Customizing the Browning HiPower

S

Sundance

New member
I am in the market for Browning HiPower 9mm. I had one years ago and like an idiot sold it along with 5 preban factory hicap mags.

So I am starting over.

I intend to pick up a new Mark III or Standard fixed sight model. I want just a few things done to it.

1) Remove mag safety
2) Trigger job
3) Basic reliability work...only if needed
4) Single sided extended thumb safety
5) Dehorn...only if needed
6) Tighten slide to frame fit and barrel lock up...only if needed
7) Novak sights
8) New grips (Spegal or equivalent)
9) Complete refinish of gun and mags with Robar NP3

So...can anyone relay any experiences with Browning HiPowers and/or customizing them and/or any gunsmiths you recommend and why?

Thanks!
 
Hmmm...

1) Remove mag safety
2) Trigger job

Did these myself. The trigger is short and sweet.

3) Basic reliability work...only if needed

Probably won't need it.

4) Single sided extended thumb safety

Did it myself.

5) Dehorn...only if needed

Probably won't need it.

6) Tighten slide to frame fit and barrel lock up...only if needed

Are you really _that_ accurate with the BHP that the frame/slide fit will matter? Barrel lockup is usually excellent in new BHP from what I can tell.

7) Novak sights

Still trying to figure out whether I'm stupid enough to try it myself.

8) New grips (Spegal or equivalent)

Easy to do yourself - wanna refinish the gun first before picking grips.

9) Complete refinish of gun and mags with Robar NP3

My finish is all beat up. I'm going to strip it and have an adventure in hot water bluing.

I think the only things you will need are:
1) trigger job
2) new sights
3) new grips
4) safety change

All but the second can be done by yourself, if you are so inclined.

Steve
 
Thanks...but if it is more technical than mowing the yard, I usually leave it to the professionals...I'll be using a gunsmith!
 
Go to www.theactionworks.com. They'll do a great job on your HP but it won't come cheap. As to hi-caps go to www.cdnninvestments.com and buy some of the South African 17 round HP mags for $20. Work well and fit any HP no matter what its pedigree. Stay away from the chrome plated ones, though. The finish flakes off in short order.

dfm
 
I can second (or is it third by now) the Action Works. Rather than the Novak sights, I chose MMC adjustable combat sights. You can see them at MMCSIGHT.COM. I've found that most pistols (except maybe CZs) are sensitive to ammo and POI varies according to the load. The MMCs allow both elevation and windage adjustment. Anyway, I had the slide milled and the sights installed, some trigger work and a barrel recrowning done at the Action Works. I'm very happy with the result. I'd post a picture, but I've never figured out how to do that here.
 
Wayne Novak does OUTSTANDING work on P35s. It is his carry gun as well. I highly recommend him. I have had guns, 1911s, built by Cylinder and Slide. Good work as well.

I shoot a little high with Novak sights. Prefer MMCs (make sure they know to zero them with your carry load and lock them down after that). YMMV.
 
As an alternative?

You might consider an alternative and much less expensive approach.
The link will take you a picture of an FM P-95 which I have recently completed. It is nickle plated from the factory and the only visable difference to a standard Hi-Power is that the slide is not stepped at the front.
This one has Trijicon Night Sights, a C&S hammer and sear and Craig Spegel grips. It also uses Wolff Springs. Hi-Powers are, in my opinion, much more straight forward to work on than 1911's.
Certainly the trigger job is easier.
http://communities.msn.com/GaryMsGuns/highpowers.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=188[/IMG]
 
Sundance,

I had work done on my Hi Power Practical by Kurt Wickman KWGW.com

1. Recrown barrel--- good choice
2. Polish feed ramp---good choice
3. trigger job w/mag safety left in---good choice, most people want that removed.
4. bevel mag well--- didn't need it but did it anyways


Hi Powers don't usually need the reliability package. Mine feed everything fine so I opted to not waste money for something it didn't need.

Kurt Wickman is highly recommended by many Hi Power shooters and I am certainly very satisfied.
 
Thanks all so far...Good info...Keep it coming...

I can't believe Mr. Stephen Camp hasn't chimed in yet. He always has good info on Hi Powers.
 
I know you didn't ask this, but when I got my first Hi-Power, I had visions of sending it away and having it tricked out to the max. I had never owned a custom gun before and thought this would be a fine candidate. However, when I checked into it, I found that the prices were staggering. Maybe I haven't checked into it enough, but it seemed at the time like the HP was the most expensive pistol out there to get customized. I went to the C&S website and went down the list of what I wanted done. The bill was in the thousands. I ended up buying a number of parts from Cylinder & Slide and had them intalled by my regular gunsmith. I sent my slide away to MMC and had a set of adjustable night sights installed. I have been nothing but satisfied with it and decided to just leave my next two alone.
The HP is a great pistol and having one tricked out would be terrific, but I am not in a position to put that kind of money into it.
 
If you can tap lightly.....

and hold a punch, then you can remove the magazine disconnect:cool: You could buy two pistols, practice on one, get the other perfect! Then sell me the practice, you'll have a hard time really hurting it (tho the cosmetics might suffer).

My hp has eaten every thing I have tried to feed it, mostly fmj and tmj with a springling of hp.

But I chimed in to point you to fnhipower.com Great site, wealth of knowledge on the hp. There is an older Forum area that has the first handful of years archived away. There is alot of info there and also in the current areas.
 
Hello. I hadn't added any comments as it seems to me that very fine advice and suggestions are being given. I will add this: Over the years, I've come to believe that less is better on the HP, i.e.: good sights, good trigger, and reliability.

Best.
 
