This is a great gun. It was my grandfathers service pistol when he was in the Belgian gendarmerie. It carried him through the thirties, the war years and post war. I'm happy I have one at home and it serves very well on the gun range.
This gun for me is.....The Gold Standard in sidearms Period.Everything that you articulated as the pros of this gun are the reason I still hold this design as the ultimate in handguns.Great video. Awesome job.
I shot one of these for the first time last weekend, and was thoroughly impressed with how manageable it is. I can see why it was adopted by so many countries.
Not sure if it's been noted before,but the notch after the checkering of the slide is there so the safety will lock on it and make disassembly easier.Love the review and the Hi-Power,keep the quality of your videos. =)
I don't know if anyone pointed this out or even if you know it but I will say it anyway for disassembly you hold your slide using tge safety in the second notch in the slide and then you can remove the holding pin easily
I found your actual knowledgeable review to be very well presented and researched. Great looking and performing firearm. My HP slide cracked probably due to +P Corbon ammo and lots of great shooting. Deadly weapon - ammo combination in the hands of a skilled shooter.
When my dad served in the Army during the Panama invasion, he knew his standard issue didn't have enough knock down power so he got a Hi power instead. It wasn't just during the invasion but his own protection when he was undercover in civilian clothing. I've never owned any guns but if I had to start I would choose a Hi power first. Great video as always Sootch.
@shinli00 It's called the Hi Power because of the 'firepower', meaning the number of rounds which it could hold. When it was released the Hi Power could hold more rounds than any contemporary pistol because it was the first pistol with a double-stacked magazine.
No plus p ammo? This is news to me. This gun was designed to shoot standard 9mm ammo which in Europe the standard ammo probably exceeds our +P ammo. I shot some Fiocchi ammo back in the day that may have been sub machine gun ammo with no ill effects. Contact Browning if you have any questions.
My grandpa bought one in 1990 (checked the serial number and manufactured date) anyways I’m 19 she is mine now:) g10 grips on her so much thinner reliable and some much fun to shoot. Getting the mag disconnect removed and the gun Re-finished and new sights and I use the 15 round megar magazines I have shot with them in all conditions (one handed,left and right) ( rapid fire) (30 yards ) (slow ) and they’ve been reliable so far. Sorry going on and on but I just love this gun and I have a ddm4 v7 pro :) and many others so that says alot for a 30 year old gun
The finish is hard chrome . For +p loads you have two choices , use a .40 guide rod spring but that is all you will be able to shoot and eject. The owners manual states "The barrel and action of this pistol have been made with substantial safety margins over the pressures developed by American commercial loads" 35 K PSI and +P 38 K PSI under SAMMI. cheers
Outstanding pistol, like TH it was my service sidearm for my time in the Military, great to shoot, easy to strip and clean and never had any issues with them, just a classic Browning design. great vid Sootch
G'day sootch. Good video. We still currently use this pistol here in Australia and i can say from personal experience that this is a excellant pistol and as you say we load down our magazines to 10 rounds even though, as you say they do accept the 13+1 capacity.
First gun I ever bought was a Belgian made model I bought in 1987 for $472.50. I had some Millett sights put on the year after I bought it, and I put Pachmayr grips on sometime in the mid-90's. (I still have the original wood grips stored safely away in the original box.) I've never been a serious shooter, and certainly have less than 1000 rounds through it, but I absolutely love my Browning. I had no idea what I was doing when I bought it. I knew I wanted 9mm, and I loved the way it felt in my hand. It's like an old friend. :-)
I sent of my Hi power clone slide to be custom machined, with S&W M&P sight dovetails milled in so I can install any sights that will fit the M&P, I'm super stoked to get it back.
This one was on my bucket list forever. Finally got lucky with a almost NIB and kind of rare one at that. But god the trigger is something different to me and leaves a lot to be desired. I think it’s going to the smith to be worked over (lightly) to keep as original as possible.
I owned one of these once, but regrettably had to sell it to make the rent once. It's a great pistol; the only flaw that I can see is that the beavertail on the backstrap is too short. If you have large hands and aren't careful, the slide or the hammer can pinch the webbing of your hand when you shoot it.
Hey sootch, a way you can make the field strip a little easier is to engage the thumb safety into that second notch on the slide prior to removing the slide stop. The safety will hold the slide in place and take tension off of the pin. Also makes reassembly easier. Just wanted to share that data point with you. Love your channel and keep making great vids!
Hi, just got my second P35, 1953 FN, pure Belgium made. What a nice piece. I also have the 75th Anniversary, never been fired. Glad I was able to get the 1953 so I could shoot the last John Moses Browning designed firearm. Sad that Browning choose to 86 this classic sidearm. Rick Mansberger
i enjoyed this video more than any other you have uploaded. Maybe it's because of the historical design of the High Power. Love that gun. You have kept it in pristine condition. I've got to get one.
It was called 'practical' because the model was actually made for Europezn IPSC shooters back in the 1980's (before the 1911's with compensators became the standard). And the P in IPSC stood for Practical before they changed it ibto Parcour. Also, if you pull the slide all the way back and then turn the safety on, you can remove the slide stop without applying pressure.
The Browning Hi Power has been a favorite of mine since buying my first in 2000. I can reach all the controls and I think it's easier to work and clean than my 1911.
Sootch love your reviews. Ill watch them even if its not a product I had prior interest in. I subscribe to several gun magazines for my gun porn but they don't do it justice like you. Thanks for your time and enthusiasm.
