#browning hipower | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theocrabalar · 1 year

Text

Is the Browning Hi-Power relevant today?

The venerable Browning Hi-Power, arguably the very definition and first of the so-called "Wonder Nines" from when double-stack 9mm handguns started hitting the scene. Developed for the French Army Pistol Trials of 1935 where the requirements were to be able to hold more than 10 rounds and kill a man at 50 meters (55 yards) The GP35, Grande Puissance meaning "High Power" in French was the name given as it had such immense firepower of being able to hold 13 rounds of 9x19 parabellum, which was quite hefty in those days. But this isn't Forgotten Weapons, this is just me rambling and double checking with the Wikipedia page that I'm right.

Today we'll be looking at what the BHP brings to the table in modern terms.

For actual shooting, we can start with how the trigger is mushy, like pushing your finger into almost frozen wet sand. God knows how many pounds that trigger pull is. And that is after removing the magazine disconnect which makes the trigger pull significantly lighter. Yes, this gun comes originally with a magazine disconnect, which makes it so that you can't make the hammer drop if you pull the trigger without a magazine inserted. The magazine disconnect can be easily removed, but it's reduces your out of the box readyness and is an unnecessary hassle in the modern day. And modifying the trigger today requires a steady hand and a file, far from the modularity and ease which comes with say a Glock 17. The magazines are also another peculiar quirk for these guns. 20 rounds and bigger magazines have been made, but have fallen out of fashion, so they are quite difficult to find now. For my own journey of BHP ownership, I happened into a 20 round magazine one time and sold it again before I knew better, never to have seen one available again. The original magazine capacity is 13 rounds. Today, I'd argue the standard capacity of the pistol is 15 rounds, provided you use modern produced MECGAR magazines. They appear to be identical, except, with a shiny finish and a shortened follower making up most of the effort to increase capacity, which makes the modern magazines still seat flush like original magazines, but you end up with a +2 boost in capacity which is real nice. MECGAR also makes +2 basepads for their pattern of BHP mags, which now bump you up to 17 rounds of capacity, which makes you now reach something resembling modern capacity. Still requires seeking out these mags and basepads in specific, whereas for a Glock 17, 17 rounds is your standard. G17 magazines will in expensive areas run you about $45 / €45. MEC-GAR BHP mags + the extension gets you to $99 / €99, and there's very little of extending the magazines even further. So again, the BHP has fallen to wayside. The hammer bite of the gun, can be a turn-off for some, and a turn-on for others. My second BHP has a no-bite hammer installed from when I bought it used. It removes the issue, but it's yet another $100/€100 part that you don't even need to think about today.

With my kinda big hands, I still get a slight marking from the hammer when I fire in excess of a 100 rounds a day. As for disassembly, I can never agree with myself if I'm putting in the recoil spring upside down or not. Meanwhile with a modern handgun, like an M&P or the Glock, it can't be installed that wrong. Now depending on which model you have, you might be stuck with a fixed front with, which means you can't install your favorite fiber optic front sight that easily. And if you want a red dot, as far as I know, no one makes a red dot mounting plate for the BHP. Some companies do cut BHPs for optics, MKIII Firearms in Las Vegas have put out plenty of good work on their youtube and instagram of them doing fantastic work on BHP pistols, but again, this is custom work, we prefer user-serviceable out of the box solutions here. Any modern 9mm pistol today will either have optics plates available, have an optics ready variant available or in some cases even come with the dot already mounted. My person BHP sights look like they are cut out of a toilet paper tube someone stuck on top, requiring two screws to be adjusted if I want to adjust windage. Now, for the modern day, we see more and proliferation of equipment to make fighting and shooting in the dark more easy than ever before. On a stock BHP, you don't get night sights, you can't mount a gun light, you can't mount a red dot nor light. Meanwhile modern bargain bin sketchy turkish import pistols will have those features, showing how basic and necessary they are today.

Threaded and or ported barrels are also a specialty item, yes, they are out there, but you are going to be looking quite a bit more and dealing with longer wait times.

