Mint Browning Hi Power and range report

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Belgiboy

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Last monday evening I walked into the Gunstop with my mind firmly set on buying a Browning Buckmark pistol. I got distracted by this little beauty. It is my first try at gunporn so bear that in mind :eek:

gunpornbrowninghp1.jpg

Under the gun is a dishtowel so i suppose that makes it cheap porn.
Anyway, it is a mint 1986 Browning Hi Power in 9mm that is as Belgian as I am. The price was lower than I had ever seen on one of these. Speaking of Belgian, as a green card holder, I always get delayed on gun purchases (I own 16 firearms, well 17 now). This was the first time that we got the go ahead right of the bat, and a first time in the history of the Gunstop too so I was told. I just see it as a sign from above that I had made the right decision. I wanted to take it to the range right awaybut I had to work that night and let me tell ya, 10 hours can really seem like 50 sometimes.
On Tuesday I ran about 200 rounds of various 9mm through it (Rem UMC and some Chinese stuff that had gotten for cheap the night before). The trigger was heavier than I like but really crisp, so once i got used to that i was printing very respectable groups at 25 ft.
Here's the one bad thing though: I did get 6 FTF's. I'm not going to panic about it, it is not going to be a defense gun. It came with 3 magazines, one original Browning, one that had a Beretta stamp and one brand new Mecgar (which i left at home). The FTF's came with both magazines and both brands of ammo. I ended up talking to the person in the lane next to me, who had brought a HP too and he ran 5 of his reloads thru my gun, also with one FTF. The rounds seem to get stuck on the feeding ramp and subsequently don't enter the chamber. Like I said, I am convinced that it's something I'll be able to fix. My first step when I came home was fieldstripping it and cleaning it completely, followed by a oiling with Birchwood Casey's Synthetic gun oil with the Teflon Lubricant. Maybe that is going to help. Next steps will be using the Mecgar magazine and running some more brands of ammo thru it. Maybe HP's are picky about what rounds you use, I woudn't know since this is my first one. Any advise would of course be very welcome.
I am still happy as a clam with it, it is an absolute joy to shoot.

Belgiboy
 
Nice looking Browning. They are fine guns and I like that vintage.

Would you describe the FTF a bit more?
The ammo described - that was ball not hollow point, right?
In order to chamber the round did you have to slightly pull back the slide and release it? or did you just have to push the slide forward?

There are a couple of simple things to do to lighten the trigger.
 
The round would not actually chamber but be stuck on the loading ramp, slightly slant, and prevent the slide to go forward all the way. The ammo was ball only. I did not actually try to push the slide forward, slightly pulling back and releasing the slide would make the round chamber properly.
Afterward, I paid extra attention to cleaning the loading ramp area scrubbing it hard so it shines like a mirror now.

Thank you, I agree that they are excellent shooters and still one of the best looking guns around
 
It may benefit from putting some new springs from Wolff into it, particularly if you don't have any idea how long the current recoil spring's been in it.
 
I've never had any FTFs with my Hi-Power: I use only FMJ ammo and stick to using only Browning mags. You might want to polish the feed ramp, and as Horse Soldier suggested, try a new recoil spring in it. Also to lighten the trigger pull, you might want to consider removing the mag safety.
 
Great suggestions. I've been reading up on Stephen A. Camp's website and Midway shooters supply. Does anybody know what the tension is on the original factory recoil spring?
 
Very nice pistol, belgiboy. And good choice of gunshops-the gunstop is a great shop with very good prices. I bought a hipower there last spring myself.:)
 
Factory standard....

Factory standard recoil spring for the HiPower is 17 lbs. Some prefer 18.5, but I stick to 17 as I feel that the gun has less muzzle flip with the original spring weight, than with the heavier spring.
 
Des moules et frites!

Be still my beating heart!

Do the spring thing, stick to factory magazines, and try new springs there, too. Flitz lightly on the feed ramp is like the last option.
 
Here is my plan of action:

1. Shoot again but now with meticulously clean and oiled gun, use CCI Blazer Ball which always performed well for me.

If that doesn't make it better:

2. Curse in many languages

If all is not well:

3. Buff feedramp with fancy dremel tool i got for Christmas

If no improvement:

4. Get Wolff springs in a couple of different strenghts but start with the 17 lbs version first...

If still the same:

5 Hang my head in defeat and go to recommended gunsmith, pay hard earned cash

When finally perfect:

6. Invoke protection of many Gods over it

When getting jealous looks at the range:

7. Tell people it's bone stock, never missed a beat and Belgium rules


Belgiboy
 
For heaven's sake don't use a dremel. That is a good way to ruin the gun.

