Browning Hi Power MK III Gun Review

The Browning Hi-Power, let’s check it out.  (Available Here)

 

The Browning Hi-Power was introduced in 1935, and it was one of John Moses Browning’s last designs. It has served over 50 militaries around the world, and over 1.5 million of these have been made.

Served with Allied and Axis forces during World War II. It’s just one of those iconic firearms, and honestly, one of my all-time favorite handguns. One of the big pluses for the Hi-Power is that while it was designed in 35, it does have a double stack staggered magazine, which gives it traditionally 13 rounds, and for the time, that was a big deal.

But the balance, the weight, the way this shoots, it is really legendary, and we’re going to take a look at it. Now, what inspired this video, because we’ve covered the Browning Hi-Power a number of times, is I picked this up at a local gun shop, and has the adjustable sights. It’s one of the Mark IIIs.

While it was used, it’s definitely in beautiful condition. But there are surplus models that are still out on the market, and there’s a number of clones. Now, since that time, FN has redesigned the Hi-Power, and we did a full review on the new Hi-Power, but it doesn’t quite have the soul that the original has.

And there’s a number of companies that have reintroduced the Hi-Power as clones, and there’s still a lot of surplus guns that are on the market. But if you’re looking for a classic Browning Hi-Power, the prices have really gone up to more collector status. But we still have a lot of options out there.

So we’re going to take a look at this particular Hi-Power. This is definitely one of those iconic firearms that you at least need to take out at some point and shoot one. The Browning Hi-Power.

Huge fan. I mean, I love these handguns. They are so iconic.

They’re so legendary. Again, they have served in combat all over the world. But this was one of John Moses Browning’s very last designs.

In fact, this design was completed in 1935. He died in 1926. Doudonné Savé is actually his assistant at the FM plant that finished the design.

Now, one thing in particular that Doudonné did was John Moses Browning did not want a high capacity magazine. He said that eight, nine rounds is plenty. And Doudonné, who was inspired by submachine gun magazines, developed a staggered magazine for the Hi-Power.

And really, that is what its staying power is. This has that double stack magazine, and so it gives it a lot more capacity than the current models that were out there. So this is a very appealing firearm, and one of the reasons why it served so well all over the world.

Now, once these were discontinued, there were a lot of clones that started appearing. And then Browning developed their own Hi-Power. It’s the new version.

It’s completely different. We did a review on it. Excellent gun, but it really goes away from the classic line of the original Hi-Power.

But we’re going to talk about some of the pluses and some of the minuses of the Hi-Power, because there are some. Obviously, there’s a lot of modern firearms that have kind of eclipsed the design. But there’s something about the Hi-Power that is so appealing and beautiful.

Now, this particular model, I bought this from my gun shop. A guy had brought it in. This, to me, as far as I can tell, is completely unfired.

It is in mint condition. I’ve not found any flaws in it. So I really wanted to get this out on video.

We will shoot it, but we haven’t yet. Now, first thing, let’s make sure the gun’s unloaded. We’re going to drop our 13-round magazine.

Now, you’ll notice how fast that came out. And a lot of times with Hi-Powers, the magazine just kind of dribbles out. But if you’ll notice, there is a spring here at the bottom of the magazine.

Now, to be honest, I knew about this, but this is the first Browning that I’ve had that has this little spring. And one of the things about it is it has a magazine disconnect, a safety. And so with the magazine taken out, and we’ll check the chamber, the gun won’t function.

And that’s typical for your Hi-Powers, even for a lot of the clones that are on the market now. But once you put the magazine in, you’re able to pull the trigger and actuate the gun. Now, it’s single action, and that means that when you pull the trigger, there’s no action to the hammer.

It has to be actually cocked, racked, and then you can actually fire the handgun in single action, and subsequent shots will be that way as well. Very similar to the functioning of your 1911, but yet very different. And one thing about Doudonné Savé, who finished the Hi-Power design, is he also designed the FN FAL, which is a legendary gun as well, plus other firearms.

So he was a very accomplished gun designer and engineer on his own. Now one of the big things to me about the Hi-Power, again, is the classic looks. And I love the Hi-Power cuts, and that’s just where it steps down here at the front of the slide.

It is a very thin handgun, and that to me is also very appealing. It’s very balanced. Very similar to your 1911.

It just points very well. The grip, while it is a double stack magazine, really fits in your hand, whether you have large hands or smaller hands. And again, it started out with 13 rounds, but then Metcar started making 15 round magazines that function extremely well.

And so typically I’d go with the 15 round magazine. Now over the years, there’ve been a number of licensed manufacturers all over the world, including Argentina, Israel, I believe Hungary made some. There was a number of different designs.

