I have mentioned in the past that I planned on giving Connie’s Browning High Power to Daughter for her birthday, for hereditary reasons. Well, I broached the topic with Daughter, and was surprised when she showed no interest in the Browning at all.
“I have enough handguns. I mean, I have as many as you do.” (true)
“But it’s your Mom’s gun.”
“It’s like offering to give me her favorite hammer — it really doesn’t mean anything, but thank you for the offer.”
She’s completely unsentimental about the gun — although I wouldn’t be surprised if the Browning didn’t also trigger some unwelcome memories along the way, but I’m not going to explore that little issue. She doesn’t want the High Power, and that’s that.
Which is fine by me. I love the BHP, its Europellet chambering notwithstanding, so it’s not going to go anywhere.
I also listened to Hackathorn and Wilson discussing the 9mm cartridge, and Bill Wilson is of the considered opinion that in terms of tissue damage and even stopping power, the new breed of 124gr 9mm hollowpoints are as effective as the lighter 185gr .45 ACP cartridges — which are exactly what I’m carrying in the 1911 because of recoil (pain) issues with the heavier 230gr.
So the plan has changed. Son&Heir will indeed be getting my old Springfield 1911 .45 ACP for his birthday, and…
…I’m going to be carrying the High Power 9mm in its place:
…loaded with these:
You may all pick yourselves up off the floor, now.
And yes, I’m aware that these may be the End Times.
Finally.
Just takes some longer’n others I suppose. LOL
Welcome aboard!
End times will be when you start carrying a 9mm Glock. If Chuck Taylor could go there, so can you.
Funny how certain family heirlooms hold sentimental value and others don’t. I’ve lost enough people to have discarded some things and treasured others.
The one High-Power I got to shoot was thoroughly enjoyable. My 9mm CZ is loaded with that Sig ammo in 147 grain. That gun (or it’s owner) seems to shoot better with the heavier ammo. I don’t feel undergunned with it although if a gunfight started in my house I’d be using it to make my way to the 12-guage.
They’re saddling the horses…..
We had this discussion a couple of years back when I admitted that I just couldn’t shoot my duty pistol – at the time a full size Sprinngfield Mil Spec (very similar to yours) – very well. The combination of weight and recoil reminded me why old men gripe about arthritis. On your recommendation I looked for a hi power but the “real” ones were hard to come by and our firearms guy wasn’t impressed by the Hungarian or Philippine knock offs.
I was able to find a good deal on a Springfield XD-9. I know that real guns are supposed to be made out of metal, but as an old school 1911 shooter I liked the XDs grip safety. I carried that pistol until I retired from the department four years ago. I carried four magazines loaded with Hornady Critical Duty rounds. If you can’t hit them hard, hit them a lot. Since I retired our new sheriff found a bunch of money someplace and bought everybody, regulars and reserves, new Gen 4 Glocks with optical sights. He’s a Glock fan boy and that’s what all the cool kids carry. I’m glad that I retired when I did so I wouldn’t have to struggle between getting a new pistol and carrying something that I didn’t like. Now the XD is my carry gun and the 1911 lives in the night stand.
My late wife’s night stand gun was an old Charter Arms 3″ barrel Pathfinder. She was a tiny girl at 4’10” and 90 pounds but she could hit with that Pathfinder. If it ever hit the fan, some bad guy was going to have a hard time explaining to Saint Peter where those six .22 magnum holes came from.
Thanks to all for your patience with my Dave stories. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to your and yours (unless something gets me stirred up before then).
Love the Dave stories. Merry Christmas!
Well done, Kim.
Coincidentally, I’m celebrating a thankfully light brush with that bastard cancer with a too long delayed dalliance: a CZ 75 BD, the illegitimate child of Browning’s meisterwerk.
Because, man cannot live by Tupperware alone.
Anybody who sends that monster back to hell needs a reward. Mine was a Henry Big Boy in.44 mag. 10 years later I’m still around to enjoy it. Never give up.
Damn straight, Dave!
And learn this life lesson: Heed your body when it’s telling you something. Don’t let work concerns or the doctors’ full schedules delay things.
Enjoy your Henry! I long for the day when Ruger will release their M-1894 CB (Cowboy) in .357 or .44 (can’t decide). (Hell, why not both?!?) The Marlin is an absolutely brilliant little lever action carbine, too long absent from the marketplace. Back in the When, I had a real Marlin ’94 in .357, all slicked-up by the King of the Cowboy Gunsmiths, Jim Bowie. That is, until the wife seized it under eminent domain. 😉
Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a Thankful New Birthday to all!
The Browning High Power is my go to church gun. Like other old guys I can hit where I am aiming better with that gun than my 1911 .45. My age, 77 years old might be part of that and over the last few years I have picked up a couple of Glocks in 9mm which have surprised me because they are not too bad.
