My abbreviated honeymoon last weekend had one additional benefit: it brought three old friends back into my life.
During the Great Poverty Gun Sell-Off (when I was forced to sell guns to pay medical bills), several kind and generous buddies came to my aid, buying several of my guns from me — with the caveat that should they ever decide to sell them, I would get right of first refusal. (There was a hidden danger, of course: that they would fall in love with the damn guns and refuse to sell them back to me, which actually came close to happening with one.) Recently I had a small windfall which made their buyback possible, so…
Anyway, here’s one of them, which I managed to persuade Longtime Friend Mark C. to sell back to me. This is my prized Browning High Power 9mm, which had been on permanent loan to Connie. Sadly, as her health deteriorated, she was no longer able to operate it and, well, there were doctors which needed paying, so onto the block it went. But now it’s home again. This was how it first arrived in the house:
…and this is how it looked when Reader Mark took possession:
I will soon (very soon) be reacquainting myself with this beauty at the range, maybe even this afternoon or tomorrow. If I love it as much as I remember doing, it may well replace my 1911 as a primary carry piece. (I know, I know, 9mm Europellet! Say it ain’t so, Kim!!! But as Loyal Readers will recall, the 1911’s .45ACP ammo has been beating up my old wrists badly… and anyway, pistol cartridges have come a long way since 2004. Right now it’s loaded with this new offering from SIG, which seems to be all the rage with the 9mm Smart Set.)
…and my bulk ammo order from the ammo dealers on my sidebar will follow shortly. One problem: I only have one mag for it, the original issue. But a visit to the next Evil Loophole Gun Show (ELGS™) should provide me with some of those doubleplusungood 13-rounder magazines — you know, the ones which give the gun-controllers fits. Five or six should do the trick, yes?
Welcome home, old buddy. Range report to follow.
I like the Hornady Critical Defense rounds in my XD9. I went the
9mm combat plastic route a couple of years back for the same reason – my arthritic old body just couldn’t do the 1911 any longer. With me it was the recoil and the weight of the pistol that made everything hurt. A friend who has one of those Hungarian High Power clones that shoots remarkably well. Dig up a copy of A Bridge Too Far and you’ll see Sean Connery do some good work with a High Power.
Kim;
Midway offers 15 rd magazines made by Mec-Gar (the OEM manufacturer for FN) They work flawlessly in my Mk III Hi Power & do not extend below the end of the butt. And a competitve price.
I have a couple of Hi-Powers, one like yours Kim, a fairly recent Browning and one of the FEG Hungarian pistols, after market grips on both. I also have a couple of 20 round magazines that run very well in either gun and I guess I won’t be going to New Jersey or other commie states with pistols so best not to go at all.
I like 1911s and Hi-Powers, so no issue with it becoming your preferred carry.
I am only commenting to say there is no free lunch. When you push 9mm to be comparable to .45 ACP, you get a commensurate amount of additional response. I know you won’t be feeding it a steady diet of self defense ammo just for range practice, but when you do shoot the hotter stuff, you’ll feel it just like you do with a 1911.
HST 147 grain for me for self defense.
Also +1 on MecGar mags. They’re the OEM for my CZ mags and I’ve never had a single problem with them.
Looks like Sweaty Ben has the best price on the 15 rounders:
https://www.classicfirearms.com/mec-gar-brhp15b-browning-hi-power-9mm-15rd-blued/
I rather enjoyed shooting the BHP while I was in the Army. I think my love of that pistol is more nostalgic than practical, but I don’t care.
I can still strip that baby in my mind as if I’ve never been apart from it.
I’ll have to put something in the tip jar so you can bang off a magazine for me.
I have that sig Vcrown ammo in 147 grain loaded in my CZ. Shoots okay, I assume it would do the job.
I love the Brownings. Although my carry guns are a Seecamp and a Rohrbaugh.
I’m still not a huge fan of the europellet, but the cheap-to-shoot factor and the cheap but good EAA Witness pistol made for good range time. While I don’t carry it I have shot 4 boxes (50 round boxes) of HST ammo, 124 and 147gr after researching the higher quality defense rounds. I also shot two boxes of Sig VCrown, with no issues.
One very nice thing about HST is that you can (still) get it from some vendors in 50 round boxes, and that way it is one of the cheapest per-round premium defensive loads out there.
Federal marks the 50 round boxes LE only now and tries to get you to pay $1/round in 20 round boxes but you can still get the 50 rounders from some online vendors for mid to high $20/box, and Federal has a $5/box rebate on SD ammo right now…
Kim, Connie’s Hi-Power must have cloned itself, as I bought one from you that still has her initial on the magazine reload assistant that came with it. I wasn’t aware you were in the market for buying it back, and I confess I’d truly hate to part with it. It’s currently the only 9mm in the inventory, although I’m considering buying a Ruger 9mm carbine to keep it company.
It looks like the one in the picture, except the grips are a lighter tan, checkered, and obviously shinier plastic. Oh, and it came with two magazines. I’m pretty sure you still have my e-mail, or use the one I sign on with.