Some of them had some slight differences, but now that these have been discontinued, there are a number of clones out there. And so while the Browning Hi-Power itself really has gotten more to the collector status. These are running between $12,000 to $3,000 if you get a really nice one, and it’s according to the model.

And there were a number of different models that were made. This is actually a later model Browning Hi-Power. In fact, according to the serial number, this was made in 2015.

Now with Browning, we also have the Practical, and this is one that I’ve had for a number of years. And I love this handgun. It does have a more baked on finish with the chrome plated two-tone finish on the frame.

And it has the Pachmeyer grips, which makes it kind of soft. And this is actually made more for adverse conditions, even though it looks really fancy. But the original Bluing, it just takes a little bit more maintenance.

So the Practical came in and this one was actually made in 1993. So I was really happy to get this original Blued model because this is more traditional. Now they did come with the adjustable sights, or you could get the fixed sights.

And that was just according to what you were wanting. And of course, this has windage and elevation adjustments. It’s dovetailed into the slide.

And then here at the front, we have a dovetail with just that white outline. It just gives you a nice sight picture. A lot of times, handguns that were made in this era were definitely the low combat sights.

And this just gives you a really nice sight picture. Now, some of the older models didn’t have these nice sights. The serrations are very close, which is really typical for your 1911.

Has a smaller ejection port. Now, for me, I’ve never had really any reliability issues with this, but with the new model, they actually expanded the ejection port out. And then right here, you have a loaded chamber indicator, but you can see a little closer look at the Bluing.

Now, these were made in Belgium, but they were assembled in Portugal. And most of the new models are assembled in Portugal. It was just a cost-cutting savings.

And then again, you have your high power cuts. At the front, we have just a flat front, and then of course, we have the barrel. Now, this barrel has been crowned.

And on the earlier model, or the practical, it has not been crowned. So that was a newer feature with the high power. Also, you’ll see some high powers that have a hole right here in the front of the slide.

And that is a drainage hole. And so, most of the newer models don’t have that. Now, they have walnut grips, and they are textured, but the front strap, which has the serial number, is smooth, and then the back strap is smooth.

But it just fits very well in your hand, and with those grips, you can retain a good grip on it. Now, we’ve gotten so used to the modern grips and the modern texturing that goes on, so this is just one of those old school kind of concepts. And it’s just like with your 1911, except for the mainspring housing.

Now, it does have a slight beaver tail, but it’s not really. It just kind of comes up as a small tang. We have ambidextrous safeties, which not all of them did until later, and they are extended.

Some of the early safeties were very small, but this gives you a nice little safety. In fact, we’re going to go ahead and engage it. Now, one of the things about the high power is it just kind of slides up.

There’s not really a strong detent. There’s a little bit, but that way, this can actually be dropped, and you can be without the safety on, and then the hammer in the rear position. So a lot of people will not recommend carrying it cocked and locked.

I know on the Springfield Armory, they fixed that to where it actually has more of a safety. It also has a firing pin block safety, which earlier models didn’t have. This is actually the Mark III version, which was their latest iteration.

We have a small mag release, very effective, and again, we’ve got that magazine that just really shoots out, but it is checkered. Also, we have an extended slide stop, and this is really a slide release. It’s long, and it’s easy to be able to get to to drop that slide, and this is also your takedown lever.

Now, you’ll notice there’s a notch here, and then there’s a notch here. We’ll look at that, and we break it down, but this is where you lock the slide back for disassembly. Rounded-off trigger guard, and we have our trigger.

Now, this one happens to have a little bit of a wider trigger, and sometimes with the magazine disconnect, it makes the trigger not quite as crisp as if you remove it, and that’s one of the reasons why, besides just the fact that you’ve got to go through all the process with a magazine disconnect, that I like. The top is smooth. I mean, there is no serrations, there’s no lines.

It’s rounded-off very well, very similar, again, to your 1911, which just has that dome shape at the top, but again, that slide is really thin, and it really points extremely well. It’s very balanced. Now, one of the big issues, if you have larger hands, is that you can get hammer bite.

In fact, it’s known for that, and with this tamed hammer, while it has serrations on the top, it sticks out. If it comes back too far, there’s not a lot of protection with that beaver tail, which is really more of a nub, and so the hammer can come, and it can gouge into your hand if you have big, meaty hands. A lot of people will bob the hammer somewhat just to relieve that, and a lot of the new designs actually, or the clones, have redesigned the hammer so it would not go back as far.

In fact, I think the Springfield Armory SA-35, they’ve designed it that way, but traditionally, a lot of people have gone to the ringed hammer, and while this is much better, it can still come back, and it can bite your hand if you have larger hands, which just makes it uncomfortable to shoot. So, if you have really large hands, you probably want to test one out before you purchase one. The barrel is 4.65 inches in length.

