Tell me a little about Hi-Powers

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wbwanzer

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I'm just starting to get interested in Hi-Powers. It looks like they are made by several companies. Is one considered better than another? Is Browning the best? FN? If I get one, I want to stay under $850. Is there a 'best' from those that are in the price range of $700 - $850?

Are todays Brownings made in Belgium or just the older ones?

Almost forgot to ask, do most people leave them stock or do you folks have work done such as trigger jobs?

Are Mark IIIs better than standard?

Thanks for any help.
 
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Brownings were first made in Belgium. During the war some were built in Canada.

Browning are "made in Belgium, assembled in ______" nowadays. Mine from the 1990's says "assembled in Portugal". It has better sights than the earlier guns.

Some folks remove the magazine safety on their Hi-Power, but this isn't a easy job and most just leave it alone. (FYI it's mostly the magazine safety that give the Hi-Power a heavy trigger pull).

IMO Hogue makes the best rubber grips for the Hi-Power. Very comfortable.

Edit: D#mn! Third again!
 
Great guns. My BHP MK III Silver chrome is my most accurate centerfire pistol.
 
To my knowledge FN makes the Hi-Power for Browning. I'm not sure what firearms are made by Browning, but most firearms (i.e. shotguns, rifles, pistols, etc.) I've seen labeled or marketed as Browning are made by someone else.
 
No guns are made by browning. They are a name only. I have quite a few. Some are stock some have had custom work. Here are my two favorites. If it is a shooter get the mag disconnect removed. The I recommend a new trigger, sear and hammer. This makes them a dream.

Pre T series bone stock.

BHP-T-series.gif

pre-t-BHP.jpg

The second is a 1972 all Belgium gun which has had custom work. Lots of C&S parts, Novak nights and spiegel grips.

BHP.jpg

BHP2.jpg
 
My favor 9mm. There just isn't another pistol fit me more perfectly than my 75 C series BHP. I like standard model with adjustable sight more so than MarkIII. The most common modification is to take out the mag disconnect safety which you can do it yourself. And many shooter use an after market enlarge/extended safety over the stock low profile one.

Browning = FN, but in america, we just love the name "Browning".
There are plenty clones out there. But only FM holds the legal right to make clones from FN. But CD, FEG all make great shooter copy of Hi Power.

Buyers be warded, the parts is extremely expensive. I think stock barrel is around $400 or so. And C&S's after market parts aren't any cheaper neither. Every time I visit a gun show. I would be sure to ask around see if any vendor holds any parts in stock and sometime you will find vendors selling them for cheaper than their web site retail price.
 
Mk III is actually the generation of the pistol - i.e. Browning HP Standard is also a Mk III. The differences between the Standard model and the Mk III model, except for the sights and grips, are only in the finish - Standard is blued and Mk III is with epoxy coat over a parkerized finish.
All of the Browning pistols are made in the FN Herstal factory in Belgium and are only assembled in Portugal.

Boris

P.S. The aftermarket parts for HP are not "extremely expensive" at all - for example, the C&S Hammer Sets for 1911 and for HP are priced almost the same.
 
I only have a CD clone, though it looks well made. However, I simply could not leave the trigger stock. I had to lighten the mainspring to address (some) of the trigger pull issue. It's now quite a bit lighter, but still somewhat gritty because of the cursed magazine safety.
The Browning I borrowed years ago had the same issues, so even though this trigger-pull issue may be inherent to the breed, I understand it's all correctible.
 
Other than some early models, the Hi Power is one of the finest pistols ever designed. Looks good, balances and points well, and widely acclaimed.

I've owned two very nice one's. And I read a cagillion threads about them with loyal follower's extoling their virtues and dismissing the opinions of those that found fault.

All I can say from personal experience was that as much as I liked them; they didn't like me. Bit the tar of the web between my thumb and pointer finger every time. Oh sure, one can learn to hold the pistol in an unnatural fashion to bypass that but who wants to do that? Not I anyway.

If the gun fits your hand and for perfectly natural reasons doesn't bite you; you will absolutely love it. For the rest of us there are other choices thank goodness.

