First Hi Power and Stupid Question of the Week

[Dentite]

Don't get me wrong, I likethe look of a well used gun as well. I just wished that I had spent only $200 more and used a low mileage $600 MkIII BHP as a starting point. Would have made for a nicer overall result.

That being said, I'm enjoying putting some wear on this one as you can see.

 

[1KPerDay]

That is damn sexy.

 

[WVsig]

Depending on how deep the scratches are in the the gun it can be easily cleaned up. I redid this alloy FN Hi Power.

Before:



After:

 

[1KPerDay]

Dang. *drool*

 

[1KPerDay]

I would ask AIM for a replacement mag and then replace the spring and check the width of the followers on the existing one. I think you have a follower or spring issue. If the Belgian mag ran in the Mec Gar body it is got to be the spring or the feeding lips. IMHO

contacted AIM, they were very helpful and courteous... they want me to send the OEM mag back for exchange. Dunno if it's worth it.

Maybe it is.

 

[WVsig]

Dang. *drool*

Thanks it was done by Don Williams = Action Works in AZ. He is a BHP master.

He did the following.

C&S Hammer & Sear set
Trigger Job
Reliability package
Front & Backstrap Stippling
Beveled Mag well
Smooth out package
Garthwaite wide trigger
Don Williams custom wide safety
NP3 frame and black Rogard on the slide & controls
Harrison 1911 sights with Tritium Front and rear.
Spegel Grips

 

[WVsig]

contacted AIM, they were very helpful and courteous... they want me to send the OEM mag back for exchange. Dunno if it's worth it.

Maybe it is.

I would send it back. Still less than a new mag will cost you.

 

[1KPerDay]

that's true. thx

 

[Dentite]

Thanks it was done by Don Williams = Action Works in AZ. He is a BHP master.

He did the following.

C&S Hammer & Sear set
Trigger Job
Reliability package
Front & Backstrap Stippling
Beveled Mag well
Smooth out package
Garthwaite wide trigger
Don Williams custom wide safety
NP3 frame and black Rogard on the slide & controls
Harrison 1911 sights with Tritium Front and rear.
Spegel Grips

That is an awesome BHP...love what you did.

Don did mine as well. He's a couple hours from me so I took mine to him. Nice guy.

I didn't dig nearly as deep into my wallet as you.

I did some mild mods:
Slide milled for plain black Novaks
Trigger job using existing parts
Convert to single side safety and silver solder extension
Bevel mag well
Crown muzzle
Bead blast and reblue.

I was happy with the work but it took 3-4 times longer than the quoted timeframe. I did have to send it back because it doubled a couple times. He had me ship it on his dime and he sorted it out so no complaints there.

After Don's mods, I did some of my own.

I ended up significantly modifying the safety after he was done with it. Ground it back to look nicer and fit my hand better. Bent the extension a bit to fit my thumb better. Smoothed the edges. Took it to a local guy to reblue.

Slightly bobbed the hammer.

Then I got brave one day and stippled the front and backstraps. Just touched up with cold blue.

 

[Dentite]

That is damn sexy.

Thanks. I drive through "Happy Valley" a few times a year. I live in AZ but I grew up in Ogden. My parents and inlaws are in Ogden so we drive up there a couple times a year. Spent some weekends there in college as a few of my buddies went to school at the "Y".

 

[1KPerDay]

JMB would be proud.

 

[Dentite]

JMB would be proud.

Have you been to the Browning museum in Ogden? If not, I think you'll find it worth checking out.

 

[bainter1212]

There is a Browning museum in Ogden? Gonna have to see that.
I have read about several firearm museums lately.....the wife is going to hate it when I drag her through them on our travels.

 

[kBob]

If you have trouble finding the JMB museum ask for the railroad museum.

I especially like the way they had his hand built semi auto proto types displayed when I was last there. They were inside plexiglass so you could walk around them and see them from all angles.......or stand next to the column with your hand out streatched like an idiot to imagine holding them.

About two years ago his house was for sale with the realitors suggesting it would make a great bed and breakfast. I had images of individual bedrooms displays of JMB designed guns. "So you will be staying in the FN hand guns bedroom tonight with the 1910, 1922, and P35 displays. Its just down the M2 HB .50 BMG hall to your right, up the A5 stairway and first door on the left in the 1917 hallway."

Would have been perfect for gun nuts on the JMB Haj. Package tour deals.....

It had such potential......but LDS folks are not supposed to play the lottery so I never had even an one in 100 million chance of getting it.

