Question on BHP fixed sights

[Hoxviii]

I'm currently in the market for a Hi Power, planning on buying new. Right now I'm in the research stage and have come across a little bit of a snag.

I'm looking to get a BHP Standard, but I don't want the rediculously high profile front sight they come with when equipped with adjustable sights.

On every website I've looked at, they use the same stock picture for the fixed and adjustable sight models- which happens to be an adjustable sight model.

Does the fixed sight model of the BHP Standard come with low profile sights, a la the mark III?
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=007B&cat_id=051&type_id=001

 

[belus]

Only MkIII's are currently produced and their sights are more than adequate. Any new fixed sighted BHP you buy will have the sights you linked to.

Be wary of the sights on older guns, 60's, 70's, up to mid 80's as they're tiny and somewhat hard to see.

 

[rellascout]

IIRC the standard only comes with a high front blade if it has rear adjustable sight. It is necessary to match the height of the rear adjustable. The fixed sight models will look like the MKIII but with a blue finish not the matte black.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello.

Though Standards may not be in current production (I just do not know), they have been produced with both fixed and adjustable sights. Fixed sight versions are like those on the Mk III though I have seen some without the white bars. Adjustable sighted Standards have the higher front sight to correspond to the higher adjustable rear sight.

Best.

 

[Hoxviii]

Thanks fellas.

I know the sights have to be matched to one another, hence why the adjustable front blade is so high. I was just making sure that the fixed sight version used low profile sights.

And the fixed sight standard is listed on Browning's website, so I'd hope for it to be in production. I'll shop used if all they're making anymore is the MKIII. Even on Browning's site they use the adjustable sight model as the stock picture on both the fixed and adjustable models.

As for adequacy, I consider 1911A1 sights to be wholly adequate so I have a feeling I'll be OK

 

[Marshall]

 

[earlthegoat2]

I just saw a Standard Hi Power brand new in a store and looked at it and it had the white bar fixed sights that are lower profile than the adj sights just like the MKIII you have the picture linked to.

The MKIII is the matte finished one and the Standard is the glossy blue finshed one. Both are mechanically identical. The MKIII designation means it has a firing pin safety I think even though only the matte finished one is called the MKIII both guns have the straight polished feed ramp and the firing pin safety.

 

[dogtown tom]

earlthegoat2: ...The MKIII designation means it has a firing pin safety I think even though only the matte finished one is called the MKIII both guns have the straight polished feed ramp and the firing pin safety.

Correct.
Browning loves to screw it up when naming stuff.
All currently manufactured Hi Powers are MkIII in design, but for some reason they only refer to the matte black epoxy finished HP's as "MkIII".

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. At one time, FN offered the Mk III style Hi Power w/o the internal firing pin safety. Whether they were routinely available or only by special order, I do not know. The version that we commonly call "Mk III" in the US now, is actually the "Mk III s", though I am unaware if that designation is still even notated by FN or if the Mk III w/o the internal firing pin safety is still made. I have seen older Hi Power boxes on which the "S" designation is present but not in years. The only versions of the Mk III "non-s" Hi Powers I've personally seen had been part of a military contract with Israel. These guns also did not have the extended ambidextrous thumb safety levers, but rather the old classic style, small single-side one.

Best.

 

[Hoxviii]

gotcha, all guns now are mechanically mark III regardless of finish.

Yes, i'm looking for blued with wood grips and low profile sights. Firing pin safety doesn't bother me one way or another.

Good information, from the way browning says it it seems like the MKIII was just the finish and grips.

About the only thing I'm missing from my collection right now is a high capacity 9mm, and if I'm going to drop BHP type money I'm going to get exactly what I want.

 

[mokin]

Just looking at those pictures and reading about High Powers makes me want to take mine ( a 1980's production MK III with aftermarket, low profile, glow-in-the-dark sights) to the range. To bad it's snowing with more in the forecast.

Have fun and be safe with your new pistol.