Browning Hi Power questions

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Drgong

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A am in the proccess of buying a Browning Hi Power (will get the paperwork cleared by the 1st) and this is my first handgun.

Few newbie questions...

1) is there a good FAQ on the Hi Power, as to basic infomation about this model outside what a wikipedia entry would have?

2) what is good brands of 9mm ammo for this gun?

3) any tricks or things to watch out for?

Thanks!
 
1. Answered
2. My high power was great but it did not like agulia 9mm. just buy a mix and runn it to see what happens.
3. best mod I can suggest especially if you are going to go competition is dump the mag safety. some Hp mags will not drop free with the mag safety installed. Also in by getting rid of it the trigger pull lightens up some. Sights are nice and a better safety is good too.
 
Billy nailed it the first time.

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/

Everything you need to know by a shooter, not just a gunwriter.
Stephen Camp is on my short list of good people; I believe he is incredibly fair in his reviews and comments......not something that can be said for most gunrag writers.

As far as tips and tricks, Mr Camp touches on that well....but for me I have to remove the mag-disconnect (cause I hate'em) and bob the hammer....I have big hands and the hammer like to nip me.

Now I am truly sorry that this is your first handgun.......because they are addictive. :D
 
"...in the proccess of buying a Browning Hi Power..." A new commercial BHP?Mine's an Inglis(bought a .41 AE barrel and 500 pieces of brass, long ago. Don't even think about it. There's no .41AE ammo or brass available now.). Close, but not exactly the same. Fixed rear sight and an inverted triangle front. In any case, aftermarket grips are easy to come by and the pistol fits most hands well. A target pistol it ain't though.
If you're not reloading, you'll have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your new pistol both shoots well and cycles the action. There is no one good brand of ammo for any firearm. Every one will shoot the same ammo differently. Even two consecutively serial numbered firearms.
Taking out the mag safety, while easy to do, will drop the trigger pull and allow the mags to drop out, may not be allowed at your club and definitely isn't for IPSC/IDPA shooting. Mag safeties are/were a European thing. To do it, field strip the pistol. There's a wee pin in the trigger. Take that out and remove the mag safety from the back of the trigger. Mind you, I'm hearing that on new BHP's, that pin is peened in.
As for good info, there are several excellent books available. Not all of which are exactly inexpensive. This one's pretty good and isn't terribly expensive. http://www.booktrail.com/Guns_Handguns/BrowningHi-Power.asp
 
I have small hands, and I got a "hammer bite" the first round I fired from a high Power. Easy to avoid, though, and hard to forget. They are good guns.
 
Camp's book on the BHP is the best thing out there. I shot my first Inglis in 1960 and I found the book worth every penny. Buy it.
 
I bought a FEG HP clone a month or so ago and I have to say, the Hi-Power is My Handgun. It fits me like no other and I can shoot it like no other. I have 375 rounds through it so far and each one has been fun. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have. I have fallen in love with this pistol and now want another one.

My FEG seems to absolutely love the CCI Aluminum cased 9mm I had leftover. I used to shoot it in my Hi-Point Carbine but I sold that and still had 500 rounds left. I tried it in my CZ-75 and it chokes on it. The FEG HP just loves it.

Another oddity. I have a Sistema Colt 1911 and that drew blood before I bobbed the hammer. I was expecting pain shooting the HP and was even going to bob the hammer before I shot it but deciding to just try it and see what happens and thankfully, nothing has happened. :) No bite from the HP.
 
I just bobed the hammer that took care of hammer bite.
Click to expand...

Or have a Commander hammer installed. My stock spur hammer on my MK III Hi Power has never bitten me or anyone I've let shoot it. Y'all must have fat hands. :D
 
Y'all must have fat hands
Click to expand...
My wedding ring is tight and a quarter fits on the inside of it with a gap remaining.

Oh yeah I only finger tighten my lug nuts too. :D
 
2) what is good brands of 9mm ammo for this gun?
Click to expand...

My first BHP (1962 vintage) absolutely hated aluminum cased Blazer ammo (usually 2-3 FTEs per magazine). I've owned a couple Mark IIIs since buying that one back in the 1990s, and am not sure if they would run better with it, since I haven't used any aluminum cased stuff in any of my pistols since fighting my way through 200 rounds of the stuff with that High Power back in the day.
 
Well the Local police office signed off on the local permit (I live in a nice county for that, took me all of 10 mins) So on the 1st I will drive down to Charlotte and pick up my Hi Power. Think I will buy a couple types of ammo and see what it likes.
 
I read the British ARmy had a standing rule of carrying only 12 in the
magazine due to a reliability issue.

Cylinder & SLide said on older non-external extractor BHPs - never let the
slide slam forward with an empty mag. or the extractor will break.

R-
 
Cylinder & SLide said on older non-external extractor BHPs - never let the
slide slam forward with an empty mag. or the extractor will break.
Click to expand...

Actually what C&S and others say is NOT to try and chamber a cartridge without using the magazine to feed it (on HP's w/internal extractor).

The slide slamming forward on an empty mag does nothing to the extractor- they dont touch. When you try to load a cartridge into the chamber through the ejection port you force the extractor to ride up and over the case rim. It was not designed to work this way and doing so repeatedly will shorten the life of that extractor. Feeding rounds through the magazine allows the cartridge rim to slide under the extractor- causing no problems.

Since the OP is buying a new HP, his will have the external extractor so this is a non issue.
 
Taking out the mag safety, while easy to do, will drop the trigger pull and allow the mags to drop out, may not be allowed at your club and definitely isn't for IPSC/IDPA shooting.
Click to expand...

Actually, my IDPA club highly recommended ditching the mag disconnect. The reason is that after a stage, when you Unload/Show Clear/Slide Forward/Hammer Down, you have to insert a mag to drop the hammer. It adds an element of uncertainty to the process, plus it's a major pain in the rump.

ALL of my HPs now have the disconnects removed, and I have never had ANY grief from any ranges, clubs, or the IDPA.

FWIW,
Wes
 
There is a IDPA rule that prohibits the "removal of any safety device" from a gun used in IDPA competition.

Technically, removing the mag disconnect would make the gun ineligible for IDPA. I'm not surprised if local clubs are ignorning that rule with regard to mag disconnects though as they do make the "show clear" more cumbersome.
 
There is a IDPA rule that prohibits the "removal of any safety device" from a gun used in IDPA competition.
Click to expand...

I'd forgotten about that, Rob. :eek: I just dug out my IDPA rulebook, and there it is, clear as crystal. :uhoh:

Hmm... Must just be a local thing then.

Maybe it's time I sat down and read this thing cover-to-cover again. I could use a refresher. ;)

Wes
 
Wow, great info guys...I just recently bought a 1980 bilt hi power....my first hand gun. I'm new to the sport and really appreciate this site. feel free to PM me anytime if you want to talk guns with me...i can't get enough!
 
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