A neighbor died. His wife who hates guns gave me three of her husband's guns, one a mint 1968 Belgium-made Browning Hi-Power (the other two were a S&W 6906 and Model 36 2-inch, blued, both in Excellent Condition). I offered to pay her, but she just wanted them gone. She also gave me some ammo. But that's neither here nor there. My point is that I am now an avid Hi-Power fan!!! The bluing is amazing, and I love the gun, though I never would have been able to afford buying if it hadn't fallen into my hands. For some reason, Brownings, I learned, have some rust problems in the serrations on the slide. I've seen photos on the Internet, and when I took the gun apart to remove the magazine safety, I noticed some light surface rust in the magazine well and in the frame, but no pitting. I soaked a patch with BreakFree CLP and took several brushes and in just a few minutes there was so sign of rust.
The Browning design is outstanding and I'm sold on it. Even though mine is all steel, the weight is very manageable and I would have no problem carrying it. If it had an aluminum frame, so much the better. The grip is perfect for my hand and my only two gripes with the gun would be the horrible sights and the low-profile safety. I can put in a new adjustable sight, but the safety is okay (I've trained myself to click off the safety on this and my Taurus PT-92 when cocked and locked).
So I'm a huge fan of the Hi-Power. When I first got these guns, I considered hard-chroming the Browning and the Smith M36; however, the bluing is so nice I just couldn't do it. The M36 will fit in the pocket of my blue jeans and it's easy to reach and lightweight.