BHP questions

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Removing the magazine disconnect serves to modernize the BHP, helping to bring it up to the standards set by modern police weaponry like the Glock 17, the Beretta M92, etc.

Hank, please don't get me wrong; I 100% support leaving the disconnect in or out as a personal choice by the user to suit his/her needs. I also don't believe you should live your life in fear of litigation, especially unlikely litigation such as this. I do think that the argument above would get ripped apart by a knowledgable lawyer in court, though.

If I were the lawyer pushing the civil suit against you and that was your defense, I would point out that FN modernized the gun around 1982 for the Army M9 competition and again in 1988. In both cases, FN engineers made significant changes to the gun to modernize it but decided to leave the mag disconnect intact. I'd then press you on whether you are more qualified than FN engineers to "modernize" your gun. If Bryco loses the Smith vs. Bryco case that is pending, that will be a case that will bode very poorly for removing already installed disconnects.

Having said that, I'm sure there are good arguments in favor of removing the disconnect that are easier to defend.

One would obviously be that the more consistent trigger pull favors accuracy and that the magazine safety is unneccessary in late-model Hi-Powers since they feature a cutout in the chamber that allows you to visually observe a round in the chamber.

Maybe we should argue the "case" here?

 

[Byron Quick]

Even if the bad guy doesn't live, there isn't any shortage of hungry lawyers willing to
take the civil case on contingency figuring they can argue a settlement out of it.

According to my CCW class from a year or so back, there had been 44 CCW-related
shootings in Texas and 42 no-bills (grand jury ruled it justifiable - one of the ones the
grand jury indicted on was later found not guilty, other one hadn't gone to court at
the time of the class).

For these 44 shootings, there were 44 civil suits. In one case, the long estranged
ex-wife of the deceased scumbag stepped up to sue, hoping to recover child support
that the scumbag had never paid and now never would. The cost of defending
yourself from grand jury to civil suit ranged between $10,000 and $55,000 for these
cases.

Whew! And here I thought that Texas was the be all and end all for self defense. In eastern central Georgia, if a grand jury no bills a self defense shooting and the "victim" goes to a lawyer...he'd better lay cold hard cash on the barrel head 'cause he's not going to find a lawyer who'll take it on contigency.

 

[Hal]

How I polished mine:

I went to an NAPA dealer and bought an assortment of wet/dry sandpaper ranging from 220 grit to 1600 grit. I started with a small piece of 440 grit wrapped around a BIC pen and carefully worked it in a circluar motion over the face of the plunger from the top of the frame, without removing the plunger. The idea is to not remove any metal, just polish the surface, so don't spend a lot of time with the initial grits. The 440 just knocks off the high spots. Fifteen or twenty turns w/440 should do it. I worked my way from the 440 to the 1600 using the same as above,,,15 to 20 turns w/each grit.
Next, I did the face of each magazine where the mark from the plunger was. I finished the entire process by coating the face of the magazine with DSX grease and working the trigger for a few hours.

My best guess is that it resulted in a 20% better trigger, based on how it feels compared to the BHP I haven't done yet. My total investment was about $6.00 for the wet/dry, and a couple bucks for the DSX, plus maybe 1/2 hour polishing. Yes, disassembly could have made it easier, and resulted in a better job, but I'm the original Mr. Fumble Fingers AKA: Mr. If-Theres-any-possible-way-to-have-a-part-left-over-after-reassembly-I'll-find-a-way-to-do-it.

FWIW, just doing the face of the magazines goes a long way to a better trigger pull also. I can *feel* the difference between the magazines from the BHP I've polished being used in the BHP I haven't done yet.


IMPORTANT: Don't remove any metal. If the black wet/dry has silver streaks, stop and switch to a finer (higher number) grit. The idea is to polish the surface

If your still unhappy with the result, you can always go back and disassemble it and do it the other way.

 

[ATTICUS]

I assume that you will want to familiarize yourself with this BHP? Would your family prefer that you do this with a mag in the gun?
Get yourself a snap cap (if you prefer)and dry fire that baby a few hundred times with the mag in or out (this includes working the action- cock, lock,unlock and fire). I think you'll see why so many people lose the mag safety.

If I were to draw up a list of ways to keep your family safer, the mag safety would be at the bottom, if at all.

BTW MP-5- This a only a mag disconnect safety, which will not allow you to fire the pistol with the mag removed. It is not the primary safety.

 

[Dave R]

FWIW, as others have implied, the surface of the magazine in the BHP makes a big difference in the quality of the trigger pull.

You can give yourself a "poor man's trigger job" just by polishing the area of the magazine which the mag safety contacts.

Or just use magazines that have a nice surface. The 17-round magazines imported from (by?) KRD have a very nice finish that improves the trigger pull noticeably. You can get those at http://www.cdnninvestments.com/browning.html. The blue ones (which I use) are currently $19.95. The nickel ones (I have not used, may be even better) are $22.95. Recommended. A great deal in "standard capacity" magazines.