Current value of Browning Hi Power new

[Gary A]

Cuervo - you said

I cringe at recommending to someone, even someone I've never met, to go out and spend $900-1000 on a pistol when he could find the same thing at a lower price that will do just as well with a little looking around.

and I completely agree with you. I would never recommend that someone do anything other than what they want to do. I am not a Hi Power "collector" but I wanted a Hi Power, and I wanted a MK III, and when I found a new 75th Anniversary model for sale at a little over 900 dollars, I bought it. It was what I wanted: a real Hi-Power with a pretty blued finish that I bought to shoot, not collect. Later I stumbled across a new MK III with the epoxy finish for actually a bit more. I bought it also. Both were new. Both have been superb. An FEG copy that a friend was selling would also shoot but would not have been a Hi Power in my mind in the same way. Nothng wrong with FEGs or another pistol entirely but I got what I wanted, have no plans to acquire more or sell the ones I have and am just as happy as if I had a couple of hundred dollars extra in the bank because I passed on them to find something roughly equivalent for 7 or 800 dollars. Probably more happy and went through less fuss. I think JTQ was merely reporting the general retail prices for some guns in his area and I find those prices he reported to be similar to what I find in my area a thousand miles away. Can better prices be found? Of course. Are better prices the norm? I don't think so, but I've been wrong before. Sometimes when you "look around" and go back to buy the original gun that caught your eye, you find someone has already purchased it. Snooze and lose, so to speak.

Nothing wrong with searching for the best deal. It's part of the fun of the game. Also nothing wrong with buying what you want when you find it and moving on to the next thing.

 

[ROAshooter]

this thread sure makes me feel old....last Browning I bought...new at the LGS, was a Mk III...belgium stamped, for $320, plus tax....a month later went back with a friend and bought the last one LGS had, a belgium/portugal, for $350 plus tax.....the good old days are long long gone....

 

[powder]

OK, I'll do that.

Were these the two sites you wanted me to find?

GunBroker http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=Sig+Sauer+P226&Condition=1

GunsAmerica http://www.gunsamerica.com/Search/Category/1403/3/Guns/Pistols/Sig-Sauer-Sigarms-Pistols/P226.htm

Looking through both of those listings, it still looks like SIG P-Series guns are closer to what I said

rather than what you indicated


However, if you are finding them cheaper somewhere else, that's certainly great for you. Keep up the good work.

Well, you must have used a different search engine than I did: P226 MK25 Navy, Limited Edition for 799 + free shipping and no CC fees, is one I found on my first page of results. Hmmm, more than $100 under your thoughts for an average 226...? Hmmm...

Yes, it CERTAINLY is good for the free market economy, wherein we firearms enthusiasts can inform each other about rip-offs and scam artists, while showing that other guy we've never met he can save well over $100!! THAT, would be the high road.

(Wow, what a great idea, a place where gun enthusiasts support their own!!?)

 

[JTQ]

Well, you must have used a different search engine than I did: P226 MK25 Navy, Limited Edition for 799 + free shipping and no CC fees, is one I found on my first page of results. Hmmm, more than $100 under your thoughts for an average 226...? Hmmm...

Here's what you could do, take all of the P226's on both of those sites I linked, since you didn't specify a site, and figure what their average cost is.

To throw you a bone, you can eliminate all the "X-Models" and you can even count the models in .22. When you come up with an average cost for those P226's let me know if they are closer to what I estimated SIG P-Series sell for

JTQ wrote,
SIG P-Series guns cost around $900

or what you think SIG P-Series sell for

powder wrote,
SIG P series steel guns in the $500-700 range.

 

[KingMedicine]

I bought two of them for 450 each, and sold them for 650. I think that's a bit high...

 

[JTQ]

Hey, fella's, I apologize. I contributed to taking this thread off the rails.

I know there was some bad information being passed to the OP and I was trying to make my point. I was out of line.

