Hi Power Surge

Photo Credit: EAA Corp  Girsan MCP35 PI LW Ops Model with rail.

I never paid too much mind to the Browning Hi Powers or their clones until 2 yrs ago. I am aware of their place in John M Browning history and extensive world police and military issue to include the British SAS and U.S. FBI HRT team, but I never had a hankering to own one.

I was at a Winchester Ammunition table on the range 2 years back and picked up a clone Hi Power (I think it was a Hungarian FEG). It felt good in my hand. Kind of slim and elegant and in a historic steel and wood kind of way! Positively slender compared to Glocks in the next booth, and did it shoot!

I lined up on a steel dueling tree where you knock the paddles from side to side, and in fact I hit every paddle I aimed at. My brain went “Hunh?” Maybe this Winchester ammo was extra special. I put in another mag and whacked those paddles back and forth like I was a pickle baller. It didn’t matter to the target this was not an official “Made in Belgium Hi Power.” That Browning clone was just a good shooting gun!

A gun I shoot well, sticks in my head for some time in my rusty old mental filing cabinets. In the next two years, I watched Hi Powers “suddenly” get popular again.

Springfield Armory came out with a full-sized 9mm model called the SA-35 in 2021, which had upgrades over the classic models (about $700-&800). About the same time, EAA started importing the Girsan MCP35- also with modern design improvements and finishes including Cerakote and for a price about $300 cheaper than the Springfield Armory model (about $500). Tisas from Turkey started importing their Hi Power variant as well. FN, the historic patent holder dropped production of the Hi Power about the same time, but in 2002, came roaring back waving both hands in the air saying “Hey you want a Hi Power? We have the real one!” They introduced a “new and improved” Hi Power which I believe was built on the success of the Springfield and Girsan models in the marketplace. FN was marketed at about $1000.

Short version of this story- I just got a brand new Hi Power clone with the most modern upgrades of any variant… and it is a sexy beast! Now I’d like to say more, but if you are going to write about Hi Powers you have to include info on the iconic history of the pistol- hang on kids, I’ll try to keep it short. Don’t look at your phones.

The Browning Hi Power is a single action, semi-automatic, double stack pistol offered in 9mm and .40. It is widely known as John M. Browning’s next successful pistol after the 1911. What most people don’t know, is Browning died in 1926, several years before the Hi Power design could be finalized in 1935 and FN Herstal gunmaker Dieudonne Saive (also father of the FAL rifle) finished the design with a 13-round magazine in Belgium. That was a lot more bullets than the Colt 1911, the Luger or the Walther P38.

Weird fact: the Hi Power was used by both Axis and Allies during WWII. The FN plant in Belgium was occupied by the Nazis and they built a Hi Power issued out to their military. Prior to capture, FN moved the production line to Canada under the John Inglis Company. Thousands were built and issued to Canadian, British and Australian troops during WWII and China- the Chinese one had a shoulder stock. You may have seen them with ladder style rear sights like the old artillery Lugers or broomhandle Mausers. (Like you could shoot a 9mm at hundreds of yards!)

(Very Cool Side Story: Sorry for those with short attention spans we will return to your regularly scheduled story momentarily… The L9A1 Hi Power version built by Inglis during the war, is back in production as of this year. I talked to the SDS Sports/Military Armament Corporation (MAC) rep at the Shot Show this year and found out the design team bought the name trademark for Inglis and ginned up and built a prototype over in Turkey in just 90 days! It is featured on the cover of American Handgunner this month SEP/OCT24. MSRP $450-$486).

OK kids, the history lesson is almost over. Thanks for hanging in there. Get yourself a juice box. Browning and FN built Hi Powers from 1935 to 2018 and it is arguably the most successful 9mm ever built. Most modern semi auto pistols have features first seen in the Hi Power designs.

Something like 90 countries and 50 armies have issued the Hi-Power since 1935, and it has shown up in almost every conflict since then. Moamar Gaddafi had a gold plated one and I have heard Saddam Hussein had one too.

So, thanks to a certain windfall this summer, I had some gun money in my hands to buy something I really wanted- a Hi Power. Couple of years ago I had to admit to Adventure Wife I had all of the guns that I “really need.”

Sad as that sounds, the list of guns I still “WANT” remains quite large. This Hi Power thing easily made the WANT list two years ago.

Now at my house, gun money is different from “OUR MONEY”. All other money is “OUR MONEY”. My money, her money, tax refunds, -it is all “OUR MONEY.” But gun money- is different. It stays away from all other money, lest it be sucked into an “OUR MONEY” account where regular money could rub up against it and in no time, you can’t find gun money anymore.

So, I sought out the best price in America via gun.deals on the newest and most modern design Hi Power I could find, and is it ever a beauty. If you aren’t shopping gun.deals you should (no .com on the end, just type in gun.deals in your browser. ) They show you nation wide prices on guns from online retailers. Pick your best price and have it shipped to your FFL. Easy Peasy.

