Tisas Hi Power Clone

TunnelRat said:
For one in that condition so would I. My point wasn't that all of the used Hi Powers are going for $800. My point is many of the great deals of past years aren't currently available.



I don't remember anyone questioning your knowledge, but okay.
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I was joking about the BHP knowledge. Did not transfer....

IMHO there are still great deals but you need to know where to look and when to buy. If you are in the market for one you need to do your research. Look in a lot of different places often and have cash ready to buy when the right gun comes up. For me these days I am looking for base guns.

That simple looking MKIII will end up looking like this minus the beavertail.

bhp_sg_2.jpg


The gun in the post above is currently at Mr. Yost's shop and will be built into a Signature Grade 1 custom in the spring unless I can get a properly priced T series to replace it and bump the build to a Signature Grade 2 with 40 LPI checkering on the grip strap.
 
Thanks for the info guys.

fwiw, none of these are stainless. That doesn't drive me, but it does influence some people.

I have to admit, a stainless HP doesn't sound bad...
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The stainless finish and reasonable price tag is what initially caught my attention. I think now I'll wait and watch it for awhile and see if the QC issues are addressed by Tisas. Because there are actually number of decent quality guns coming out of Turkey its too bad this clone has issues.
 
I don't understand partial stainless guns. So it doesn't matter if your hammer, trigger, safety, slide stop, and magazine catch rust?
 
CDI AKA Cole's Distributing had a fire at their facility earlier this year. It was a total loss. There has been no word if they are going to get back up and running.
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My understanding is that they have closed down for good.
 
I noted that Mach 1 and some other gunbroker sellers seemed to take up the slack left by CDI; the last time I checked, they had some surplus at "CDI" prices.
I think some of the fairly big sellers/small importers understand there's a market for a 'beater/shooter' HP (or CZ), at a reasonable price. If you get a fairly rough finished one under $300 without heavy pitting, it's an all steel gun that can be refinished, if need be, and you still come out ahead. Or, you can keep it as is, and just enjoy it in it's ragged glory.
 
scoobysnacker said:
If you get a fairly rough finished one under $300 without heavy pitting, it's an all steel gun that can be refinished, if need be, and you still come out ahead. Or, you can keep it as is, and just enjoy it in it's ragged glory.
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Agreed. Why would I spend the money for a nicely-finished Colt Officers ACP when holster wear is going to ruin the finish anyway? I bought an M1991A1 Compact (mechanically identical) and carry it without any worries that I'll ruin a nicely blued finish.
 
Sold about 5 of them to costumers and review one myself. I like the it feels. We ran almost 1000 rounds through the black cerekote gun and ran great. The stainless steel ones we have had problems with. 1 and failures to feed with blazer. The other broke extractor after 400 rounds. Luckily the importer is 20 min away from the store and is super nice about getting parts to us as well as fixing any problem. Not so good they are importing in small batches and are selling out very quickly. He said it would be a few weeks to get the parts. They will however take any browning parts and seem to be high quality on the outside. Our gunsmith has done 3 trigger jobs on the guns and likes their quality on the slide and frame but the small parts are where they are cutting corner. He says they are rough. For now I would say if you get one go with the black cerekote and stay away from the stainless.
 
P 35 Hi Power probably the most popular military sidearm EVER!

Okay, the Hungarians, Turks, Israelis, and others copied it without any licensing, and I have owned and used FN, Sarsilmaz, Arcus, FM, Inglis, and numerous mystery Hi Power clones, and modified Hi Powers like the FEG P9M which uses a barrel with Browning locking lugs into the slide, but the barrel pivot & recoil spring guide are 100% S&W model 59. The rest of the gun is 99% John Browning & D. Savier. The Tisas P35 copies will NOT take FN, FEG or Inglis, Sarsilmaz, FM or other Browning parts without hand fitting. Aside from the fact nothing quite fits FN or other standard parts with the Tisas, these seem like decent guns, so far. I have broken every part on a Hi Power imaginable. Slides, frames, barrels, extractors, magazines, you name it. I have even crushed a frame and pounded it back into shape, so the Hi Power holds a special place with me, that only a gun that has saved my live can. For $505 I am open buying to the Tisas. For $700? I'll save up another $400 or $500 and buy a MkIII FN, or buy a beat up surplus P 35. I have a couple of FEGs in the original Browning design and the SA modified model with the S&W recoil guide rod and pivot. Those can be a bit sloppy, but just like a 1911, pinch the slide closed a little and they tighten up. You can always spread it back open a little if you go to far.
 
As a follow up to the post concerning Mach 1 Arsenal's surplus FN Hi-Powers, there are some pretty nice Mk. II FN pistols listed (and some failing to sell) on Gunbroker for $480. If you don't need replaceable sights, this is a pretty good deal, considering the inflated prices for FN Hi-Powers since production stopped.
 
I have replaced both sights on the old 1911s, FN Hi Powers, Arcus, FMs & FEGs.

Find the proper 1911 sight with the right sized post grind down a staking tool, or use silver solder and the front sights can be removed & new sights restaked. The rear sights are drifted in and then peened or staked with a small divot fore of the sight. The FEG P35M slides are super thick at the muzzle end so a machine shop can machine in a dovetail for about $95. The Daewoo DP51 cost me $140 but the front sight had to be milled off first. Those sights are not staked on. They are part of the slide. Older 1911s & P35s have staked on front sights. New ones will usually have the dovetails both fore and aft. CZ's inline dovetails with the pins are no fun! get some cheap visegrips grind off the ridges on the jaws, & clamp those to the sight to make a heatsink, so heat from drilling the notch won't melt out the plastic epoxy or whatever that is that holds the tritium vial into the sight.
 
