Tell me all you know about the "Inglis Hi Power."

D

Don Gwinn

Staff Emeritus
Hi all, I'm just sitting here fantasizing about new guns since I can't buy any for at least a month, probably longer. I now have the requisite .22 MkI, .44 magnum hunting revolver, and 2 .45 acp's, a SIG 220 and HK USP. What's next?

Well, I really want a Browning-designed single action auto. I've also been thinking hard about a 9mm, so a BHP or clone makes sense. I see "Inglis Hi Powers" every once in awhile, but I have no idea what these are. They seem much less expensive than Brownings on average. Are they clones or just imported by a company called Inglis? If they're clones, are they exact and interchangeable with true BHPs? How's the metallurgy?

I'm basically just looking for an inexpensive HiPower with which to plink, but if my wife likes it she may carry it in the car (she doesn't enjoy .45.)

Thanks.
 
Hello. As I understand it, when the Germans overran Belgium in WWII, several of the FN engineers, etc, fled to Canada, taking the specs and blue prints for several guns including the FN Hi Power. It was manufactured in Canada by the John Ingles Company. I think that these guns have the old, internal extractor common to the older HPs. I've shot a few of them over the years and they all worked fine. I would not give it a steady diet of +P ammunition and would add a Wolff conventional 18.5lb recoil spring to reduce battering. I also put shokbuffs from Buffer Technology in all my HPs, but I shoot them quite a lot with warmish loads.

For more information, you might like to go to http://www.fnhipower.com where I believe you'll find more information on this subject.

Best.
 
Mr. Camp pretty well covered it. Inglis Hi-Powers are WWII Hi-Powers manufactured in Canada. They will generally be the Inglis MkI variant (tangent sights and slotted for shoulder stock) or the MkII variant (tiny fixed sights replace the tangent sights, no shoulder stock slot).

They will have the internal extractor, smaller sights, and a tiny safety compared to modern Hi-Powers. Some will also have a thumb indent on the slide.

Highly recommend you replace at least the firing pin spring in the gun if you purchase an Inglis. I have a friend who has an Inglis with a wonderful history on it; but the gun has fired when dropped (incident described on TFL) due to what we believe was a weak (original) firing pin spring.
 
Just a note that the Inglis HPs are true HPs, but that not all parts will interchange with the Belgians. The following info is courtesy of Adam Firestone of Cruffler.com:

The short story is that very few parts of the Inglis are interchangeable with the Belgian guns. The Brits, who understandably had a quantity of both types of High
Powers, were very curious about the interchangeability issues. And so, on November 3rd, 1966, the Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administration sent a formal request for information as to which parts would interchange. On November 17, 1966, FN gave the following list of parts that could be considered interchangeable between the Inglis and the FN pistols:

a) The recoil spring guide rod assembly,
b) The trigger, trigger lever, trigger pin, and trigger and magazine safety assembly,
c) The magazine stop, magazine stop spring, and magazine stop spring guide assembly,
d) The hammer, hammer pin, hammer strut, hammer spring, hammer spring support, and hammer strut pin assembly,
e) The safety, safety stud, safety pin, and safety spring assembly
f) The magazine body, bottom plate, spring, and bottom plate catch
g) Firing pin
h) Firing pin spring
i) Firing pin retaining plate,
j) Slide stop
k) Sear pin
l) Sear spring assembly
and
m) Ejector

The remaining parts of the pistols are NOT interchangeable.
 
LIProgun. No flame intended but I have all inglis parts on a browning frame. The only parts that are not Inglis are the grip screws which are a different thread. Gun works fine. Do IPSC with it. Would trust it to save my life.
 
For over fifteen years I had
one of the Chinese pattern Inglis
Hi-Powers gathering dust in my gun
cabinet. Its trigger was awful and
the sights were worse. It was not
a joy to shoot.

Couple of months ago, I took it to
the local Pistolsmith and asked him
to open up the rear blade, replace the front
sight with fiber optics, and see what he
could do about the trigger.

Got the gun back two weeks ago. The trigger
pull is a scale-measured three pounds and the
sights are easy to pick up..

One slight problem to be resolved; the gun is
not terribly accurate- three to four inches at
fourteen yards.

I'm wondering if this now improved Inglis is
worth putting more money into for accuracy
work. Is the base gun of good enough quality-
(steel, components, availablity of replacement
parts, etc.) to warrant further work or should I just
live with its accuracy limitations? I am assuming a new barrel and other necessary work could add up to two hundred dolllars or so. Is the internal extractor
arrangement a detriment?
 
The Inglis factory was set up to manufacture 9mm Highpowers for the Chinese government (I believe in the late 1930s). Some early production pistols had Chinese decals when they left the factory. When Canada entered WW II Inglis production was diverted to the Canadian army who thought it was a much better pistol than the British ,38 S&W revolvers used by the British.
 
If historical value is not important to you, and cost is, you should do like me and get an FEG. I got the PJK-9HP and love it. As far as I can tell, it is parts-interchangeable with the Browning. Metallurgy appears good. See the story in the current issue of "Combat Handguns".

Mine shoots well out of the box. 3" to 4" groups at 25 yards, occasionally better. The trigger smoothed out nicely after 200 rounds or so. I feel no need for a trigger job. Only modification is a Hogue monogrip.

It set me back $225, and I've seen 'em for less. I think its a great value.
 
When I was in the Canadian army I put alot of rounds through the Inglis High Power. I never had any problems, in fact I really like this gun. If I should ever get a 9mm, I'd want it to be a high Power.
 
If you are looking for a good shooting 9mm Browning design I will suggest the CZ-75. This gun shoots GREAT, is very cheap and is a Browning Hi-Power cousin. The price might be low but the workmanship is outstanding.
 
Sport, I have compared my Hi-Power with KKM match barrel side by side with other Hi-Powers that have a stock barrel and a recrown. There is practically no difference in the accuracy.

The catch is that all of these were FN-manufactured MkIIIs. The one Inglis I have shot with was already quite accurate with the original 50-yr old stock barrel.

For a lot of people, the recrown seems to make a difference and I imagine that the chance of nicks or dings on the crown of the muzzle is probably greater on an older gun like an Inglis. On the other hand, there is always the chance that your problem is something else entirely.
 
Moe, no way could I construe your comments as a flame. In fact, what you say is very interesting!

All I can tell you is that the list of interchangeable parts came from FN, and I was simply reporting it. From that information I can only make the supposition that either 1) the listed parts are the only ones _guaranteed_ to interchange on all guns, or 2) that by using _all_ Inglis parts on an FN frame you avoided compatability problems (other than the grip screws). By the latter I mean that, for example, by using an Ingils barrel in an Inglis slide, you avoided the potential problems of using an Inglis barrel in an FN slide. Again, this is speculation on my part, and I claim no expertise here.

I can say that I am fond of the Inglis pistols, and consider them well made.
 
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