No doubt about it, John Browning was one of the best, if not The Best, firearms designers of all time.

We will look at his 9mm marvel, the Browning Hi Power.

Here's our pistols.

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Mine is on top, with black rubber grips, and Tman's is on bottom, with some very fine wood grips.

Both are 100% reliable pistols and very accurate.

In the old days of 6 shot revolvers, and 8 shot 1911s, the Browning Hi Power, with 14 shots, was considered to be awesome.

Over twice as many shots as a revolver! How you gonna beat it?

The double-stack magazines and 9mm round made this possible.

I have had mine improved by sending it to Cylinder & Slide and having a trigger job done on it.

You can see the extra hole in the slide where the new trigger assembly has been changed to allow better leverage advantage.

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Disassembly of this pistol is very simple.

First, you remove the magazine and make sure it is empty.

Then you pull the slide to the rear and engage the safety into the disassembly notch.

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You can then pull out the slide lock assembly.

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Lowering the safety will then allow the slide to be removed from the frame.

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You can then lift out the spring.

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And lift out the barrel.

This completes the field stripping.

Doing it in reverse will put it all back together.

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The camming action of the trigger is complicated and any work on it should be left of a competent gunsmith.

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The Hi Power comes from the factory with a "Magazine Safety Disconnect" which means the pistol will not fire, even if there is a round in the chamber, if the magazine is removed.

However, this assembly causes the trigger to be more difficult to fine-tune, and is often removed by gunsmiths as part of a trigger job.

Mine and Tman's have been removed.

Note: I do not recommend that anyone remove the magazine disconnect. I am just reporting facts about the pistol. Any decision to modify your pistol is yours alone, and I assume no responsibility.

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We always treat all firearms as if they were loaded, magazine in or out, anyway.

Let's get to shooting.

Here I am, doing double taps on a silhouette.

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And here's Tman doing the same.

It is an interesting fact, that the two of us seem to shoot to exactly the same point of aim.

Not all shooters do that.

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Here's a pic over his shoulder as he does quick double taps.

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And here's the results.

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If you do careful work, the Hi Power can be very accurate.

We slowed down and shot for accuracy.

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Here's the results, 20 shots.

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Conclusion:
The Hi Power is a fine old pistol. It is a true "Natural Pointer", just like it's brother the 1911. It is often customized and can benefit from excellent gunsmithing.

If you don't own one, give it a look. You will be glad you did.