My little warm weather go to the store pistol is my little Glock 43 which can tuck away out of sight and I am a decent shot with that gun. Last time I practiced shooting pistols was last Friday in Kerrville, all three guns mentioned above and since my usual pistol shooting is .22LR in Steel Challenge it was nice to see that I could actually put all of the bullets within a few inches of my aim point at 20 yards. Also my muscle memory for each pistol was improved with each magazine I shot since it had been several months since I had shot the 9mm and the .45.
Pssssst, Tex.
Don’t tell Kim, but the Glock 48 is the same height and length as a G-19, and it’s about 1/4″ thinner. With the Shield Armory S-15 mags, it has the same 15 round capacity as the G-19. It makes for a VERY comfortable, reliable, concealable and effective CCW. There’s even a red-dot capable version, or the slide can be easily cut.
It’s my EDC.
Plus, with your G-43 and the G-48, you can use the 43 slide and the 48 frame to make a G-43X. Cool beans.
Gay sex seems to be the “in” thing now. So’s carrying a 9mm
Who are you, and what have you done with Kim?
I went 9mm because 1. I’m getting older, and 2. It’s hard to conceal a .45 in a very warm climate. I use that very same ammo in my SIG for carry, and the performance is quite acceptable.
Bought my daughter a baby Glock, 43 iirc, she’s like 5′ 100 lbs maybe, and picked up a rock island 1911 in 9mm pewpew. So far I like. Thinking about an M1 carbine or a Henry in .357….for home use, don’tcha know. If I can find either. None of the gun shops in town have either at the moment. Ordered some so-called biltong from Amazon. Your thoughts on Amazon biltong? Any of it real? They’re all beef, no seffrican critters involved.
You might consider the Ruger PCC for your “Battle of the Bedroom” carbine. Kinda like a modern M-1 Carbine:
https://ruger.com/products/pcCarbine/specSheets/19115.html
Can take Glock mags (including the 33 round Happy Sticks), comes in 9 and the still relevant .40 S&W. And if you have a 10/22, you already know the PCC’s manual of arms.
Jsallison,
We tried this company’s products and they were rather good
https://biltongbaron.com/
There are recipes online that look very easy to make but I haven’t tried them. One involved making a drying box out of a plastic container and a computer fan.
JQ
I have noted over the past several years that Kim has been posting an increasing attraction to things European and has been tipping this change for a while, too. We may need to hold an intervention at some point if this continues its inevitable course. 🙁
it’s still from JMB so is this wouldn’t be much of an intervention just yet
JQ
I have to say Sig’s elite performance has been coming out with some truly impressive defensive loads. I keep my .357 loaded up with their 125 grain V crown bullet, which will do something like 1400 fps out of a 2″ barrel. It’s serious voodoo.
Kim:
I salute your decision to give the High Power a new life – fine artifacts should be kept in the family.
I attended a couple of training classes at SIG Academy in NH this past year and all of the instructors were singing from the 9mm songbook. If it’s any consolation, bullet design and overall engineering have improved substantially over the past decade or so. That said, my HP is chambered in 40 S&W and my EDC remains 230gr Gold Dots launched from a 1911 platform. Not to get too mystical or anything, but I’ve always felt that a warriors weapons are imbued with his/her spirit. Keeping that HP in the family will, I suspect, not be a decision you’ll regret.
“I have enough handguns…”
What blasphemy is this?
Eh… my ‘daily carry’ in Iraq was a former Iraqi Police M1935 Browning Hi Power. Did jes’ fine when loaded with the right ammo (147 grain Hydrashok Jacketed Hollow Points) which does a -fantastic- job on a human head IF you are capable of said-head shot… in my case it was luck. It does makes one hell of a mess…
Also the cavitation was really good vis-a-vis lethal bleed-out hits IF you were fortunate enough to hit something vital at center mass or ‘other areas’ …his buddy who took one in the leg was fatal AF re: femoral artery getting sheared…
and the Haj with the headshot was me being a lucky shot out of five which was actually a “climber” meaning the muzzle climb in the firefight was why he caught one dead-on between the eyes… cantalouped his casaba like a champ allllll over the wall…
A good round… as long as you have the -right- boolit for it aka JHP and the like…
You’re not really sporting it; you’re conserving it for your granddaughter, right?
Yeah, that’s it.
Whew, lost my ability to post while figuring out my new iPad! Yeah, my son couldn’t believe it when I started carrying 9mm, either, but I still carry the .45 sometimes. That Sig ammo is excellent, but also have a look at Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr flex lock. 9mm is only as good as .45 if it reliably expands, but those do. Larry Vickers put me over the line on 9mm.