So, this pistol is the EAA Girsan MCP35 PI LW Match. Translating all of that, it is imported by EAA and built by Girsan in Turkey. It is chock full of modern features far exceeding the traditional design.

First off, it is a shorter Hi Power variant, PI (Private Investigator length), which is cut down to a 3.88-inch length barrel instead of the standard 4.7 inch. (Think of the difference between a full-size Colt 1911 and a Glock 19.) It is a single action like God and John Moses Browning intended, with ambidextrous safeties and holds 15 rounds in a Mec Gar magazine. It will take any Hi Power magazine ever built, from 13 to 15 rounds.

The LW part is a light weight two tone black and grey model with an aluminum frame. Aluminum, not Polymer. Shocking right? How that equates, is the PI LW model is a half-pound lighter than a full sized steel frame Hi Power. Makes it much nicer to carry.

The modifications made over the classic Hi Powers just go on and on. The single action flat trigger is just nuts compared to striker fired systems- there is no creep or squishy take up. Press on it with 5 lbs and it goes bang-like any 1911 you may be familiar with. The “Match” part of the model involves the SS match barrel with a reverse crown from the factory, shorter ring hammer throw, large beavertail frame to avoid hammer bite, beveled and flared magwell, and a narrow red fiber optic front sight.

Like any new production firearm, the frame is of course drilled to accept micro red dot sights (Shield Footprint.) You can get MCP35 models with a red dot already installed, and the Ops Model includes all of these upgrades and has a 19113 Picatinny accessory rail. (Not for me baby-lets keep this profile clean.)

One of the biggest historic issues with Hi Power triggers is the presence of a magazine disconnect which has been SPEC since 1935. If the mag is out, you can’t discharge the trigger. Good for safety of a sort, but kept it difficult to have a really good trigger pull. Custom gunsmiths like Cylinder and Slide have been working over Hi Power triggers for decades. A custom shop Hi Power with all the features on this Girsan could run you $4000. Well  both Springfield and Girsan have both done away with the magazine disconnect and have better triggers. You can still get drop in parts to do your own smithing if you want a lighter trigger, but try this pistol trigger out, it is a good single action trigger right out of the box at about 5 lbs., and I don’t like to monkey to much with carry gun triggers below about 5 lbs.

The G10 grip is a very attractive pattern similar to Wilson Combat’s star pattern and provides an excellent grip due to several grip textures going on. Picking the gun up for the first time just feels good! It is still about ¼” inch small for me at the bottom with my medium sized hands, but the undercut trigger guard helps with the grip, and I am not going to quibble over a quarter of an inch. It’s just one of those guns you pick up and go “Oooooh. That fits!” Unless it doesn’t. Your hands may or may not fit- I blame you mostly. The model I saw in January at the Shot Show just hit me like an electric shock when I picked it up. I mentioned it to the Girsan sales Rep, and he told me he had been carrying one daily for a couple of months and he loved it.

This MCP35 PI LW is a visually striking modern-no polymer pistol with the shorter but traditional Hi Power profile and slim grip. It makes a very nice carry piece. Don’t ask how they stuffed 15 rds into the traditional 13 rd mags- that is Mec-Gar magic. If you did not know Mec-Gar, they make all the “factory mags” for Sig and Beretta and many other brands. They are top notch magazines. The only downside I found with this pistol; was it only came with one 15 rd magazine. No big deal I quickly nabbed up another Mec Gar for less than $30 from gunmagazinewarehouse.com as well as a leather holster from Versacarry from their “Blemished Section” for about the price of a pizza. Colt Commander sized holsters fit the Girsan, not surprising knowing the JM Browning heritage.

I also found out this week the Girsan MCP35 PI was selected as the 2024 American Rifleman Golden Bullseye Award winner. It is a thoroughly modern up date yet stands in good company and on the shoulders of thousands of Hi Powers who went on before.

I got to shoot the new pistol today and ran right home to finish this article…ok, no I didn’t. I stopped for some Thai food and then mowed the lawn, and picked some green beans…but right after that I got to the article! I enjoyed the pistol thoroughly. It is compact sized, medium weight and functions flawlessly. I ran a couple hundred rounds of 115 gr FMJ through it from PMC and Remington and had no issues- as expected. Anyone putting this number of upgrades into a 2024 pistol absolutely should run right out of the box.

It did take me a couple of magazines to settle down and back my finger out of the trigger a bit the way you shoot a 1911 single action with the pad of your trigger finger and not stuffing your whole finger in there like you do with a striker fired action. The pistol was a pleasure to shoot, all the sharp corners were rounded off, and I am looking forward to putting some 147 gr pills through it. All in all a good time.