Exactly what is a Hi Power????

[Mike SC Hunter]

Also the P35 was the first hi-capacity semi auto pistol. Mine from 1972. Paid $114.00 it. I was in hi-school, put on lay-away and made weekly payments till I paid it off. My ammo of choice back then was Lee Juras's 112 grain Super-Vel soft point. I still have it.

 

[RobertJ.]

Dieudonne Saive, from Belgium, at one time FN's chief weapons designer.

He designed, among other things, the FN FAL. He wasn't in the same league as JMB, but he was a pretty decent designer in his own right.

 

[OLDSTER]

Also the P35 was the first hi-capacity semi auto pistol. Mine from 1972. Paid $114.00 it. I was in hi-school, put on lay-away and made weekly payments till I paid it off. My ammo of choice back then was Lee Juras's 112 grain Super-Vel soft point. I still have it.

Yes. The term"Hi Power" did not refer to the caliber, but to the "hi capacity".

 

[shawn mccarver]

In my reading I gathered that a Hi Power is not a true 1911 design, but was designed by John Browning as a work around for the patents for the 1911 that he had already sold to Colt. In addition, the design was finished by another after John Browning passed.

I understand there are some differences in the controls and how the safety interacts with them. And that the triggers are heavier on the Hi Power, but some polishing can negate that,

So, the question is. If I have a Hi Power can I say that I have a 1911? It sounds to me like 'no'. To me 1911s are the same all over. Some may have some slight variations according to manufacturer's preferences but if you take two apart and lay them side by side, they are going to be the same.

I know Hi Powers are well made, quality guns that many people like, but can they be called 1911s? Or are they two different guns?

"So, the question is. If I have a Hi Power can I say that I have a 1911?"

No. They are two completely different models.

"I know Hi Powers are well made, quality guns that many people like, but can they be called 1911s? Or are they two different guns?"

Absolutely not. They are two completely different guns.

The guns have some things in common. For example they are both single action, both are capable of Condition One carry (cocked and locked carry), they both have thumb safeties on the frame that are safe when up and fire when down.

But, they have no parts interchangeability and they are simply not the same gun.

 

[DWalt]

I sort of remember someone coming up with a DA version of the P-35. In some respects, the CZ-75 is much like a P-35 but with SA/DA capability.

 

[OLDSTER]

I sort of remember someone coming up with a DA version of the P-35. In some respects, the CZ-75 is much like a P-35 but with SA/DA capability.

It was actually produced by FN, and imported by Browning between 1983 and 1999. Called the Browning BDA.

 

[squidsix]

I sort of remember someone coming up with a DA version of the P-35. In some respects, the CZ-75 is much like a P-35 but with SA/DA capability.

FEG made a double action HiPower-ish pistol, with a S&W style slide mounted safety/decoder and box magazine. It was an atrocious attempt at mashing a great pistol and a great pistol, with results that hurt my feelings every time I see one.

A lot of folks seem to feel the way you do about the CZ. Perhaps it is the stepped slide design, but nothing even remotely similar about them, in my experience. The CZ'z trigger and hammer assemblies are totally unique to that design, and the (now much copied) slide-inside-frame design is a huge departure from the HiPower. In the hand, the CZ is absolutely massive compared to the HiPower, and in factory trim holds three more rounds in the magazine. The fact that is can be carried cocked-and-locked is one similarity, but there are many pistols with that capability.
I find the up-and-over trigger work to be a little weird for a Browning design, but love the HiPower, and have them and enjoy them. Like factory (mil spec-ish) 1911 pistols, the HiPower cuts the bejeezus out of my hand when fired, so both require some fiddling before I enjoy shooting them.
The CZ is a great pistol and a wonderful design, but it shares very little with the HiPower, apart from basic, at-a-distance appearance.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Have had a couple of FEG Hi-Power clones...... still have two Mark III HPs and one CZ 75B.

Agree with Squidsix..... but would add that the Hi-Power and CZ for me have some of the most comfortable hi-cap 9mm grip frames going.

 

[squidsix]

Have had a couple of FEG Hi-Power clones...... still have two Mark III HPs and one CZ 75B.

Agree with Squidsix..... but would add that the Hi-Power and CZ for me have some of the most comfortable hi-cap 9mm grip frames going.

I found that the CZ75 Compact frame and full-sized slide mated nicely and gives as close to HiPower size as possible. Same capacity and same overall dimensions, but the HiPower is noticeably slimmer overall and seems to balance better.

For the OP: The HiPower and 1911 are as different as Dodge and Toyota pickups. They are both pickups and lots of folks like them both, but there is no mistaking one for the other.