As far as the design of the handgun, it seems to have a little shorter grip. They did make some models that were more compact, they were a little bit shorter, but overall, while it’s a full-size handgun, it’s so thin, and it’s very carryable. So the front of the firearm kind of comes out with a slide, and then you have a little bit of a shorter grip, but it’s just part of the high-power design.

Also, these did come in .40 caliber and .357 SIG, but those models have a few differences just to be able to withstand the higher pressures. So predominantly, you’re going to find 9mm high powers. Alright, let’s take a look at the trigger pull action.

So we have this curved trigger, it has a fairly wide face to it, and we have some take-up. Not super smooth, not very smooth, and then it hits a wall. And not a bad break, but not really all that great.

Let’s check reset. It comes out pretty far, and you really don’t feel the reset. It’s very light.

And then we go back to the trigger. Here with the practical model, now this one’s had the magazine disconnect disabled. So we have a smoother trigger pull right here, and honestly, a lot better trigger.

So removing that magazine disconnect is going to be, if you want a great trigger, is a smart move. But this one has been shot quite a bit, the other one, again, I don’t know that it’s ever been shot, and that may be part of it. Trigger pull weight with our Lyman Trigger Gauge and Brown Ales, 8lbs 3.6oz, 8lbs 4.2oz. That’s a really, really heavy trigger pull.

But when you’re actually pulling the trigger, it doesn’t feel like it’s that heavy, but it is. Let’s try the practical model and just see where it is. Yeah, 5lbs 1.6oz. That is a much better trigger pull.

Maybe just getting broken in may be really the secret to making this trigger a little better. And the weight on the Browning Hi-Power, 31.92oz or 32oz. It’s an all steel frame and has a little bit of heft to it.

Man, again, it’s very balanced. Big thank you to Fiocchi for sponsoring our ammo. All Made in the USA, one of the biggest suppliers of ammunition in the country.

And it’s very consistent, which makes range day even better. And also, big thanks to Lula Loaders for making range day just a little bit easier. Alright guys, brought the Browning Hi-Power down to the range.

Again, it is one of my favorite handguns. And I don’t know if it’s because it’s so legendary and I feel like I have a piece of history, or if I just love to shoot it, which I do. It’s very pointable.

It’s so thin. With those Hi-Power cuts, it’s just so, like, you point it and it just goes right to the area. And the balance is really nice.

There’s a reason why these are produced for so long. Now, obviously modern firearms have surpassed a lot of the features of this, which still makes this an excellent home defense, self defense firearm. But the smooth back strap, front strap, still have good control over it.

And the one thing about it is, you can have all kinds of different things done to this. You can tune this up to make it really just over the top. Trigger’s okay.

Not all that great. But we have a 13-round magazine, which is traditional, but then they’re putting out the 15-rounders. There’s just something about this handgun.

One thing I’ve noticed though, if you’re not careful, you can hit the slide stop. And if you do, especially the front part, it’ll hold the slide open on the round. And it’s funny.

I’ve never really had that problem until today. I’ve done it a couple of times. I like the adjustable sights.

It gives you just the ability to change out. Does have that smooth top. So in the summertime with this, I mean, in sunshine with that gloss, that blue, heavy blue gloss, which I love that.

You could have a little reflection, but I haven’t noticed it. But overall, even though they’ve now come out with the high power or the new high power, this to me is the classic that I love the most. And man, it just shoots really great.

Man, I love this handgun. Dude, you shouldn’t have rushed it, man. That was one hole.

That was great. I got cocky at that. Now let’s disassemble the firearm.

We’re going to drop the magazine, check the chamber, and the gun is empty. Now bring back your slide and engage your safety to the second notch. And then we’re going to lift up on the slide release and go to the other side and push through on this little nub right here.

And then we can just pull out our slide stop. Now before we release our slide, we want to make sure we’re holding onto it because it is under spring tension. We don’t want it to go flying off.

Here we have our recoil spring and guide rod. We’re going to pull it loose. Remember that it does go in going up toward the top of the slide.

And of course we can remove that, but we’re not. The barrel does come out the back. With the 1911, it goes out the front.

Now this is a little bit of a different design than the 1911, which has a barrel link. And this is the Browning linkless design. And this is really an inspiration for most of your polymer frame striker fire pistols that are out on the market.

And so this actually fits up to a bar. And here we have the bar right here. And then of course the interior.

And guys, I’m telling you, I don’t think that this gun has been fired at all. I mean, except for when I’ve just racked the slide a few times, it looks really like it’s just never been fired, which makes this really nice. Also, well, there is a test fire because they do have a round in the box.