One more suggestion, with a word of caution: Stippling the front strap is desirable, if done right. It takes a fine hand to avoid marring the serial number (usually on the front strap) and still look "neat."

AND, for some reason, many HP 'smiths (including the Big Names already mentioned) carry the stippling all the way up and across the bottom of the trigger guard. Unless the side of your middle finger is HEAVILY callused, if you ever fire more than a few rounds at a go, this will chew up your finger. If you go this route, I suggest you end the stippling about 1/4" below the trigger guard.

FWIW, my regular carry piece is a Mk III HP. It's had the mag disconnect removed, Spegel grips added (took a little fitting), sights blackened, feed ramp polished, a minor problem with the slide stop rectified, an 18.5 lb Wolff recoil spring installed, and a Buffer Technologies buffer added. NONE of these modifications required a gunsmith - if you can field strip the pistol, you should be able to do all of these yourself.
 
I've had the full-out custom job done on one of my Hi-Powers by Kurt Wickmann. He is an excellent gunsmith and does great work; but as a businessman, he can be hard to get a hold of and not real rushed to finish work by any particular date.

Having had experience with all the whiz-bang fun stuff you can do to a Hi-Power, I'd have to say that I favor Mr. Camp's approach more and more.

1) Remove mag safety
Click to expand...

Not absolutely necessary in my opinion; but most people do it. It gives you drop-free mags and a little smoother trigger. However, you can have a good trigger without removing it.

2) Trigger job
Click to expand...

Sad to say, but this is probably necessary on most new Hi-Powers

3) Basic reliability work...only if needed
Click to expand...

I have it done on all mine; but I haven't noticed any difference in reliability between before and after pistols. 95% of the few malfunctions I've experienced with a Hi-Power (and I've easily run 5,000 rounds between malfunctions of any kind) have been magazine related. A few others were related to a worn recoil spring and I've had one malfunction related to an aftermarket barrel but it was a doozy :D

4) Single sided extended thumb safety
Click to expand...

The stock ambi works well for me and even though I'm right handed, I like the ambi since I can confirm by touch that the safety hasn't been swept off (even though I've never had that happen).

5) Dehorn...only if needed
Click to expand...

Some Hi-Powers can have some corners on them; but I think this step can be skipped for many Hi-Powers.

6) Tighten slide to frame fit and barrel lock up...only if needed
Click to expand...

Just my opinion, but I think that this step is unnecessary. I have owned lots of Hi-Powers with a loose slide to frame fit and as long as the barrel and slide was tight, they shot quite well. On my custom gun, it rattled from a loose slide to frame fit. This was from right out of the box until I sent it off to Wickmann's. After the custom work, the rattle went away for about 2,000 rounds and then it came right back.

Good barrel lock-up is important; but tightening the slide-to-frame fit on a Hi-Power is like sweeping sand off the beach.

7) Novak sights
Click to expand...

Depends on how the stock sights work for you. I don't like the fact that the dots on the stock sights extend all the way to the top of the sight. It clutters the sight picture for me. I also like tritium sights on my pistols.

I have Novaks on one of my Hi-Powers and I find them to be very fast and accurate sights. I would definitely use them again.

8) New grips (Spegal or equivalent)
Click to expand...

Definitely a worthwhile addition. Most require some fitting though. So if you don't want to fit them, it is best to have the gunsmith install them when he does the other work.

9) Complete refinish of gun and mags with Robar NP3
Click to expand...

I've got my Hi-Power finished in Roguard/NP3 and the NP3 has held up extremely well in every area but the actual internals where metal meets metal for every shot (and even there it is doing OK). It is an expensive finish and will probably add 5-6 weeks to your lead time; but it is a great finish.

Here is a detailed report on both the finish and the Hi-Power
http://www.ont.com/users/kolya/HiPo.htm
 
Hello, again.

For range use and testing loads, this old '72 commercial's been fitted with a Barsto bbl, low-mounted Bomar adjustable sights. The hammer's been bobbed a bit to avoid bite and it has an extended thumb safety. The magazine disconnect's gone and it has Spegel stocks. The gun has a Wolff 18.5lb recoil spring and a Buffer Technology shock buffer in it. The frame and guts are hardchromed with the slide being blued.

fdd127b0.jpg


This MkIII 9mm has a C&S Type I ring hammer and the C&S sear. The right side ambi safety lever is removed, but the left side remains stock. The spring is the same as above and it has Spegel blk, checkered, delrin stocks. Magazine disconnect long gone and a trigger job. It has Novak fixed sights and the gun's been matte blued. It has a hardchromed factory bbl that fits the gun a bit better than did the original.

fdd47a64.jpg


This MkIII 9mm has only had the factory safety altered as mentioned above and the hammer bobbed to avoid biting. It has the same stocks as the MkIII above. The slide's bright blued and the frame is blk parkerized. The sights are, of course, the factory fixed sights and they work fine.

fde2c23b.jpg


So, there's 3 custom HPs with varying amts of work done to them. While I greatly prefer the looks and "panache" of the Novak sights, in actual use, I note no tighter grouping in either slowfire or fast with them over the factory. Either way's fine and the modification is certainly a popular one.

This MkIII is very, very minimally altered. Has Butler Creek rubber stocks and skateboard tape. I cut off the right-side thumb safety and refinished the cut safety rod. Hammer's bobbed and the magazine disconnect gone. The spring set up is as the above guns'.

fdd00be4.jpg


You can spend as much as you like on these fine pistols or as little.

I like them very well in about any configuration!

Best and good luck.
 
George,

could ya give us the info on that package that MD labs does?
or how bout just a link to the info?

thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top