Browning HP Caliber?

[Barr]

Well, I am starting to think of my next gun purchase and I have set my heart on a Browning High-Power. I just have to decide whether it will be 9mm or .40 S&W. I already have the reloading components for 9mm but it would be nice to get an auto with a little more power in the same size. If I do though I will have to buy/stock another size bullet and brass cases.

 

[10-Ring]

BHP has to be 9mm -- IMO, anything but 9mm is just blasphemy!

 

[Coronach]

Ditto 9mm. You're getting a classic gun. Get it in the classic caliber. If you later decide you want the .40, well, get your 9mm a brother.

Mike

 

[mbott]

BHP has to be 9mm -- IMO, anything but 9mm is just blasphemy!

Oh, what good blasphemy it is, too!

--
Mike

 

[Ala Dan]

I voted for the original offering, which was the 9m/m~!

 

[jeff-10]

Voted 9mm. I have a BHP in 40 S&W. It is my least reliable handgun. I have never seen a 9mm BHP that wasn't very reliable. The only reason I keep the 40S&W is that I intend to send it off to a custom gun smith one of these days.

 

[redbone]

The grip of the 9 mm BHP is perfect. The .40 is a bit wider, and I find it less "perfect". Try to find a shop with both and see how they fit you. But, the 9 mm is, indeed, the classic.

RBH

 

[scbair]

I tend to favor the 9mm in the BHP; as originally designed. I also prefer my 1911s in .45ACP (same reason).

 

[HorseSoldier]

Another vote for the 9mm.

 

[bigmike45]

I recently purchased my first Hi Power, in 9mm. There was a 40 lying next to it. I am glad I chose the 9mm version.

bigmike

 

[10X]

I voted 9mm. The BHP is just so right in that caliber. The 40 just doesn't feel the same.

 

[the naked prophet]

I voted 9mm, cause I have a .40 and I don't like it. I don't like it precisely because the grip is NOT wider than the grip of the 9mm - they used the same magazine with slightly modified feed lips, so a mag which should hold 13 or 14 only holds 10, because it's not wide enough to hold a double stack of the .40 cartridges.

That, and the slide is wider, the gun seems top heavy. It was my first pistol I bought after the Kel-Tec P11, actually my wife bought it for me for our first anniversary, so I can't ever sell it. I may convert it to 9mm, but not sure if that can be done, since nobody sells a 9mm slide and barrel, and if they did, I'm not sure it would fit on the .40 frame because of the ejector.

 

[Devonai]

...since nobody sells a 9mm slide and barrel...

FM of Argentina was selling 9x19mm top-ends for Browning pistols not too long ago. How easy would it be to swap out the ejector?

 

[Tom Rigsby]

I have a couple of 9mm Browning HPs and one .40 S&W FN HP. In a side-by-side comparison, I believe the 9mm Hi-Power is much more "elegant" and better balanced than the .40 S&W version. The 9mm HP are also more accurate. When compared to other full size 40s like the CZ 75 and Beretta 96, however, I prefer the FN.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

BHP has to be in 9mm just like a 1911 has to be in .45acp.


edit: scbair, I just read your post.

 

[Walkalong]

9MM..... I mean, you can get a .40 HP, but you have to have a 9MM first. It's the law.

ROLL TIDE

 

[possum]

keep it original 9mm

 

[pinotguy]

Another vote for the 9mm - such a classic combination.

(FWIW, I'd love a BHP in 30 Luger though.)

 

[..]

The poll is close, better give it some serious thought.

 

[Barr]

The more I think about it the less I really want to have to stock yet more reloading components for another caliber. I will have to stop by a Gander Mtn in the next few weeks to hold a .40 and a 9mm BHP side by side.

 

[patentmike]

The grip of the .40 BHP is perfect. The 9mm is a bit narrower, and I find it less "perfect". Try to find a shop with both and see how they fit you. But, the .40 S&W is, indeed, an improvement over the classic euro caliber. My FN .40 is perfectly reliable. Get what fits.

 

[Coronach]

You can always find grips to widen the 'narrow' 9mm grip (I find it about perfect, but that's me). Narrowing the wider .40 grip is a bit more problematic.

Mike

 

[Mmmmm 460]

The barrel on the HI-Power is long enough for you to get awesome ballistics out of the 9mm - especially with some loads. The accuracy and pointability of the hi-power coupled with the rapid placement possibilities afforded by the 9mm chambering equate quite a swell pistol-fighting package.

+1 the 9mm (with mec-gar 15-round mags you sit pretty at 15+1). I love mine!