Thread: Personal Firearms

Regarding the Browning Hi Power. Jeff Cooper once said that the High Power needed : 1. A trigger Job, a better sit of sights, feed ramp polished, magazine disconector removed and a modified thumb safety. After these modifications it was good to go. This pistol was once the choice of the British SAS, they now use a SIG and was popular with CIA personnel who went into Laos and Cambodia duting the Vietnam War. With the above listed modifications I would feel well armed with the Browning Hi Power provided I had an adequate supple of Corbon Powerball ammunition.

Originally Posted by d. m. ellington

Regarding the Browning Hi Power. Jeff Cooper once said that the High Power needed : 1. A trigger Job, a better sit of sights, feed ramp polished, magazine disconector removed and a modified thumb safety. After these modifications it was good to go. This pistol was once the choice of the British SAS, they now use a SIG and was popular with CIA personnel who went into Laos and Cambodia duting the Vietnam War. With the above listed modifications I would feel well armed with the Browning Hi Power provided I had an adequate supple of Corbon Powerball ammunition.

Jeff Cooper was a quite a pistolero. I've read some of his books as well as those of Elmer Kieth and Bill Jordan.

I've never felt the need to do any of the above mentioned mods with my old HP.

I'll leave mine as Mr Browning intended it.

AS far as Heelerau's Colt Navy? I've NO desire to be on the receiving end of one of those things either. They've got more spank than a .38 Special. LOL

Originally Posted by d. m. ellington

Regarding the Browning Hi Power. Jeff Cooper once said that the High Power needed : 1. A trigger Job, a better sit of sights, feed ramp polished, magazine disconector removed and a modified thumb safety. After these modifications it was good to go. This pistol was once the choice of the British SAS, they now use a SIG and was popular with CIA personnel who went into Laos and Cambodia duting the Vietnam War. With the above listed modifications I would feel well armed with the Browning Hi Power provided I had an adequate supple of Corbon Powerball ammunition.

The 'modern' Hi Power has some of those modifications. The sights are much more eye friendly and the thumb safety is large and ambidextrous. I have 3 Hi Powers. Two 9mm and one .40 S&W. I disconnected the magazine safety on one of the two 9s and it was like a brand new trigger job. The other two have good triggers with the mag safety in place.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The 'modern' Hi Power has some of those modifications. The sights are much more eye friendly and the thumb safety is large and ambidextrous. I have 3 Hi Powers. Two 9mm and one .40 S&W. I disconnected the magazine safety on one of the two 9s and it was like a brand new trigger job. The other two have good triggers with the mag safety in place.

Jimmy: My brother in law and his son have the upgraded Hi Powers and they are good pistols. Not many know about the trick of removing the mag safety will improve the trigger action. Some regard it as a safety feature. My mentor told me that if he were in the middle of a pistol fight and had to reload he would like to abililty to fire the weapon without a magazine intact. I tend to follow this reasoning. It makes some folks feel safe to have this feature so for those folks peace of mind it may suit their needs.

I've heard that the Ruger SP101 with 4.2" barrel is legal up there.

Originally Posted by d. m. ellington

Jimmy: My brother in law and his son have the upgraded Hi Powers and they are good pistols. Not many know about the trick of removing the mag safety will improve the trigger action. Some regard it as a safety feature. My mentor told me that if he were in the middle of a pistol fight and had to reload he would like to abililty to fire the weapon without a magazine intact. I tend to follow this reasoning. It makes some folks feel safe to have this feature so for those folks peace of mind it may suit their needs.

Tell you Dwayne, it made it like a brand new trigger. Funny thing is the tangent sight model and the .40 have good triggers with the mag safety in place. I guess what with it being a military issue pistol to start with they figured it was insurance against a recruit who didn't have enough experience or sense to cycle the slide to make sure the chamber was clear. The old ,"I didn't know the gun was loaded."

Guns. On one hand, I have too many. Yet strangely, on the other hand not nearly enough............

Originally Posted by RJD

Guns. I don't have nearly enough............

Corrected, yqw

For me I am a huge fan of Ruger my EDC is a P89DC that I have had since 93. I have never had any type of problem with it, thousands of rounds thru it. I can put 15 rnds inside of 2" @ 25 yrds (lots of practice with it), and its only 2" because I have to move so I hit paper. On hot day I carry a Taurus PT140 or a TCP738. No 25 yrds yet but I just recently got them and the TCP has had FTF issues, took some mothers to the ramp hoping that helps. Home defense is a Winchester 12ga and #6 bird shot. Next on my list is the Ruger SR1911.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Tell you Dwayne, it made it like a brand new trigger. Funny thing is the tangent sight model and the .40 have good triggers with the mag safety in place. I guess what with it being a military issue pistol to start with they figured it was insurance against a recruit who didn't have enough experience or sense to cycle the slide to make sure the chamber was clear. The old ,"I didn't know the gun was loaded."

The 9mm HiPower was the first handgun I ever shot and ever owned. I bought one that had the mag safety removed. Then I drank the Kool-Aid in the 90's and bought a Hi-Power in .40. HATED the trigger until I had the mag safety removed on that as well.

I sold both of them in 2008, and regret it to this day. My Glocks are great, they always work, and I like not having to think about the manual safety, but those Hi-Powers had some serious character! Seriously considering getting one in 9mm again...