BHP Sight Question

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mparris71

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Thinking of buying a current production BHP in 9mm I would like to have adjustable sights. Looking online at diffrent vendors website there seem to be two styles. One style that I have attched a picture of is the one I would want the other I would rather not have (will attach a pic of it in the next post). The problem is I am going have to order this gun and want to make sure I get the sight that I want. Is there a diffrences in the modles?
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MP
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Ive never seen either come like that but really haven't checked on whats new.

Honestly IMO, fixed are the way to go and much better looking and snag free. The fixed are more desirable resale wise also. Oh,,, and get one that says "Browning" on the side. ;) Bren
 
I dislike the tall front blade sight on the adjustables. Last winter I was shooting my MKIII in the sub-zero weather and the front blade sight actually broke and flew off. The blade had seperated from the dovetail insert. It cost me $90 to get some factory fixed white line sights put on. I believe the top picture shows the BHP target model or something like that. It has a lower profile rear sight. The second one which is the one you don't want has the millet adjustable rear sight. That's the sight that most BHP's come with now that have adjustable sights.
 
Thanks guys, it's starting to look like the best option is to get the fixed sights. If I hate them I can always have a smith put on a set of adjustables.
 
I have a Silver Chrome 9mm HP with the high profile adjustable rear. It is being removed this week and a Chip McCormack low profile fixed is being installed. The front sight is being taken down and the face blackened. I do not care of any of the HP adjustable or fixed sights and generally have all mine replaced with Novaks, except on the GP Comp.
 
I have the gun shown in picture 2. It is the Standard. About 1 1/2 years old. The rear sight works fine for the range. It has two white stripes with the front sight black.

I have had trouble with the front sight from the beginning. It has never been snug enough in the dovetail. I had a local smith work on it. Sent it to Browning for a fix and have had another local smith work on it. My latest efforts have involved a tube of loctite black from Brownells. It worked for 1 1/2 range trips. I notice the front sight is loose when i go from hitting the target with some regularity at 25 yds to not getting on the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. I can literall move the front sights back and forth with my fingers, up to 1/16". That's where the adjustable sight is great. Shoot, adjust. shoot. adjust.........

I haven't figured out if this is a defective slide, defective sight or just the way life is.

Some have suggested getting the front sight pinned. I'm thinking about replacing both front and rear sights.

The good news about the gun, and there is a lot of good news. It shoots great. Is slim and fits my smallish hands very well. I have upgraded to a Bar-sto barrel and when the sights are working it is as accurate as my Sig 226 ST Stock. The trigger is OK with the mag safety removed. I am thinking about getting a better trigger about the time I get the sights replaced. If the loctite works I'll probably be good to go for the indefinite future.
 
Sights

Meggar makes a very inexpensive adjustable rear sight you can put on a commercial HP for about $40.

Be sure to get the version for your gun...there are at least two types out there.

V/r

Chuck
 
The sights in the first picture look great. Unfortunately, I have never seen a standard issue BHP with adjustable sights like that. It might be a Mec Gar or a Bo-Mar brand sight where somebody milled the slide and installed the sight. The sights in the second picture are standard issue. I believe they are Millett sights. Here is a link to Millett sights at Brownells, although my BHP doesn't have tritium sights. I've never had problems with adjustable sights. Once they are sighted in, I just put a drop of Loc-Tite on the screws, and they seem to hold. Of course, if I was using my gun for a hammer/boat anchor/skateboard where the sights would be continually abused, I would go with fixed, but I'm happy with adjustable on my carry guns. I like being able to hit where I aim, and not aiming for how the gun shoots.

The standard adjustable sights don't look very sexy, but mine work. You could always choose your own sights and have the slide milled so the sights sit how you want. BTW, look at MMC adjustable sights for adjustables that are built like tanks.
 
I've been busy & off line quite a bit lately, but if you haven't already, I'd suggest asking about this over on fnhipower.com.

From what I understand, the first picture is what Browning advertised as the "new" adjustables a while ago, but I don't think anyone has seen them. The second pic is what has usually come from Browning. Also, I don't know if FN is going to do something different, now that they are actually importing the Hi Power under their own name. (FN is the actual manufacturer)....... Hope this helps.
 
Poohgyrr, No I haven't made up my mind yet, thank you for your suggestions and info. Why dosen't Browning have the Hi-Powers on their web site nor their last catolog I seen? Agreement between them and FN?
 
Last winter I was shooting my MKIII in the sub-zero weather and the front blade sight actually broke and flew off. The blade had seperated from the dovetail insert.
Click to expand...
I was in an IDPA match a couple of years ago and this very thing happened to another competitor . . . he fired half the stage, and . . . had no front sight. There's a lot of mass to that tall front sight, and the dovetail is tiny . . . the transition between the blade and the dovetail is a weak link.

My usual IDPA pistol - and carry gun - is a MkIII with fixed sights. No problems with that over many thousands of rounds - the front blade is sharp and clear, but probably has less than 1/2 the mass of the ramp on the adjustable sight version.

I've never seen an adjustable sight version with the rear "buried" in the slide like the first picture . . . all the ones I've seen look like the 2nd picture, where the rear seems to be attached as an afterthought.

To echo another poster . . . when you DO buy one, make sure it says "BROWNING" on the side. The FN-labeled ones I've seen simply don't seem to be as finely finished, even though they're supposed to come from the same factory.
 
The first pistol is a one off piece. The rear sight appears to be the same Millet used on the normal guns. The dovetail on the bottom of the sight has been reduced(cut off) so the sight could be machined in a low position much like a bomar. The easy way to tell that this is not a much used weapon is that it has the standard front sight. The same as the second picture. With the rear sight mounted some .200 lower, the point if impact with this gun would be the dirt from 15 yards or more out. For an good adjustable, Ted Yost is now working with the new Novak rear adjustable sight.
 
BHP sights

Hey mparris71:

Catchy handle. By now you should have gathered that the good looking sight is most likely the fragment of some marketeer's imagination. I know I've never actually seen one either. I really like adjustable sights, so suffered with those high mount Millets on my HSilver Chrome BHP until I could take it no more and had C&S melt some Bomars on. That's the way to go IMHO if you can't get the fixed sights to work for you. There's definitely a problem with the Millet high front sight. I lost mine while practicing. My buddy lost his in the middle of a table during a pin shoot and another lost his halfway through qualifying for his CHL (passed though!)
When I was installing the replacement I could see that one really needed to provide some clearance between the sight blade and the top of the slide at the rear of the sight. Otherwise the blade would have the loads from the slide's reciprocating transmitted into it with the most likely result fatigue and separation of the blade from the dovetail. This is not easy to do especially since it seems that blade to slide contact helps to hold the sight in place in the dovetail.
I told Browning what I thought the problem was. They replied that they hadn't seen many instances of broken front sights. Oh Well.

Cheers,

Norm
 
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