My new CCW - 1944 Hi Power

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Ian

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I just worked a trade with a friend to acquire a 1944 manufacture Belgian/German Hi Power. It's a late manufacture with no really desirable features, but it is all matching and not in bad shape. It's going to be my new CCW gun, now that concealed carry has been legalized here in AZ without a permit. All I need to do is pick up an ambi safety to put in (one that requires no permanent modification to the gun).

Why carry a 66-year-old relic? Because it's cool, for one. But more importantly, it fits my hand well, it shoots accurately and reliably, and it's one of the best classic pistol designs ever made. I have a good Galco IWB intended for a 1911 that it fits very well.

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Do you need an ambi safety because you are left handed. If so ok. If not I would not put an ambi satefy on your HP. I put an ambi safety on an extra HP I had for the wife to shoot and it is very much in the way for a right hander to run the slide like you are suppose to. Just a word of caution.
 
I dont find ambi safties nearly as cumbersome as I do ring hammers. I still though would not get one unless I was lefty.

That is beaut there. I think it has plenty of character.
 
Ian,

That's a beautiful old gun. I'm very happy for you.

If Mr. Camp is still reading with us these days, perhaps he has more informed advice that I.

I'd stay away from the ambidextrous safety. I find them clunky. Give that old gun a serious scrubbing with a solvent. After she's scrubbed and dried off, make CLP your friend. I'd also consider a fresh set of replacement factory-spec springs. Midway and Brownells have them.

We are ready to see targets!

Best of luck, and good going. BHPs are just fine for defense. Oh yes, that's why they were made.....
 
Awesome gun. But I'd be afraid of putting the BHP version of idiot marks on it. God knows my poor 1911 has them already.
Carry away. I wish I could afford to carry a full size gun. 8)
 
Make shure it works, the Germans had big problems with the Belgian made HP's because of some nifty little sabotage by the Belgian workers at the Liege plant.
If it is manufactured after the second half of 1944, their should be no problem, those are produced for allied powers.
 
This was definitely made by the Germans, but I took it to the range before the trade, and it works just fine.

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what did you trade for it?
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A used Steyr M9A1 with 9 mags and a Galco holster. Got 3 mags for the Hi Power, none of them German marked or matching.

The only reason I want the ambi safety is because I am left handed. I toyed with some techniques for using the stock safety, but none of them are particularly smooth or quick.
 

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You definetely need to make CLP your friend. I don't know about you but I sweat A LOT in the summer and I'm not even in Arizona. I was carrying a H&K P7 PSP in a Raven Concealment kydex holster. P7's don't have the best finish in the world (yours doesn't look so hot anymore either) and I was having constant problems with rust forming under the left grips and along the slide near the barrel. This would happen just a few days after oiling the hell out of it with CLP. I had to switch to my Glock 26. I want to carry my P7 again but I'm gonna send it off to Arizona Response systems and get their Metacol finish to make it more rust resistant. Cool gun though!
 
Great pistol for sure.

But I'm not so sure it would make a great concealed carry piece....
Carrying it cocked-and-locked is the only way to have it instantly ready for self-defense, but then you need the safety on, and the safety is rather small and hard to disengage quickly with one hand.
 
Posted by easyg: Great pistol for sure.

But I'm not so sure it would make a great concealed carry piece....
Carrying it cocked-and-locked is the only way to have it instantly ready for self-defense, but then you need the safety on, and the safety is rather small and hard to disengage quickly with one hand.
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Great points.

There's also the matter of whether it will function well with jhp ammunition.
 
Just so you know....

Your gun is WAY cool! But I'm going to tell you (from experience) that you should consider that if you actually have to USE your 1944 Browning Hi-Power in a defensive situation, you will probably have to surrender it to the police, and if it was used in a homicide (justifiable or not) it goes to the FBI. Rarely do you get the gun back. This is the reason I carry a quality CCW gun, but I have no emotional attachment to it.

I am NOT telling you what to do and how you should carry CCW. I'm just sayin'......
 
Very nice gun! I would carry that without a hitch. I would try some of the 147gr. Gold Dot JHPs in it.. They are a little longer in the nose to better facilitate feeding.(I have a MK3 HP and that's what I carry). Classic Gun!! Keep the old iron alive!!! The Waffenamt stamp is neat too...
 
Not a carry piece, for many of the reasons listed above, not to mention the fact that you have a pile of 66 year-old wartime parts there. Either buy a newish MkIII to carry, or trade that nice old girl to a collector for a newish MkIII.
Yes, it's neat, it's cool, and I'd like to add it to my HP collection, but it is really not a carry gun.
 
I'll take the risk of having it disappear forever if I ever have to use it for real. The chances of that happening are extremely slim, and it'll be a cheap price to pay if the gun saves my life. Once a thorough inspection assures me that the parts are all in good order, I won't have any qualms about carrying it , despite its age. These pistols were designed to be carried, and it would be a shame to leave this one on a shelf. Also, I'm used to cocked-and-locked carry from my previous carry piece, which was a 1960s Argentine 1911.
 
I'd carry it in a heart beat. I'd just need a larger safety. If I had to use it in a justified shooting and I was cleared of all charges, I'd better get it back or someone is getting sued.
 
That gun has the nicest patina I've ever seen! The grips compliment the metal perfectly. You CANNOT post enough pics of that pistol. You lucky dog. If I had that gun I'd carry it everywhere. Hell, I'd probably sleep with it!

Excuse me while I go flush my new Kel-Tec down the toilet.
 
I have a very similar Browning from the late 1940's-early 1950's. The only issue I have found with these guns is the availability of extractors for the internal extractor guns. Mine is a little "iffy", as it does not throw the last case clear of the gun all the time.....sometimes leaving it loose in the locked open port. If anyone knows an active source for a few good, unused extractors for these guns (Canada, Belgium, etc), where stocks of military parts might be kept for these old guns, I'd sure like to stock up on a couple to keep my gun running, should my extractor get worse.
 
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