May
2009
028 The Browning High Power Review
Hi, folks —
To fill in our podcast notes on the Hi-Power episode, #28, the first thing we have to tell you is that we neglected something so basic to Browning Hi-Power shooters that all the experienced people who fit that description on the podcast forgot to mention it. While the gun has always been listed as a fourteen-shot pistol (thirteen in the magazine, one more in the chamber) Team ProArms goes with the collective wisdom that it is usually wise to download the magazine by one. Mas notes that when he was in England, British SAS troopies told him they were penalized a day without pay for each Hi-Power magazine they were found carrying with more than twelve rounds. Apparently squeezing in the thirteenth round not only makes reloading difficult with the slide forward (no flex left in the magazine spring due to densely packed cartridge stack), but for the same reason causes additional friction drag between the topmost cartridge and the bottom of the slide as the pistol cycles after the first shot. This, characteristically, causes a jam between the first and second shots. While it doesn’t happen with all Hi-Power magazines, it has happened with so many that we recommend downloading to twelve per mag.
Jargon Alerts:
The magazine article Mas is heard quoting from is one that he wrote several years ago for the magazine The Accurate Rifle. The article is here.
“Flinger-Dinger” is the local terminology (in Suwannee County anyway) for what is more commonly known as the Rotator target. For complete description go to the link provided here for Safe Direction, the steel target company run by Steve Camp in Illinois.
To add to the confusion, two men with the same name come into play here. The other Stephen Camp is the Browning Hi-Power authority who runs the website hipowersandhandguns.com, which all of us at Team ProArms strongly recommend.
CAVIM is the acronym for the Venezuelan company that manufactures very hot NATO spec 9mm Parabellum ammunition.
Ed Lovette, mentioned in the podcast, is a former CIA operative and current writer and trainer whose work appears in Combat Handguns magazine. We here all know Ed and strongly recommend that good gun people become familiar with his work.
The two gunsmiths most prominently mentioned in the podcast for top-level “carry gun” Hi-Power modifications are Wayne Novak at Novak’s .45 Shop in West Virginia, and Bill Laughridge (pronounced “LOCK-ridge”) who owns the Cylinder and Slide Shop in Nebraska.
The manufacturer of the Hi-Power .22 Long Rifle Conversion Unit that was mentioned is Jonathan Arthur Ciener.
For information on the Polite Society combat match and Tactical Conference, go to www.rangemaster.com. Gail and Mas both went this year and found it pleasant and instructive, and Gail took High Lady honors at the match.
The book mentioned as the best reference on the topic is “The Browning High Power Automatic Pistol” by R. Blake Stevens, published in 1990 in Ontario by Collector Grade Publications. Also of interest is “Inglis Diamond: The Canadian High Power Pistol” by Clive M. Law, from the same publisher.
This podcast came directly from listener feedback that we received at the ProArms section of GRRN, Gun Rights Radio Network. We’re eager to hear your feedback, and your ideas for future podcasts. One we’ve already decided to do and are planning for, at listener request, is an episode focusing on the AR15.
Oh…and don’t forget to stick around at the end of the podcast for the comments by Rod Blagojevich and his wife, Patti.
Parts made in Belgium, gun assembled in Portugal, this Mark III Hi-Power 9mm is currently available at ProArms and is an excellent example of current “best of breed.”
This is Mas’ 7.65mm (.30 Luger) Hi-Power, bought for teaching and carrying in a South American nation where out-of-country concealed carry permits are available, but no one except local police and military can carry anything larger than .32 caliber.
This is Mas’ Browning Hi-Power 9mm customized by Bill Laughridge at Cylinder & Slide Shop. He has carried it from Washington State to England to South Africa.
To our knowledge, the only “made in USA” Hi-Power, from Charles Daly. Sights are XS Express.
Original style Hi-Power burr or rowel hammer configuration pinches web of hand upon firing, as shown.
Spur type hammer just misses hitting average size hand of this male shooter. Shortening hammer spur will save bigger hands from impact.
IDPA Five-Gun Master Jon Strayer shoots his Hi-Power. Spent casing is going past head but gun is still on target. Controllability is one thing master shooters love about this gun.
Mas demonstrates how to lower hammer of Hi-Power without inserting a magazine or removing magazine disconnector safety. Seen from above with slide removed for visibility, right hand is holding gun-frame, left hand middle fingertip pad is pressing the disconnector forward. Without magazine, hammer will now fall when trigger is pulled.
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