 

[Drm50]

I remember reading an article were a Brn HP that was
made for French trails, turned up in a DC pawn shop.
It was chambered for 7.65 French Long. A couple years ago I had one of the pistols they ended up adopting. It was a nice pistol and very comfortable in
the hand. I fooled with it awhile but ammo was a pain
to make so I sold it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BAM-BAM]

I remember reading an article were a Brn HP that was
made for French trails, turned up in a DC pawn shop.
It was chambered for 7.65 French Long. A couple years ago I had one of the pistols they ended up adopting. It was a nice pistol and very comfortable in
the hand. I fooled with it awhile but ammo was a pain
to make so I sold it.View attachment 367089


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks a lot like a Sig 210............................

 

[DWalt]

I remember reading an article were a Brn HP that was
made for French trails, turned up in a DC pawn shop.
It was chambered for 7.65 French Long. A couple years ago I had one of the pistols they ended up adopting. It was a nice pistol and very comfortable in
the hand. I fooled with it awhile but ammo was a pain
to make so I sold it.View attachment 367089


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

A pretty informative writeup on the 1935A and S French pistols is in Wikipedia: Mod`ele 1935 pistol - Wikipedia

The French pistols had no relationship to the Browning HP. The French .32 Long cartridge used in them was essentially identical to the U. S. .30 Pedersen cartridge used in the famous (but seldom seen) WWI Pedersen Device used to convert the Springfield 1903 rifle into a semiautomatic.

 

[shawn mccarver]

This thread makes me think of that age-old question. . . what classics should everyone own?

Well, for me, I can do nicely with these:

Colt 1911A1 .45
Browning Hi-Power 9mm
Walther PPK .380
S&W Model 10, 2 inch; and, Model 10, 4 inch standard barrel
S&W Model 36, 2 inch
S&W Model 17, 6 inch
S&W Model 29, 6 inch
Ruger Mk II, III, or IV 22 Auto
Glock 19 Gen 5, Glock 43

The Browning Hi Power really is one of those guns that everyone should have. While I favor the 1911, the BHP grip is more comfortable to me, and it can be carried in Condition One.

 

[Kurusu]

Looks a lot like a Sig 210............................

And rightly so. The P 210 was based on it

 

[Kurusu]

The Hi power was just Brownings attempt to make the perfect auto loading pistol . If he hadn't died it may have been made in
45acp. The fact that it came out in 9mm was to fit the market.
The US was into 45acp but most of Europe was leaning 9mm.
I've had many more 1911s than HPs and on military models the
triggers on HPs are as good as 1911s. The commercial HPs that
were made by FN Belgian seem to me had a better trigger than
commercial 1911s. When you get into Gold Cups and such the
trigger might be better than a HP. But that is apples and oranges
because there are HP Target models in same class,

Not really. It was Brownings attempt, on behalf of FN, to achieve a military contract from France. He never got to finish it before his death, Dieudonne Saive did it. And the French chose something else in the end. Had they gone with FN, they might have enough pistols by the outbreack of the war. French industry was plagued with strikes during the 30s. One comes to think if those "folks"(term liberaly used ) weren't NAZI in disguise.

 

[OLDSTER]

This is an interesting debate. But some are convinced that the HP is somehow related closely to John Brownings 1911. It's an entirely different gun with an entirely different and separate history, conception, manufacture,distribution,etc. etc. No comparison required. Like comparing a Luger to a Polish VIS35. Stephen Camp in his book mentions the 1911 only as it relates to the adoption by the US of the 1911 in lieu of the HP during the WWII thru Vietnam era simply because of domestic production and the .45 caliber.

 

[Kurusu]

This is an interesting debate. But some are convinced that the HP is somehow related closely to John Brownings 1911. It's an entirely different gun with an entirely different and separate history, conception, manufacture,distribution,etc. etc. No comparison required. Like comparing a Luger to a Polish VIS35. Stephen Camp in his book mentions the 1911 only as it relates to the adoption by the US of the 1911 in lieu of the HP during the WWII thru Vietnam era simply because of domestic production and the .45 caliber.

Maybe most folks don't know how different. What JMB designed and patented before is death had little to do with the 1911.

For one. It was striker fired.

 

[paul s]

In my reading I gathered that a Hi Power is not a true 1911 design, but was designed by John Browning as a work around for the patents for the 1911 that he had already sold to Colt. In addition, the design was finished by another after John Browning passed.

I understand there are some differences in the controls and how the safety interacts with them. And that the triggers are heavier on the Hi Power, but some polishing can negate that,

So, the question is. If I have a Hi Power can I say that I have a 1911? It sounds to me like 'no'. To me 1911s are the same all over. Some may have some slight variations according to manufacturer's preferences but if you take two apart and lay them side by side, they are going to be the same.

I know Hi Powers are well made, quality guns that many people like, but can they be called 1911s? Or are they two different guns?

What?!?! If it's yours you can call it anything you want!

 

[Kurusu]

What?!?! If it's yours you can call it anything you want!

That's true. But not in front of others.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The Browning HP is a JMB inspired design, he left this earth in 1926, work on it was continued by Dieudonne Saive-who also designed the FN M1949.