Good article on the alloy frame Hi-Powers,
Seven High. Thx for posting the info.
I own a pair of Hi-Powers: a beautifully blued and adjustable sighted .40 Mk lll and a two-tone Practical in 9mm. Both give me all the accuracy that 73 yo eyes can wring out of them; something a bit less than 3" at 25 yds. My 41 yo son, does better with selected loads.
The .40, though beautiful (almost too pretty to holster carry), carries the necessary heavier recoil spring and is a bear to cycle by hand...a press check is tough. I find it's most accurate with 135 gr JHP's by Nosler with my own handloads. It'll feed LSWC's with no problems if you get the LOA right and is equally accurate.
The 9mm Practical is a joy to shoot...accurate, with that beautifully sculpted grip that makes all Hi-Powers so ready to hand and easy to shoot well. While some pistols need a good bit of range work to establish the hand/muscle memory necessary for an instantaneous 'firing grip', the Hi-Power does it for me every time, no matter the speed. This particular gun shoots a bit high for my liking, about 4" at 25 yds with 125 gr bullets at any muzzle velocity. And the 115 grainers show very little improvement (about 3" at 25 yds).
My own history with the Hi-Power goes back to 1970 when, flying as a newly minted 2nd Lt., I was assigned as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) to a Special Forces unit operating in lll Corps, RVN. Living in the "B" camp at An Loc, the Air Force had issued me a S&W Model 15, .38 Special. My predecessor, another AF Lt, was headed home and sold me his Jimmy Clark accurized 9mm HP for the princely sum of $100. Remember, this was when a Rolex Submariner went for $155 at the BX...so $100 was no trifling sum and I was making $440 a month including Combat Pay. I bought it, carried it for the remainder of my tour; selling it to one of the Green Berets I'd worked with when I DEROS'd. I'd spent many a night in the 81mm mortar pit, listening the tinkling of the concertina wire as we were probed, comforted by it's heft on my hip. I'd readily give 10x the original amount to get that old war-horse back.
Enjoy your new alloy HP,
lbmikey, shoot it some with moderate loads and enjoy the best feel of a gun in hand that's ever been produced.
Best Regards, Rod Pics of my Practical 9mm with Hogue grips on it; and another of the .40 in a minimalist holster I made for it.