A Little Hi Power Help

J

Joe_Pike

New member
I'm looking at a Hi Power and here are the roll marks:

"Fabrique Nationale Herstal Belgique" on left side of slide.

There are no roll marks on the right side of the slide except for the serial number, which is 245NMxxxxx.

There is a star on the frame above the trigger on the right side and another mark on the trigger guard on the right side (A friend said it was a crown. Apparently he has better eyes than me).

The serial number seems to date it to 1990, but is it a Belgium Hi Power or something different?

I think I can get it worth the money and it has five mags (two are the Mecgar 15 rounders) and three sets of grips. I've kind of wanted one for a while, but not enough to pay big bucks for one.
 
It all depends on what it is. Is it a commerical BHP or is it a contract gun? I am willing to bet it is a contract gun. This is an Israeli contract gun.

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Guns like these sell all day long for $450-$500 + shipping and transfer on Gunbroker sold by cdisales. This is what I would call a shooter grade BHP.

VG commerical BHPs go for $650+. Pristine ones depending on vintage are $750+. NIB runs you about $850 but I have seen one recently for as low as $700.
 
"I think I can get it worth the money"

Not 100% sure what this means, but if you like the price, get it.
 
What's the difference between contract and commercial. Is it finish, where they're made, how they are marked, ambi safety, etc.?

The one I am looking at is parkerized with fixed sights and ambi safety. I think I may be able to pick it up for about $350. I've seen Hi Powers on Aim Surplus selling recently for $419.
 
What's the difference between contract and commercial. Is it finish, where they're made, how they are marked, ambi safety, etc.?

The one I am looking at is parkerized with fixed sights and ambi safety. I think I may be able to pick it up for about $350. I've seen Hi Powers on Aim Surplus selling recently for $419.
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Finish and configuration are the biggest difference. Most of the time they are not as nicely finished. They are parkerized or basically epoxy paint. You will see a lot of what I call mix master guns with parts from different vintages in contract guns. The serial numbers are sometime wonky and hard to determine exact DOB because FN did not keep good records on contract pieces. They often used duplicate serial numbers on different contracts.

The guns at AIM are contract guns. They are good shooters but I find their condition to be worse than Coles but they are still solid guns just not a nice finish wise.

They are good shooters. Watch the Parked guns many of them have been refinished so check carefully for pitting under the new finish. If you can get it for $350 with 5 mags and grips get it.

The marks on the trigger guard are Belgium proof marks it might also be a Israeli police marking like this...

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This is a Belgium proof mark.

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< ggggg>

I just got that GB HP!

Planned to shoot it this wkend, but that didn't happen.

The parked finish is good, the internals look fine. I view this as a cheap way to get intp BHPs.

The ONLY issue I have with the pistol right now is the sights have lost their reflective white inserts. I need to get some paint or nail polish on them.
 
< ggggg>

I just got that GB HP!

Planned to shoot it this wkend, but that didn't happen.

The parked finish is good, the internals look fine. I view this as a cheap way to get intp BHPs.

The ONLY issue I have with the pistol right now is the sights have lost their reflective white inserts. I need to get some paint or nail polish on them.
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These days it is the best way to get into an inexpensive BHP. The days of cheap BHPs are gone. I used to be able to find them in the sub $500 range for commercial C series and nice MKIIIs.

CDNN blew FN roll marked guns for under $500 NIB at one time. :eek: should have bought 20 of them.
 
So you are new to HiPowers. The addiction has taken root!

The gun has a unique design concerning how the sear is tripped. It involves a hinged bar ("sear lever") that is in the slide, the front end of which is pushed up by the trigger assembly. And that is where the magazine disconnect becomes a bit of a controversy.

A part actually needs to slide along the front edge of the magazine, or else the "trigger lever" will not make contact with the sear lever in the slide. If you have a military grade, Indian manufactured and parkerized HP, with parkerized magazines, you can feel the gritty sliding. Then you may take out a certain part and a spring, and there will no longer be any sliding on the magazine.

Or you have a nicely finished gun and magazine so the sliding is not really noticeable. The whole subject of removing this magazine disconnect is controversial and I won't get into it. Search for previous threads about it.

HiPower manual

Bart Noir
 
I don't know what, if anything, this means. But my new-to-me BHP, pictured above, a parked IDF trade-in, I am told, does not have a mag disconnect. The hammer does drop when the trigger is pulled and the mag is out.

Have not put any bang pills thru it yet.
 
These days it is the best way to get into an inexpensive BHP. The days of cheap BHPs are gone. I used to be able to find them in the sub $500 range for commercial C series and nice MKIIIs.
Click to expand...

I was at a farm auction this summer that have a beautiful BHP, 70s -80s vintage. It was a classic BHP. I had to drop out of the bidding since I didn't have a job at the time and my discretionary gun fund was limited. But it was a treat to see, and the guy who won it got a great deal for $700.
 
I remember the "Browning is no longer going to import HPs" scare, about fifteen years ago, and prices going almost as high as they are now.
When the truth came out, that FN was still going to make them, and only that Browning was no longer going to do the importing, prices went back to normal, and I got a lightly-used Mk.III, with box and manual, for $450.
Any chance that HPs will be made in the U.S. FN plant?
 
I remember the "Browning is no longer going to import HPs" scare, about fifteen years ago, and prices going almost as high as they are now.
When the truth came out, that FN was still going to make them, and only that Browning was no longer going to do the importing, prices went back to normal, and I got a lightly-used Mk.III, with box and manual, for $450.
Any chance that HPs will be made in the U.S. FN plant?
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Browning is still the importer of the FN made BHP. There is no other importer for NIB guns. FN did import FN rollmarked guns for a while but they did not sell well and were blown out at under $500 by CDNN. IIRC they were selling 2 for $900 at one point. There are also many secondary importers which will have various rollmarks.

They will not make them here because the pistols made here share nothing but a parent company. The equipment to manufacture them is in Belgium and Portugal. They make as many as they want and if you ask most FFLs they sell everyone that they can get their hands on.

The most I have ever paid for a BHP was $575 IIRC and that was for a practical. I simply cannot pay the $700+ they sell for now.
 
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