Are you a left or a righty? If you are left handed, you better start practicing even more to be right handed. As far as I know, the magazine catch is right hand only (left side of the gun) and so is the slide release. The safety can be modified to be ambidextrous tho.

Holsters. So for a Glock/M&P/Sig 320, you are going to get holsters out the wazoo for ever possible solution and operation.

For a Browning Hi-Power, I can't even recall ever seeing a kydex holster. This severly limits you in how you can carry the gun. Surely, there are specialty shops who can custom make you that kydex holster with the Taylor Swift pattern on it for your BHP, but it's still not an off the shelf solution. I personally use a Bianchi M12 or a Hogue Powerspeed holster whenever I'm out on the range with my BHP.

And with the advent of chassis based pistols like the SIG P320, or the new modularity of the Glocks with the 45 and 47 pistols being or being close to full size, but using G19 recoil spring assemblies, allowing you to mix and match slides, so you can perhaps nestle that compensator tighter, or run a short slide for a faster cyclic rate but still a full size grip for use with an optic. Out of all of these options, on the Browning Hi-Power, you get nothing. Again, custom jobs are possible, but now we are reaching into really far out there territory where people rarely go.

As for the rails. Yes, the Recover Tactical sleeve/frame/grip thing exists. But it looks butt-ugly and crashes with your style. I also don't know about any holsters that will fit it. (running a Black Hawk Omnivore holster) might circumvent this issue.

The tiny safety as well, yes, after market safeties are available. But Due to the weight of the trigger pull, you could almost pull the logic of revolvers and argue that the safety can be completely deleted. But what about FNs new gun?

You are still left with a very barebones gun missing many features. And the new BHPs have even less of an aftermarket since they are re-engineered to be slightly better, leading you to unfortunately distancing yourself from what is already an established aftermarket for the BHP.

But what about Girsans gun?

They seem interesting, but with foreign imports that add features, holster compatibility seems like an afterthought that hasn't hit them just quite yet.

What about Nighthawk?

I ain't got that kinda cash, fam.

What about Springfield?

I have very little experience with them, but they seem to fall in the same category as the old ones and the new ones from FN, still a barebones gun.

Conclusion:

If you think the Browning Hi-Power is a cool pistol and you want one as a historic relic or a range toy, I am 100% supportive of it. But as a modern duty/combat pistol, it is surpassed in every single way by the most basic of low budget handgun. I am after all on my second Browning in the journey that is ownership of slightly out there handguns. I shoot my 1977 produced gun in competitions still and thoroughly enjoy it despite all of it's glaring flaws.

#john moses browning #john browning #9mm #9mm pistol #Dieudonné Saive #Belgium #GP35 #Browning Hi-Power #BHP #Browning HiPower #High-Power #High Power #HighPower #Hi-Power #History

2 notes · View notes

thegracelessfaceless · 3 years

Text

Sound Effects and Overdramatics (Ticci Toby x Nurse Grace) 10

Onwards! (Toby's a little excited. Ahh... Lore)

Triggers: firearms, blades

The following are notes transcribed by the Coloeado Bureau of Investigation after they recovered a box of tapes found at the last known location of Tobias "Ticci Toby" Adams and his hostage turned wife, Grace Adams.

I saw the bed and dropped my bag as soon as the door closed, and I marched over to the bed, stripping to my underclothes as I went. I felt like I'd just finished a sixteen hour shift and it showed as I crawled under the sheet and blanket. Toby was laughing at me, but honestly, wasn't too far behind me, having stepped out of his boots and he stripped exactly as I had. Like he was shedding skin.

Dawn was just starting to break when i parked in my normal spot. The pinkish light as it filtered through the thinner atmosphere at this elevation was stunning and Toby and I appreciated it for a few moments. Toby leaned against the car, and I leaned back against him, holding his arms to my chest. Then we both grabbed a bag and headed inside.

He slid into bed behind me and I fell asleep almost immediately after he kissed the back of my neck.

When I woke up, it was six and a half hours later. I wondered what had woke me and noticed Toby was gone. Then I heard it.