You don't need to remove metal at worst you only need to polish the feed ramp with 1500 grit sand paper. Polish only if there are gouges or scars on the ramp. Brownings generally have well polished feed ramps anyway. They don't usually need attention from the owner. If you can, post a picture of the feed ramp. Unless it has been damaged I really doubt it is the feed ramp.

FTF hang ups like you described are more likely the extractor with a bit too much tension not allowing the rear of the case to rise properly.

Another likely alternative is a mag with weak springs. Since you used a factory mag and had the problem, I would try the Mec Gar mag. Factory mags or Mec Gar are the right way to go. As an aside Mec Gar makes the factory mags for Browning.

Wolff makes great recoil and mags springs for the BHP.
 
For heaven's sake don't use a dremel. That is a good way to ruin the gun.
Click to expand...

It's been stated many times before -- a Dremel is a gunsmith's best friend. 'Cause that's where the gun always ends up after the owner buggers it up with a Dremel.

:uhoh:
 
Keep the dremel out of the feed ramp. Use a cotton-tipped applicator designed for fine electronics work, a dot of Flitz, and a vaguely oval motion. Go slowly, clean often, and keep the Flitz off of anything that you don't want to polish, or get polish into. Fifteen minutes tops.
 
Actually the dremal is fine when using it correct with a polishing tip at low
speed buffed many feed ramps and they are super smooth and feed any ammo, much better then sandpaper but to each his own.:D
 
I have a 1989 MK III. Great pistol.

I bet your FTF is due to a weak spring in the mag. If pulling the slide back a bit lets the bullet push up, thats it. The spring in the mag just can't keep up with the slide return. Make a note of which mag it does this with and replace that mags spring.

One of the very nice things about the HP is that they can be detail stripped and put back together without any fancy tools.

I took mine apart and treated all of the metal parts with moly lube. MOS2 slicks up the metal very nicely.

Mine still has all of the safety functions that come with a MK III including the mag safety. I treated the mag safety button and the part of the mag that it rubs on with moly along with all the other parts. Mine is now smooth as glass.

All HP triggers creep to some degree unless you spend big dollars with a smith. But if you can smooth them out they are a nice crisp release.

One other thing I would strongly recommend is to get the shock buff for your HP. It absolutely softens the recoil and it will let your HP run forever with no peening.

And reading everything on Mr Camps site will give you a great education on this excellent pisol. Enjoy!
 
Dogtown Tom,

I feel stupid. I took the word from the guy at the range who said it was a Beretta Mag. I'm looking at it right now and all I can find is 'Italy - cal. 9mm nato/Luger' I suppose that doesn't make it a Beretta:banghead:

Anyway, I'm taking it out to shoot again in an hour or so and we'll see if the Mecgar will make the FTF's go away.

Thanks to y'all for the compliments, she is a beauty indeed.
 
Problems seem to be gone now

:)
I took the HP out to the range this afternoon and ran 200+ rounds through it with no hiccups. Used a brand new Mecgar magazine and that seems to have done the trick for now.

KimberHP2.jpg

The pic is of 50 shots with the HP and 50 with my Kimber Custom Target II at 30 ft.
The Kimber is the handgun that I shoot the most and the best. Considering that it was only the second time i took the HP out and that the trigger is pretty heavy, i must say that i'm happy with how it shoots. I'm still getting the new springs, for sure.

All the tips have been very helpful, thank you all
 
'Italy - cal. 9mm nato/Luger' that is a common marking found on genuine Browning mags made by Mec Gar for Browning.

Likely the FTF problem is weak mag springs.

I slept much better last night after you said you would hold off on the dremel tool. Don't scare us again like that, please.

Two things I have done to make the triggers much lighter and crisper:

First, I remove the mag disconnect. Some don't like to do that and prefer to polish the shoe that contact the mag and the mag itself. I have too many mags to do that with and I don't like scratching up mags, so I remove the disconnect. This takes away grittiness and pull weight.

Second, I put a 26lb Wolff hammer spring. The factory used to be 26 lbs until the mid 1970s. Then Browning began using a 32 lb. spring. Too heavy for my liking. This takes away a bunch of pull weight.

You will see a night and day difference in the trigger pull doing those two things.
 
Beautiful pistol and glad to hear you got the kink ironed out. If you ever get tired of it keep me in mind.
 
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