hi-power is back
- Thread starter HeadDamage
- Start date
As a high frequency range gun or even a carry piece, one is better off with a Glock 19 or other flavour of modern auto.
As a historical sampling, an Inglis or German occupation FN are a couple to seek out and add to a collection.
For a shooter that you want to use and keep that other historical reference piece in the condition you bought it in or that MAB decal in great shape, or still want a representative pistol for the collection? This Springer will probably be the best of the bunch.
As a historical sampling, an Inglis or German occupation FN are a couple to seek out and add to a collection.
For a shooter that you want to use and keep that other historical reference piece in the condition you bought it in or that MAB decal in great shape, or still want a representative pistol for the collection? This Springer will probably be the best of the bunch.
The improvements in this pistol:
Improved sights
Improved trigger with no magazine disconnect
Bevelled magwell
Slim grips
enlarged safety (one could argue MK2 and MK3's extended levers were ok)
Recontoured hammer
used to be custom features that would cost hundreds of dollars to have added to a stock pistol. This is similar to when Kimber first brought out a 1911 pistol that had 'factory custom features' . I do hope the newer manufacturing process will make the large hole in the frame for the grip as well as location of the grip screw hole more consistent as that varied among different generations of BHP's and aftermarket grips in some cases required removal of some of the grip material OR addition of some putty to fill the gap between front of the grip and the edge of the cavity in the frame. Supposedly the grip to frame fit of these new pistols is tighter. It would make a perfect shooter pistol that's ready to go out of the box, the only additional custom features I would add is stippling to front and rear grip strap and perhaps a gold bead on the front sight.
Improved sights
Improved trigger with no magazine disconnect
Bevelled magwell
Slim grips
enlarged safety (one could argue MK2 and MK3's extended levers were ok)
Recontoured hammer
used to be custom features that would cost hundreds of dollars to have added to a stock pistol. This is similar to when Kimber first brought out a 1911 pistol that had 'factory custom features' . I do hope the newer manufacturing process will make the large hole in the frame for the grip as well as location of the grip screw hole more consistent as that varied among different generations of BHP's and aftermarket grips in some cases required removal of some of the grip material OR addition of some putty to fill the gap between front of the grip and the edge of the cavity in the frame. Supposedly the grip to frame fit of these new pistols is tighter. It would make a perfect shooter pistol that's ready to go out of the box, the only additional custom features I would add is stippling to front and rear grip strap and perhaps a gold bead on the front sight.
WereWeasel
CGN Regular
- Location
- Albert County, N.B
I don’t understand the hi-power love/hate relationship other than the ones issued to the CAF were shot to death. I get the glock vs 1911 thing because of what both designs accomplished and the potential those designs still hold but admittedly I lump hi-powers with s&w steel frame autos; a browning designed auto loader that chambered in 9mm that came after the 1911 but before the glock.
What am I missing? Is there something inherently better about them that once you shoot them you have an ah-ha moment?
What am I missing? Is there something inherently better about them that once you shoot them you have an ah-ha moment?
p.Rundle
CGN frequent flyer
I just like 'em because of Fallout New Vegas
Fits my hand well, originally gave us 13 shots of 9mm. Mine is accurate, shoots well, and is comfortable. Originals need better sights, mag disconnect removed, and thinner grips. Looks like SA covered the bases. I like it. - dan
I mean, you can like old junk I guess? Every single HP I've shot has been uncomfortable to shoot, with hammer bite and crap triggers being the standard. Even the ones with okay triggers were nowhere near as good as numerous other guns. I'd probably even take a 1911 over one if I had to choose, although I'd be looking for a decent throwing rock at that point too
A target shooter might be interested in a Hi-Power, but I think that most target shooters would probably prefer to buy either another duplicate of something they've already got (because they probably already have holsters, parts, and magazines to support it) or a more contemporary and more-likely-to-be-competitive platform. A firearms collector might be interested in a Hi-Power, but I think that a firearms collector would probably want something that was actually collectable, rather than an inexpensive current production clone. A hoarder, on the other hand, well, I think there's no accounting for what an hoarder might choose to accumulate.
'Gun guys' take many forms, but - at some point - one must decide whether he wants to be a shooter, a collector, or an hoarder.
I love the look of a Hi power but I typically shoot 1911's a lot better. I am interested in the new trigger and tighter slide to frame fit. The old BHP would have the slide rise a bit as you pulled the trigger. Jason Burton of Heirloom Precision noted this does not occur with the SA35 and trigger pull is much nicer as a result.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
This looks like Springfield is sourcing their HP clones in Turkey. The features look like a Mk 3, not a Mk 1 like an Inglis.
The weakness everyone gripes about with the CF's wartime guns can be blamed 100% of shot out training guns with out-of-spec magazines. Going to the Gulf our staff officers were issued pristine war stock Brownings, complete with Lend Lease decals. Before going to Afghanistan, I trained with a not so bad gun and new commercial Mecgar magazines. Such a treat to shoot. Some matches I couldn't throw a shot out of the scoring rings.
I don't need one of these, but unless the Turks make them with filed down horseshoes and slabs of truck chassis billets, these look like winners.
The weakness everyone gripes about with the CF's wartime guns can be blamed 100% of shot out training guns with out-of-spec magazines. Going to the Gulf our staff officers were issued pristine war stock Brownings, complete with Lend Lease decals. Before going to Afghanistan, I trained with a not so bad gun and new commercial Mecgar magazines. Such a treat to shoot. Some matches I couldn't throw a shot out of the scoring rings.
I don't need one of these, but unless the Turks make them with filed down horseshoes and slabs of truck chassis billets, these look like winners.
