Hard Chroming a Browning High Power

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Confederate

Confederate

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I just acquired a Browning High Power and am thinking about having some work on the trigger, then having it hard chromed. It's circa 1968, made in Belgium. What would be a good price to have a passable action job done on it (and could I do it myself?), and would hard chroming increase its value or detract from it? The gun appears an easy EXCELLENT rating as is. Hard Chrome would be about $170 with shipping. It has wood grips and stock fixed sights.

It's a beautiful gun. I got it for $200 from a neighbor who wanted me to just get it out of her sight (she hates guns and it belonged to her late husband).
 
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Hard chrome would definitely reduce the intrinsic value of any collectable firearm. Doing it yourself is impossible unless you are a gunsmith or work for a plating company. Where did you get the idea that there is any value in hard chrome if one does not hunt (vigorously) with expending many rounds, in a compromised environment?
 
If if is in good to excellent condition the collector value will be decreased. Is it a T series or C series serial number. Either way you got a great deal almost too good. You could do a trigger job yourself if you know what you are doing but if you have to ask I would get it done by a professional. I would also replace the hammer, sear and trigger with a C&S kit and do the work on that, Put the originals in a bag and if you ever want to sell the gun as a collector reinstall them.

If I were going to hard chrome a BHP I would send it to Metaloy or AP Cogan. Both could also do the trigger work. I have never had Metaloy do trigger work but I have had Cogan work on a BHP and he does top tier work on the platform.

http://originalmetaloy.com/pricing.html

http://www.apwcogan.com/plating-and-refinishing-prices
 
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If it is in decent shape, you could flip it and double your money, or more if an uncommon variant.

Rip her off? If she "hates guns" I consider anything you paid her to be pure gravy. It is not like she was selling off a treasured family heirloom to buy cat food.
 
I didn't tell you the entire story. I offered her more money, but she just wanted the gun gone. She also gave me a S&W 36 (mint, $200) a S&W 6906 (new, $200) and two rifles (old .308, $100 each). One is a bolt action, the other a carbine. I'm not into rifles and didn't want them, but she took $800 for everything. I offered to pay her $800 just for the handguns, but she said she wanted everything out of the house, so she said take the rifles and throw them away. She's well off and had another house. She thinks there may be more handguns there and maybe a shotgun.

The High Power, now that I've cleaned it up, is too beautiful to hard chrome. It looks mint with wood grips, and they all came with a bunch of ammo, and the High Power came with a holster and six extra magazines. The S&W 6906 came with two stainless magazines and two blue magazines. I haven't even gone through all the ammo yet. There was a ton of it.

You want to know the best of it? If I hadn't come by when I did, she would have called the police and had them haul it off! That's right, she was willing to just turn it all over to them! Another one of our neighbors called me and that's how I learned of it. My friend can't have guns in his house because of his wife and a son who's on medication and can't be around knives and guns. Oh, I also got about eight brand new gun locks, the kind that go through the trigger guards.

If she finds any more guns, I'll let you know. I'll post photos tomorrow.
 
Ok then I completely amend my statement about ripping her off. Did you transfer them through a local FFL?

Does the BHP have T or a C in the serial number. Either way the BHP is worth about $800 and I would not hard chrome it. even though I am a big fan f hard chrome unless it is already finish challenged.

This T series was so it went to APW Cogan for some work.

7pOIdfN.gif
 
WVsig said:
Ok then I completely amend my statement about ripping her off. Did you transfer them through a local FFL?

Does the BHP have T or a C in the serial number. Either way the BHP is worth about $800 and I would not hard chrome it. even though I am a big fan f hard chrome unless it is already finish challenged.

This T series was so it went to APW Cogan for some work.

View attachment 761319
Click to expand...

Nice sights.
 
Confederate

If the finish on the Hi-Power is that nice I would definitely be against having it hard chrome plated. My brother has a Hi-Power from the mid '70s but there was a problem with the factory finish. Eventually he had it hard chrome plated by Ron Mahovsky at Metalife and it's been fine ever since.
 
Confederate

Definitely got three classic handguns there! At one time or another I had all three of those guns!
 
I wouldn't do anything but oil them up and shoot them.
If I hard chromed the Browning, it would be part of a substantial upgrade with more prominent sights and safety, no-bite hammer with trigger adjustment and magazine disconnect delete. Which would be pretty costly, $200 for the gun could disappear in the noise.

Show the "old rifles." You might have an unsuspected treasure there.
 
Uh the Hi-Power looks amazing.

There's no way I'd refinish that one... it's beautiful. That's a fine collection.

You did the world a service, saving those from the scrap heap.
 
