One of my favorite bottom feeders.
1976 vintage in decent shape.
Shoots great...
Anyone else favor P35's?

I frequently carry a High Power. Mine is a transitional model, between the one pictured and the MkII. It has the ****** sights, but the extended ambidextrous safety.

I have a very nice, customized Hipower that I got from a forum member. It has a recrowned match grade barrel and ambi safety and Novak night sights and is coated with anti-corrosive finish. The magazine safety is still in it and the trigger pull is about 6 pounds which is as light as I want on any pistol I may have to point at a person when I am under alot of stress.

I think the Hipower is an elegant pistol. It is slim and seems to be much smaller and lighter than it is. It has a distinguished service history. The grip is the best of any hicap pistol for my medium sized hands. It points well and is easy to shoot well. What's not to like?

I must admit a certain fondness for a High Power Practical with the replacement Cylinder and Slide trigger group (5#).
Added to the factory Pachmayr grips and adjustable sights it is still adequate for me to shoot USPSA Limited 10 club matches. However, STI types dominate the larger matches in Limited and Limited 10.

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Science plus Art

I have a Hi Power that came back from Europe with a soldier during WWII. It has some sort of German markings (stamped) on the different pieces. One of my most precious possessions given to me by Dad.

I wish I knew the history of it.

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

My only Hi Power, I like it a lot


Bill

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Bill

I have one Hi-Power. It is the adjustable sight version. I really love this pistol. Nothing fits my hand better.

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195th Session FBINA

Sir, the German markings are probably waffenamts, basically German military acceptance marks. The Germans kept the FN arms plant running after they conquered Belgium; many Nazi-marked Hi-Powers were made for the Wehrmacht during the Occupation. That's probably what you have.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

My all time favorite 9mm and one of only two nines I own.

The Hi-Power is the best 9mm pistol and one of the very best automatics ever made. It is one of my favorite handguns.

Here's my immediate post-WWII Hi-Power.

Ron, I figured as much with my research. It's not in the best of shape, not a rare item, but it's the first pistol I ever shot as a young lad and my Dad gave it to me. The last part of that statement makes it a priceless gun to me.

Thanks, Ron...

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

I always liked the HP. Felt good in my hand though it did bite once in a while if you didn't handle with care.
I had a very nice condition,,almost new, very early post war x-Austrian police HP that I bought when they were first imported perhaps 15 years ago. Bought 2, sold one and kept the best one. Had the original FN box, xtra mag etc. It was post war mfg, but had the pre war design fireing pin bushing in the slide yet.

Also had a couple of pre war models. One with tangent sites and slotted for stock. One war time mfg HP too that was a great shooter dispite it's looks.

I always disregarded the warnings about shooting the pre-wars because of the barrel cam slot design is supposedly prone to cracking. Never had any problems, though I have to admit I've seen pics of some that have. I'd probably think differently if I did it all over again now.

I sold & traded them all off after a series of accidents that left me just unable to reliably pull the slide back on them. I could just about accomplish it with the hammer at full cock,,but a no-go with the hammer down.

Got to be too frustrating to deal with. The Walther P38 & now the P1 take their places for the most part and are a breeze to operate. Miss the hi-cap though,,not that it improved my marksmanship any

I love MK III Hi Powers. I currently own an FN MK III in 40S&W with the SFS hammer safety. Its kinda cool in that you take the hammer in full cock mode and push it down towards the slide. That moves the thumb safety up. To fire you ride the thumb safety down as normal and the hammer springs back.

I like it alot.

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Nothing to see here,move along

Oddly enough, we just did a podcast discussing this classic pistol. It's ProArms Podcast # 028, downloadable at http://proarms.podbean.com.

Would be interested in what you all think of it.

This is my Mk III in .40S&W. I bought it in 1995, and it is my main carry/truck gun. It is a tack driver.

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Copyright MCMLXII ©

The HP is the only 9mm I would ever consider carrying and my first choice for a bug out gun.

Only because of the world wide use have I considered this a a viable weapon....I still have my doubts about 9mm

BHP is the only 9mm I'll own; howver, only then if the mag safely is removed and with the thinnest stocks possible.

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The earth laughs in flowers

The only FN-HiPower I own, And I will admit I havent fired it yet, It is from 1943, German issue with Bring back papers.
Should I shoot it?
Peter

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Need 1/2 moon Chiefs special

Browning Hi Powers are great guns. There are only two semi autos that I would carry. The 1911 and the Hi Power. These are the two greatest semi autos ever designed.

