I'm thinking about getting a FN Browning Hi-Power, but I don't know a lot about the gun--the appeal is primarily it's historicity. Anyone have any strong feelings they want to share about the gun?
I carried a T series HP for years, only had to give it up because of small sights and worsening eyesight.
Most ergonomic handgun ever designed imo. Points and handles amazingly.
Most ergonomic handgun ever designed imo. Points and handles amazingly.
Here is a short history for you mate "The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic handgun available in the 9mm and . 40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium." Thank youI'm thinking about getting a FN Browning Hi-Power, but I don't know a lot about the gun--the appeal is primarily it's historicity. Anyone have any strong feelings they want to share about the gun?
They look cool but I find the trigger system in the Hi-Power to be terrible. The pulls are heavy and gritty and ridiculous, the mag safety locks the trigger if the magazine fit is at all loose, and worst of all the trigger system routes through the slide. An incredibly fragile-looking pawl operates a lever in the slide which trips the sear in the frame. The result is that when you stage the trigger, that pawl lifts the slide up against the slack in the frame rails. Very weird and unnecessary and further contributes to the terrible trigger.
Ergos are good...compared to contemporary guns from the 1930s. Hammer bite is a problem if you use a contemporary grip or don't buy one with an extended beaver tail. Safety engagement is mushy. Mags only drop free if you modify the gun.
In 1935 it was 40 years ahead of the curve. Today, it's held up worse than the 1911. Some of these shortcomings can be solved by spending a LOT of money, but it's not getting you the equivalent of a 1911 for the same money. Something like a Beretta 92 outclasses it in every way.
Hi-Power was definitely a "never meet your heroes" moment for me. Cool as a historical piece, I guess.
Removal of the mag safety, corrects all of the BHP issues imo.
It takes the trigger from so bad it's practically unusable to...below average. It'll never be a 1911 trigger.