Worth of this Browning Hi-Power?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Trey Veston

Trey Veston

Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
2,702
Location
Idaho/Washington border
Spent a few days down at the family cabin and an old family friend showed up for cards and whiskey and he was carrying the same pistol he's carried for about 40 years.

He's a former sheriff's deputy, then US Marshal, then college professor with a PHd in criminal justice.

Anyway, he loves his old Browning, and I told him that they had appreciated somewhat in value recently. He asked what I thought his was worth, just out of curiosity, and I told him I had no idea, but would take some photos and ask online. I ballparked it at around $1000.

I'd never handled it before or really looked at it closely, so may have been way off.

It's an original Browning Hi-Power, made in Belgium, with wonderfully tight tolerances and rich deep bluing.

IMG_20210914_201804606.jpg

But, it shows normal holster wear, and, a couple of other things that really detract from it's value. The first is some sort of stipling job that was done on the back strap and front strap of the grip. It's ugly, but was done to aid in grip and handling, and it works.

IMG_20210914_201756479 (1).jpg

Secondly, the trigger is scraped up due to having some sort of trigger lock on it when not being carried, according to the owner.

IMG_20210914_201743276.jpg

So, does this thing still have any value to it, despite the ungodly "customization"?
 
Yes, still has a fair amount of value. I'm seeing BEAT ones getting imported at times now going for $700 or so, and I mean BEAT.

Hard to say how the stippling looks from the pics. I think your figure of $1k is in the ballpark. However, I am not a Hi Power expert and haven't been tracking them much (as I have the ones I want already).
 
6 months ago I had my belguim hi power on my hip when I entered my LGS, we started chatting about them for a few minutes and he offered me $1,000 for it on the spot. mine is in similiar condition, light holster wear on the end of the slide, factory wood grips have some wear. I didn't sell it because it is an extension of my arm and just shoots to darn good, $1,000 is what I would say the value of good shape hi powers are these days
 
I assume it’s a good shooter, most of them are, my MKII and MKIII both are. I would replace that trigger, that looks like a chafed or blistered trigger finger waiting to happen. Checkering was never an option on the front strap of these, the metal is too thin, so many of these were stippled, and the quality is only as good as the ability of the person doing the work. Both of mine have the stock Pachmayr rubber wrap grips which (IMHO) beat a bad stippling job.

I think your estimate is probably pretty close. These guns were just about a grand back when Browning still made these, but these all needed trigger work. Although the MKIII sights weren’t terrible, there were better aftermarket Novak or Heinie sights available. Let’s face it, if more of us bought these back when these were being made, Browning would probably have continued to make these.
 
I am going to go against the grain a little bit here. The gun has value but not as much as people are putting on it. The stippling only looks like it was done on part of the grip strap. If that is the case it was not done properly and you would have a hard time correcting it. Most smiths have their own stippling style and it would be hard to match it to finish the job. It might just be the pic.

index.php


The trigger is not really an issue because you can find a replacement from an older BHP. Any T or C series would "match" well enough. I would personally not pay more than $700 - $800 for the gun because of the stippling. If that was not present then the gun would be worth $1200-$1300 because is a is a late year 1969-1970 T series in decent condition.
 
Having gained all of my knowledge about Hi-Powers from WVsig, I would add, as a collector, he is quite right about the stippling and the other imperfections. If the gun were unaltered it would be worth quite a bit more. My own T-series was never fired after leaving the factory. It looks, and is, like brand new. The gun in question here is valuable as a shooter, but would be worth quite a bit more unaltered.

Personally, I wonder why a person would WANT to carry a "T" series HP in the first place. They are beautifully made and finished...but the sights suck and so does that stiff, hard to manipulate safety.
 
tark: said:
My own T-series was never fired after leaving the factory. It looks, and is, like brand new. The gun in question here is valuable as a shooter, but would be worth quite a bit more unaltered.
Click to expand...

I would never question anybody’s prerogative to do whatever they want with their firearms. But these BHP’s are such good shooters that it seems to me to be a shame if you don’t take these out & hit some targets with them. But that is just “MHO”.
 
Ascertaining gun values off a photo is always hard for me. The information is second hand as it is a photo of the gun, and not the gun itself. I've seen many times where a photo has unrealistically enhanced an estimate, and an equal number where the estimate was *way* under.

In the end of this discussion, it is still a BHP. Load up and shoot!
 
Nature Boy said:
Why wear a Rolex when a Seiko keeps better time?
Click to expand...

I own both and my iPhone keeps better time than either. But the iPhone isn’t currently worth 4X what I originally paid for it.
 
Since he sounds like he'll keep carrying it you should buy him a set of Spegal grips for it for Christmas. Value of the gun is $800-1100 around these parts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

marksman13
  • Locked
Value of Browning Hi-Power
Replies
23
Views
1K
Eaglestroker
E
S
  • Locked
Belgium Browning Hi-power Parkerized
Replies
19
Views
7K
tipoc
tipoc
J
  • Locked
Browning Hi-Power $700???
Replies
17
Views
848
PCRCCW
P
J
  • Locked
Browning Hi-Power ? Values vary?
2
Replies
31
Views
17K
CNobbe
C
Confederate
  • Locked
Hard Chroming a Browning High Power
Replies
24
Views
3K
NIGHTLORD40K
NIGHTLORD40K
Back
Top