto it (with oil). The RB slide edges need to be rounded over slightly. Polish the frame surfaces it mates against again with a fine stone or the popsicle stick: snip the end of square and wrap 600# paper over it and use it as a polishing tool against the frame surfaces. Just polish to smoothness.

Some people lightly polish the sides of the trigger and hammer where they ride against the boss pins (again, 600#/oil). Don't try to take off metal, just get smooth.

When reassembling, good lube is key: I currently favor a 50-50 mix of RIG+p stainless grease and FP-10. Lay it on everything except the hammer sides, just use straight FP-10 on that (don't want to drag on the hammer).

I recommend getting the Kuhnhausen manual (Brownells), SW screwdrivers and the SW rebound slide spring tool (Brownells).

 

[bountyhunter]

$100.00 Is that what you find in your area gunsmiths are charging? Seems High?

In Kali, they charge a lot more than that and they are back logged for months. On my BHP, I had a smith install the new spring set (because I didn't want to fight the hammer strut "nut" off the thing to change the hammer spring). I think that job alone ran about $75 including the spring kit. I was going to send it to C+S for a trigger job, but they had about a nine month backlog at the time. I ended up doing the trigger job myself. Good result, way too much time wasted. The gun has a good trigger pull, but still won't group worth crap (throws flyers all the time). It needs a new barrel fitted but I have already blown more than $1000 into that dog and I am cutting my losses/

 

[Alerion]

Actually, CDNN's latest flier has (Page 7) ... an FN HP-SFS MkIII showing .. it's the old style ..... in .40 and 9mm .... and a tag of $60.00??????????? can that be right????? They have new models (Belgian FN) showing for $340 D/A-S/A versions. Give em a call perhaps .... 1-800 588 9500 ...... be interested to see if that price is a typo!

Actually it says "$60.00 below distributor cost, call for price" At $60/each I'd take a 100.

Tom

 

[P95Carry]

Actually it says "$60.00 below distributor cost, call for price" At $60/each I'd take a 100.

Oops! Thx Tom .. I really must learn to read properly! Explains a lot!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re Bounty Hunter's info for polishing RB etc ... that is a pretty good method .... but I'd add one small caveat ..... even when using #600 paper and oil ..... it is likely that a few abrasive particles will detach themselves .. and so it is essential IMO to efficiently flush after the work ... maybe some carb cleaner and compressed air etc .... then re-oil to taste, lightly, on reassembly. If abrasive particles are left behind then it could long term be detrimental.

 

[BHPshooter]

Hey Ken,

No offense intended, my friend. I agree with you -- it seems bass ackwards to make such a beautiful, fine pistol and leave the trigger so unrefined. I also wish they were better out of the box. It is pretty cool that either one of JMB's brainchildren seem to fit 95% of all of the people out there. If the BHP doesn't fit, the 1911 will, or vice versa.

I am a fan of 1911s, but it seems like they throw so many out on the market, they don't take the time to get them running right. Hopefully the Colt that I want will run just fine.

As far as BHPs go, I got pretty darned lucky. Mine is a '94 manufacture, and the trigger was crisp and sweet to begin with. The good news is it just keeps getting better. From what I've read, It seems that the major problem for bad triggers are the ones manufactured from '98 to present. Like someone else said, I think it's a thing to avoid litigation.

Again, I intended no offense by my last post -- re-reading it, it does seem sort of inflammatory. My sincerest apologies.

Wes

 

[Northslope Nimrod]

BHP trigger

I agree with Fumegator - The only issue I've had with my BHP was the trigger. Mine was quite gritty and hard out of the box. However, a polished trigger and removal of the magazine safety ($25), solved the trigger problem. Now, after putting well over 500 rounds through it, the trigger is even better. While I was extremley disappointed with the trigger - out of the box, it is an EASY fix. However, reliability is less easily remedied. I have had ZERO....I repeat.....ZERO reliability issues! Not one failure to feed or stove pipe in well over 500 rounds. I shoot Walmart - Winchesters! (BHP Mark III)

 

[NEtracker]

The Hi Power can be purchased NEW in CA??
Why can't I get one, New? Oh, right, I'm in Kerry country.
The Hi-Power has been banned, well not outright.
We cannot buy new ones, so old Used Hi Powers run $699, $799, and yes I saw a nice used Belgian for $1200.
I have one BHP, and unless I stumble on a great deal, or the lottery, I guess that's it for me!

Back to the trigger topic, mine is excellent, but again, it was used 10+ years prior to coming into my hands!

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

One thing I would recommend is having any trigger work involving the sear/hammer done by a qualified gunsmith. I've seen a few Hi-Powers (including some of my own) that have had reliability issues from poor trigger jobs.

 

[bountyhunter]

One thing I would recommend is having any trigger work involving the sear/hammer done by a qualified gunsmith. I've seen a few Hi-Powers (including some of my own) that have had reliability issues from poor trigger jobs.

AMEN. I did the trigger job on mine knowing it would take a few sear cuts to get the angles correct. I bought a second sear to cut and use in the gun after experimenting on the first one. I did get hammer follow on the first couple of tries, eventually got it right. I only would do this on a newer HP because they have a built in FP blocking safety that blocks the firing pin until the trigger is reset and pulled again. That makes mutiple fire events virtually impossible no matter how much you screw up the sear and hammer. Older HP's don't have the FP block feature, and screwing with the sears on those could be very dangerous.

 

[Marshall]

Bountyhunter and P95, thanks for your information!

Just to reiterate, my BHP's have been wonderfully reliable and feel like I'm holding the hand of GOD. However, If they don't fit, like Ken has experienced, they aren't worth a crap to the owner, nor is any gun.

 

[TheDutchman]

Two words COMBAT HANDGUN


Combat handguns do not have 4.5lbs triggers, the Brown HI Power was designed as a combat pistol, not to have a crisp clean paper punching trigger. It has been the official handgun of over 90 countries and over 10 million have been made. The fact that FN needs to catch up with the times on the trigger might be correct, but the Hi power has been using an external extractor for year’s way before the latest fad with them. FN redesign the Hi Power for the .40 cal s&w not to mention that your SIGS, Smiths, CZ's ,Rugers and a few other use a modified HI Power design. That’s hardly keeping up with the Jones. The Hi power is a very good gun friendly to shot yes the trigger is not match grade, but do not let a few posts discourage you into purchasing one you make the choice

 

[bubbygator]

As others have said, BHP is about reliability and accuracy. When I wake up in the middle of the night, the gun that I have placed to put my hand on is my BHP! I certainly like my other guns in various shooting situations, but BHP in my hand means instant confidence.

 

[Barry in IN]

Wow!
All these people picking on one of my favorite couple of pistols.
Hey, the trigger pull adds "character"!

OK, truth is, it should be better. I love them, but they need help out of the box in a few areas in addition to the trigger. A lot of BHP issues (in addition to the trigger) are a lot like 1911's before Colt had competition.
For the money, yes, they should be better. Of the six I have now, they probably have six different pulls. From OK, to OK but heavy, to poor.
They do smooth out in my experience, but the weight stays.

 

[rauchman]

Wow, in this whole thread, I don't recall anyone mentioning anything about the dreaded hammer bite, including myself. I have to say, that was one of the reasons I traded away the pistol. First time at the range with the BHP and the hammer pinching the web of my hand definitely got my attention. I would love to try a BHP that has been really worked over by a smith. I have to believe that a done up BHP would be one sweet pistol. I believe that Cylinder & Slide offers a welded on beaver tail that takes away the hammer bite problem.