Fast Safety System for Hi-Power pistols allows for hammer down on a live round in the chamber. The hammer is cocked by the switch formerly known as the safety. For a better explanation see the BHSprings website.
totin a Browning Hi Power - gettin hooted at! ***UPDATE***
- Thread starter cmansguns
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Fascinating. The basic SFS kit is something I'm considering for my FEG. I LIKE IT!
It is a love it or hate it proposition. I fall into the hate it camp. For me it is a solution looking for a problem. I have no issues with cocked and locked carry and see no need to complicate the already somewhat complicated design. Lots of people love the SFS. Different strokes for different folks.
It was originally developed to allow LEO in the US to carry a BHP in departments that would not allow for cocked and locked carry. In the end the dawn of tactical plastic killed the BHP in LEO. The SFS then became a niche sort of thing.
FN shipped a ton of them into the US with FN rollmarks which were blown out by CDNN years ago for as low as $350 NIB.
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You should learn to get over that. You are missing out. Guns are made to be shot, carried and used in general. I can understand admiring their beauty but for me they are functional pieces of art. My Garthwaite shows muzzle wear from kydex. I don't worry about it because if it ever really bothers me I can simply reblue it or get it hard chromed.
I shoot all of mine. Most of them go into holsters are one time or another. Even my custom guns. Even this beauty.
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otis24
Member
One of the finest pistols ever made. I had one several years back. Finances forced me to sell it. If I had one today, it would be a primary defense weapon. I would feel in no way outgunned or under prepared for a combat situation. There is a reason that the Hi Power is so endearing.
Sistema1927
US Veteran
Concerning the SFS: I like it, and have it installed in both an FN MkIII and a Tisas BR9SS. I also tried to install in my FEG, and soon realized that I would need to do a slight frame alteration, so I didn't. I was able to install an FN ambi safety in the FEG, so it was surprising that the SFS pin was over sized.
Just an FYI for those wanting to install the SFS in an FEG. You might have no problems, but you might.
Just an FYI for those wanting to install the SFS in an FEG. You might have no problems, but you might.
HardToHandle
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I also like the SFS. As described, it is a design complication introduced to solve a policy problem, but works well. I justify it by having one less hole in the gun exposed to dirt and grime with hammer down. No observed reliability issues whatsoever.
Brownells has the Tisasi. stock most of the time. If I pick up a Tisas Stainless, I will add the SFS for certain.
Brownells has the Tisasi. stock most of the time. If I pick up a Tisas Stainless, I will add the SFS for certain.
SFS = Safety Fast Shooting.
The hammer is cocked in the normal BHP manner - with the thumb or by the slide when a round is chambered. Here is an SFA Hi power in Condition 0 - cocked and ready to fire.
The hammer however is a two piece hammer where the lower part of the hammer is driven by the hammer spring and engages the sear in normal BHP fashion. However the upper portion of the hammer rotates and can be pressed forward against a hammer block. This activates the safety lever, which pops up into the "safe" position.
The upper half of the hammer is now "down" and the safety lever is in the up/safe position, but the lower part of the hammer is still cocked and the pistol is in Condition 1, cocked and locked with a loaded chamber:
Here the SFS Hi Power is not cocked - the hammer is all the way down on the slide and the safety lever is in the down/fire position:
In short, you can only apply the safety when the hammer is cocked, and you apply the safety by pressing the hammer forward, which moves the safety lever into the safe position. When you press the safety to the fire position, the hammer snaps back into the cocked position.
It's a great system for concealed carry as the hammer is down, and won't snag anything. And, it's easy to verify the safety is on when the pistol is holstered as you can feel the forward position of the hammer. It is also a neat system for open duty carry as it scares the citizenry less as they don't see an obviously cocked hammer.
However, it's not a common system and I have had to explain, and in a couple cases actually unload and demonstrate, the system to ROs at tactical matches on a number of occasions as they think I'm starting in condition 2 and they pitch a fit thinking I'd be manually cocking the hammer.
