What was the best Hi-Power ever made?

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As we all know, the Browning Hi-Power has been around for more than a few decades and has been made in dozens of varients by dozens of assemblers. My question is which varient and assembler combination made the highest quality, most realiable Hi-Power. Im talking about 9mm only here.

My initial thought on this would be the FN Belgium made and FN Belgium assembled hi-powers, am I wrong? Im curious though, if anyone out there knows alot about HI-powers and can say what years and or what varients are renowned to be the of the highest quality and reliability.

With your answer please include what makes you believe this and please include pics and or characteristics of the gun so as to know how to specifically identify that particular model.

D.

[NcongruNt]

As we all know, the Browning Hi-Power has been around for more than a few decades and has been made in dozens of varients by dozens of assemblers. My question is which varient and assembler combination made the highest quality, most realiable Hi-Power. Im talking about 9mm only here.

My initial thought on this would be the FN Belgium made and FN Belgium assembled hi-powers, am I wrong? Im curious though, if anyone out there knows alot about HI-powers and can say what years and or what varients are renowned to be the of the highest quality and reliability.

With your answer please include what makes you believe this and please include pics and or characteristics of the gun so as to know how to specifically identify that particular model.

D.

You might pose this question to Stephen Camp, who has his own section in these forums, called "Camp's Corner". http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... m.php?f=39" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He is a long-time user of the Hi-Power, and has a website devoted to information about it. He knows a LOT about Hi-Powers. You can find tons of information on his site.

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I believe he specifically addresses your question on this page:

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/BestHiPower.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Specifically regarding the Belgian-made guns, there are 3 revisions of the Hi-Power. The original, MkII, and MkIII, along with different variations within these.

One of the bigger improvements as far as reliability is concerned happened with the Mk II revision, which went from a "humped" barrel ramp to a throated barrel ramp. This change made a significant improvement in feeding for hollow-point ammunition.

The MkIII simply added a firing pin safety system, and a change of standard grips. There are a couple of other small details like in external design of the safety levers and slide releases, IIRC. There is a variation of the MkIII called the "practical" which includes concealed-carry features like night sights and a commander hammer. It also looks real slick. ( You can see a picture of one here: http://www.ozarkguns.com/Browning/Hi-Po ... ctical.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

You will find a lot of clones out there made by a variety of manufacturers, but if you want to stick with a true Hi-Power, there are two options: the FN-produced Hi-Powers, or the Argentine-produced FM Hi-Powers. Argentina has the design licensed and tooling from FN Herstal for the production of their guns. I have one of these, the MkII version - known as the FM90. The MkIII version model is the FM95. There is a variant of the MkIII known as the "Detective", which has a 4" barrel, similar to a "Commander" 1911. It is supposed to work well, but requires more frequent maintenance because the recoil spring wears out more quickly due to its shortened length.

My FM90 has been my carry gun for a year and a half now. Mine has been totally reliable (round count is about 2000 rounds now), with no failures or misfeeds - aside from a single squib load that was an ammunition problem. The parts for the Argentine guns are interchangeable with standard FN parts, though there is one significant cosmetic difference. The FM guns do not have beveling at the front of the slide like the the original Hi-Powers. This gives the gun a strong 1911-like appearance to it,and is sometimes referred to as a "Colt-style" slide. Here is a picture of my gun:

[ghostrider]

>The FM guns do not have beveling at the front of the slide like the the original Hi-Powers.

I believe that's true of the newer models, but the older models had beveled slides.

[NcongruNt]

>The FM guns do not have beveling at the front of the slide like the the original Hi-Powers.

I believe that's true of the newer models, but the older models had beveled slides.

That's true - they ditched the beveling when they went to MkII.

However, I doubt he's going to find a pre-MkII FM up for sale anywhere. I've never even seen a picture of one, let alone one up for sale.

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WoW !! thank you for the excellent response. that pretty well covers it completely and you even tossed in links to cover the rest in more detail.

+1 on the great post NcongruNt thank you

[NcongruNt]

No problem. Glad I could be of help.

[HankB]

My vote is for the Mk III with cast frame. Nicely fitted, accurate and reliable, it is probably the strongest 9mm HiPower made.

I also have a tangent-sighted version from the '70s which is nicely finished, but it's not fitted nearly as well as the Mk III . . . and it has that miniscule thumb safety.

And I never warmed to the factory versions with adjustable sights . . . particularly since I know of a couple of instances - one of which I witnessed personally - in which the large front ramp broke off while the pistol was being fired.

[ghostrider]

There are some pictures of FM hipowers here:
http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/hipower ... ipping.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And there were some FM made hipowers that were marked FN, rather than FM, but there are also pics of bevel slide FMs here:
http://hipowertalk.com/forum/topic.asp? ... 1049&#5942" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AEA]

My vote is for the Mk III with cast frame. Nicely fitted, accurate and reliable, it is probably the strongest 9mm HiPower made.

Here's mine (circa 1993 - Ser No. 245NX):



I have since added Novak Night Sights and a single side extended safety: