Old Corp
Member
I may be among the worst to think of inventive ways to 'fill a niche' in the practice of accumulating hardware.
As most know, not too long ago Browning announced they were discontinuing the carrying and sales of the iconic Hi Power pistol.
Kinda sad, but I'm sure all-steel, expensive hi-cap 9mm's are not real big sellers in the grand scheme of 9mm service style pistols.
I've been a BHP fan for a long time. My first was part of a small commercial run of the 'El Capitan' model with tangent sight way back in the mid-70's before I knew how important visible sights were on a handgun.
Also, at that time, the BHP had the reputation of being reliable with a wide variety of the fairly-new-to-market JHP bullet designs - something not enjoyed by many 9's on the market then.
Anyway, some years later that BHP left my hands in a trade for an approved OD piece.
Just a few years ago, got a great deal on a near-perfect late-80's BHP. Someone had replaced the 'beer can' rear adjustable sight with a Millet adjustable. Shoots great, had a pair of Hogue checkered wood grips with just enough palm-swell to remind you of expensive Spegels.
I did a mag-safety delete on it, resulting in a much better trigger.
Began thinking that with the discontinuance of Browning selling the HP any longer, prices may go up some. Maybe I should look at another? Maybe a 'stand-in beater'? Knew there were many clones on the market and some priced fairly low....
A little checking shows the best known clones are the FEG (Hungary), the Kareen (Israel), FM (some from Argentina, some marked that from FEG/Hungary), some Charles Daly actually made by FEG. I'm sure there's others.
Some GB surfing showed that yes, REAL HP's were certainly going up in prices as well as even the clones.
FEG's seem to have a reputation as some of the better clones, so set out looking at those.
Ended up with this FEG FP-9 at a lower bid than I'd planned. It was one I was actually more 'watching' than anything, but ended up being about the only bid.
It's in really good shape, evidently shot very little. Came with a couple of funky mags that the bottom half is a plastic block, I'm sure limiting it to 10 rounds.
Already have a bunch of other real BHP mags, so no bother.
Cleaned this up, did a mag-safety delete on it, resulting in a very much better trigger. Polished the feed ramp, which showed a little tooling....
Will probably put a pair of VZ grips on it to replace the OE black plastic.
Have to say, I'm not really sold on the ventilated rib/raised sights thing. And the slab slide minus the forward slide cut that instantly identifies a HP seems a little strange.
Have not shot it yet, so we'll see. It may become trade-stock, or go away to find a more faithful clone/repro that's sans rib and weird slide....don't know yet.
Anyone here mess with the HP clones?
Please don't gush about beautiful Brownings and Nighthawk Custom HP's. Everyone knows how nice they are. I'm talking pedestrian hardware here.
As most know, not too long ago Browning announced they were discontinuing the carrying and sales of the iconic Hi Power pistol.
Kinda sad, but I'm sure all-steel, expensive hi-cap 9mm's are not real big sellers in the grand scheme of 9mm service style pistols.
I've been a BHP fan for a long time. My first was part of a small commercial run of the 'El Capitan' model with tangent sight way back in the mid-70's before I knew how important visible sights were on a handgun.
Also, at that time, the BHP had the reputation of being reliable with a wide variety of the fairly-new-to-market JHP bullet designs - something not enjoyed by many 9's on the market then.
Anyway, some years later that BHP left my hands in a trade for an approved OD piece.
Just a few years ago, got a great deal on a near-perfect late-80's BHP. Someone had replaced the 'beer can' rear adjustable sight with a Millet adjustable. Shoots great, had a pair of Hogue checkered wood grips with just enough palm-swell to remind you of expensive Spegels.
I did a mag-safety delete on it, resulting in a much better trigger.
Began thinking that with the discontinuance of Browning selling the HP any longer, prices may go up some. Maybe I should look at another? Maybe a 'stand-in beater'? Knew there were many clones on the market and some priced fairly low....
A little checking shows the best known clones are the FEG (Hungary), the Kareen (Israel), FM (some from Argentina, some marked that from FEG/Hungary), some Charles Daly actually made by FEG. I'm sure there's others.
Some GB surfing showed that yes, REAL HP's were certainly going up in prices as well as even the clones.
FEG's seem to have a reputation as some of the better clones, so set out looking at those.
Ended up with this FEG FP-9 at a lower bid than I'd planned. It was one I was actually more 'watching' than anything, but ended up being about the only bid.
It's in really good shape, evidently shot very little. Came with a couple of funky mags that the bottom half is a plastic block, I'm sure limiting it to 10 rounds.
Already have a bunch of other real BHP mags, so no bother.
Cleaned this up, did a mag-safety delete on it, resulting in a very much better trigger. Polished the feed ramp, which showed a little tooling....
Will probably put a pair of VZ grips on it to replace the OE black plastic.
Have to say, I'm not really sold on the ventilated rib/raised sights thing. And the slab slide minus the forward slide cut that instantly identifies a HP seems a little strange.
Have not shot it yet, so we'll see. It may become trade-stock, or go away to find a more faithful clone/repro that's sans rib and weird slide....don't know yet.
Anyone here mess with the HP clones?
Please don't gush about beautiful Brownings and Nighthawk Custom HP's. Everyone knows how nice they are. I'm talking pedestrian hardware here.
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