Browning Hi Power Help

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Hi all,

I have been using a brand new Browning Hi Power for the past few days and I am having accuracy problems. I am a newbie with 9mm pistols in general. The pistol has fixed sights -- when I use a "sub-6" sight picture at 25 yards -- my shots end up about 3 - 4 inches below the bulls eye??? What's going on -- am I doing something wrong? When I use a 22 pistol with adjustable sights -- I don't seem to have any problems. Please help.
 
Been there done that. You are probably anticipating recoil and pushing the pistol down or relaxing the wrist before the shot breaks. Possibly a couple of other minor mistakes.
With the adjustable sights you can compensate for shooting mistakes if you are at least consistent and with the 22 recoil is not much of a problem. Work on a solid grip and smooth trigger release and practice practice practice. And start at 10 yards.
 
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:agree:

As a Hi-power shooter myself if will agree with the above advice to start closer, especially as a new pistol shooter! The HP has a heavyish trigger out of the box that does not really help the whole issue either. I found that if you do draw and shoot, you pay less attention to the trigger pull and shoot samller groups on average as well, ant least I do anyhow. Worth a try.

Enjoy your HP, its one of the greats!
 
The odds are that you are breaking your wrist down as you pull the trigger.

BHPs often come with very heavy triggers out of the box. They can be improved considerably by getting rid of the magazine safety and changing the factory 32 lb mainspring out for a 26 lb one. This will make it much easier to to shoot.
 
Thanks for all the advice -- I will put it to good use. Is it legal to remove a magazine safety in Canada on a handgun?
 
tjhaile said:
They can be improved considerably by getting rid of the magazine safety and changing the factory 32 lb mainspring out for a 26 lb one. This will make it much easier to to shoot.
Click to expand...

What does that reduce the pull weight to?
 
"...shots end up about 3 - 4 inches below the bulls eye..." Sounds like it may be sighted for point of aim. As in not a 6 O'clock hold. Try aiming directly at the bull.
To use the 6 O'clock hold you'll have to change the front sight to a lower one. Front sights get adjusted in the opposite direction you want the group to move.
"...legal to remove a magazine safety..." No law about it. Laws only tell you want you can't do. No law means it's ok. However, if you're planning on shooting IPSC/IDPA, you can't disable the mag safety.
 
Browning

Also it may be ammo related. If you are using the lighter 115 grain you will shoot lower. Mine ( all of them ) works best with 124gr CIL as they are loaded hotter but also the heavier ones by Winchester.(155gn?) Seems backassward but it is a fact. The heavier bullets carry better.
 
I have an easier way!

tjhaile said:
BHPs often come with very heavy triggers out of the box. They can be improved considerably by getting rid of the magazine safety and changing the factory 32 lb mainspring out for a 26 lb one. This will make it much easier to to shoot.
Click to expand...

My Hi-Power had a brutal trigger, so I tried switching out the hammer spring and recoil spring(to compensate for lighter hammer spring). I a much better trigger pull, nice and light and crisp.

BUT

An easier way to get a lighter pull that keep the pistol completely as it came is to just bend the sear spring a bit. If you look at how your pistol works, that spring is seriously heavy for what it does. I bent mine a bit, maybe .050 to .1 inches at the top and it made a huge difference, as good as it was with the lighter springs. Just pull out the spring and trace its profile along a piece of paper, then bend it a bit straighter, about .050 total and then reassemble. I have about over 1000 rounds through my pistol since doing this and have had no problems with the sear not catching the hammer.

I can maybe post pics if this need more explaining, just PM me.
 
Bending the sear spring is certainly another thing that can be done, just like on a 1911.

The standard mainspring is pretty heavy, though; far heavier than needed to ignite any commercial primer. 26 lb is actually the original standard spring weight; FN changed it to 32 lb sometime in the 1970s, most likely to accommodate ammo with freakishly hard primers.
 
I find my particular pistol seemed more accurate with the heavier mainspring though, possibly because of the heavier spring keeping the slide locked a bit longer. The only thing I do not like about the heavy mainspring is that it makes the Hi Power jam when using lighter reloads. The slide does not have enough energy left to cycle fully and catches the next round on the extractor groove rather than the rim and causes a failure to feed. With full power and factory ammo I have never had a single malfunction though.
 
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