My Hi Power is now 2 guns, and I'm pleased as punch...

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Finally got my conversion barrel, I was debating whether or not to buy an NP29 or continue waiting for this thing to arrive. I had originally ordered the barrel through a non-site sponsor up here, and after 6 months of waiting and no news, I cancelled my order and got my deposit back.
Contacted EFK directly and asked about what my options might be and they told me they didn't have any in stock unless I was okay with a threaded barrel, At this point I didn't care any more and thought what the hell, why not? They assured me they could ship direct from the USA and since I had it in writing that they were sure they could, I figured I had my butt covered if for some reason it got confiscated on export.

Well I had it in my mailbox in a flat rate USPS envelope within 5 days. No shenanigans on the shipping package, no "motorcycle parts" or "hardware" or anything misleading. It specifically said "Browning Hi Power 9mm Conversion Barrel from 40S&W" right on the packing manifest visible on the outside of the package.
Went thorugh LAX customs and Vancouver customs without a hitch and ended up in my mailbox without a single hassle. Maybe I got lucky? Maybe I didn't have anything to worry about? I don't know, but I finally got it, and the price tag was well over the $100 Brownells restricts us to. Food for thought if you're looking for something like this.

When I first got it, it would fit in battery just fine in the slide, but I couldn't get the slide on the frame. I tried my hand at stoning the bottom of the feed ramp which seemed a bit too long, but after an hour or so I decided I better leave it to somebody who knew what they were doing. So I took it to the local shop where he sat on it for about a week, and called today saying he got it done, test fired it, and things were running well. (even with hollow points, which he said is all he had lying around)

Since Imgur is being stupid and wont let us hotlink anymore, and I'm not putting any of my gun pics up on facebook, you'll have to click the link and view the album (until I find an alternative to Imgur that doesn't annoy the ####e out of me, Dropbox would be okay but they dont directly link ANY photos without a whole bunch of work)

CLICK HERE Magnify the images, they're nice and hi res.

It's kind of a side by side look at the new 9mm conversion vs. the stock .40 configuration. The slide is still about 1/4mm forward of where it normally sits perfectly flush with the back of the frame, but i've seen a lot of hi powers in pictures that have the same problem, but even more pronounced, and nobody seems to think it's a problem. On slide lock, with the threaded barrel sticking out it looks unnaturally long, but not disturbingly so.

The one thing I can't figure out is the spring. I have the 22 lb recoil spring for the .40 barrel that is stock from Browning. I have what I ASSUME is a stock Browning 17 lb 9mm recoil spring that I bought from a fellow CGNer. It certainly eases up the force required to rack the slide, but if you look at the 2 pictures of the slide itself removed from the frame, you can see that the 40 spring holds the guide rod perfeclty straight, where the 9mm spring seems to bow a little bit at the end of the guide rod. I don't know if this is a fitment issue with the guide rod, or a tension issue with the spring (which would seem counter intuitive to me). Perhaps it's nothing to worry about, or maybe I need to buy a new guide rod. If you have any suggestions or advice I'm certainly listening.

One other issue is the thread protector on the barrel. The gunsmith recommended I loktite it on, but the problem with that is that I can't take the barrel out of the slide with the thread protector on. Any ideas?

Stay tuned for a range report.

Still have more to do with this gun. Replacing the safety on the left side and the grips is next, followed by a new trigger pin, and then I have to decide whether or not to try to re blue the worn parts, or cerakote it. I like the original blue, (black more like it).. But it's sooooo... scuffy.
 
Maybe try a little nail polish on the threads of the barrel.. it'll be enough to retain it from vibrating off, but not apply a permanent hold like locktite if you have to remove it.
 
I had heard that happened well over a year ago, but nobody mentioned being successful in ordering. Maybe I should have gone with a Bar Sto if it was this easy.

Still. I'm quite happy. Can't wait to head to the range with it on Saturday.
 
zibbit said:
Maybe try a little nail polish on the threads of the barrel.. it'll be enough to retain it from vibrating off, but not apply a permanent hold like locktite if you have to remove it.
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Nail polish is a great solution, however Loctite blue threadlocker would do the job very well as it is not permanent. Ive used it on all size hardware which is removed and reinstalled frequently but can vibrate loose. A little dab 'l do ya. Threadlocker red is permanent, like marriage permanent. Never used that stuff for anything as I not a fan of commitment ;).
 
dcoty said:
Nail polish is a great solution, however Loctite blue threadlocker would do the job very well as it is not permanent. Ive used it on all size hardware which is removed and reinstalled frequently but can vibrate loose. A little dab 'l do ya. Threadlocker red is permanent, like marriage permanent. Never used that stuff for anything as I not a fan of commitment ;).
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Nothing is permanent especially marriage.
 
Blastattack said:
The USA gun parts limit is now $500 to Canada, not $100.
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Not according to the website,

Q4. I want to buy parts in the US for my firearm and import them into Canada.

A4. The US controls on the export of firearms extends to parts also. For small orders worth less than US$100.00 the US Department of State allows an exemption from the export licence. This exemption, however, does not cover ‘significant’ parts which includes; barrels, slides, cylinders, bolts, frames and receivers. It should be noted that there is no equivalent exemption offered by the Department of Commerce for shotgun parts. Further, there is no exemption for ammunition or ammunition components. Canadian importers should follow the procedure outlined in Q1 (above) to import parts not exempted.

http://www.international.gc.ca/cont...ms_armes_a_feu/other-autres/faq.aspx?lang=eng
 
TheFallGuy said:
Not according to the website,

Q4. I want to buy parts in the US for my firearm and import them into Canada.