I know better. One of the most important things I've learned about gun forums, I learned from the late, great, Stephen A. Camp, who ironically was one of the preeminent Hi-Power authorities.

http://hipowers-handguns.blogspot.com/2011/02/providing-information-or-just-needing.html

The OP purchased his Hi-Power at, what I consider, the going rate for new MK III Hi-Power's. If you feel differently, that's OK. I'm glad you can get your new MK III Hi-Power's for such great prices.

 

[Gary A]

And, in the end, hellishot (if he is still paying any attention to us at all) will take our comments into consideration and then do what he wants to do. If he buys the Hi Power for $900 (marked down from $1000) he may or may not be paying too much but I doubt he will regret the purchase in the long run. If he passes, thinking he will find a new Hi Power for several hundred dollars less, I hope he finds what he seeks and reports his success to us.

 

[hellishot]

Hi guys, I pulled the trigger and got the Browning Hi Power at $900. I just couldn't find any other LGS in my areas with any in stock or with competitive pricing. I looked at other variants of the Hi Power, but its not what I wanted.

I wanted a Browning, just like Gary A. mentioned. I love the bluing on this bad boy.

 

[Field Tester]

http://www.gunwatcher.com/

Here's a great site to help find some prices. Doesn't have everything or all current deals but it's a wonderful site nonetheless.

 

[Field Tester]

And you both were wrong, they're in the $770 n $825 range

 

[Gary A]

Hellishot - I hope and trust that you will thoroughly enjoy your new Browning Hi Power. Mine give me great pleasure.

 

[Gary A]

I just went to gunwatcher.com. Most, if not all, of the ones identified as new were between the low 900s to around 1000 dollars. Overall prices ran from a low of around 500+ to a high of around 4,000.

I think Hellishot did just fine.

Sigh...

 

[cuervo]

Congrats on the new BHP, regardless of the price.

I had thought that they were only making the epoxy version now--glad they are still making blued ones, too.

 

[il.bill]

Hi guys, I pulled the trigger and got the Browning Hi Power at $900. I just couldn't find any other LGS in my areas with any in stock or with competitive pricing. I looked at other variants of the Hi Power, but its not what I wanted.

I wanted a Browning, just like Gary A. mentioned. I love the bluing on this bad boy.

Some time in the not too distant future, the actual price you paid for your Hi Power will be a non-issue. All you will remember when you lay your head on your pillow will be the smile on your face when you handled and fired your Browning Hi Power that day at the range.

Congratulations on finding what you wanted, and happy shooting!

 

[Pilot]

Mec Gar makes excellent, flush fit 15 round magazines for the Browning Hi Power. I don't understand why some people do not think the BHP is a relative, carry, and HD firearm when the 1911 is so popular as one. My BHP is often my nightstand gun. It is my most accurate centerfire pistol, and it is stock.

$900 is a good price for a new, blued Hi Power.

 

[Kiln]

The approximate value is about 3x what it should be. They're nice but what you're mainly paying that $1,000 for is the Browning name stamped on the side.

 

[Pilot]

The approximate value is about 3x what it should be. They're nice but what you're mainly paying that $1,000 for is the Browning name stamped on the side.

So you are saying that the Hi Power is a $300 gun? I have owned one for twenty years, and it shoots better than any other 9MM I have, and that includes pistols from HK, Sig, Beretta, CZ, and others.

 

[Kiln]

Alright maybe a $500 pistol but the $1000 price tag is ridiculous. You're paying for brand recognition and not much more. There is nothing about the Hi Power that should make it that expensive other than the "legendary" Browning name on the slide. Look at the other hammer fired pistols out there going for less than $500.

Also, 20 years ago, the Hi Power was nowhere near $1000, even after adjusting for inflation.

 

[JohnBT]

$300? $500? Do I hear $700? You have more opinions than any three people in this thread. What's a Glock worth, $75?

 

[Pilot]

Alright maybe a $500 pistol but the $1000 price tag is ridiculous. You're paying for brand recognition and not much more. There is nothing about the Hi Power that should make it that expensive other than the "legendary" Browning name on the slide. Look at the other hammer fired pistols out there going for less than $500.

