[Che]

Also I will add that people in general pay too much for BHPs. I paid $515 for this gun out the door shipped to my local FFL off of gun broker after the BHP was discontinued ...

I agree. Like usual you bring up some good points and as I expected opened a can of worms.

Take care my friend.

 

[Donjfred]

My first HP was new mkIII. $1100 at a gun show. Nice finish, Lousy trigger improved with an SFS modification plus BHSS optimizing ($275) resulted in FAIR accuracy.
Then I bought a SS Tisas at Gunbroker for $550. Superb fit and finish! Same lousy trigger improved with Optimizing at BHSS plus SFS for $275. Superb accuracy!

Why take a chance in today’s market with an overpriced hit and miss used browning when you can get a new high quality Tisas for half the price?

This assumes of course that your looking for a BHP type to shoot or carry, not for collection purposes.

Added note: The Tisas SS I bought a few months ago for $550 are now being priced around $580 but even then are pretty scarce.
I think word is starting to spread about their quality. I guess the “fanboy” base is growing.



https://share.icloud.com/photos/0rbHiFF-Sr8LGKSmCJS3l6hDQ#Home

https://share.icloud.com/photos/01917exnBfl6TFq0kDseu6Cjw#Home

 

[roc1]

I bought a handpicked Surplus Israel from Mach1 Arsenal for $500 it is a Browning marked pistol made in Belgium. Nice pistol I also bought the Tisas also a very nice weapon. I like both hard to choose both shot good both have spring upgrade from BHSS. Browning almost full kit Tisas only couple springs. Mag disconnect taken out. Either pistol good I bought Browning because I wanted a true marked Browning made in Belgium. Either one is a good shooter and a fine pistol. Unless you are a collector and just to have FN like I wanted one Tisas will certainly fill the bill as a good shooter and good pistol, plus it is SS.

 

[Jim Watson]

Always fun to psychoanalyze these questions.

Let's say you buy a Tisas or a scruffy Browning to test the waters...
1. You don't like it, so which is easier to resell?

2. You like it a lot and upgrade to a nice Browning. So what do you do with the cheapie?
Sell it? See 1 above, which can you move the easiest?
Keep it as a spare or loaner?
Keep shooting it and only take the deluxe gun out on special occasions?

3. OR, you like the cheapie well enough on its own merits but are not enthused enough to spend more on something nicer. No action required.

 

[rellascout]

Always fun to psychoanalyze these questions.

Let's say you buy a Tisas or a scruffy Browning to test the waters...
1. You don't like it, so which is easier to resell?

2. You like it a lot and upgrade to a nice Browning. So what do you do with the cheapie?
Sell it? See 1 above, which can you move the easiest?
Keep it as a spare or loaner?
Keep shooting it and only take the deluxe gun out on special occasions?

3. OR, you like the cheapie well enough on its own merits but are not enthused enough to spend more on something nicer. No action required.

Why buy the cheap one when you can buy a LNIB Browning for $650 + Shipping and Transfer?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/813865477

 

[rellascout]

My first HP was new mkIII. $1100 at a gun show. Nice finish, Lousy trigger improved with an SFS modification plus BHSS optimizing ($275) resulted in FAIR accuracy.
Then I bought a SS Tisas at Gunbroker for $550. Superb fit and finish! Same lousy trigger improved with Optimizing at BHSS plus SFS for $275. Superb accuracy!

Why take a chance in today’s market with an overpriced hit and miss used browning when you can get a new high quality Tisas for half the price?

This assumes of course that your looking for a BHP type to shoot or carry, not for collection purposes.

Added note: The Tisas SS I bought a few months ago for $550 are now being priced around $580 but even then are pretty scarce.
I think word is starting to spread about their quality. I guess the “fanboy” base is growing.



https://share.icloud.com/photos/0rbHiFF-Sr8LGKSmCJS3l6hDQ#Home

https://share.icloud.com/photos/01917exnBfl6TFq0kDseu6Cjw#Home

What make one believe that the Tisas is not also going to be hit or miss? Turkish guns are inconsistent in their manufacturing. Just because they are good today does not mean they will be good tomorrow. I would argue that FN Browning gives you a higher chance of getting a good gun. You are basing your conclusion on a sample size of one gun. I am not sure that is enough to draw any real conclusions from. The Tisas seem to be good. They seem to be selling well. I am interested to see how well they hold up to higher round counts. I can't wait for reports from owners who have 10,000+ rounds through them. I can't wait until we have 5+ years of consistent manufacturing out of them but until then if I have the choice of a true FN production pistol under $700 and the Tisas I will choose the FN every time. YMMV

People keep talking about the over priced market. The market is only overpriced because people are willing to pay more the MSRP for old new stock MKIIIs and older guns. People are overpaying. People have always overpaid. It is not just not that they have been discontinued. In the last 30 days I have seen some very nice commercial BHPs go for between $600 and $650 on GB. I am not talking about surplus guns I am talking about commercial BHPs in VG to excellent condition. The market is well on its way to normalizing. I have always been able to find VG to LNIB BHPs for under $600. I have never paid more than that for a stock BHP even after they were discontinued. The market is only overpriced because buyers are will to pay too much. If you are patient you can pay a lot less than most people are trying to sell for.