You got a stellar deal. I would not do anything to that BHP. At $200 you stole it. The going rate for a T series in that condition would be about $800-$1,000 depending on if it came with pouch, correct mags etc....

You got the deal of the year! The other 3 are nice but the BHP is the crown jewel of the deal IMHO.
 
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For those who wanted to see the rifles, the bottom one is an A3-03 and the other's a .30 Carbine. Haven't done stock finishing in years. Do you think it might help me get rid of them? If anyone knows anything about them, let me know. I didn't get the scope.

AAA_Rifles.jpg

After playing with the High Power a bit, I'm definitely leaving it as is. The bluing is just too beautiful.

Got a DeSantis Clip-Grip for the Model 36. At first I thought the medallions fell out, but now I realize what I thought were glue blotches on a gold backdrop were actually the company logos!

aaa S&W 36.jpg
aaa S&W 36b.jpg

The grips feel very nice and the clip lets one carry the gun under the waist. I can't believe how horrible the stock grips feel on this gun. They look beautiful, but it's like grabbing a stick. HICKOK45 test shot one and didn't mention how bad the grips were. Or is it just me?



.
 
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Do not refinish the stock on the carbine until you determine what it is. It will ruin its value.
 
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WVsig said:
Do not refinish the stock on the carbine until you stermiue what it is. It will ruin its value.
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I can tell just by the rear sight and type 3 upper band that the carbine has been arsenal refinished at least once so a good cleanup and restoration of stock will only enhance the value. Especially as it appears to have a shellac or polyurethane coating on it now. Strip em both and rub on a little BLO, presto! Very nice collection, BTW! Need more pics and info on the rifles, lol!
If you've never owned/shot a carbine before, you're in for a real treat!
 
WVsig said:
Do not refinish the stock on the carbine until you stermiue what it is. It will ruin its value.
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Really? They both look like they were used at the Alamo once Davey Crockett ran out of ammo! I've got plenty of time to hold off on it and can't for the life of me figure out why my neighbor bought them. The carbine is a short, handy gun that might be fun to shoot.
 
Confederate said:
Really? They both look like they were used at the Alamo once Davey Crockett ran out of ammo! I've got plenty of time to hold off on it and can't for the life of me figure out why my neighbor bought them. The carbine is a short, handy gun that might be fun to shoot.
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Naw, go ahead and restore the stocks if youve got time, you won't hurt the value. Is the Springfield an a3 or a4 sniper? If its an a4 the stock isn't original anyway, as it is a "scant" type made from a straight blank. If its an a3 turned into a sniper clone, then there is no collector value anyway...but it will still make a great shooter.
A real a4 action is worth some decent $$ even with a mismatched stock.
Definitely shoot the carbine before you decide to sell it....they are super fun little guns and the ammo is about half the price of other center fire rounds. Plus most indoor pistol ranges will allow .30 carbine! :)
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Naw, go ahead and restore the stocks if youve got time, you won't hurt the value. Is the Springfield an a3 or a4 sniper? If its an a4 the stock isn't original anyway, as it is a "scant" type made from a straight blank. If its an a3 turned into a sniper clone, then there is no collector value anyway...but it will still make a great shooter.
A real a4 action is worth some decent $$ even with a mismatched stock.
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No, it's an A3. Any idea what they're worth?

I have no place to shoot the sniper rifle, but I may keep the carbine.
.
 
Confederate said:
No, it's an A3. Any idea what they're worth?

I have no place to shoot the sniper rifle, but I may keep the carbine.
.
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Unfortunately, by trying to turn the a3 into a sniper lookalike, combined with the condition, they have really hurt the value...depending on the manufacturer it would go for 600ish in my area...a little more for a smith corona, a lot less for a federal ordnance receiver.
The carbine is actually worth more- around here GI carbines are going for 800-1200. Rare manufacturers like Rockola or Irwin Petersen are worth more, but even the postwar commercial guns like Universal and Iver Johnson are still in the 700-800 range. Once again, the manufacturer will make a big difference in the Carbine world.....post us some more pics and we could narrow it down a bit.:)​
 
A 1903 A4 is not marked A4. it is marked 1903 A3, but the stamp is oriented so you can read it beside the scope base.

The scope rings are not GI. I can't tell about the base from here.
 
True- for most a4s, the markings are almost upside down as viewed from the left side of the rifle, but serial numbers above 4mil were may have been marked a4, as were some postwar rebuilds......and all use Remington receivers. Need more pics....:) It can be very difficult to authenticate an a4, recommend you also post some pics of the receiver, bolt, and barrel markings to CMP forums, they may be able to help as well. Hatcher, Remington, and Canfield cant even agree on just how many were made (or converted)....but there a probably far more fakes (replicas, lol).
 
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