I have one and absolutely love it. Best 9mm ever made.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

hows this for a "HIGH" Power....



and a really nice mid 70's customize in this bag.....heck if I know where the pic of it went

Hi-Power.
oft-times carry gun.
Just made a new holster for it

Landpimp, a "High"-power with marijuana engraving might not be the best thing to try and explain if you end up with it in court some day.

How stoned were you when you scratched that gun???

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S&WCA #2018

Ah, the Browning Hi Power!

Way back in 1972 I sold my car for $150, which just happened to be the same price as a Hi Power (with adjustable sights).

After selling the car I was on my way to the gun store with a smile on my face when a sibling convinced me that the money would serve me better if I added it to my nest egg. So I did and I never did acquire a Hi Power.

To make matters worse, I recall that several months later I loaned that money to my sibling. Can't say that I remember getting the money back though. Ah - young and stupid I suppose.

I've fired a Hi Powers over the years, and when I do I find that I regret letting that one get away even more.

If I could find one today I'm certain that it would be priced way above my means. Rats!

it was an evidence gun(so sold by WASP to my LE dealer)....I felt bad for it(and it did bring back "some" memories) so I grabed it for maybe $200..shoots like a dream.

I dont carry it, just shoot it and get laughs out of it

I remember, as a younger man, reading Massad Ayoob's praise of the Hi Power.

I remember firing one, years later, for the first time. It was a true Belgium model (made and assembled in)and I fell in love with it. It was my brother's. I shot better with it than with any other auto pistol I had tried to that point in time.

I would love to have one like that. Perhaps one day...

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" I don't recall, senator."

Someone has to have a negative. This time it will be from me. I hate the trigger bite.
I hate the trigger. To each his own. I feel one can make better choices than a HP.

jed

The only 9mm I have is a 1968 model.never liked them untill I picked this one up.The round hammer don't bite my hand like the other ones I have owed.Never jams with ball ammo.It's a keeper.

Mine is a Herstal-made MK III S and I have not one single negative thing to say about it (I don't even mind the magazine safety).
For us Belgians, the HP has the same status as a .45 acp 1911 for you Americans.

If you like something, buy two of them, because they'll quit making it :

Only look at the bottom gun!

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"I also cook."

Ditch the magazine safety, and without a trigger job, you'll have a perfectly acceptable self-defense trigger that's not so light it's dangerous, but not so heavy you could hang a giant South American catfish off of the trigger without firing it.

That P7 on top is quite a piece also. I have two Browning Hi-Powers, one by Actions by (T) sweet! the other a M111 almost as good. Hard to beat a HK P7 or a Browning Hi-Power Now if I could just get more range ammo with out a mortgage.

I considered a P7 when they were first on the market, but passed when I released the cocking lever on one the first time. It sounds like somebody snapping a chicken bone in two. That just seemed like an undesirable feature to me.

I waited far too long to buy my first Hi-Power. I should have bought one in 1976 when I turned 21. Alas, didn't get one until I was over 50.
All those years wasted, not shooting a Hi-Power.
Picked up a new MKIII El Capitan a few years ago. It has the tangent adjustable sight, supposedly good to 550 yards.
I found early on that setting it to 200 yards gave me a perfect 6 o'clock hold on a bullseye at 25 yards. Rather conventient, glancing down and knowing whether your sights are still spot-on.
Many pooh-pooh the 9mm as a long range pistol round, and say the long range sights are ludicrous. I live in the remote Utah desert, where I can shoot at long range.
The 9mm round, with the 115 gr. bullet at about 1,200, is a flat shooter out to 300 yards, compared to many other pistol cartridges.
I could make life mighty interesting for someone out to 300 yards or so. You just have to practice enough to learn where it hits at certain ranges.
Incidentally, these are measured ranges, not paced off or estimated. For long range shooting I go to the same place, where I used a 100-foot tape measure to mark distances.
A small pile of rocks at 100, 200 and 300 yards makes a good marker.
Anyway, love my Hi-Power: accurate, utterly reliable and fits my hand perfectly. Mec-Gar sells 15-round magazines for the Hi-Power that raise its magazine capacity by two rounds.
Easy to disassemble for cleaning, too.
I removed the magazine disconnect to get a much better trigger. A set of Hogue rubber grips, made with finger grooves, makes it point like a laser.
In the fall through early spring, when I can get by wearing a coat or light jacket, I carry the Hi-Power in a Bianchi X-15 shoulder holster.
Wonderful rig for carrying concealed.
I shop in Salt Lake City. Major gang problems in that city, chiefly from Hispanic, Tongan and Asian gangs. About 1 or 2 gang homicides a week, so it's not the quiet, safe city that Mormons would have you believe.
The Hi-Power is a fine concealed weapon because it's thin, not Glocky-boxy and has nearly 75 years of absolute reliability behind it.
Anyone who tells you it's obsolete has been reading too many gun magazines with pretty pictures of Glocks, Berettas and SIGs.
The Hi-Power is a magnificent firearm. Don't waste years, as I did, not having one.

