Addicted to Hi Powers

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gnappi said:
The BHP was IMO JB's best design... Simple and elegant. Why it never gained traction in later years with the surge in 9mm still baffles me.

Maybe its because its SAO, all steel? Dunno but to me its a perfect ergonomically designed pistol.

Nice find!
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It is one of the most prolific pistols of all time. Its usage around the world dwarfs our beloved 1911. It was always a niche pistol in the US but for a decades it was the Glock in the rest of the world. Recently Ken Hackathorn and Mas Ayoob were talking about their favorite designs and Mas mentioned when he traveled and did training around the world at one time he always picked up in country or brought a BHP because they were everywhere and mags, replacement parts and 9mm ammo were easy to find.
 
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tark
I have a nice T-series (as in never been fired nice) and they sure are pretty. Pretty to look at, not so pretty to use. The safety, quite honestly, sucks. And the sights aren't even that good. That tiny notch in that tiny little rear sight is so narrow that it is completely filled with the tiny front sight post when the gun is held out at arm's length...giving you no sight picture at all. As an exquisite example of fine hand fitting and beautiful polishing and blueing, the T-series guns are in a class of their own. But they would make a lousy carry gun.
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Sounds exactly like my first Hi-Power, only you forgot to mention the 10+ lb. trigger pull to go along with all of the other little quirks of my T Series gun. I waited for a new and improved version to debut, which it did in the form of the MkII. Gone was the beautiful deep blue finish and finely checkered walnut stocks, replaced with an extremely matte (I hesitate to even call it "bluing"), blued finish and some truly awkward feeling plastic grips (which were immediately replaced with a complete set of Pachmayrs). What it lacked in appearance it more than made up for in performance with an ambi safety that was easy to use, sights that I could actually see, and a trigger pull that didn't need any work to be done on it; yes, it was that good, right out of the box!
TUuDbep.jpg
 
bannockburn said:
Sounds exactly like my first Hi-Power, only you forgot to mention the 10+ lb. trigger pull to go along with all of the other little quirks of my T Series gun.
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Wouldn't know about the trigger pull, I've never fired my gun and neither has anyone else save for the person who proof tested it. It is a 99% gun. I haven't even dry fired it...don't know if that is injurious to gun or not. It has the tiniest bit of edge wear at the front of the slide. Probably from pulling it out of the case too often to drool on it. But I think i will dry fire it now, just once, to see how that trigger feels. One time can't hurt.
 
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WVsig said:
It is one of the most prolific pistols of all time. Its usage around the world dwarfs our beloved 1911. It was always a niche pistol in the US but for a decades it was the Glock in the rest of the world. Recently Ken Hackathorn and Mas Ayoob were talking in about their favorite designs and Mas mentioned when he traveled and did training around the world at one time he always picked up in country or brought a BHP because they were everywhere and mags, replacement parts and 9mm ammo were easy to find.
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Yeah, seems like if you have a BHP and a FAL you're probably gonna be OK in the third world.
 
tark

Well at least I had no problem selling it at a gun show and made considerable profit on the transaction too! Used some of the money to buy a MAB PA-15. Now that all steel gun was kind of heavy but it had a decent trigger and sights on it and could handle just about any 9mm. ammo, from mild to wild, that you could load in the magazine. Had a neat rotary barrel locking system that handled everything from light powder puff loads to full throttle rounds without even batting an eye at them. Certainly not as svelte or as comfortable in your hand as a Hi-Power was but definitely a very decent gun in it's own way.
 
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JR24 said:
Yeah, seems like if you have a BHP and a FAL you're probably gonna be OK in the third world.
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And guess who had a huge hand in designing both of those guns! You guessed it, Dieudonne Saive. While maybe not in the same class as JMB, Saive was a prolific weapons designer, who deserves far more credit than he gets.
 
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tark

The PA-15 I had was also very accurate too and felt recoil was also rather soft with just about any ammo you ran through it. But it didn't have quite the ergonomics of a Hi-Power; kind of seemed a little wide and squared off in the grip frame. Sights could have been a little larger too. All in all though it was a very solid and reliable service pistol.
 
The one I've got, which is actually my dad's, has a very nice trigger breaking it about three or three and a half pounds... I can't remember.
I'd actually take the range and shoot it more regularly except it chews on the web of my hand and the sights really do suck....
Also wish it was just a little bit larger.


Still they're such pretty guns and I could see collecting them just because of that.
 
tark

I got these Hogue grips for Christmas a couple of years ago. They're just marked "Browning Hi-Power", no other designation given. These are Rosewood; they also have ones made from Pau Ferro, Goncalo Alves, Kingwood, and Cocobolo, both uncheckered and checkered.
ShnQcOg.jpg
 
johnmcl said:
Hey Tark, Those grips are from Hogue. They have quite the selection. I believe I ordered from Midway or Brownell's. I'd have to look for T series specific groups.

https://www.hogueinc.com/grips/browning-grips/hi-power/wood
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Thanks, johnmcl. Im going to their website now.
bannockburn said:
I got these Hogue grips for Christmas a couple of years ago. They're just marked "Browning Hi-Power", no other designation given. These are Rosewood; they also have ones made from Pau Ferro, Goncalo Alves, Kingwood, and Cocobolo, both uncheckered and checkered.
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Thank you also bannockburn...
 
The first step to recovery is recognizing you have a problem. And what a wonderful problem you have. I always take time to look at the nice High Power Pictures you post. My dad has two of them.
 
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