Browning Hi Power in .40 S&W

W

Waldo

SWCA Member
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
438
Reaction score
254
Location
Northern Virginia
I have been kind of looking for a Browning Hi Power. I have a WWII Nazi marked one, with tangent sights. I like the newer ones with the ambidextrous safety and the adjustable sights. I found a used one in .40 S&W. Fixed sights, ambidextrous safety, and Pachmayr grips. It looks new. I am sure it has been fired, but not much. He wants $450.00 for it. If it was a 9mm I would jump on it. I have other 9s and reload for it. But I don't have any .40S&Ws. I have heard that .40S&W is pushing a Browning Hi Power. The slide was real stiff, I think they used a real heavy recoil spring. Does anyone have any experience with a Browning Hi Power in .40S&W?
 
Register to hide this ad
I have a .40 Hi-Power Practical. It does have a heavy duty recoil spring, making the slide harder to retract than my .40 Glock, for example. My problem is I don't have experience with a 9mm Hi-Power, so I can't say how they compare. I'm sure others here can.

I think that's a great price if the pistol's in good shape.

IMG_3474.jpg
 
Last edited:
$450 is a very good price....

I've got 9's and .40's... they are both great guns.

HiPowers002.jpg


The .40 seems right at home in the P-35. The slide dimensions are slightly larger in the .40 however....
 
I have one of each. The one you are looking at is 1/2 price of a new one. I prefer a 9mm to the .40 S&W, but both are fine pistols.
 
I must differ from the above posts. Based on the 40 Hi-Power that I own I would advise against buying it. I also might add that I have several 9MM Hi-Powers that I would not give up. Of the nines , 3 are customized by "famous" gunsmiths who are commonly recognized as top craftsmen. The 40, which was an early one, will not group at all but rather patterns more like a shotgun. I will tell you that it was written up in a gun magazine and the tester , to his credit, reported it exactly that way. It had also been thru the hands of one of the very top pistolsmiths and he and I both feel that the gun is as many that are being reworked into calibers that they were never intended to use, not the way to go. If you want a Hi-Power, and who wouldn't, my recommendation would be to buy a 9MM and pass on the 40.
 
Joe Kent said:
I must differ from the above posts. Based on the 40 Hi-Power that I own I would advise against buying it. I also might add that I have several 9MM Hi-Powers that I would not give up. Of the nines , 3 are customized by "famous" gunsmiths who are commonly recognized as top craftsmen. The 40, which was an early one, will not group at all but rather patterns more like a shotgun. I will tell you that it was written up in a gun magazine and the tester , to his credit, reported it exactly that way. It had also been thru the hands of one of the very top pistolsmiths and he and I both feel that the gun is as many that are being reworked into calibers that they were never intended to use, not the way to go. If you want a Hi-Power, and who wouldn't, my recommendation would be to buy a 9MM and pass on the 40.
Click to expand...

I agree. Thr BHP was not designed to be a 40. If I recall correctly the chamber is not fully supported in 40 SW ( a la Glock) the frame also takes a beating. In 9mm it is a excellent gun. One of the most accurate 9mm I have and a pleasure to shoot.
 
The .40 S&W Hi Powers were designed from the ground up for the caliber. I'm on the hunt for one at a good price. I have a Browning Practical in 9mm. I'd love to get a Practical in .40 S&W.
 
The HP in .40S&W is one of those folks either love or hate.

Those who hate it find the recoil too stiff, the slide too heavy and the recoil spring hard to manipulate.

Put me in the camp of those that like it.

I acknowledge that the recoil spring is stiff and the gun has a distinctly heavier feel than it's 9mm brother, but mine is the most accurate .40 caliber I've ever owned and for my part, very comfortable to shoot. I personally find it very controllable and for whatever reason it is one of the easiest guns for me to shoot racks of steel plates with 'at speed'. "Snappy" is the mini-Glocks in .40 (or in just about any other caliber). I also have an HP in 9mm and love it, as well. But the mistake is hoping for the increased value of the larger caliber and power of the .40 and expecting it to feel and perform like the 9mm. Not realistic.

I say get one of each :D
 
I had a HP in 9mm and loved it, but traded it off for something else. I recently bought one in 40 S&W and really like it. It is slightly beefier than the 9mm, but so far has proved to be an excellent gun.
 