-kBob

 

[kBob]

bainter,

If you are east coast and like military at all you NEED to go to Aberdeen proving grounds Maryland and the museum there.

I rather enjoyed the firearms that were displayed in a portion of the Museum of American History in DC, including a benie mercie with crate, long strippers and three round linked clips.

Can't say anything about the Infantry museum at Ft. Benning, Ga as it has been totally redone since I was last there and UH-1s were still the main work horse of Army Aviation. Hear good things.

The two excellent little private museums in St Augustine FL have been gone for some years. One a victim of zealous BATF folks and the other to the owner's death. The oldest European town in the USA needs a good gun museum, dang it.

For BP folks the gunshop at Colonial Williamsberg used to be high point though I understand they no longer make barrels there. I got to walk the rifler one year a few strokes and test a 16 bore Flintlock fowler's lock. Another year I got to examine a gun being repaired for the park service that was later, when I visited, on display in that Museum of American History in DC I mentioned earlier.

-kBob

 

[Ironicaintit]

Yeah kBob,
APG is a for sure must see. My dad worked there for a number of years in the 70s-80s

 

[I6turbo]

Here's a gun from the same seller where I got mine. These photos look almost identical to how my gun looked when photographed the same way by the seller. Grips are different, obviously.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=483371921

 

[1KPerDay]

Another stupid question... this thing seems to kick harder than my other 9mms.
I haven't shot it back to back except with a G19, but overall my impressions are that it kicks more than an all-steel 9mm should, more than a CZ75, etc.

I assume I should replace the recoil spring first?

 

[WVsig]

I assume I should replace the recoil spring first?

Yes replace the spring. You can get them dirt cheap from Browning, IIRC $2.50, but they get you with flat shipping. I have quiet a few BHPs so I have a lot of spare parts on hand. If you need one let me know.

 

[sub-moa]

Good thread here, exceptional job on that Lightweight...obviously a very well thought-out carry piece .

FWIW, allow me to point out: OP's MkIII isn't fitted with a "MkII thumb safety". The "MkII safety" IS the MkIII safety. The MkII safety is one of the features introduced with the MkII that were carried over to the MkIII. Other MkII features carried over were the straight (hollowpoint friendly) feedramp, thumbrest plastic grips and even the firing pin safety introduced mid/late in MkII production.

The safety on OP's MkIII is a version of the original nubbin' safety used by FN as both a factory part on some '80s...primarily contract, BHPs such as the Lightweight and some Israeli Contract MkIIs...and others, as well as a replacement part sold for armorer repair. Although "never say never" with the FN BHP, it's unlikely a mid '90s Israeli Contract MkIII would have been supplied by FN with that particular safety and much more likely the MkIII safety was replaced by Israeli armorers...IMHO that is. This was done frequently as the BHP was carried primarily...though there are certainly exceptions, in Condition 3 as SOP in Israeli service...making the larger MkII/MkIII ambi safety unnecessary and perhaps...to some, even a negative .

That's my understanding anyway .....

 

[1KPerDay]

So: update. I've shot this pistol quite a bit, got a replacement mag from AIM after I sent the OEM one back. New one works flawlessly, and holds 14 rounds.

I've shot this Hi Power back to back to back with my SIG P226, Beretta 92FS, and Glock 19 on several occasions, and the Hi Power seems to have slightly more recoil than the SIG or Beretta, which seems strange to me. I still haven't ordered a new recoil spring or hammer spring, but will.

Getting used to the sights and trigger and can how hit with it at will. However, after a mag or two, my trigger finger hurts when shooting the Hi Power. Something about the recoil characteristics, or the ergonomics/close reach of the trigger, or the shape... it's almost like trigger slap feels. I get none of that from the SIG or Beretta.

I really want to like this pistol. I've seen custom/flatter/wider triggers... anything else I should consider?

 

[drband]

My mid 70s BHP trigger is firm but very smooth after removing the mag safety. I have not noticed heavy recoil or trigger finger fatigue. Maybe a recoil spring is in order. My BHP feels like shooting a .22 compared to other 9mm's. I think you should pursue getting it checked out. I bet there's a great shooting pistol in there somewhere. Good luck!

 

[Pilot]

Yeah the recoil impulse of my stock MK III Hi Power is very soft, with no trigger slap. Does yours have an alloy frame?

 

[drband]

Mine is a steel frame. That's probably the difference.

 

[1KPerDay]

I don't think any israeli trade-ins are alloy but I'll double check with a magnet. Feels like steel to me...