Browning Hi power Questions

[Vecco]

I have 3 questions on a Browning hi power 9 mm.

1) Does this gun have a magazine disconnect. If there is a round in the chamber and the magazine is removed will it fire?

2) To clean the gun, when removing the slide do you have to trip the trigger like on Glocks and XD's or can you remove the slide without touching the trigger.

3) If you have a round in the chamber and a magazine in the gun while you attempted to disassemble for cleaning, If you pull the trigger when trying to remove the slide will it go off?

I have downloaded the manual and I have called browning (not very helpful) so I need to ask someone who owns the gun.

 

[HIP SHOT]

I have 3 questions on a Browning hi power 9 mm.

1) Does this gun have a magazine disconnect. If there is a round in the chamber and the magazine is removed will it fire? Yes it has a magazine Disconnect.

2) To clean the gun, when removing the slide do you have to trip the trigger like on Glocks and XD's or can you remove the slide without touching the trigger. You Lock the slide to the rear with the safety and remove the takedown pin. You dont have to pull the trigger.

3) If you have a round in the chamber and a magazine in the gun while you attempted to disassemble for cleaning, If you pull the trigger when trying to remove the slide will it go off? As stated in #2, You lock the slide back with the manual safety. The round would be ejected at that point.

I have downloaded the manual and I have called browning (not very helpful) so I need to ask someone who owns the gun.

The S&W MP pistols have a feature (like the Most of the Ruger pistols) that you have to reach into to the breech opening (with the slide locked back) and move a lever to disengage the sear. This removes the need to pull the trigger during the dis-assembly process.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

The Hi-Power does have a mag disconnect safety.

Here is a link to a video showing the removal of the slide, the hammer stays cocked:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/pla ... 1532230812

As you can see the safety is used in the takedown of the gun so your last question about pulling the trigger is answered by that.

 

[Snake45]

I have 3 questions on a Browning hi power 9 mm.

1) Does this gun have a magazine disconnect. If there is a round in the chamber and the magazine is removed will it fire?

2) To clean the gun, when removing the slide do you have to trip the trigger like on Glocks and XD's or can you remove the slide without touching the trigger.

3) If you have a round in the chamber and a magazine in the gun while you attempted to disassemble for cleaning, If you pull the trigger when trying to remove the slide will it go off?

1) Yes and No, respectively, unless the mag disconnector has been removed.

2) You can remove the slide without touching the trigger. In fact, unless the slide is fully in battery, the trigger is not connected to anything, as the trigger-sear connection is in the slide.

3) Difficult to imagine this scenario. If the gun were loaded, as soon as you retract the slide to the takedown notch, that's going to become apparent as the round in the chamber will eject or at least partially extract. I don't know if you can remove the slide with a magazine in place (loaded OR empty) but I'd assume not--you can't with many/most guns.

But as I said, unless the slide is in proper firing position, there IS no connection between the trigger and the sear, even if there's a magazine in the mag well.

One has to wonder what prompts these particular questions. :?

 

[Cheesewhiz]

One has to wonder what prompts these particular questions. :?

Snake, I would say a "Bar Room Bet" or something similar.

I've heard all kinds of possible BS stories on AD's and such when it comes to guns.

 

[rugerbertt]

The early model BHP did not have a mag safety. On the later models it can be disabled without too much effort.

 

[Snake45]

The early model BHP did not have a mag safety.

Huh. Never heard that before.

I used to own one made in 1954 that had it. I'd always assumed all the WWII ones did, too.

You learn something every day, if you're not careful. :wink:

 

[rugerbertt]

Yes, I should have said some, but not all early models did not have the mag safety.
The later production Nazi German models, did not and the early postwar models with the A prefix on the serial number did not have it.

 

[Quarterbore]

Looks like you have your advise but let me say this is a gun I have always wanted to own but have yet to buy one. Just like the Berreta 92, there are some guns everybody needs to try at some point and the Browning Hi Power is one of the true clasics.

 

[Rob1109]

Looks like you have your advise but let me say this is a gun I have always wanted to own but have yet to buy one. Just like the Berreta 92, there are some guns everybody needs to try at some point and the Browning Hi Power is one of the true clasics.

