Browning Hi-Power: Educate me, please

AFAIK, the FN BHP did not use a cast frame; they were forged. I don't know about the various clones, except the FEG which also appears to be forged.
Click to expand...

This is not true. There are many FN Hi Powers that have cast frames. They still make them and sell them to the rest of the world. In the early 2000s there are SFS guns and a large amount of standard MKIIIs imported by FN that were marked with import marks Coulmbia, SC & Fredericksburg, VA. They attempted to attract the LEO market and failed. These guns were dumped to CDNN and sold for about $400-$500 a piece. I should have bought 50. :eek:

If you look at the Israeli imports you will find MKIII guns with FN rollmarks. AIM has some right now. http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=F1FNHPMK3I

mk3_g_500px.png


825586_01_fn_herstal_9mm_sfs_browning_hi_640.jpg


FN_Hi-power_P35.jpg
 
RE: BHP with cast frames.

That change to cast frames wasn't undertaken until after FN introduced a .40 version of the gun and some shooters started experiencing problems and frame failures. The original forged frame design didn't hold up to the .40 round. and FN changed to a beefier cast frame that looks pretty much the same. FN changed the 9mm models to cast frame, too, either at the same time or quickly thereafter. Stephen's site might explain all of that. (I haven't visited the site since his death...)

Stephen Camp's site is a exceptional source of information about Hi-Powers (and also has some good info about CZs -- Stephen liked them a lot!), but any recent changes to the gun -- like FN dropping the .40 from new production -- may not be noted there. There were (maybe still are) some technical materials available for sale there. I have a copy of "STEPHEN CAMP'S HI-POWER DISASSEMBLY", a three sheet pamphlet with detailed, color photo-illustrated instructions (printed on both sides on heavy paper and laminated in heavy clear plastic).

That guide is worth its weight in gold if you're new to Hi-Powers.
.
 
Last edited:
3. What other peculiarities should I be aware of in this hunt?
Click to expand...
There is one off the wall one...
Since you're open to (or appear to be open to) "High Power Like" pistols....
Browning came out in the early 1990's with an innovative pistol called the BDM - for Browning Double Mode.
It has a selector that you can use to change it from "pistol" to "revolver".

They came out in 1991, began shipping in any real quantity in 1993- ish & then ran head first into Brady.

That left Browning with a 10 shot - double stack - full sized pistol that had very little demand.
Browning dropped it in 1998.
There are plenty of 10 round magazines for them, but, the 13 round magazines are rare.
Since no real quantity of them was made, there's no after market magazines I'm aware of in the higher capacity.

"Collectors" scarfed them up at ridiculous close out prices. I saw them sell in 1999 for as little as $280.00. (My High Power @ that time cost me about $600).
I noticed they are beginning to show up now & the prices are very low.

If you run across one in your search, they handle just like a BHP & they are a "real" Browning.
One is worth a 2nd and 3rd look if the price is right.
Just make sure it includes a magazine or two.
 
Re: the BDM.

The BDM carried the Browning rollmark on it's slide, but had little to do with the Browning or FN Hi-Power design. While it had a generally similar appearance, internally it was completely different design. High-cap magazines, which are different from BHP mags, are apparently made of unobtainium. (The previous poster says 10-round mags are available.) I don't think I've seen either for years! I suspect that most parts are made of the same unobtanium, too. I've not shot a BDM but have only seen one at the range and at a gun show, but I have read about them. I appreciate that reading and viewing aren't the same as owning and becoming more familiar with the gun -- it's possible that the design may have some virtues that aren't mentioned in these type of discussion.

The BDM, which was DA/SA, apparently also has a slightly different optional mode that lets you start from something like half-cock mode. The BDM was made only in the U.S. and discontinued in 1998. It was apparently designed to compete for police contracts -- but didn't win any. It was sold on the civilian market.

It's a totally different gun with a surprisingly different manual of arms: the safety (which is also a decocker) is ON when it's down, and ready to fire or be decocked when it's up -- different than most guns. Someone who has one -- like one of the earlier posters -- can tell us whether c&l is possible.

BDM.jpg
 
Last edited:
I had a BDM in the '90s. It was a mediocre gun. The grip was not nearly as comfortable as that of the Hi Power, the trigger was so so, and it was needlessly complicated. It died for a reason.

No cocked-and-locked. Either traditional double action or DAO.
 
I had a BDM in the '90s. It was a mediocre gun. The grip was not nearly as comfortable as that of the Hi Power, the trigger was so so, and it was needlessly complicated. It died for a reason.

No cocked-and-locked. Either traditional double action or DAO.
Click to expand...

It was a solution looking for a problem. LOL They made them because the LEO wanted DA/SA or DAO designs but it never so to LEO in the days when S&W Gen 3s dominated the LEO market before Glock took it over. They should have just stuck with the BHP. IMHO

They like so many of FNs attempts to break into the US LEO market ended up being liquidated to the general public at steep discounts.
 
I also had the misfortune to have a BDM. What killed the gun for me was the discovery of diecast parts, and the use of RTV Silastic to hold certain parts in the slide.

What sold me on it in the first place was the grip, which felt extraordinary in my hand. It went downhill from there.
 
Last edited:
I might add that accuracy of that BDM was not that great either. It was certainly worse than any Hi Power I owned, including a beat-up Israeli MK II.