I've got a T-Series Hi Power that I bought for $57 over fifty years ago, and a Cerakoted BR9 that I bought this year. Build quality of the BR9 seems to be better than the T. I do love that T though.
 
JimCunn I've got a T-Series Hi Power that I bought for $57 over fifty years ago, and a Cerakoted BR9 that I bought this year. Build quality of the BR9 seems to be better than the T. I do love that T though.
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Having held a several of the Tisas copies and owning five or six T series I find that interesting to say the least.:rolleyes:

Are you sure your T series is an FN and not an Inglis with a T prefix serial#?
 
"Are you sure your T series is an FN and not an Inglis with a T prefix serial#?"

Quite certain. The markings on it haven't changed a bit since I swapped that $57 J-frame for it half a century ago :-)

It had had half a box of ammo shot through it since new. I got the remainder of that box in the swap, but it didn't last long.

Frame/slide fit of the T was rattley when it was new. Still is. Despite that, it was fairly accurate though.

Edit- I do recognize that you know far more about the P35 than I do.
Are you telling me that Inglis duplicated the Browning Arms Company St Louis stamping and the Made in Belgium stamping on the left side of the slide when they imported to the US?
 
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Can anyone else answer that question for me?

Did Inglis duplicate all of the Browning Hi Power markings when they imported to the US?
 
I don't think Inglis "imported to the U.S." Inglis manufactured Hi-Powers for the Canadian military during WW2.

https://www.ai4fr.com/main/page_militaria__collectibles_canada_inglis.html

The Hi-Power is the only sidearm that this author is aware of that was officially issued to both sides during WW2. Nazi Germany acquired Hi-Power pistols that were manufactured in occupied Belgium, while the Allies used the Hi-Power pistols that were manufactured in Canada by the Inglis company. The German examples from this period should have the Waffenamt acceptance mark of WaA103, WaA140 or WaA613 stamped on them. The Germans manufactured over 315,000 of the Hi-Power pistols during their occupation of Belgium.

The Allied Hi-Power pistols that were made by John Inglis and Company during WWII were often used for covert operations and commando groups including the U.S. Office of Strategic Services(OSS) and the British Special Air Service(SAS). After the war, Hi-Power pistols have remained popular with many military forces from around the world and over 93 nations have officially issued this sidearm to its troops since its invention. ...
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I didn't think so either, but one of the previous posters has suggested that my T-series with Browning markings and stamped with Made in Belgium is actually an Inglis. Since he knows more about these than I do, I thought I'd ask.
 
JimCunn
"Are you sure your T series is an FN and not an Inglis with a T prefix serial#?"
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Quite certain. The markings on it haven't changed a bit since I swapped that $57 J-frame for it half a century ago :-)
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There are FN/Browning Hi Powers with the letter "T" at the beginning of the serial# as in T1234.
There are Inglis Hi Powers with the letter "T" in the serial#, as in 2Txxx or 5Txxx.
It is not uncommon for someone with an Inglis to claim they have a "T series Hi Power" when they just have a WWII era Inglis, not an FN.



Are you telling me that Inglis duplicated the Browning Arms Company St Louis stamping and the Made in Belgium stamping on the left side of the slide when they imported to the US?
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No, thats why I asked if your's was an Inglis or an FN. You didn't mention slide markings.


JimCunn Did Inglis duplicate all of the Browning Hi Power markings when they imported to the US?
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Inglis (as a company) never exported the Hi Power to the US, only China and the British Empire. After WWII quite a few were imported by a number of US companies as military surplus.


JimCunn I didn't think so either, but one of the previous posters has suggested that my T-series with Browning markings and stamped with Made in Belgium is actually an Inglis. Since he knows more about these than I do, I thought I'd ask.
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I sure as heck didn't suggest any such thing. I asked you a question. You didn't mention anything regarding slide markings until AFTER I asked that question.
 
Inglis Hi Powers were made in Canada with the aid of FN personnel, one pistol they had with them and one from GB those were metric pattern and inch drawings were reverse engineered from them. Inglis pistols were only imported to the US many years after production ended and were Chinese contract and military surplus, none were imported by Browning nor did any carry Browning or FN slide markings other than “Browning FN 9mm HP”. Non Chinese contract began with 0Txxxx mine is 0T5358, and 8T0034 these are not FN “T” series pistols, some Inglis parts will interchange with FN pistols.
 
Yeah, that matches my understanding of Inglis production as well.
My Serial # is in the T280XXX range.

Since I have considerable sentimental attachment to my T, I don't use it for defensive carry or even keep it loaded. Which is why I bought the Tisas - no attachment, it's just a tool, and is loaded. Build quality of the Tisas is better than the T, but the brownish black Cerakote finish of the Tisas is not as attractive as the sleek blue on the Browning. The Browning had a lot of slide/frame rattle and clatter when new, while the Tisas is snug and smooth. Barrel to slide fit on the Tisas is also better. Browning trigger (with disconnector removed) is much better than the gritty Tisas trigger with disconnector still in place. T disconnector removal was an easy five minute job. I haven't been able to get the Tisas disconnector out yet - it's a real struggle.
 
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