I have owned my Browning for almost 35 years. Not shot alot since I got into .45's but it is THE SWEATEST feeling gun I've ever had. Buy a .40, convert it to a 9mm and then it will handle +P's with ease. Check this site:
http://www.cylinder-slide.com/bhp.shtml

 

[Snake45]

Looks like you have your advise but let me say this is a gun I have always wanted to own but have yet to buy one. Just like the Berreta 92, there are some guns everybody needs to try at some point and the Browning Hi Power is one of the true clasics.

The P.35 feels great in the hand and looks hella cool but it has some mechanical issues:

1. That annoying mag disconnect, which also stiffens the trigger pull and prevents clean mag ejection. (It can be removed, or reworked to much friendlier function.)

2. Very difficult to get a good trigger pull on a P.35, and it's got nothing to do with the "complicated" trigger linkage (which isn't really complicated at all, it's actually ingeniously simple). It's because the mainspring is an important part of the recoil-absorbing system for that wonderfully slim, light slide. The factory spec on the mainspring is a stunning 32 pounds. By comparison, a stiff USGI 1911 mainspring is 24 pounds, and "target" mainsprings of 18 pounds (or even less) will reliably run the gun. The stronger the mainspring, the more pressure on the hammer/sear interface, and hence the heavier the trigger pull. You can put a lighter mainspring in a P.35, but it will be at the expense of the gun's life. The lighter you go, the faster you'll crack either the slide or the frame.

3. Thumb safety isn't as well placed on P.35 as on 1911, and it doesn't work as well, and it's much more complicated to fit or alter (although it has been done).

4. P.35 is MUCH more difficult to disassemble and/or work on than 1911. While a 1911 can be taken down to the bare frame with NO tools, and reassembled with nothing more than a pencil or ballpoint pen or paper clip, you almost need three hands and a bench vise to strip a P.35 (not really, but you'll WISH you had them), and a tool or two.

As soon as Ciener announced his .22 conversion for P.35 back in early 2004, I ordered one and put it on mine, and it's worked so well that I haven't had the 9mm top half back on it since. It makes an absolutely delightful range/plinking gun (I replaced the mainspring with a much lighter one--no idea the poundage on it but I got the trigger down to a crisp 5 or so pounds instead of the horrendous, gritty 12 or 14 pounds it came out of the box with; but then power/recoil isn't an issue with .22). But for social work, IMHO the 1911 is still superior.

For a social 9mm, I still haven't seen, shot, or handled anything I like any better than the (now sadly discontinued) S&W third generation 39/59 series guns. Wonderful stuff.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

One has to wonder what prompts these particular questions. :?

When the Walther PPS first hit the streets they made a huge deal out of the removable backstrap that, when removed, decocked the gun. Apparently there is a contingent of people out there who think that having to check your chamber before decocking, say, a Glock prior to disassembly, is the somehow the most dangerous thing you can do with a handgun, and therefore must have a mechanical device to ensure you don't hurt yourself.

BTW, I fitted a C&S single sided safety and wide trigger to my BHP this past year and didn't find it difficult in the least. Using that trigger magically makes the mag safety go away. Now installing the lighter mainspring, that was a PIA... And it surprised me that JMB would take such a step backward from the elegance of the 1911 in that respect.

Picture was taken before I did my mods:

-- Sam

 

[rugerguy]

Good points above, as well as interesting "questions", but I too feel the High Power is the 'premiere classic' in a 9mm...points naturally also.......
and NO, do NOT 'trust" one way or the other if the mag "safety" is still in the gun....over the years we have seen MANY that it was removed , for various reasons by the owners.

 

[Snake45]

Now installing the lighter mainspring, that was a PIA... And it surprised me that JMB would take such a step backward from the elegance of the 1911 in that respect.

-- Sam

Indeed!

 

[Vecco]

Good points above, as well as interesting "questions", but I too feel the High Power is the 'premiere classic' in a 9mm...points naturally also.......
and NO, do NOT 'trust" one way or the other if the mag "safety" is still in the gun....over the years we have seen MANY that it was removed , for various reasons by the owners.

I was not going to buy one; my wife was investigating a shooting where the shooter had changed his story. My wife is a competent shooter but neither of us has used a BHP. So when the first story was the mag was out of the gun, but later changed to I put the mag in the gun before I started to clean it (and it went off and hit someone), we figured it had a mag disconnect and that was why the story changed. This is also why I asked about the trigger and disassembly, thanks for all the replies.