Mr, Browning is the greatest weapon designer ever.... Single action weapons Rock.... just think M2 BMG, 1911, the high power and so on - how many of his designs are still used today
I'm a Big Revolver Guy but the Browning is an awesome pistol. I've got one that's made by FN. I haven't shot it in a few years now, after seeing this video I'll have to take it outand make a little noise. :-)
Nice to saa a review of the good old Hi Power, it, has served my country and many others well for years. It is know being replaced by Sigs sadly. One thing though, when you stripped it you held the slide back, you could always have used the notvh in the slide that the safety locks into. That is why it's there after all..
Sootch some people like myself were turned off by the low (by today's standards) mag capacity. You should mention that Mec-Gar makes flush fitting 15 round mags for the BHP.
With TLC, throating and polishing, these can be made the slickest operating pistol there are. Blindfolded, and cycle the action by hand half a dozen times, you could not tell if cycling rounds out of the mag, or cycling air with no mag. Except for hearing falling rounds. Mine was that smooth feeding and ejecting. John Browning's last design may have been his best.
@FuckFlyOverCuntry WWII handguns have been found in Europe, after 50+ years in the ground, and fired without problems. Personally, I have multiple semi-auto mags that have been stored full for 3+ years and fire flawlessly when pulled out. Furthermore if you are familiar with the metalurgy and physics of springs, you would discover that maintaining pressure on a spring does not weaken or deform it. Think about all the springs around us that are constantly under pressure for years, if not decades.
Very nice. 10 years after you posted this, I sit here watching with my HP Practical on my hip. One of my favorite pistols of all time. Personally I can't stand those Pachmeyer grips, so I have a nice set of rosewood grips from Craig Spegel that I got way back in 1998 on mine.
The mag safety was specified in the contract the pistol was designed to meet. As a military pistol, the mag safety makes it easy and quick to safe the weapon on duty. I can't see SAS or British soldiers complaining about the trigger without being laughed at. Always click test a Hi-Power and ensure the hammer doesn't drop when the slide runs forward after dropping the slide stop. Check also the hammer doesn't drop to half cock when dropping safety. Too many people "tune" the trigger on these by fucking with the sear....
Great video and great pistol. We still use the Browning Hi Power up here in the Canadian Army, I actually was doing some dry firing shooting drills with it and my NCO's last week. We use the Canadian "Inglis" made ones which have been around for quite a while so they are a bit "used" but still work great. I also noticed in your stripping and assembly you didn't push the slide back and engage it with the safety to remove the slide stop which makes things easier. Take care & keep up the good work!
When your stripping that pistol there's a notch you can use in combination with the safety switch to hold the slide in place. If your not strong enough to hold the slide while removing the pin, it might ping out at you. I love this pistol but the trigger sucks. In my opinion.
Bummer. The Browning website shows only MK III and Standard models in production. I always dug the Practical and the full hard chromed ones and now that I'm in a position where I can get one, the only way to do it is find a used one! Nice vid!
uh, Sootch? When you disassemble the Hi-Power, you use the thumb safety lever in the second notch on the slide to hold it open while you remove the stop pin. See the notch? It is the one forward of the safety notch. Much easier than holding spring tension while trying to work the stop pin loose.
I loved mine, I could just never get used to the trigger. The break isn't as pronounced as a 1911 or Glock. I could never tell when it was gonna break. Maybe it was just me. Excellent gun though, I do miss it.
@roundrogers Thank you...Just got back around 1 pm have to go to work to night at 6...They put on a great event agin...Thanks agin Sootch...God bless...
worth changing out the ambidextrous side of the grip, that thumb side in the palm of your hand detracts. For all the new 9mm's out there nothing has significantly improved on the P35, some nice trigger spring kits out there cheaply too
There's a notch to which you can engage the safety lever in order to keep the slide back while disassembling the gun. No need to hold it with your hand with the risk of seeing it fly across the room:). PS I have an FN made one in 7,65Parabellum (.30 luger), which I got in exchange for a Browning in 9mm... The quality of the FNs is just so much better than the Brownings!
The recent ones are made in Portugal. Mine was made in 1964 in Herstal, and that's a different story. And even if they were made in the exact same factory and only assembled in Portugal (which I can't exclude, really...), the quality of older FNs is just in a league of its own
I had a squib low pressure .40 and a second in the pipe three Sundays ago. I had bought it Saturday and in 22 hours it was blowed. I sent it to browning after new year as they told me to wait until holiday was over. It was a bhp mark iii .40 1995 in 97 percent. I never knew what made these so nice until I shot this one just a hundred times. The extractor blew out. The barrel about 15 cm back has a 35 thousandths bulge and the slide will not go back. I was told at 80 dollars an hour Smith time and a new barrel at about 250 plus the other parts could get pricey and if the repair cost was too great browning might could offer me to buy a new one at a discount. Does anyone have comments on this be appreciated. I had it up on arms list and had a 215 parts offer. My son convinced me to send it in as its only 35 to look at it. Yes it was a low pressure reload. The worst part is I just paid 850 22 hours before. So now with the repair cost. The loss from 850 to parts 200 is great. So running again and then selling it I am out way less. The thing is I really like it and the condition is very nice
You teardown and assemble the hard way. Just push the slide back and engage the safety lever in the notch in the slide (that's what it's there for) and then push the slide release out.
Replaced with the gen 4 glock 17 though in Afghanistan british soldiers were being issued sig p226's beforehand. On a side note these will stay in armouries for many years to come, there's still some old Victory revolvers inside some british armouries.
I love the hi power as well as the cz 75 I know you didn't mention the cz but they seem to be so close to eachother as well as ergos ..I don't own a hi power but I do own a cz . Great review
