Look at Boge's post. It shows an optic mounted on it. Fugly, I personally do NOT like optics on handguns. I'm not CCW, so "concealable" is not an issue for me personally.
Girsan MCP35 PI - My Observations
I picked up a Girsan MCP35-PI from my FFL yesterday afternoon. It cost $540 from a no-auction sale on Gun Broker... after Illinois Sales Tax, Shipping and my FFL fee it totaled $662.40. I am happy.
My intention is, and has always been, to harvest the PI short slide and mate it with a spare BHP Alloy Frame. Last night I shipped it off to BHSS along with the FN Alloy Frame host pistol... there was no need test fire before shipping as she will be vastly improved, one way or another. I did take a quick look and weighed some parts to determine suitability for this this project. Some notes below are things I am looking at for a better hybrid carry gun.
TRIGGER -
The mag disconnect is in place and it is pretty rough, but not too heavy. The BHSS trigger with magazine eject spring will replace the stock trigger. The supplied magazine did not drop free.
SLIDE -
The slide is indeed as sexy as a BHP should be... the FM Detective Slide is not and this has always bothered me for no good reason other than a foolish sense of aesthetics. It just doesn't look right.
The complete PI slide is about 27 grams lighter than the FM Detective. Losing yet another ounce in carry weight is nice. Below I am comparing PI slide weights to the FM Detective Slide weight ( fitted with a BHSS barrel and night sights).
This slide features the MKlll type 2 (paddle style) Sear Lever. Mine is silver on the paddle... not sure why it is not blued or even if it is identical to the FN part. I hope Girsan has kept things like these standard to the BHP platform.
RECOIL SPRING & GUIDE ROD -
These parts are not identical to the FM Detective parts, much to my dismay. The Guide Rod is shorter by an unmeasured 1/8 inch or so. The recoil spring is a longer slightly stiffer flat wire single spring rather than the clever dual spring arrangement which FM employed.
With the FM Guide Rod and Spring assembly in place in the Girsan PI slide, I cannot lock the slide back for disassembly due the extra length of the FM Guide Rod.
The Guide Rod is of a design similar to the new BHSS design... open ended where it contacts the slide rather than the standard closed circle. If you have ever played with the FM Detective Slide you know how it is difficult to remove and install the Guide Rod/Spring Assembly. On the Girsan PI, it was even more difficult to remove or install this assembly. In addition... removing the Recoil Spring from the Guide Rod was so difficult that I could not do it. I moved on.
GIRSAN PI SLIDE FIT to FN BHP ALLOY FRAME -
The complete Girsan PI slide seems to fit on all three Alloy Frame FM pistols I have. I could not dry fire on the BHP Alloy Frame which is mated to the FM Detective Slide. It did dry fire just fine on the other two other BHP Alloy Frames. It slides back and forth cocking the hammer very nicely on all three frames... I really think it fits.
Overall it is a good looking pistol with usable sights similar to the Tisas or SA-35. Mine will get a full upgrade to SFS, BHSS trigger and more so I am not concerned with the standard slide release, trigger pull, etc. I think this will make for a sexy looking light-weight short-slide BHP carry pistol. Worse case... she will be all Girsan but upgraded with BHSS parts, the way I like my BHPs to be.
Last note:
She comes in a functional blue plastic case with one 15 round MecGar magazine, a wire bore brush, Instruction Manual and a cable lock. My only picture thus far is displayed below. I will add to this when she returns from BHSS.
I have been waiting for quite some time to find another "Detective" sized slide!
Cheers,
Tim
@ rellascout - thanks for the availability tip!
![Blue Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory]()
My intention is, and has always been, to harvest the PI short slide and mate it with a spare BHP Alloy Frame. Last night I shipped it off to BHSS along with the FN Alloy Frame host pistol... there was no need test fire before shipping as she will be vastly improved, one way or another. I did take a quick look and weighed some parts to determine suitability for this this project. Some notes below are things I am looking at for a better hybrid carry gun.
TRIGGER -
The mag disconnect is in place and it is pretty rough, but not too heavy. The BHSS trigger with magazine eject spring will replace the stock trigger. The supplied magazine did not drop free.
- Ten pull average: 7# 3oz
- High: 8# 1.2oz
- Low: 6# 9.7oz
SLIDE -
The slide is indeed as sexy as a BHP should be... the FM Detective Slide is not and this has always bothered me for no good reason other than a foolish sense of aesthetics. It just doesn't look right.
The complete PI slide is about 27 grams lighter than the FM Detective. Losing yet another ounce in carry weight is nice. Below I am comparing PI slide weights to the FM Detective Slide weight ( fitted with a BHSS barrel and night sights).
- COMPLETE SLIDE: 387grams (vs 409grams/FM)
- RECOIL SPRING & GUIDE ROD: 21grams (vs 18grams/FM)
- BARREL: 81grams (vs 81 grams/BHSS-FM)
- SLIDE: 284 grams (vs 311 grams/FM)
This slide features the MKlll type 2 (paddle style) Sear Lever. Mine is silver on the paddle... not sure why it is not blued or even if it is identical to the FN part. I hope Girsan has kept things like these standard to the BHP platform.