This is it. 245PZ puts it at 1981, the year I bought it for $440(!). Luckily at the time I was building EPCOT and the money train was at full speed. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I really enjoyed this thread. The HP is a pistol to be revered. It is eminently qualified to remain one of the greatest fighting handguns of all time, hands down! I won't bother to repeat what has already been said, but I agree with nearly every remark made in this thread commending this superb firearm. This one is a target sighted Belgian model from the 1960's, modified with the Commander style hammer. I just recently replaced the target sights with 3 dot fixed sights, which I prefer. A fellow FORUM member gave me the fixed sights he took off of a somewhat more modern vintage model HP. Shoots dead on at 30 yds. with ball ammo and never chokes or hiccups!

I've got a Pachmayr adjustable rear on my transitional gun, but still have the hideous half-moon front. I paint the rear half of the front sight with a white paint marker.

Anybody got a better suggestion?

I hear a lot about the Hi-Power 9mm, but what about the 40 ??? Any good ? Problems with them ??? My dealer has one in 40 S&W with 2 mags, all blued finish, really nice shape with just a smudge mark of blue wear on one side of the slide (looks like someone tried to polish out a scratch, maybe), priced at $499. I've been thinking about it and would have already bought it if it was a 9mm. Your thoughts on the 40 for this price ??? Thanks, Shoo

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"Get Hammered By a Shooboy!!"

I have two. One is an Argentine made under license by Fabrica Miliatar (FM). They were cheap many years ago. It's not as finely finished as the Belgian guns but works fine.
I've shot bowling pins, practical matches, three gun, and IDPA with it.

The second HP is a Browning Practical. Nice, two-tone gun. More finicky about ammo than the FM but has better sights. I haven't had it as long, so haven't shot it in as many matches.

Been thinking about a third HP, either a target model, or a custom job for a while.

That's a hell of a price these days, even at gunshows. I missed an opportunity to buy a new one from CDNN a few years ago for about $100 less.

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You are what you learn.

I dumped my Practical as it was a jam o matic....it would jam with any ammo other than SPENDY self defence ammo....so I traded it off

I had before that a MK11 assebled in Port and it would feed anything

the 2 I have now will also feed anything......dont know what it was about that one HP I had

Randy -

I've had a Glock and a Sig and have shot the S&W and the EAA 40 cals. The Browning HP .40 I have is the most accurate and comfortable shooting of the bunch. Never hiccuped on me with ball, HP's or lead truncated cones. Mine is the pimpy looking one with the hard chromed frame and black slide, fixed sites. Almost traded for a 9mm to match at a gun show a few weeks back but held out for something I wanted more. A good price on your dealer's gun - I'd jump on it if I was in the market for one. Still plenty of surplus police brass out there (relatively) cheap and unlike the 9mm, the for-tay doesn't seem to mind hard cast slugs at all. Cheaper to shoot than the 9mm that really requires plated or jacketed slugs unless you're already loaded up on 9mm.

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Qui plantavit curabit

And I thought I was the only one in this Forum who really appreciated Hi-Powers. To me, there is no finer pistol than a T Series Hi-Power, and if they weren't so expensive and hard to find, I would carry one of mine every day. A T-Series was my weapon of choice for two long tours in Germany, three in Vietnam, two in Thailand, and 12 years in the Philippines. (All the other places I had to make do with something else.) The picture is of my T-Series, Novak trigger and functioning job, Novak Lo Mount Carry sights and Spegel grips. The wear one sees on it is akin to that on the face of a beautiful and experienced woman, something to be treasured.

RKO

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Laguna Technology Corporation

Shoo,

I think the price is very good. I would buy it for that, although I personally prefer the 9mm. My only .40 HP is a Silver Chrome model - it looks great and shoots better than it looks. There's only two problems:

1. Recoil spring weight - it takes two men and a boy to get the pistol back together again after cleaning.

2. Slide thickness - thicker .40 slide makes the pistol top heavy (to me) and means that it doesn't fit many molded holsters made for the 9mm.

I'd still buy it at that price.


Buck

Thanks boys, I appreciate the info and the advice. I'll take another look at it, Shoo

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"Get Hammered By a Shooboy!!"

Howzabout a custom 1965 T series?

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

Now that's cool !!! Reminds me of my Star BM 9mm that was factory hard chromed with the same kind of grips. Thanks for sharing, Shoo

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"Get Hammered By a Shooboy!!"