A4. The US controls on the export of firearms extends to parts also. For small orders worth less than US$100.00 the US Department of State allows an exemption from the export licence. This exemption, however, does not cover ‘significant’ parts which includes; barrels, slides, cylinders, bolts, frames and receivers. It should be noted that there is no equivalent exemption offered by the Department of Commerce for shotgun parts. Further, there is no exemption for ammunition or ammunition components. Canadian importers should follow the procedure outlined in Q1 (above) to import parts not exempted.

http://www.international.gc.ca/cont...ms_armes_a_feu/other-autres/faq.aspx?lang=eng
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If u contact them, they have an international sales specialist who will help. There is an end user form that needs to be filed that they will help with. I have ordered over $100 more than once.
 
I have a couple of 9mm HPs and three .40 Mk III's - the differences you are seeing between the two guide rods is not unusual - I suspect the 40 recoil springs are bowing because if the increased spring weight trying to relieve itself and the axis of the spring between the two support points is not absolutely center of the spring. Anyways, nothing new there from my experience.

I have been contemplating a Bar-Sto 9mm conversion barrel for my 40 HP practical to give myself a heavy duty 9mm for all the range time and give my classic 69C minimum range and let it do most of the carry duties. But the 40's simply don't have that same "just right" feel in the hand as the 9mms - I shoot just as well with the 40's, but the feel in the hand isn't as pleasing. The reality is that a heavier recoil spring in the 9mm takes care of wear issues, along with changing the spring out every 5,000 rounds or so. They're cheap.

Don Williams and other HP gurus advise that there really is no such thing as a drop in barrel, sear, etc - about the only thing truly drop in are springs and loaded magazines. If the slide isn't fully seating home, even if it is apparently locking up, my view on that would be to pay somebody who knows what they are doing to take care of that. HPs do arrive straight from the factory, fully functional, with slides that don't completely seat home. But that doesn't mean it's an ideal solution, or that it doesn't result in accelerated wear. Anyways, your gun, your choice.

You do have my interest with the rear sight you have on that HP sir. Might I inquire on what it is and could you find the time to post some close up views of it from various angles? They look like they might be adjustable Novak's? Haven't seen that on an HP yet.

If you want to treat yourself, track down a set of the Uncle Mike's rubber grips. They are a Craig Spegal design and made under license by Uncle Mike's/Butler Creek. Apparently there was some sort of dispute and that was the end of that. You can find them on the Internet, but it takes some looking and the prices can be as high as a new set of Spegal wood grips. The wood Spegals are slightly bigger; the Brownell's Navidrex grips are slightly smaller than the rubber Spegals.

As for your threaded barrel, a small dab of RTV or any other silicon will keep it in place while easily breaking loose to thread off. Speaking only for myself, as I have no interest in cans, I'd have my gun plumber cut the barrel down to just inside the outermost part of the bushing and put a nice clean crown on it. No more worries about things unthreading themselves, HP holsters all fit again, and lots of HPs benefit from having the crown re-cut to begin with.

Nice well thought out HP setup, BTW.
 
Rick said:
the differences you are seeing between the two guide rods is not unusual - I suspect the 40 recoil springs are bowing because if the increased spring weight trying to relieve itself and the axis of the spring between the two support points is not absolutely center of the spring. Anyways, nothing new there from my experience.

the 40's simply don't have that same "just right" feel in the hand as the 9mms -

You do have my interest with the rear sight you have on that HP sir. Might I inquire on what it is and could you find the time to post some close up views of it from various angles? They look like they might be adjustable Novak's? Haven't seen that on an HP yet.


Nice well thought out HP setup, BTW.
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Maybe I should have explained it a bit better. The guide rod is the same guide rod, it's just the 2 different springs that seem to seat differently. But if it's nothing to worry about I'm not going to go crazy trying to fix it.

I haven't yet had the chance to shoot a factory 9mm BHP. I have managed to hold one or two, and I understand what you're getting at with the "just right" feel. They are quite a bit lighter too.

The sights are Novaks. I didn't install them, it came that way when I bought it. I actually need to bench this thing properly and make sure the sights are set properly. I haven't done it yet. I believe that the guy I bought it from never shot it, but whoever he bought it from probably used it competitively, It had lots of little mods to it. I'm also pretty positive he must have been a southpaw, because the left side of the Pachmayr grip has been shaved down. Couple that with the oversized ambi safety and the way the grip is worn (it is extremely comfortable to hold left handed, right handed it still kinda jabs you a bit). I'm positive the person who originally owned this gun was a lefty. The slide lock was also modified a bit for some odd reason. It would not hold back the slide ever, and in the newer mec gar mags I bought in .40 it would actually jam the magazine in the grip because it pushed on the side of the follower rather than resting on top of it.

I bought a 9mm slide lever and used a dremel to cut the rounded part off the top. It just fit in and worked. The part that rests on the magazine follower is shaped differently than the .40 lever, but it still works flawlessly despite that.

tictactician said:
357 Sig barrel for the full set. I have been thinking about this for my 40 practical.
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That was actually my plan.. someday.
 
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