Finally! SA-35 UPDATE: Range Report

[Grayfox]

I've known I had to have one of these from the first moment I heard of them. Been looking hard for over year and nobody has had any one in my area.
This morning I called all the LGSs and still no luck. But a guy on thee Tennessee Gun Owners forum posted a couple of days ago that he had seen one at Cypress Creek Outdoors in Dyersburg. That's about 75 miles from me. So just on a whim I called to see if it was still there. It WAS!
With nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon, I jumped in my truck and headed North.
I'm now the proud owner of a brand spankin' new Springfield Armory SA-35! BTW: price was MSRP at $699.
Not being a fan of heavily checkered grips, I put a nice set of smooth Houge Pau Ferros on it. Looks great!
I hope to get it to the range next week. Range report to follow.

And here's an updated family portrait.

 

[robvious]

you need a Practical model to spice up the family..
looking forward to the range report

 

[waffles]

Very nice, though I like the grips they come with. If I'd seen one at MSRP I'd have snagged it too.

 

[M29since14]

That is about the only current production autoloader I'm keen to latch on to. Be sure to give us a full report when you've had time to fire it up. Congrats on the new BHP!

 

[Lee Barner]

Lee, I'm only another 45 minutes east of there and have a great place to shoot, ammo, targets etc. Lee

 

[WVSig]

Congrats on the purchase. I am a big fan of the BHP but have not seen a SA35 anywhere local to me under $899. I would buy one if I could get it for MSRP. For now will have to make due with my FN BHPs.

 

[Wyo]

I picked one up about two weeks ago in a LGS for the unbelievable price of $619. Nearly sprained my shoulder going for my wallet. I've put about 200 rounds through it so far with no malfunctions and very acceptable accuracy. Frankly, I think if you're looking for a Hi Power to shoot, rather than to collect, the SA-35 is better than the original - and I've owned a few of them too.

 

[Retired W4]

John Browning's 1935 lives on, like so many of his designs.

 

[clang444]

Congrats. I'd love love to see a side by side comparison with the new FN High Power.

 

[Valmet]

Always love to see pic spreads of Hi-Powers. The SA-35 looks nice

 

[jdlii]

Waiting for a range report.

 

[Thin Man]

John Browning's 1935 lives on, like so many of his designs.

Well, more Dieudonné Saive's, but yeah.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Very nice! I've yet to see one in person or for sale, but I'm likely to buy the first one I see if any kind of reasonable.

 

[Hoosierville IRN]

Congrats on acquiring an SA35. Always liked the BHP design...

 

[Liftrat]

Congrats! One's been at the top of my list for a while, too, but not for what many places are asking. I don't"need"another pistol, so I'll wait. Looking forward to the range report, too.

 

[sipowicz]

Congrats on the purchase. I am a big fan of the BHP but have not seen a SA35 anywhere local to me under $899. I would buy one if I could get it for MSRP. For now will have to make due with my FN BHPs.

I like 12 o'clock. .

 

[Imissedagain]

Congrats on the purchase. I am a big fan of the BHP but have not seen a SA35 anywhere local to me under $899. I would buy one if I could get it for MSRP. For now will have to make due with my FN BHPs.

Holy High Power!!!
I don't even have that many teeth left.
Just one BHP from around '80.
Shoots tight groups.

Nice wood at 6 o'clock.

 

[Grayfox]

Range Report :

Disclaimer: I'm old and not in the best of health. So don't expect precision shooting.

I got it to the range today. Beautiful day. temps in the mid-70s and a light breeze. I decided that rather than just stand there and punch holes in paper that I'd take it to the action range. There I could draw from the holster, shoot steel and move around. Give it a good workout.

Here's the range bay as I set it up. 9 targets ranging from 10 to 25 yards.

Ammo was mix of what I had on hand.
Winchester White Box 115 & 124 gr FMJ
Remington Golden Sabre 124 gr.
Handload 124 gr LRN
Handload 124 gr plated FP.
All told I put about 300 rounds through the gun.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the gun. Its no tack driver, but plenty combat accurate. The trigger is a bit heavy, but Hi-Powers generally are. It is quite smooth though.
The sights are excellent. They give a well defined sight picture and are easy to pick up.
I really love the shape of the thumb safety. Positive clicks on and off, big enough to easily work, but not so big as to be bulky. Springfield hit a home run with this design.

I did have three malfunctions. To failure to fully eject and one feed ramp jam. All of these were with my reloads, so I suspect it was the ammo at fault.

Generally I started from the draw and just ran the targets until the mag was empty. The steel was easy at all ranges, just couldn't miss. I got good A & B zone hits on the silhouettes at all distances Although they were scattered about a bit. Here's the paper target which was at 10 yards Bear in mind that this was with several types of ammo. It does seem that I need to adjust the rear sight slightly right.

I also manged to chase an empty Dr. pepper bottle around the range a bit.

Conclusion: Its a Hi-Power with all the desired upgrades. I like it!

 

[sipowicz]

I wouldn't touch the rear sight until you can explain the tight group over the X.

 

[Grayfox]

Sip, when I realized that I was shooting slightly left, I applied good old Kentucky windage.