I have 5 hi powers and have been using my HP .40 in USPSA Limited 10 for the last year and very much enjoy shooting it. It is very accurate, reliable, and a hoot to shoot. Recoil is no big deal, yes, the recoil spring is stiffer than others, but that is not a problem at all for me....just be more aggresive with chambering the first round.
Randy
BTW...that seems to be a great price, I would pounce on it in a heartbeat.
 
I have 2 HP .40.
I have shot one of them for tens of thousands of rounds in USPSA matches and practice. I first thought it was inaccurate until I found it liked Precision Delta 180gr FMJ over Titegroup, and will shoot 2" at 25yds. I keep a good recoil spring in it, and it has been extremely reliable with my major power handloads. It has a MecGar adjustable rear sight.

The other is a HP Practical .40 that shoots to point of aim (fixed sights)with 165gr FMJ. It has only a few thousand rounds throught it.

Both HP .40s are fitted with the Cylinder and Slide combat trigger assemblies which are just under 5#.

The only problem I find with the .40 HP is the recoil becomes tiring with major power loads after a couple hundred rounds.
 
Like a couple...

...of others, I own two in .40 S&W. I've shot Hi Powers in both calibers, and I prefer the .40. The recoil doesn't seem any worse than 9mm's.

I have one in black epoxy finish, and a second in hard chrome. I've run hundreds of rounds through each, and the Hi Power seems an ideal platform for the round.

Not to stray too far, but it seems that the 1911 platform would be ideal for the .40 S&W. However, it's really hard to find one, especially used.
 
Had one , the Practical Model , but traded it off. Put a set of Speigal grips and a C&S small ring hammer on it , but still never got to like it. The weight they added to the slide ruined the perfect balance and feel of the original 9mm version.

Traded it for a CZ-75B-SA in .40. Couldn't be happier.

P4100001.jpg
 
amazingflapjack said:
The previous post is correct, the .40 was designed to be a .40 from jump street. There is some good information available on the net. Flapjack.
Click to expand...

Thge only difference I could detect was the added weight of the slide. Comparing the frame with one born a 9mm showed no diff. Perhaps you could shed light on the details.
 
Hello Waldo, I have owned quite a few Hi Powers over the last 40+ years, to include a .30 Luger and an early .40 S&W. The .40 was done right IMHO. FN added slide mass, about two ounces, and a third locking lug. The frame is the sameas the 9MM cast frame guns. Mine was 100% reliable, the chamber was well supported, overall a very nice gun. But, as Joe Kent mentioned with his .40, not real accurate. I noticed, as maybe some of you other .40 owners have, that the there was about .4" of bore diameter freebore ahead of the chamber, before the actual rifling leade began. I always wondered if the freebored area was the reason for the less-than-great accuracy and if the later .40 Hi Powers also had the "freebored" barrels. There was mention in a gun magazine a few years ago that gunsmith Richard Heinie had also noticed the accuracy issue in the .40 Hi Power. It was reported that Mr. Heinie was considering having to include an after market barrel, BarSto ?, in his .40 Hi Power packages to provide the expected level of accuracy to his customers. Anyway, that's a good price for a gun in good condition. I might even own one again someday, if I found a clean one for a very reasonable price...
 
.40 S&W HP's.

For their intended purpose, I've never had a complaint with my .40's in the accuracy department.

Picture005.jpg


Picture006.jpg


The lower left gun in this trio is an early hi-polish .40 "Target Model" that I pulled the ridiculous adjustable sights off of an had fitted with Mepros and a ring hammer. Everyone that has shot it says it's a "Happy Pistol". To me it's about on par with a SiG220, which is very good company....

HiPowers001.jpg


Drew
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Narragansett
Browning Hi Power Clones
2 3
Replies
51
Views
3K
ISCS Yoda
ISCS Yoda
P
Browning Hi Power help - factory sights
Replies
16
Views
852
pdcrig
P
I
Hi Power
2
Replies
36
Views
1K
alwslate
A
F
FN Browning High Power
Replies
11
Views
948
chief38
chief38
O
Hi Power Extractor and Spring
Replies
4
Views
526
otis24
O

Latest posts

Back
Top