Got the Hi-Power

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Came in today but I didn't get to mess with it for very long before having to go to work. But, initial impressions are good. I had worried a little about a couple of the known issues with the gun (tendency to hammer-bite, heavy, gritty trigger pull, magazine not dropping free when released).

However, I was pleasantly surprised to see more than adequate space between the hammer and my hand. And the trigger pull feels fine - there is, of course, at least 1/4" of take up, but there's no creep or grittiness, and release is clean.

The mag also drops free when released.

Fit & finish are, of course, more than satisfactory, on initial inspection.

Can't wait to strip and clean it and take it to the range!

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Originally Posted By: john_pifer
known issues with the gun (tendency to hammer-bite, heavy, gritty trigger pull, magazine not dropping free when released).

I used to have a new FN Hi-Power (in the '90s) with fixed sights and Parkerized finish. Mine had a heavy trigger pull that wasn't the smoothest; a gunsmith rectified that for me.

The mag-not-dropping thing was on purpose: there was a little plunger that bore on the mag and deliberately limited it to dropping out only enough to grab hold of it with your fingers and pull it out the rest of the way; this was a handicap in IPSC, so I removed the plunger and the mag dropped freely after that.

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
there is, of course, at least 1/4" of take up,

That was a bit of a pain. Plus the need to release the trigger completely before being able to take another shot, which was also a handicap in IPSC, and eventually led me to buy a Glock M22 for that purpose instead.

The Hi-Power was dead-reliable, though; and I always liked the looks of it.
 
It's the magazine safety lever inside the mag well that prevents the magazine from fully dropping free when the release is pushed.

The OP's doesn't do this. That's strange. Was the mag safety eliminated or redesigned?

Nice pistol, BTW.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: paulo57509
It's the magazine safety lever inside the mag well that prevents the magazine from fully dropping free when the release is pushed.


Yep. I believe most all the Hi-Powers produced in the last 30+ years ago featured magazine safeties. And I believe this includes the Portugal assembled models imported into the US.

Originally Posted By: paulo57509
The OP's doesn't do this. That's strange. Was the mag safety eliminated or redesigned?


The mag safety can be removed, which greatly increases trigger take-up smoothness and allows the magazine to drop free of it’s own weight. Of course removing it also allows the gun to fire without a magazine in place.

Removing the mag safety isn’t overly difficult and I did so on one of the Hi-Powers I owned in the past. Put it back in before I sold it. Smoothing up both the safety plunger face and the magazines where the two rub together can reduce the gritty feel somewhat.
 
I think you'll really like it.

I have a two tone Practical as shown in your other thread, in .40, and it's a terrific gun.

I took off that Hogue wrap around and put on a set of checkered cocobolo (sp?) grips, and it really looks classy - a gentleman's weapon.

I put the Hogue on a 9 mm FEG Hi Power clone as an upgrade to it. The FEG's, if you can find them, are also a terrific gun at about a third of the price of the Browning. I think they were only made in 9 mm.
 
Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Send it HERE.


WOW!

wonder how much all that would cost? Probably close to what I paid for the pistol!
 
Originally Posted By: Win
I think you'll really like it.

I have a two tone Practical as shown in your other thread, in .40, and it's a terrific gun.

I took off that Hogue wrap around and put on a set of checkered cocobolo (sp?) grips, and it really looks classy - a gentleman's weapon.

I put the Hogue on a 9 mm FEG Hi Power clone as an upgrade to it. The FEG's, if you can find them, are also a terrific gun at about a third of the price of the Browning. I think they were only made in 9 mm.


Very cool. Wasn't the FEG made in Argentina?

Depending on how I like this one, I had thought about maybe getting one of the clones for CCW.

This guy really talks the BHP up for CCW:

www.hipowersandhandguns.com
 
Grats on your purchase!

Be extra careful when assembling that HP not to scratch the slide with the slide stop thingy.
 
Originally Posted By: john_pifer
Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Send it HERE.


WOW!

wonder how much all that would cost? Probably close to what I paid for the pistol!


You're under by a factor of 6-10 I would guess...
 
IIRC, I paid something like 400,- Euros (USD 500,-) or so for my Mark III couple of years ago. Since then handgun legislation has been tightened a lot and it is very difficult today to get a handgun license (impossible to get a concealed carry license) and prices are down.

At the moment I don't have Finnish guns but usually people here have guns which carry names like Sako, Tikka, Valmet etc. But US and German guns are quite popular, too.
 
Hi Power w/ Pachmyer grips is probably the best feeling gun that I have handled. Nice streamlined gun that works well.

The only reason I don't own one is the terrible location of the safety and how hard it is to actuate. It can also dig into your thumb with the "thumbs high" hold that any 1911 shooter will use.

The custom safety and welded beaver tail on the custom gun linked above would probably help much.
 
Originally Posted By: Finn
IIRC, I paid something like 400,- Euros (USD 500,-) or so for my Mark III couple of years ago. Since then handgun legislation has been tightened a lot and it is very difficult today to get a handgun license (impossible to get a concealed carry license) and prices are down.

At the moment I don't have Finnish guns but usually people here have guns which carry names like Sako, Tikka, Valmet etc. But US and German guns are quite popular, too.


Cool. Yeah, I don't know a tremendous amount about Finnish firearms, but I know they have a rep for quality.

Too bad that the liberals are clamping down on individual freedoms there. They are trying to do the same thing here.

Did the shooting a couple of years ago in Norway have anything to do with it?
 
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