Also, 20 years ago, the Hi Power was nowhere near $1000, even after adjusting for inflation.

Using a future value of $900 which someone just paid for a new blued BHP, the Present Value 20 years ago is $452 at a 3.5% discount rate (roughly average inflation over the period). This is about what I paid.

Just because there are polymer offerings that do the same thing, doesn't mean the BHP should be valued the same. You seem to just have an axe to grind.

 

[Kiln]

$300? $500? Do I hear $700? You have more opinions than any three people in this thread. What's a Glock worth, $75?

I'm thinking you've voiced your opinions far more than I have, seeing how you have almost 13,000 posts. My average is 666 posts per year. Your average is 1,083 posts per year.

For the record, I think the Glock is also overpriced, just not as overpriced as the Hi Power. Please explain to me what makes the Hi Power cost $1,000? I have fired several of them and so far I'm not convinced that this gun should cost as much as it does. I mean come on a polished stainless CZ75 is less than $600.

Pilot: There are also many steel/aluminum guns that cost much less and are quality pieces. The Hi Power is a nice gun and it will hold it's value very well because of the established brand but I genuinely don't get the price tag on these.

 

[Gary A]

An item is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, no more, no less. Its the marketplace.

Kiln, you may well be correct that many pistols, indeed many products of many kinds, are "overpriced" but, if so, it is because they are "over valued" or, in other words, they are valued highly.

I don't know what it costs to produce a blued Hi-Power but I'll wager it is considerably more than it cost to produce a Glock, or a Ruger, or a Taurus, or any polymer-framed pistol.

The only reasons there are cheaper 1911s in the marketplace is because they are built in countries where workers earn very much less, .e.g. the Phillipines. Domestically produced 1911's are much more expensive and many well over $1000.

Every Sig P227 I have seen for retail sale recently has been between $950 and $1000, mostly leaning toward $1000. Other metal-framed Sigs are comparable.

Can you get a good pistol for $500-600? Of course, CZs come to mind. But many people are willing to pay more for the pistol they want, for many reasons. I am one, and I'm not rich by any means. Hellishot is apparently another. Why should that bother you or anyone else? If you were to somehow convince the OP that he paid too much for a pistol he wanted, what has been gained by anyone? You? Him? He willingly paid the going rate for a pistol he will enjoy for a lifetime. Why not congratulate him and keep shopping for bargains?

BTW, I agree with Pilot on the MecGar mags and the value of the HP as a home defense pistol.

 

[JTQ]

Kiln wrote,
Alright maybe a $500 pistol but the $1000 price tag is ridiculous. You're paying for brand recognition and not much more. There is nothing about the Hi Power that should make it that expensive other than the "legendary" Browning name on the slide. Look at the other hammer fired pistols out there going for less than $500.

At the risk of getting myself embroiled in this again, in the same thread no less, is there a long list of hammer fired, metal framed guns, not made in third world countries that cost less than $500?

As far as brand recognition, and value placed on a "name brand", is there anybody under the age of 50 (maybe 45) that puts a higher value on the "Browning" name than the value associated with other gun brand names such as SIG, H&K, Colt, S&W, Walther, and even Glock?

The Browning Hi-Power is a metal framed gun, of old design. It simply costs more to produce due to the materials used and the man hours required for assembly of the gun, compared to the more modern designed polymer guns that have low material costs and can basically be snapped together by unskilled labor.

You may not like the features on the Hi-Power, whether that's because it is heavy compared to modern poly guns, or that it is a single action pistol, or the relatively low capacity compared to more modern designs, but as I mentioned earlier in this thread, the Hi-Power is priced competitively with US made 1911's, SIG metal framed P-Series guns, and if S&W was still making their metal framed TDA auto's, they'd be in the same price range. It's just what it costs to make metal framed guns these days, as long as you're making them in the US or western Europe.