A noise at the doorknob, a slight scratch and drag of metal on metal. I put my back to the wall, balling up as small as I could and clutching the sheet to my chest as I watched the door. It unlocked.

A black shitkicker boot, Toby's words, attached to Toby's long legs came through the door. I sighed as my heartbeat regained normal pace.

"Holy shit, Toby," I exclaimed as I straightened my legs, "You scared the shit out of me!"

Toby looked at me, concerned, "What happened?"

"Nothing" J laughed, "I think you unlocking the door woke me up."

"I dropped the keys" Toby admitted, "Accidentally. You have really good hearing if that woke you up."

I hummed, "It's like it's getting better." But my attention was already on the black duffle bag Toby sat on the table. "What's in the bag? And don't think I don't see that bloodstain on your knee. You've been working."

Toby smiled "Observant. That's my girl. I decided I want you to start going armed. So I got you a few gifts and a good pair of shitkickers."

"Gifts? Aww, Toby! Baby, you didn't have to" I exclaimed and crossed the room to hug him, ignoring the bag completely. I pulled Toby in for a kiss, "Thank you."

"Necessary gifts" he reminded me, but was all smiles, "But I got you the best of what I thought would be a good match for you. And one gift is kind of a joint effort."

He pulled the bag to sit between the two of us and unzipped it. He pulled out some boots to match his, in my smaller size. A very black gun sat next to several boxes of bullets, all lead rounds. A set of four slender dark gray metal knives were sheathed in a holder for the set. A gun holster in black leather was folded with two cuffs with sheaths for the blades on top of them. A thinner than fashionable black leather belt ran snaked through it all, its buckle painted matte black so no shine existed.

"This is a Browning HiPower." Toby picked up the gun by the barrel, fingers well away from the trigger. "It's a semiautomatic. Here's the safety, and it's the first thing you check." He pointed at a switch between the barrel, and the butt of the gun with his other hand. He pushed a button on the other side and the clip ejected neatly into his hand. "It holds thirteen rounds, and I always give guns male names. This is Domino. He was one of my first guns."

I stood and watched Toby show me the contents of the bag, forgetting that I was only in my underclothes. And once I noticed, I cared as little about my partial nudity as I ever had in my entire life. After all, it wasn't as if Toby hadn't seen me in less.

He popped the clip back into the gun, and the gun autoloaded a round into the chamber. "I'll show you how to load it when we go out tomorrow." And he sat the gun down carefully, double checking the safety.

"Tobias Adams, are you taking me on a date?!"

He smiled crookedly, "We can make it one."

"I'm excited" I beamed. I had been watching, brimming to the top with pride, as Toby introduced me to Domino. I didn't even care that the serial numbers had been filed off of it. And I looked forward to my date with Toby tomorrow, where he could teach me more.

"Me too" his smile warmed, and his milky eyes shone with anticipation. "I got extra clips and ammo too." And he proudly showed me his wares by gesturing towards the boxes. I now saw three or four extra clips for the gun, waiting for bullets, and a kit for cleaning the gun. "Holster too, I even cut it to your size and resewed it. And a good belt that will fit you. Most women's belts are too wide to fit holsters. So this is one of my old ones. I blacked the buckle myself." He smiled, also brimming over with pride.

Toby shifted his attention to the small knives. They were slender, made from one solid piece of metal, with tiny chip rubies at the hilt end. Nordic engravings decorated it. He pulled one out and touched its tip and it pricked his finger, dark blood welling up in a drop. Toby balanced it on his middle fingertip. "These are made of cold iron and are very old, but they're razor sharp. They were given to me by my Master. Some things we run across can't be hurt by a normal blade, but cold iron will hurt them, even kill them. Regular steel just kind of parts their skin and then it seals back up. They're an effective backup weapon because they'll hurt anything. The lead bullets will kill anything too, but if you're separated from your gun, or don't have a shot, go for these. And don't hesitate to use them." He resheathed the knife and dropped them back into the bag and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm terrified something will happen to you." he admitted. "Bear with me."

I hugged Toby back, "I'll do whatever it takes."

The pause that followed made me feel like Toby had more to say, but was thinking, so I waited, hugged against his body.

