Browning Hi-Power 9mm help

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Rail Driver

Rail Driver

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I did a little reading, and from what I can gather, by the serial number this pistol dates to late 1966-1969 sometime (T19XXXX in the early portion of that date range) but beyond that I can't find much info (albeit I haven't dug too deeply as yet). Does anyone else know anything about these? It looks to be in pretty great condition, with a little rust on the front and backstraps, with small speckles near the trigger guard and safety. Otherwise the finish is beautiful. The magazine holds 14rds, and has a bit of rust on the baseplate as well. Anyone have a tentative sale or trade value on this, as well as any other interesting information? I don't currently plan to sell, but I would like a ballpark in case I change my mind in the future.

Here's a couple pics:

l.jpg l.jpg

Sorry for the poor quality, I don't have a very good camera at the moment. Any information or help would be much appreciated. The trigger is wonderful, and breaks like glass very consistently. It looks nice next to my 1911s :D
 
Hi-Powers are a popular classic. There's asking and then there is getting. My advice is to follow the auction sites and see what people are actually bidding. Not, the high start, reserve offerings that don't attract bids.

Also, take into account the buyer likely has an additional $30-40 in expense above the sale price.
 
The problem with that is that on the auction sites I'm seeing plenty of black oxide hi-powers and plenty of blued ones with a ring hammer, but none similar enough to mine for me to make an educated guess... I'm also seeing price ranges from $600 on up over $2000... I guess what I'm asking is where mine falls in that scale (in general). I don't plan on selling (I want to clean up the grip and put some nice wood grips on it).
 
The grips and hammer are not original on your gun. You should have have wood grips and a ring hammer. Value would be around the 500 dollar mark for me although this is one of the desireable T series guns.
 
How tough would it be to restore the gun back to original, and would it be worth the cost? It's a really pretty gun, and the more I handle it the more I like it. The trigger is better than both of my 1911s.
 
Does it have a lanyard ring on the grip?

If not, you're looking at roughly a $500 pistol due to the slight rust and mods.
 
Yep, there's no ring there. There is, however, an exposed portion where the grip is cut away (similar to the clearance cut for the mainspring housing pin on a 1911) on the left side of the pistol and there is a mark on the frame there with what looks to be a 3 digit number, but not evenly stamped so I can't tell what it is due to bad eyes and bad light here.
 
The Ts are possibly the best fit and finish of the BHPs. They can be cranky about ammo so they're not always the "best" of the BHPs for shooters.

Putting an original ring hammer and checkered wood grips would be the second order of business after having it professionally cleaned. If you put her back into true T series condition and the cleaning removes the rust without damaging the blueing then it will be more valuable to a collector.
 
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