Please educate me on the Hi-Power

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bernie

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I have bought, sold, and traded many handguns, and finally settled on the 1911A1 for carry and fun. However, a buddy recently convinced me that I needed a 9mm in the stable, so I traded another handgun for a Hi-Power in good condition, with light surface rust. I like the idea that the controls are very similar to what I am used to on my 1911A1.

I owned a couple of Hi-Powers in the past, but kept neither of them very long and am fairly ignorant of the platform. Ignorance can be fixed, but stupid is forever. Help me fix my ignorance please.

My reading has seemed to indicate that the Hi-Power is not the most "robust" 9mm design out there. It also seems that many people do not feel that it's life span may not be as long as many other 9mm's out there, especially if shooting any +P ammo. Is this true?

If the above is true, let me ask the next series of questions. How did the Hi-Power fare in military use, i.e., did it have a good service life? I am familiar with the following countries using the Hi-Power or some version: The United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, the German Wermacht, and Israel in some limited use. Who else used it? Also, with many of these nations using "warm" 9mm ammo, did it effectively beat the guns to death?

Thanks in advance for the education.
 
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Check out the web sight mentioned, and keep in mind the BHP has been used by more people in more wars than probably anything else. Early models were designed and built before the advent of +P rounds, and so are not designed for them. The MKIII is, and you won't have any problems with it.
 
I don't presently own a P35, but it is the only gun that has saved my life (not just once, but twice), so it gets a big thumbs up from me.

Yes, go to the website that has been recommended a couple of times and you will soon be a Hi-Power expert.
 
as for military use, argentina used a version they domestically produced, the FM hi-power, and Hungary made a copy, their PJK-9HP, until they came out with their double action P9R, which looks like a hi-power but functions more like a S&W 59. (I have a P9R, great gun for the money)

As for service life, it's an all-steel pistol, I'd imaging it would stand up longer than alloy framed pistols.
 
I went out and shot it this weekend with some Winchester White Box. Wow, this thing has very little recoil, I had truly forgotten what great sidearms these are!

I am thinking about selling this one and buying a new one so that I have one in better condition. Which distributors have the best deals on Hi-Powers now? Does anyone still import the FN's?
 
Last I checked, all the FN's easily available are in .40, I bought one a while back for $400, a great price for either caliber. CDNN still has the FN marked ones with sfs for a little over 4 bills.
 
The SFS system allows one to have a loaded chamber, the hammer down, and the safety on. When the safety is pushed to the "off" position the hammer snaps back to full cock. I have one of the SFS FNs in 40 from CDNN. Kind of a neat gun. However the BHP is still my all time favorite, got my first one in 62 to take overseas, still got it. Had it rehabbed by Wayne Novak, great job. TomN is correct, Mr. Camp has an incredible amount of information and emperical research on the BHP.
I usually carry my BHP with the hammer down on a loaded chamber, when in a possible gun grab situation, I put it on half cock with the safety on, by the time anyone not a BHP guy figures it out, we will both be dead of old age, or he certainly will be overdosed on lead from a S&W 940.
 
The HiPower has been used by military and police forces all over the world, in the hundreds, for decades. The sidearm of choice for the SAS for some time. Those boys don't play around.
You can always get some heavier Wolff springs for the heavier +p stuff, as well as a Shok-buf thingy. The newer ones are supposed to be beefed up too.
 
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