Regards,

TB
 
My only experience wasn't a good one. I bought a new Browning Hi-Power in 1973 or 74. It cost $227 new from Ace Hardware. It was beautiful high polish blue with walnut grips BUT you could not pull the trigger without using both hands and a foot! I traded it to a co-worker for a Dan Wesson D-11, 100 rounds of ammo,a brand new Snap-On chest tool box ($400 value) a leather swivel holster AND $127 cash. Needless to say my co-worker wanted it more than I did!
 
I have always had a fondness for the HPs ---- they were the first of the Hi-Cap 9mm and IMHO , the best.

As other posters noted --- to get a much better trigger pull , get the mag. disconector removed. I have also always replaced the small factory thumb safety with the C&S ones.

I've owned two total custom HPs and sure wish I had never sold/traded them ---- I also owned a GP model --- that was the coolest HP that the factory ever made.
 
I'm no gunsmith. I'm always feel lucky if I can get my semis back together after cleaning. How difficult is the mag disconnect safety removal? Could an almost incompetant like me do it?
 
wbwanzer said:
I'm no gunsmith. I'm always feel lucky if I can get my semis back together after cleaning. How difficult is the mag disconnect safety removal? Could an almost incompetant like me do it?
Click to expand...

It's relatively easy. Take off the slide, remove the grip (don't need to, but easier to see), remove the mag release, punch out the tiny pin on the trigger and it should fall freely. After you can put the pin back on the trigger for look but it serve no purpose function wise.


EDIT: look at the link below this post for step by step guide. But I found it was not necessary to remove the trigger from the frame. And I had a hard time to even punch out the trigger pivot pin.
 
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Mizar said:
P.S. The aftermarket parts for HP are not "extremely expensive" at all - for example, the C&S Hammer Sets for 1911 and for HP are priced almost the same.
Click to expand...

All depend on how you see "expensive". I thought $120 or so for hammer set was pretty expensive for service pistol. But is about the same for 1911 parts and service or competition pistol parts.

I though I got pretty lucky last time I found some C&S parts from my local gun show around $20 a piece (extended slide release, extended ambi safety, trigger, hammer..etc). Which are about 1/3 of what would cost me to order from C&S directly before shipping. :evil:
 
I order them from Midwayusa because they give me a dealer discount because I have a C&R.
 
Like most guns it's a matter of how it feels in each person's hand, but the HP to me has outstanding balance and "feel" in the hand, and is a high-capacity pistol as well. Mine is accurate and pleasant to shoot. I usually carry a 1911 .45 but the Hi-Power is a wonderful pistol.
 
wbwanzer, just a word of precaution - when a Hi Power is disassembled you should be very careful not to press the sear - if you do this the hammer will drop and hit the sear pretty hard - this will ruin the sear's primary angle. You can prevent this by engaging the safety lever after you disassembled the pistol.
Oldnoob, I understand your point.
But let's not leave wbwanzer with the impression that stock MkIII internals are of bad quality and must be replaced at any cost. These guns are of very good quality and with just a little tweaking of the stock parts - i.e. rounding the corners of hammer and safety lever, filing a radius at the back of the hammer (optional) and removing the magazine disconnect, the gun will become much more friendly:)

Boris
 
Mizar said:
Oldnoob, I understand your point.
But let's not leave wbwanzer with the impression that stock MkIII internals are of bad quality and must be replaced at any cost. These guns are of very good quality and with just a little tweaking of the stock parts - i.e. rounding the corners of hammer and safety lever, filing a radius at the back of the hammer (optional) and removing the magazine disconnect, the gun will become much more friendly:)

Boris
Click to expand...

Sorry if I made any wrongful impression that BHP NEED any replacement. The reason I brought it out was because I own a 32 years old service grade BHP and it has work flawlessly for that many year. WITHOUT any part replace yet. Just recently I start to think it's time to replace springs or maybe try out the extended safety, slide release...etc, and found out the cost of doing so.
So, with my personal experience. If you purchase a BHP, you have at lease 30 years of fun with it before you need to worry about replacement parts.
Or, you can stock up all parts now and know in 30 years they will be worth more than gold. :evil:
 
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