Full Custom Browning Hi Power

[JamesJ]

April seems to be the month for finished projects so Ill post this one as well.

1983-84 Browning hi power full custom. I had this gun laying around in my least favorite pistol caliber caliber .40 S&W. I actually gave away all my .40 ammo so I would never be tempted to shoot it. So this boat anchor was laying around bringing down the GDP of the Jeffrey house and I just couldn't take it anymore.

So I boxed er up and sent it off to Bill at Cylinder and slide with instruction to not return it as a .40 cal.

He did a full custom job on the gun and converted it with a bar-sto bbl to a full house hard use 9mm tack driver. slight melt on the hard edges and some sticky gun smith love, new trigger, sear and LW hammer, spring kit, and combat sights. it runs like a drunk sewing machine that spits needles.

Sprayed with a sexy semi metallic executive gray and some LOK grips, It really needed a home that screamed nonsense, so I called up Privateer leather and ordered one of his custom holsters complete with elephant hide accents to really tone it down to a more manageable pimp level. Needless to say I just wanted to share it.

 

[dneaster3]

Modern update to a bonafide classic.
Very nice!!

 

[Datchew]

love it.

My earliest shooting out on the farm central KS were learning on SAO 1911's and BHP's. Think around 7 years old i was plunking with a BHP.
The hi power is still my favorite. Elegant, ergonomic, it just goes where you think you want to aim it.

My dream pistol is a DA/SA bhp with a composite lower (yes, i know they have alloy) for weight and ambi mag release and safety.
I also have a .40 laying around that I'm thinking needs a 9mm barrel with threads for a can. Ought to be perfect.

Everyone is making striker fired these days and i'm simply unable to like them.

 

[Sarg]

Nice, I wish I could do that to mine, I have two, one old exmil job, I carry ever where in Africa & a awful Nickel engraved horrible sighted modern model !

 

[JamesJ]

The BHP is just a classy gun no matter the configuration.

 

[JamesJ]

but sometimes you drink too much and poor choices are made...…

yes these are actually mine.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

but sometimes you drink too much and poor choices are made...…

yes these are actually mine.


View attachment 601567View attachment 601568

 

[Frederik]

You might have given me some great ideas to pipm my High Power.
Very nice !!!!!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I need to get a nice BHP someday. Maybe I should just send my surplus beater to C&S and have something similar done with it.

 

[Sideshow]

I come from a country that doesn’t have a lot to do with pistols. I don’t know what’s wrong with .40 ammo? Could someone please enlighten me cheers.

 

[freefall]

I come from a country that doesn’t have a lot to do with pistols. I don’t know what’s wrong with .40 ammo? Could someone please enlighten me cheers.

IMHO, it is neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. It was created to be the ultimate anti-personel handgun caliber, combining the stopping power of the .45 ACP with the magazine capacity of the 9mm.
As with most "Ultimate" inventions, it somewhat underwhelmed. It was born the bastard child of the 10mm Auto cartridge which (again IHMO) is a legitimate whiz-bang sending forth a 200 gr bullet at 1200 fps. This round was adopted by the FBI after failure to stop by the 9mm at the infamous Miami Shootout in the late 80s. Unfortunately, most agents couldn't handle the recoil, so the round was downloaded to a more pedestrian 850 fps (heavens to .45). These ballistics were then adapted to a shorter case (the .40 Smith & Wesson) to allow it to be chambered in more compact frames.
Improved bullet technologies in the 90s-2000s improved the performance of 9mm ammo with higher capacity (very important if you plan to miss a lot) so most agencies slunk back to the 9, leaving old pharts like me with their .45s and 10s, and a dwindling pool of appreciative .40 owners with the police trade-ins they picked up cheap.

 

[mdwest]

It’s not so much that 40 has under performed as it is that 9mm with modern loadings has stepped up.

40s&w came along during a time when 9mm simply wasn’t getting the job done (1986 fbi shootout was one of the big drivers of its development) and numerous LEO agencies across the US jumped on it as an alternative to having to step into larger options like 45 acp where pistols often didn’t fit smaller male officers and female officers hands.. many of our federal agencies adopted it as well as a few very specialized SOF units within our militaries..

The 40 wasn’t ever found lacking… although some officers didn’t like the additional recoil and snappiness of the cartridge..

But over the service life of those pistols purchased in the early 90’s (most agencies keep service weapons 10-20 years before replacing them), ammo and bullet manufacturers put a lot of effort into figuring out how to get better performance (penetration, expansion, etc) from the 9mm… and succeeded..

When it came time to purchase new pistols… many (perhaps most?) made the decision to transition back to a 9mm sidearm.. since it’s cheaper to feed, easier to shoot, has greater capacity, and now performs significantly better than it did with mid 80’s ammo options that were out there…

When hundreds of thousands of Leo’s dropped the cartridge, there was a rapid shift in the civilian market to follow suit.. (what the cops carry often drives interest in the ccw and home defense crowd)…

 

[Shootist43]

I still have my BHP that Frank Paris modified going on 40 years ago. Back then it was and still is capable of accurately shooting what was called "machine gun" ammo and or Plus P +. How much better has "today's" 9 mm become?

 

[Sideshow]

Right…..so the 40’s the old 303 and the 9’s a manbun got it

 

[Sideshow]

Seriously though, thank you very much for the history lesson

 

[freefall]

Seriously though, thank you very much for the history lesson

Just remember me in your will.

 

[Bullthrower338]

A rare picture of Pimpin James!
Awesome BHP! Those other two, not so much! But who hasn’t made bad decisions while drinking, my life smells like bad decisions and Hoppes no 9

 

[RayAtkinson]

Best combat pistol ever made rightout of the box..Carried one in Mexico, South America and Europe as a DEA Agent

 

[.300RUM]

I will stand up for the .40 short & weak, I personally think it fills the gap more to the 9mm side that the .45. But when it comes to cost and availability, the 9mm will win hand over fist.

I bought my BHP in the early 90's, most will not like the target sights, o'well. This unit is 9mm for those wondering.

My 40's are a Kahr KH40 and a H&K USP-40

 

[CZDiesel]

Seriously nice pistol! Still ranks as one of the best combat pistols made!!!

@Sideshow Dont ever call the 9mm Para a “manbun”!!!

The modern 9mm can push the best modern 124gr defense bullets at 1200ftps for over 400ftlbs of energy and kill a man as fast or faster in a self defense situation as anything out and carry 19rds in my Beretta Centurion!!!
Ask me how I know! You do not want to catch a 9mm round!