Gunsmith Choice for Browning Hi-Power...Opinions Sought

A

Anthony

New member
Hello Everyone,

I am going to buy a Browning Hi-Power in 9mm Parabellum for my wife and would like to have it heavily customized as it will probably be the only handgun she uses for self defense.

So far I am considering Wayne Novak, Jim Garthwaite, and the Cylinder & Slide shop for the custom work.

Anyone have an opinion about any of the above gunsmiths? Good? Bad?

Anyone have a good source for factory or Mecgar preban high capacity magazines?

Anyone have another gunsmith you can recommend from experience?

Thanks for the help.

- Anthony
 
Anthony, it is hard to go wrong with the choices you have. I have used Alex Hamilton of Ten-Ring Precision with great success. He did a beautiful job of putting a frame together, to my specks, for a FM High-Power. Regards, Richard
 
Mags look up CDNN and buy some of the 17rd SA mags for 19.99 I just recieved six last week and they work wonderfully.
 
Visit http://www.fnhipower.com/

Most of the smiths mentioned above have had at least one pistol discussed or displayed at the link above. Go to the forums and do a search.

The Technical section also includes links to a detailed discussion of work done by Kurt Wickmann and Jim Garthwaite.
 
Anthony,

Why don't you (and your wife) shoot it a bit first and see how it suits you out of the box, before you sink a lot of $$$ into customizing it? I have a BHP Mk III which I was planning on having customized, but after shooting it a bit, I discarded the %$#! mag disconnect, put on a set of Spegel grips, and left it at that. It's now my usual carry gun, and is what I usually shoot in IDPA competition.

I've seen custom BHP's by Novak's, but to be quite honest, nice as they are, I can't see that the value of the custom work is worth almost triple what I paid for the pistol.
 
Kurt Wickmann is the person that built HP's for Novak's when they got their reputation for building great HP's. He built one for me recently and it is a great shooter. Wickmann Guns Works gets my vote.
 
All the smiths listed above are very good. If you want to be treated like a person, I'd pick Jim Garthwaite. Jim built me two 1911s a few years back and I love them. He also has a great personality. Always remembers the wifes name and always asks about her and the kids. We talk about anything and everything. He's just a real good guy as well as a fantastic pistolsmith!

I've dealt with Wayne several times also..had a couple revolvers done at his shop. They turned out great. Just wasn't real impressed by his people skills.

Bill Laughridge never impressed me as being very interested in what "I" wanted done. He wanted to tell me what he wanted to do for me. I'm the customer and have/had a real good knowledge off the guns and what I wanted to use them for.
 
I also had a very good experience with T. Mark Graham of Arizona Response Systems (www.arizonaresponsesystems.com). My Israeli surplus BHP is now a very sweet shooter, and beautiful to boot.

On the FNHiPower forum (www.fnhipower.com) all these smiths were discussed, and the only one not getting an A+ rating was Bill Laughridge of Cylinder and Slide. Several people had less than satisfactory experiences with him and his people. Others, of course, feel that he's the best.

Kurt Wickman is a great guy to talk to on the phone. He helped me make my initial decision to buy a BHP, although I've never had him do any work for me. Everyone I've heard of who sent him a pistol was ecstatic with the results.

I'd suggest you call a couple and talk with them about what you want done, and get a feel for them, and of course, their prices.
 
I sorta agree with HankB. I have 3 BHP and have taken out the mag safeties and put on a set of nice wooden grips. I have the Practical, a 1971 Standard and a 2000 Standard, both in polished blue. They look great and I shoot them well.
 
I agree with going to CDNN for the 17 rd mags.I have 4 that work perfectly.STAY AWAY FROM MEC GAR. They crack on the back of the feed lips.I have had 3 do that so far. I can't get them to even answer an email.Someone posted an address to send the bad mags in to.That was 5 months ago with no response.I am not the only one with this problem it seems to be wide spread.
 
After what I saw Wickmann do with Warm Bore's Kimber 1911, there is no other gunsmith that I can recommend that Kurt Wickmann!
 
Mec-Gar mags

Beemerb, how many of your Mec-Gar mags for the Hi-Power magazine have shown signs of cracked feed lips?

I'm curious because most of the people I've talked with have high regard for the Mec-Gar magazines and haven't experienced much trouble with them. I have about more than 10 myself and haven't had trouble with any of them.

Can you give me an idea of the markings on the Hi-Power mags that showed cracking around the feed lips? I'm doing a FAQ for Hi-Power magzines (http://www.ont.com/users/kolya/bhpmagfaq.htm) and I am curious to know if the problem is limited to later production Mec-Gar mags (during the pre-94 effort to get mags built prior to the ban possibly).

So far I've only had two people report cracking around the feed lips of Mec-Gar magazines and one of those people was you. The other reported cracking; but only on his SIG P225 Mec-Gar mags.
 
I sent my wife's BHP .40 to C&S for some moderate custom work and we have been very pleased with the result, and the over all customer service. I'd go with them again in a second.

Tom
 
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