Toby pulled back enough to look down at me. The barest of stubbles was growing in on his jawline, thicker on his chin in a vertical strip, and i wondered how I'd missed it.

"Grace, I need to tell you something because every fiber of my being is screaming that now's a good time." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I love you."

I blinked, in momentary shock, then rose up on my toes to softly kiss Toby. "I love you too, Tobias Adams."

Toby squeezed me as he kissed my forehead, "Now go get dressed, it's distracting." He slapped my ass as I went by.

"I can't believe you just did that."

"But don't you?" He asked with an innocent expression on his face.

I found a note in Toby's chicken scratch that he had left for a quick job around 3 in the morning. It had been crossed out and now read, "Gone to get some things. Be back soon ♡."

The next day, I woke at around the same time as the previous day, after spending a cozy night with Toby. He revealed to me that Slenderman had sent the knives, having held on to them after Toby shifted his focus to solely hatchet work. He had told Toby to gift them to me, a token of his approval.

I got up and got some fresh undies, bra and tank top, and took them into the bathroom. I showered in the hottest water I could stand, and emerged to towel dry my hair. Hair almost dry, teeth brushed, deoderized, the whole shebang. Then I walked to the bed in my underclothes and sat out my small selection of clothes. I decided on a purple flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into high waisted black jeans, thick socks, and my new shitkickers.

I had just finished giving my now nearly dry hair its final brushing before it dried when Toby came in, carrying some bags.

"You look nice" Toby said as he put all the bags in the refrigerator. He closed it without expounding on it, so I assumed it was a surprise.

"You don't look so bad yourself" I said, wetting my thumb under the sink faucet and wiping away a speck of blood from Toby's cheekbone under his right eye. He'd shaved his stubble, but left the strip of hair on his chin.

"Damn," he said, "I thought I got it all."

I smiled, "Ten percent vision has its limits."

"True. When things slow down enough, if we could find a doctor, I'd love to get them fixed. Have honey brown eyes again."

"I can find you a doctor."

"Are you ready to be romanced?"

I smirked, "Ready when you are."

"Let's go then" he said, grabbing my hand, and I followed him to the door and into the car. He slid sunglasses on as he got in the drivers seat, starting the car. The sunglasses weren't mine. He must have picked them up somewhere.

Toby drove me to a secluded spot, down a dirt road off the main highway between Forest Lawn and Pueblo. Part of a small mountain had eroded away, forming the beginnings of a canyon. Water smoothed stones littered the ground, as if a stream ran through here in the wetter seasons. A selection of targets were spread around, glass bottles, spray paint cans, and wooden targets with bullseye's and figures of men sat on wooden boxes and plastic crates.

I paid rapt attention as Toby ran me through gun basics. How to load the clip, which he showed me on an extra, how to take the safety off and cock it after checking the barrel. He taught me to never carry my gun cocked. To load a bullet into the chamber only after emptying whatever was in the chamber, telling me, "It's better to waste the bullet and be safer than sorry. Bullet wounds are supposed to hurt like a son of a bitch, and they always take me forever to heal."

There was a worn plastic folding table off to the side of the clearing. Apparently people came here a lot, and I could see the appeal in the seclusion.

I was a little shocked to hear Toby talk about healing bullet wounds. But then I remembered his scars, the small, round shiny scars and graze marks that dotted his body. A roadmap of his mercenary life.

Toby quizzed me at the end, watching me load a clip, check the safety, eject the clip in Domino, slide the newly loaded one home, point the gun away from both of us, take the safety off, pull the slide back and eject the round in the chamber, and jack a new one into the chamber. I put the safety back on and handed Toby Domino, butt first.

"How'd I do?" I asked nervously. Toby had watched me throughout the whole process with critical eyes.

Toby studied me a moment longer, and then looked down at Domino. "Like a dream. I think you're a natural."

"You haven't even shown me how to shoot yet!" I laughed, "You're just biased."

