Quarterbore":3f6cq23s said:
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.