So there was a little bit of residue right there, but overall it looks really nice. They did throat the barrel, which makes this a little bit better for the Mark III version. Actually the Mark II, they throated the barrel and it has a nice ramp on it.

And this really helps reliability. Slide rails are actually a little bit extended on the front. And then we have shorter slide rails here at the back, but a little bit more than your polymer striker fire pistols.

And of course this is all steel. They did make a model, which they had an aluminum frame. In fact, I have one, but the wear and tear on it’s a little bit more typical than on your steel frame.

And so guys, that’s pretty much all you need to do to field strip. For reassembly, we’re going to put our barrel back in, just reinsert it, take our guide rod and recoil spring. And again, we’re going to bring this to the up position and it can bind just a touch.

We’re going to bring it in and just nestle it right there and it locks right there into place. Next, we’re going to bring our slide over our frame and we’re going to go back and we’re going to engage that second notch, just like that. Then you bring in your slide stop, put it into place.

You don’t want to scratch it, so you want to bring it straight in and now we can release our safety and just bring it forward and we’re going to test for function and we’re back in business. Keeping your firearms maintained and cleaned is vital. Otis makes some of the best cleaning equipment out there.

They make a number of different kits that are dedicated for different rifles, pistols. They also have Shooter’s Choice, which makes excellent CLP and bore solvent and different cleaning materials. The Ripcord is one of their signatures and there’s a whole system based around it.

They are suppliers to the U.S. military. So check out Otis Technologies, highly recommended and we want to thank Otis for being a sponsor of the channel. Well, this pistol came in a small box, which is typical for your Browning.

Open it up. We have molded plastic. You do have an extra magazine, still has the spring.

We also have a sight adjustment tool for those that have the adjustable rear sight. Here at the top, we have our owner’s manual and we have a spent shell. You’re not seeing this like you used to.

You used to have a proof shell, but we have one in here. In fact, there’s a couple and so owner’s manual’s actually pretty decent, has a lot of information. So definitely old school in a sense, but nice to see.

Now, as far as price, the market is in different places. Of course, it’s according to the condition, according to what you get with it and it’s according to the model, but there are a number of different vintage and surplus Browning high powers out there. The surplus high powers were running around the $800 to $900 range, but some of those have even gone up in price and there are a number of really well-made clones out there.

In fact, the Springfield Armory SA-35, the Gerson MC-35, that is an excellent handgun and the Centurion that’s imported by Century Arms and a number of others. So while if you really want that high power experience, but you don’t want to spend the money on a classic, there’s a lot of options out there. So what are some pros and cons? Well, first off is this has gone to collector status.

And while that’s great, if you have them, if you’re wanting one, the price is going to be a little more expensive. It has a pedigree of legendary use all around the world. Again, over 50 countries use these.

And during World War II, again, the Axis used them and the Allies. It’s very well balanced. It’s very pointable.

I mean, it just has a great feel to it. And for a double stack magazine, I mean, it’s actually very comfortable, even if you have smaller hands. But if you have larger hands, obviously one of the biggest issues is your hammer bite.

So that is something that you’re going to need to consider, especially with the tang hammer and not the commander style or rounded hammer. The trigger pull, especially on this one, is not all that great. It’s a little bit heavy, but we’ll see how that performs at the range.

And of course, by this time, you’ll have already seen that. Magazine disconnect is somewhat of a pain, but again, it can be disabled fairly easily. And I would highly recommend doing that because it really makes the trigger actually better.

So guys, overall, it’s just a legendary firearm. There are some cons to it, but there are way more pluses in my book. I love the Browning Hi-Power.

Is it up to modern standards? Actually, it’s capable with up to 15 rounds from Metgar, but even the 13 rounds, I mean, it gives you a decent mag capacity. It’s going to be a little heavy if you’re going to be carrying it. But overall, this is just one of those handguns that’s great to have in your collection and to experience the Hi-Power.

So guys, while the Browning Hi-Power is a piece of history, it has served all around the world. It still remains an incredible self-defense handgun. Great to take to the range.

It’s accurate, it’s reliable, and it’s just a thing of beauty. And while it’s been surpassed by a lot of the modern firearms that are being made today, it still holds a place in being an excellent home defense, self-defense, maybe not a concealed carry because it’s a little bit heavy, but man, this is one of those guns that when you take to the range, it just makes you feel good. For me, it just trips my trigger.

And again, we’re going to be doing a comparison with the Browning Hi-Powers compared to some of the FN Hi-Powers that have been surplus plus some other clones that are offered today. So while you may not be able to afford today, the Browning Hi-Power, there’s a lot of options out there to give you the great experience.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America, long live the Republic.

 

-Don