 

[rellascout]

Also please do not assume I do not like guns from Turkey or that I do not like the Tisas. I just believe it is too early to proclaim these clones are as good or better than the real deal.

Just to prove my point that I do own a few Turkish clones.

 

[crasig]

Also please do not assume I do not like guns from Turkey or that I do not like the Tisas. I just believe it is too early to proclaim these clones are as good or better than the real deal.

Just to prove my point that I do own a few Turkish clones.

I've been admiring those myself, & favor the way you've set them up.
Just can't afford yet.

 

[rellascout]

They are just starting to come back into the country. There have been 2 shipments this year after almost none for 18 months.

I had the Z-5Rs on back order with Kelly Enterprises when someone put one the Z-5P up for sale on a local forum. So I ended up with 2.

In NC SBRing the gun has some disadvantages to it so I am leaving them braces for now.

Also please do not assume I do not like guns from Turkey or that I do not like the Tisas. I just believe it is too early to proclaim these clones are as good or better than the real deal.

Just to prove my point that I do own a few Turkish clones.

I've been admiring those myself, & favor the way you've set them up.
Just can't afford yet.

 

[WilsonCombatRep]

used mark 3

 

[JimCunn]

I've owned my T-series Browning for 50 years. Recently acquired a BR9.
I have a sentimental attachment to the T, but the BR9 seems to be higher quality.

 

[M-Peltier]

My consideration would be resale value. If you buy a Brand new Tisa and then decide to sell it later, will you loose money on it?

Most who shop and buy a Genuine High power seem to indicate they either make money or at worst break even. That is the reason when I had the opportunity to get my first BHP it was a genuine made in Belgium HP.

 

[Don Flynn]

My 2 bits, if you find a FEG Hi Power try that as your 1st one. The only reason I bought my POS Tisa was I wanted a clone "shooter" to keep the round count on my "shooter" FN one down.

I found a FEG after I bought the Tisa, getting a trigger job done on it and in the past month I've passed up 2 other FEG's that have popped up at LGS's.

That might change after the holidays if the last one is still at the pawn shop I saw it at, and I have some extra dough in the bank after Xmas

 

[KDKSAIL]

There are just too many good FN/Browning Hi Power pistols--in various conditions from '..very good..' to '..like new..'--out there on the re-sale market, at affordable prices, to consider ANY '..clone..' as a 1st choice. The TISA Regent BR9 is a nice pistol...but the '..original..' is still very difficult to beat.

 

[crasig]

Why buy the cheap one when you can buy a LNIB Browning for $650 + Shipping and Transfer?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/813865477

That's a very valid point - But there are some of us who like a Stainless Pistol. In my case the ONLY browning I want can't be had for $650.
IF I see one for that - I never leave home without my credit card.
After all, nothing shabby about my plated FEG/MAUSER or Stainless TISAS HP. Love both.

 

[slav]

To answer the OP- old Hi-Power, without a second thought. Reasoning - if you get yourself a Tisas and have the bad luck your particular gun to have been manufactured on Monday instead on Wednesday and to need start chasing failures from different kinds...well not the best start in Hi-Power world...

The above represents my (Slav's) opinion...

BHSpringSolutions.com - Hi-Power, 1911, CZ75 and Makarov Springs, Grips and Tools

 

[JonCombatCdr]

I strongly agree with Rellascout and WilsonCombatRep-get a FN/Browning Mk III or Standard. You're getting a high quality firearm with a known, and very consistent component and assembly quality.

Then shoot at least 500 rounds through it to empirically determine what mods, if any, you'll benefit from (or simply desire). Rellascout's list he enumerated earlier in the thread is an excellent one.

Best, Jon

 

[filson]

I own a couple dozen FN/Browning High/Hi Powers. All post WWII, all the sight configurations, most finish variants, all calibers, 30 cal Luger, 9mm and 40 S&W, a few alloy frames, several SFS pistols, so on and so on. I typically carry an alloy frame FN.
I'm sure the clones are OK pistols for the money but I gotta tell you, there is goodness about owning or carrying the real thing. And, I can easily sell mine for a "modest" profit if the need arises.
My recommendation. Buy an FN/Browning.

 

[JimCunn]

I like my T-series Hi Power, but I'd get the BR9.

 

[KDKSAIL]

>>>...there is goodness about owning....the real thing...<<<

Apart from a stainless steel model and available as '..new..'....Is there any '..advantage..' to the TISA Regent BR9 ??

None of this is to suggest that the TISA 'clone' isn't a perfectly good pistol. The BR9 is a tribute to the genius of John Moses Browning (who is rumored to have carved his original plans on two stone tablets carried down from atop Mount Ogden in the Wasatch range) and the innovative design of Dieudonné Saive (2nd cleverest Belgian...after Hercule Poirot) of the original Hi Power, which remains one of the most successful and widely adopted handguns since the Chinese began experimenting with gunpowder...in production for eighty-two(82) consecutive years.