- Location
- On the beach
You had better luck than me. Every BHP I was issued in Afghanistan was a shot out piece of shat. One of my happiest days in service was getting issued a P226.
I bought a C series High Power in 1974. Shot it in IPSC in the early days before I moved on after getting tired of rules and courses of fire that favored the 1911 and it's magazine capacity (who does a mandatory reload after six rounds, when they have a 13 round magazine?). Up until about twenty years ago it was the only semiautomatic handgun I had for my weekly (usually) range visits. And carried it in the US after immigrating there just before Y2K. Still do.
Can you give me a general idea of how much longer I should shoot it before it will fall apart on me? And should the newer Practical and MkIII I bought, both in 40 S&W, last hopefully as long as the C series Hi Power has?
Or should I trade them to somebody for a Glock before they fall apart and fail me?
The Navidrex grips will be close enough. The ones Brownell sells aren't as lookalike as the Inglis grips like the ones that regularly show up for sale on EvilBay, but they are close.
https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/grip-parts/grips/browning-hi-power-combat-grips-prod9563.aspx
Says "made in USA". Not like the "Made in Belgium/Assembled in Portugal" of the last three or four decades - which there was nothing wrong with at all.
And, at the risk of appearing nit picky, there is no Mk1 High power - a label often wrongfully assigned by gun writers to the T and C series pistols. The Inglis (which you are probably aware of) is actually the No. 2 Mk1*; not unlike the No. 4 Mk1* Lee Enfield built not too far away at the Long Branch armory.
I never laid hands on the Turkish clones, nor the FEGs, Argentinian detective models, etc. But from what I've seen posted, some of the High Power gurus consider the Turkish guns just fine as the base for a custom high power.
The only Inglis pistols I had problems with in 30 years that weren't related to dumb fecks handing faulty magazines back in, rather than making sure they didn't go back into circulation, were at Gag-Town, The Center Of Pestilence. With all the gun plumbers at Gag-town, you would presume that an N/S Inglis would get dealt with. However, when it takes weeks to get a DP3A student's ejection port cover fixed on his rifle while he's on course, there is nothing left about Gag-town that surprises me. Maybe things have changed in the 15 years since then...
All weapons are supposed to get checked over every year, regardless of what they are. And malfunctioning weapons, if brought to the attention of the QM, should be dealt with by the gun plumbers in reasonably short order. Of course, if somebody just whines and curses, then hands it back in and races off to happy hour in the JRs... then they probably don't get looked at.
Depends on the person with the pistols in their hands. Just like some people can't understand why somebody prefers the fit and feel of an over and under Citori Gran Lightening for bird hunting, versus a Mossberg autoloader
I have had several 1911's; I'm down to a Dan Wesson 10mm Classic Bobtail, and it feels great in the hand. But it doesn't feel as good in the hand as my C series HP.
The thin Spegal and Navidrex grips make the HP feel even better, and even though I have Aluma Thin Grips on the Dan Wesson bear wrench, making it thinner through the grip as well, the High Power still feels better in the hand.
I have two MkIII High Powers in 40 S&W; also with thin grips, but they don't feel quite as nice in the hand as either the C series HP or the Dan Wesson bear wrench.
All my HPs came with the rowell/ring hammer rather than the spur hammer. Ditto the 1911. No hand biting goes on with any of them.
My C series, that has had nothing done to it other than having the tiny little original sights replaced with bigger MMC sights back about 1977, has a trigger that breaks at 5 lbs, complete with the magazine disconnect (which we all know will lead to your death) still in place. The Dan Wesson bear wrench came with a match trigger - 3 lbs. I suppose that is awesome for some; for me, that's too light for a bear wrench or other serious handgun when targets aren't the objective. I will get the Dan Wesson's trigger bumped up to 5 lbs as well.
I've always been bemused with comments on trigger pull weight. Once upon a time I took my Lyman trigger pull scale to work and tried a bunch of the triggers on our C7A2s. All of them broke right around 8 lbs, if I remember correctly. If an 8 lb trigger break works fine on a rifle equipped with a butt and an optical 3.4x power scope, you wouldn't think that an 8 lb trigger break on a pistol used by the same soldier with open sights would be a killer disadvantage.
I prefer the original safety that can be wiped off with the inside of the thumb; it stays out of the way and doesn't get moved during recoil or changing your grip. The ambidextrous safeties on the Mk II and III I find get in the way of my grip, but they're not too bad. I cordially dislike the big paddle 1911 CBOB safety; one of these days I am going to take a Dremel to it.
The Practical came with a trigger that is an unbelievable 16 lbs; Don Williams said he wants to do a trigger job on it for free, just so he can see what the hell is going on. That isn't going to happen for a bit yet.
Glocks, as charitably as I can put it, feel in the hand by comparison like somebody mounted a brick to the top of a cut off piece of hockey stick. For Philistines, like a Mossberg semiauto instead of a Citori over and under, a Glock is a suitable handgun that being gracelessly pawed and fumbled won't make much difference. The SIGs... meh.
If the hammer bites, the rowell/ring hammer is a drop in exchange. Mag disconnects can be removed for those want really light trigger pulls and those who can't figure out how polish things up with the magazine connect in place. Like S&W K frame revolvers, it's weird how the trigger pull gets better and better the more you pull the trigger. Thin grips of the Navidrex variety, Spegal, the old Uncle Mike's Boot Grips and a host of others are available. The Mk II and III sights are more than adequate. If that's still not good enough, there are lots of drop in options available; Novak probably being the most popular.
This clone/replica from Springfield Armory doesn't look like it has anything to complain about with it. It will be interesting to see if they offer some additional variants: stainless steel and maybe a shortened alloy framed Commander style version like the Argentinian FM 90 Detective model.