RECOIL SPRING & GUIDE ROD -
These parts are not identical to the FM Detective parts, much to my dismay. The Guide Rod is shorter by an unmeasured 1/8 inch or so. The recoil spring is a longer slightly stiffer flat wire single spring rather than the clever dual spring arrangement which FM employed.
With the FM Guide Rod and Spring assembly in place in the Girsan PI slide, I cannot lock the slide back for disassembly due the extra length of the FM Guide Rod.
The Guide Rod is of a design similar to the new BHSS design... open ended where it contacts the slide rather than the standard closed circle. If you have ever played with the FM Detective Slide you know how it is difficult to remove and install the Guide Rod/Spring Assembly. On the Girsan PI, it was even more difficult to remove or install this assembly. In addition... removing the Recoil Spring from the Guide Rod was so difficult that I could not do it. I moved on.
GIRSAN PI SLIDE FIT to FN BHP ALLOY FRAME -
The complete Girsan PI slide seems to fit on all three Alloy Frame FM pistols I have. I could not dry fire on the BHP Alloy Frame which is mated to the FM Detective Slide. It did dry fire just fine on the other two other BHP Alloy Frames. It slides back and forth cocking the hammer very nicely on all three frames... I really think it fits.
Overall it is a good looking pistol with usable sights similar to the Tisas or SA-35. Mine will get a full upgrade to SFS, BHSS trigger and more so I am not concerned with the standard slide release, trigger pull, etc. I think this will make for a sexy looking light-weight short-slide BHP carry pistol. Worse case... she will be all Girsan but upgraded with BHSS parts, the way I like my BHPs to be.
Last note:
She comes in a functional blue plastic case with one 15 round MecGar magazine, a wire bore brush, Instruction Manual and a cable lock. My only picture thus far is displayed below. I will add to this when she returns from BHSS.
I have been waiting for quite some time to find another "Detective" sized slide!
Cheers,
Tim
@ rellascout - thanks for the availability tip!
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I spent a little time mixing and matching Hi Powers and some clones to the new Girsan MC P35 PI slide. For the most part, the slide fits onto most frames without issue. In addition to placing the PI slide on various frames, including some customs, I also ran snap caps through them to see if it cycled. Again, for the most part, all good. I did have a few frames where either the fit between the slide grooves and the frame rails was very tight and the slide would not go on all of the way. Probably a little cleaning/sanding/light filing of the grooves of the slide would fix the issue. I also had a couple of instances where the PI slide would go on, but would not cycle back more than about a 1/2 to 1 inch or so. So tolerances on the PI slide to frames can be tight.
The slide fit on my Springfield SA-35, but the slide would not cycle all of the way back, same for a 1990 Don Williams custom. The slide was making contact with something. A couple of LWs were also too tight to fit the rails, but on another LW it fit and cycled. Also had issues with a 1976 BAC sport. Slide fit, but it would not properly cycle the snap caps. Possibly with some fine tuning it would work.
I tried on one FEG, would not fit, on a Charles Daly it did.
With that, I had the PI slide on the following, all cycling with snap caps.
Of course the ultimate test will be some time on the range.
PI slide on 1979 alloy, which is an optimal carry combination. Looks pretty good!
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The slide fit on my Springfield SA-35, but the slide would not cycle all of the way back, same for a 1990 Don Williams custom. The slide was making contact with something. A couple of LWs were also too tight to fit the rails, but on another LW it fit and cycled. Also had issues with a 1976 BAC sport. Slide fit, but it would not properly cycle the snap caps. Possibly with some fine tuning it would work.
I tried on one FEG, would not fit, on a Charles Daly it did.
With that, I had the PI slide on the following, all cycling with snap caps.
- 1979 FN Alloy
- 1964 FN Pre T
- 1977 BAC Vigilante
- 2004 Practical
- 2016 BAC epoxy
- 2016 Nighthawk custom
- Charles Daly
Of course the ultimate test will be some time on the range.
PI slide on 1979 alloy, which is an optimal carry combination. Looks pretty good!
nice pics, ToddSig!
Picked up mine yesterday. The trigger is fairly gritty. I’ll shoot it some later today. I gave it a new pair of shoes I had laying around. Does anyone know if the front sight dovetail is something standard? I would like to get a FO front sight. Now I guess I need to track down an alloy frame
![Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory Wood]()
Picked up mine yesterday. The trigger is fairly gritty. I’ll shoot it some later today. I gave it a new pair of shoes I had laying around. Does anyone know if the front sight dovetail is something standard? I would like to get a FO front sight. Now I guess I need to track down an alloy frame
Here are the instructions (brief and a bit dated) from the Browning 9mm Field Guide. I agree with rellascout, not worth the cost involved for a repaired frame. I would always question its reliability and when would it break or move again. Cylinder and Slide used to do it, when they were operating there was a long wait and expensive from what I recall. Better to just buy another frame or complete surplus pistol.
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