In December of 2000, I purchased an Israeli Surplus Browning High Power 9mm from AIM Surplus (www.aimsurplus.com). It had an enormous amount of exterior finish wear, but hardly any interior wear. It looked like it had been carried on duty for years, but hardly ever fired.
I liked the pistol enough to decide to have some work done on it, and I chose T. Mark Graham of Arizona Response Systems (www.arizonaresponsesystems.com). I had him to the following:
Refinish with Metacol III in two-tone (black slide and OD green frame).
Replace original grips with black micarta Navidrex grips
Install C&S wide combat trigger.
Install C&S extended thumb safety.
Trigger job.
Removal of the magazine disconnect.
Replace all springs.
Throat, polish, and recrown the barrel.
Polish the extractor and replace the extractor spring.
Install Trijicon night sights.
Pricing was very reasonable, since he gave me a “package” price. Turn around was about 8 weeks all together, which didn’t bother me. I would rather have the gun come back right than fast.
When the pistol came back, the first thing I was impressed with was how nice the finish looked and felt. I cannot yet comment on the durability of the Metacol III finish, but it sure looks and feels great. The wide trigger and trigger job makes the pistol a joy to shoot. There is a very smooth takeup and then a crisp, light break, greatly enhancing my accuracy with the gun.
I took it to the range Friday for the first time since it came back from Mark. The range I go to only goes out to 17 yards on its indoor pistol range (I go there because they allow rapid fire), so I can’t report on 25 yard groups. However, I was able to get two five-round groups of 2” and one eight-round group of 2 1/2” off hand. I can only imagine what I could have done with a rest or sandbag. Needless to say, this was far better than I was able to do before the work was done, mainly, I think, because of the improved trigger.
Reliability was excellent. I only had S&B 9mm ball to shoot so I cannot report on hollow-point performance, but I purposely attempted to “limp wrist” and cause failures to feed or eject, and was unable to make it fail. I put three 10-round strings through it as fast as I could pull the trigger (with no regard for accuracy) and it never hesitated at all.
I now have about $800 in the the gun and have a weapon that is worth about $1,000 in my estimation. More importantly, it is a delight to look at, hold, and shoot.
I give T. Mark Graham my highest recommendation.
I liked the pistol enough to decide to have some work done on it, and I chose T. Mark Graham of Arizona Response Systems (www.arizonaresponsesystems.com). I had him to the following:
Refinish with Metacol III in two-tone (black slide and OD green frame).
Replace original grips with black micarta Navidrex grips
Install C&S wide combat trigger.
Install C&S extended thumb safety.
Trigger job.
Removal of the magazine disconnect.
Replace all springs.
Throat, polish, and recrown the barrel.
Polish the extractor and replace the extractor spring.
Install Trijicon night sights.
Pricing was very reasonable, since he gave me a “package” price. Turn around was about 8 weeks all together, which didn’t bother me. I would rather have the gun come back right than fast.
When the pistol came back, the first thing I was impressed with was how nice the finish looked and felt. I cannot yet comment on the durability of the Metacol III finish, but it sure looks and feels great. The wide trigger and trigger job makes the pistol a joy to shoot. There is a very smooth takeup and then a crisp, light break, greatly enhancing my accuracy with the gun.
I took it to the range Friday for the first time since it came back from Mark. The range I go to only goes out to 17 yards on its indoor pistol range (I go there because they allow rapid fire), so I can’t report on 25 yard groups. However, I was able to get two five-round groups of 2” and one eight-round group of 2 1/2” off hand. I can only imagine what I could have done with a rest or sandbag. Needless to say, this was far better than I was able to do before the work was done, mainly, I think, because of the improved trigger.
Reliability was excellent. I only had S&B 9mm ball to shoot so I cannot report on hollow-point performance, but I purposely attempted to “limp wrist” and cause failures to feed or eject, and was unable to make it fail. I put three 10-round strings through it as fast as I could pull the trigger (with no regard for accuracy) and it never hesitated at all.
I now have about $800 in the the gun and have a weapon that is worth about $1,000 in my estimation. More importantly, it is a delight to look at, hold, and shoot.
I give T. Mark Graham my highest recommendation.