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Thread: The Browning Hi-Power

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    The Browning Hi-Power

    Watched an episode of "Gun Stories" that detailed the history of this particular gun. Seems to be one of history's classic semiautos that has been manufactured and used worldwide by an impressive number of countries. FN only recently (2017?) ended production.

    As far as steel-framed semiautos, the Hi-Power doesn't seem to be mentioned as often as, say, the 1911 or CZ-75. Was it not as popular in the US as in other countries?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slater View Post
    Watched an episode of "Gun Stories" that detailed the history of this particular gun. Seems to be one of history's classic semiautos that has been manufactured and used worldwide by an impressive number of countries. FN only recently (2017?) ended production.

    As far as steel-framed semiautos, the Hi-Power doesn't seem to be mentioned as often as, say, the 1911 or CZ-75. Was it not as popular in the US as in other countries?
    Not adopted by our military. Not adopted by any major police departments. Was most popular BEFORE the age of widespread concealed carry of handguns by civilians..... So, no, not as popular.
    The truth can only offend those who live a lie.

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    Not as popular being relative I suppose. It is past it's prime in popularity. It's an "old guy" gun, more so than the 1911. I only have one personally. An Argentine FM licensed model. At one time I had the opportunity to pick up a WW2 British, a Nazi proofed, and a Canadian Ingliss from different sources. I thought that would be cool but I never did it.

    They are nice pistols. The trigger can be made quite nice. I like em but not enough to spend the money on nice ones.
    Go Ukraine! Piss on the Russian dead.

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    The 9mm was not as popular in the US during the HiPower's heyday and revolvers were king. The age of the "wondernine" ushered in double action pistols with higher magazine capacities. Add in the fact that the Belgian HiPowers were never cheap and its not hard to understand why they are not more common.

    I love my MKII despite the fact it was built in Portugal.

    Andy

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    Remember a few years ago watching the documentary Cocaine Cowboys. When they interviewed a retired Miami detective he said after the he saw first hand the first broad day hit where the gunmen used mac10s he went out the next day and bought a high-power to replace his duty revolver

    I had two, now down to one. Both Belgian Israeli trade ins. Unfortunately I sold one, along with a bunch of other stuff, a few months before prices went through the roof!

    Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Arik; 02-05-21 at 20:14.

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    I had a blued .40. I wanted to like it, but that bastard had a 10# trigger. Removing the magazine disconnect improved it some, and smoothed it out a lot, but the trigger was still at 7#. I just didn't like shooting it.

    Combine that with the shortage of good smiths and I realized one day that HP just wasn't for me.
    "One can lead a child to knowledge, but one cannot make him think."
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    I think the P35 is inarguably a classic; the most widely used handgun in Military use in the Free World for several decades.
    I still have a few but have gifted several as well. I went through a period of modifying and “improving” them several years back and became very familiar with them.
    Great pistols for concealed carry if one is fond of single action.
    A true "Gun Guy" (or gal) should have familiarity and a modicum of proficiency with most all firearms platforms.

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    I think the biggest reason BHPs never were super popular here was that by the time the average American pistol shooter got interested 9mms the Smith 39 and 59 were much more widely available, and modern guns like Sig and Glock were already starting to catch on.

    I like the Hipower a lot, but it can be a quirky gun. In GI configuration the trigger suffers from the mag disconnect, some people get hammer bite, and there was a lot less aftermarket support than for 1911s. Slightly tuned a HP is a hell of a gun. Fun fact, the first Americans to hit the ground in Afghanistan after 1911 was a CIA team that was carrying BHPs, for the first few years of that war a lot of the OGA guys had HPs before they started carrying Glocks.
    OEF / OIR / OFS

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    The Hi-Power is the 1911 of much of the non-US world.

    It was the original hi cap pistol.

    Where I grew up, police bought their own guns, but had to start out with the Smith .357. Most of them stuck with it; it was what they were familiar with and already had. A few, looking for more power, upgraded to the .44 magnum.

    Some switched to the 1911 in .45. But once in a while, you'd see one with the Hi-Power. More ammo.

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    I’ve got a couple BHP’s, one still NIB (going to my youngest daughter later this year). Old School beautiful blued steel with walnut grips. I’ll hang on to my old 1990 version, I’m not sure I could wear it out in three lifetimes. Get one when you can, they’re not going to go down in value and you will enjoy shooting it. Like a 1911, it’s easy to CCW it too.

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