Instead of BDM, FN/Browning should have designed and released a compact version of the Hi Power, similar to what CZ did with its 75 platform.
 
Instead of BDM, FN/Browning should have designed and released a compact version of the Hi Power, similar to what CZ did with its 75 platform.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the BDM was designed by a couple of Czechs, and manufactured in the U.S. I don't think FN had anything to do with it.

Regarding a compact, that's exactly what FN did with the HP-DA, available as both a full-size and compact. The only real flaw I can see in the HP-DA is the use of proprietary mags; Luckily, the HP-DA hi-caps have become available again.

FWIW, the HP-DA wasn't a total flop; It was adopted by the Finns.
 
Wow tough crowd....

Personally, I like the BDM and feel it has the same heft as the BHP.
The grips on the BDM sort of mimic the feel of my wife's Buckmark Micro.
Her Micro is one of the older ones with the grips that have the rests built into them.

I suggested the BDM because it's - "HP-like" Meaning similar in feel & look, not necessarily function.

The BDM also has a "cult" following.

Regardless of who made the thing, it did carry the Browning name & it was a Browning stock item.
The "collectors" that scarfed them up for cheap a dozen and a half years ago seem to have lost patience waiting for them to become "collectible".
I see quite a few selling for ~ $300.

High-cap magazines, which are different from BHP mags, are apparently made of unobtainium. (The previous poster says 10-round mags are available.) I don't think I've seen either for years!
Click to expand...
10 round factory magazines are plentiful and fairly cheap. ~ $20
Since the OP wants a "range gun", a 10 round limit shouldn't be a big deal.
Factory 15 round run the Sun and Moon - ~ $75 and up from what a short search shows.
Pro Mag and Triple K also have 15 rounders. YMMV on either as far as quality.
 
I'm still following & researching. Frankly, the researching will take a while, what with me having zero free time right now. Nonetheless, thanks again. You all have given me a lot of good information here.

Highpower3006, that pistol … that's what I call "evidence that holster wear is sexy."
 
I'm still following & researching. Frankly, the researching will take a while, what with me having zero free time right now. Nonetheless, thanks again. You all have given me a lot of good information here.
Click to expand...

Just locate a nice standard Hi-Power 9mm at a decent price and you will be happy for the rest of your life.
 
elegant

I'm in full agreement that the HP has a look that can indeed be described as "elegant"!

When they announced that a HP would be available in .40 (I believed then, a distinct step up from a "mere" 9mm) I went on the search for one in blued steel and walnut. Took a while, but I eventually found and purchased same.

In hindsight, I wish I'd bought a 9mm, as that has become a popular caliber around the house what with bamaboy and I dabbling in IDPA and 3-gun and using 9mm Glocks. I'd likely shoot the HP more, the Dillon is set up for 9mm and stays that way, I load most everything else on the single stage.

I've carried it enough by now, that it shows some honest wear, and is not as pretty as it was, but the HP is a looker in my book.
 
[bamaranger said:
In hindsight, I wish I'd bought a 9mm,
Click to expand...

No reason you can't look for a 40>9 conversion barrel. I think they're out there. Then you have the option of going either way. The .40 mags might work.
 
I'm in full agreement that the HP has a look that can indeed be described as "elegant"!
Click to expand...
Years ago, I would scoff at a Hi Power after shooting one with stock grips. Though very attractive and, indeed, elegant in appearance, I thought the ergonomics were so so. It was only after I tried one with a different (curvier and thinner) set of grips that I realized how "svelt" the gun was. Since then I've been on a bit of a binge, buying several different High Power variants.

The other thing is that, due to the overall thinness of the gun, carrying is quite easy for a "full size" gun, much easier than even many double stack compacts.

The only other handgun that feels as good in my hands is probably H&K P30 series with the small panels.

And, yes, the single action trigger can be heavy and gritty, but with a tad bit of work (magazine safety removed and some action work), the trigger is good enough for all but precise target shooting (funny enough the H&K P30 also has a very long trigger reset). And even the inevitable rattle from the slide/frame looseness becomes charming after a while.
 
Update

Mrs. McGee and I got hit with major (and unexpected) car repairs this past month, so the BHP has to stay on The Wish List for a while.

Again, thanks to all of you for the information.
 
Gyvel - Yes, the left-handed models are quite rare. Apparently left handed people are more common in Hungary than in most countries - some kind of genetic or statistical oddity, I guess. I chanced upon it when I was working in Budapest.

It was odd. A woman approached me on the street one evening. I don't understand very much Hungarian and thought she was a professional lady making her sales pitch. I wasn't sure what to say. Then she pulled a gun out! I understandably thought I was being robbed at gunpoint. I took my wallet out quickly, trying to avoid being shot.Then she said something about such and such amount of forints, the equivalent of about $200. I thought it was very odd that an armed robber would ask for a certain amount of money rather than taking my whole wallet. But not getting shot and getting to keep some of my money sounded good, so I forked it over. Imagine my surprise when she handed me the pistol and walked away!

Smuggling it back home was an ordeal (another long story), but I managed. And now I have one of the very few left-handed High Power clones in the US. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
 
Smuggling it back home was an ordeal (another long story), but I managed. And now I have one of the very few left-handed High Power clones in the US. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Click to expand...

LMAO!! In this case, the fiction is strange indeed.:D:D:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top