Toby was smiling, "Maybe, but you don't believe me, so lets fix that." He led me over to a crate and put my extra clip down, then handed me my gun. He stood behind me and moved my hands and arms, so one was pointing out, towards the target, and the other cupped the butt of the gun and my wrist supported my aiming arm.

"This is called a teacup grip." He said, quietly, so close to my ear. He took one of his feet and moved my feet so I stood in a wider stance. "You want to center your weight as much as possible. If you're shooting stationary, imagine being rooted to the spot you're standing in."

Toby moved even closer, his unscarred cheek pressing against mine, along with the line of his body as I stood in the circle of his arms. He moved his hands to my forearms. "Now. Concentrate on the target." he breathed, "Let the world melt away except for you, and the target."

I followed his advice, only concentrating on the target, my hands on the gun, and Toby's deep quiet voice. "There's a sight on the top of Domino's barrel. It's straight, so use it. When you're ready to fire, take a deep breath, and squeeze the trigger. Remember to brace."

The world narrowed down to the gun in my hands and the target. I sighted down Domino's barrel and waited until the moment was still, when the light breeze moving through the clearing abated. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, squeezing the trigger when it ended. The gun made its obligatory loud bang that echoed off mountain walls, creating a symphony. I watched in what seemed like slow motion as my bullet hit the target, the center mass of a human figure. Right where the heart would be, down the barrel of the gun. I pointed the gun at the ground as I relaxed.

Toby let out a loud whoop from where he stood so close behind me. He hugged me in his excitement and I clicked on the safety as he lifted me from my feet in a hug and spun me around. "Goddamn, Grace! Didn't I tell you that you were a natural?! I've not seen anyone shoot like that since Brian." His chest was puffed up with pride.

I smiled, "I can't believe I did it."

"Can you do it again? Maybe try multiple shots?"

I nodded, looking down at the gun. "I'll try it."

Toby stepped back, giving me room now. I brought the gun up, just like Toby taught me and aimed at a green Mickey's beer bottle. I sighted it down my arm and then I scanned for my next target, then readjusted my aim on the bottle. I blinked and took a breath, then let it out as I shattered the bottle, and then turned a little and hit the bullseye painted on a wooden block. To top it off, I swung the gun and shot a spray paint can on top of a wooden post. It exploded in a cloud of pink paint, leaving everything in its radius covered in fluorescent pink paint.

I lowered the gun and exhaled slowly as I clicked the safety on.

"I'm suddenly not so worried" Toby said as he came up to hug you from behind. "You shoot like you've been training for years."

I smiled as he planted a huge, wet kiss on my cheek.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Toby asking me to shoot things while he watched, coming in close every now and then to adjust my aim even if it didn't need it. He spent a good hour throwing bottles and old plates into the air for me to practice shooting a moving target. Toby also spent a good portion of our date showboating for me. Doing fancy trick shots and puffing up in pride whenever I praised him.

As the sun was setting, Toby parked my car where I normally did and came around to open my door. He escorted me inside and went to the fridge and pulled out the bags. He walked over and sat a bottle of strawberry wine on the table. Then he went back to the counter, unwrapping some meat and pulling out a skillet.

Eventually, the two of us ran out of targets. We'd only spent half a box of bullets and I helped Toby collect the few live rounds he ejected after emptying the clip into the sky. Toby had pointed Domino at at a 65° angle and shot the gun in rapid succession, eight shots ringing into the late afternoon sky, one handed. Now that he'd taught me gun safety, he handled the Browning almost casually, like it was an extension of him.

"Did you have fun?"

"Absolutely" I replied, "that was honestly the best date I've ever had."

Toby hummed, I could tell without seeing his face that he was overjoyed. "And I wasn't even trying that hard." He made a Dutch oven on top of the cooking meat to steam the vegetables.

I thought about that for a second. "I think you'd be a dangerous man if you tried."

"What do you think is happening now?"

He was right. Wine. A meal he cooked. Spectacular enough to follow up the date at the shooting spot.

#creepypasta #ticci toby #tobias andrew adams #NurseGrace #tw firearms #tw blades #tw mansplaining #Sound Effects and Overdramatics #ticci toby x nurse grace

18 notes · View notes