That's where mine came from and I paid $350 for it NIB.
The design did indeed provide a solution for police departments that had issues with people getting upset about officers running around with cocked 1911s, Hi Powers, etc. But it also left the hammer in a much more drop safe hammer down configuration.
It was however designed for the XM9 pistol trials. It was very innovative and accomplished everything the US Military wanted with a DA/SA pistol, but without the need for a heavy DA trigger pull or the need for troops to master both DA and SA trigger pulls. However the US Military rejected it before the trials even began as it was not a "DA/SA" pistol.
I like of for the concealed carry advantages, but I also like the standard Hi Power and 1911, so I'm a supporter, but not a rabid fan.
You had a 1st Gen P9M with the 1911 style slide release. The earlier P9 had the browning style slide release and would have been closer to a drop in fit.
You can see the differences in the slide stop notch in the frames here:
Rule number 1 however is ALWAYS modify the cheap part, not the spendy one.
It's not overly hard to modify the slide stop to fit the smaller notch.
Before and after:
I wonder what the raw number and the percentage of accidental discharges with injuries caused by Condition 1 carry (High Powers and 1911s) might be as compared with the combined tupper-wonderguns. I've certainly never heard of anyone with 'BHP leg' or '1911 leg;' a few minutes on Mr. Google with the term 'Glock leg' makes me believe the Condition 1 firearms have been safer in actual deployment.
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That's the sad thing about the lack of success of the SFS Hi power. Fear and public perception were the negatives for the 1911 and standard BHP, not actual safety issues.
The SFS addressed the public perception issue without fundamentally changing the training required (SA trigger pull only, use of a manual safety).
But along came the Glock, which had a great appeal to police departments in the US who saw it as a shortcut to transition DA revolver carrying officers to Glock pistols where all you had to do was pull the trigger - no need to master a safety under stress. Unfortunately, they missed the bit about long and heavy DA trigger pulls acting as a significant safety mechanism that was not present on the Glock. Even the 12 pound New York trigger didn't increase the length of the trigger pull, and wasn't sufficient to prevent "glock leg" and other accidental shootings under stress.
It requires more training and proficiency, but there's a lot to be said for a manual safety and Condition 1 carry and IMHO it was the way to go when US police departments switched to pistols.
I had forgotten about FN trying to sneak it in as a DA/SA gun. They should have known better.
No real data out there but I think we hear about Glock NDs to the leg more than any other gun because there are more Glocks being used as daily carry handguns than any other make today. The more guns in the field the more chances for a ND. I am not convienced that it is that the Glock is more prone to it. It would be interesting to look at the number of Glocks in service the % of ND vs other pistols. Unfortunately we don't have that data.
This is not just in the US but all over the world. I spoke with Larry Vickers and Ken Hackthorn at a training I took with them last year and they both agreed it is a Glock World. They train people all over the world and they see more Glock 19 and Glock 17s than any other gun. The rest of the world does not have concealed carry so most people who carry a gun carry a duty sized weapon the Glocks dominate.
Hunter8282
US Veteran
No so-called "gun guy" would dis on a Hi Power unless simply green with envy. Carry it proud; you're totin' the finest 9mm pistol ever created.
I kinda have a thing for them
Can I have the 2nd one from the right?
Aside from any holster design that allows part of the holster to enter the trigger guard or pocket carry without a holster that covers the trigger, I suspect that most of ND's are the result of a finger on the trigger while the weapon is being drawn or being placed in the holster.
SuperMan
Member
They are beautiful guns and well made...had one back in the 1970s and it never missed a beat no matter what it was fed...
The only reason I don't own one is the tang..it is just too short and I get bit all the time...
The only reason I don't own one is the tang..it is just too short and I get bit all the time...
BHP
You might take a look at the solution a friend of mine made for me. on post #49....inexpensive and it works very well.
Randy
You might take a look at the solution a friend of mine made for me. on post #49....inexpensive and it works very well.
Randy
