Am I missing something?

[Duckster]

Am I missing something about my FN HP?

I bought an FN .40 Basic Model earlier this year. I love it the way it is and shoots like a dream. I've noticed some threads that some people are taking the safety features off the weapon, i.e. the magazine must be in the weapon to shoot. I don't see this as a big deal or am I missing something? Doesn't this also void the warranty?
Also, The sites are black, but have little grooves in them. Is this so I could take to a gunsmith to put illumination or white lines in it?
Any help on the questions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[RON in PA]

Re the sights, put some white paint or white-out in them (or some other color if it suites you) using a toothpick.

Magazine safeties are a controversal subject. Many get their panties all twisted-up when talking about them. They do affect the trigger pull on the old Browning/FN Hi-Power.

 

[jlh26oo]

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I bought an FN .40 Basic Model earlier this year. I love it the way it is and shoots like a dream. I've noticed some threads that some people are taking the safety features off the weapon, i.e. the magazine must be in the weapon to shoot. I don't see this as a big deal or am I missing something? Doesn't this also void the warranty?
Also, The sites are black, but have little grooves in them. Is this so I could take to a gunsmith to put illumination or white lines in it?
Any help on the questions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Grooves on sights = non reflective (vs flat surface)

magazine disconnect, internal locks, etc may never be a problem ( lots of good arguments from proponents as to why those of us who disagree should like them); however, it doesn't pass one of my non negotiable criteria for defensive handguns:

pulling the trigger is necessary and sufficient to fire.


For ME, this means no external manual safeties, no internal locks, no mag disconnects etc. I understand and respect why someone would prefer differntly, or wouldn't mind one way or another. I just won't have it. So no, you might in fact NOT "be missing something", if you know you'll never need to shoot it with the magazine removed.

 

[ugaarguy]

The major arguement for the magazine safety is that if you are ever in a struggle for control of your weapon you can drop the mag and disable it.

My arguement against magazine safeties, at least the way they operate on the BHP, is that they also lock the slide. The problem with this is that it goes against my military training with the M-16 and against my own training with personal handguns. In both military and civillian training I was taught to always drop the mag first - remove the ammunition source - then cycle and lock the action open to visually inspect for an empty chamber when clearing the weapon. If your mag safety locks your slide then you must open and lock the action, then remove the magazine. It's a slight variance on technique, but not a big deal if you haven't been doing it the other way for years. I prefer the way I learned it because if your bolt catch or slide release doesnt lock, you slip and don't engage it, etc. you're not going to chamber another round with the mag removed. Probably a minor concern compared with the training issue and ingrained procedure I've already learned though.

Now if your mag safety doesn't lock the slide, but only disables firing then it doesn't conflict with some training methods and what I wrote above no longer applies. The ability to quickly and easily disable your weapon is a very nice option though. Ohh, and yes, the mag safety does make trigger pull horrid on the BHP .

Overall it's personal preference. Look at your own training, and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the feature. Do what you feel most comfortable with.

 

[10-Ring]

Since the BHP is a SA semi auto pistol, I wanted the pull closer in feel to my 1911s. Talking to my smith, I learned the mag disc was negatively affecting the trigger pull. So, he removed the mag disc and polished remaing trigger parts. Tirgger pull feels ALOT better - much closer to my 1911s, which is what I was after from the beginning.