Nice write up, thank you.

They are quite a value for the sub $400 that CDNN is selling them for, though I paid in the high $600 range for the match model with the beaver tail, which I still consider a good value.

I see no downside to the Girsan even when compared to my Springfield or Browning.

 

I missed out on the CDNN sale because I had recently blown my buying budget on a Girsan MC P35PI model and I really don’t regret it. Like my other Hi-Powers, first order of business was pulling the magazine disconnect safety that really helped with the trigger pull! It’s been years since I pulled out the disconnect on my FN Hi-Power but I don’t remember the FN being that “gravely“ as the Girsan was.
Next was to replace the grips. The MKIII style grips are comfortable enough to use when shooting but they kind of get in the way of the magazine release, kind of like my CZ82 but not quite as bad. Fortunately the grips I removed from my SA35 (I had replaced those with original contoured wood Hi-Power grips) fit just fine. I would have liked to use another set of original Browning wood grips but the MKIII safety levers won’t work with the original design.
Finally, I had to find a holster that would work better for the shorter slide. Fortunately, Wes had a Bilge rat holster I snagged up that was made for these shorter slides. Beautiful workmanship, not sure if calling it his “economy line” holsters really do the quality in it justice though. I’d stack it up against any Bianchi, Galco, or DeSantis holsters in my collection any day! The fit being brand new was a little snug, but a night of having the pistol wrapped up in a plastic bag and shoved in loosened it up a little and with a little more break-in time after deer season is over and it‘ll be perfection for the little Girsan. 👍

 

Mine was used for a good price. I put a Brownell's barrel in mine. It finally shoots to point of aim instead of very low and left. Check out the lug on your barrel, mine were rounded instead of square. No trouble installing new barrel. Trigger was absolutely horrible but fixed that too. Now it is good.

 

I installed a Cylinder & Slide extended thumb safety in mine. These have a tad of extra material where it engages behind the sear. I needed to remove app. .003" YMMV

 

@BHPshooter nice review. Thank you.

 

Now, the bad news -- I'm really not impressed with the sear/safety fit. With the safety engaged, the sear moves quite a bit more than I like.

I've checked 3 of my other Hi Powers for this, 2 FM Argentine clones, and a Browning MkIII.

The Browning has virtually no play at all between the safety and the sear. On my 2 FMs, there is a tiny bit of play, but not much. You certainly can't SEE a gap between the sear and safety on any of them.

The Girsan's hammer doesn't fall if I press the trigger with the safety engaged, nor does it fall when the safety is disengaged... And just to be sure, after that, if I push forward on the hammer, it still doesn't fall...

But I'm still not especially pleased about it. I'm currently deciding how to go about fixing it.

Clearly this isn't the case for all of them... Maybe I just got one that was made on a Monday or a Friday.

I still think it's a lot of value for the money, but I also think it's prudent to give them a thorough inspection.

Great review. Thanks for doing this. At least 1 out of 3 of the FN Mark III guns that I have come across will have "some" movement in the sear with the safety engaged. Like this Girsan, none had a specific safety issue. Hammer would not fall when trigger pressed. But I just don't like it either. The easiest and cheapest fix is to give it an action job and put in a C&S sear. They are oversized so you can tune the safety to make it perfect. In some cases, I have successfully swapped in an older OEM sear from pre-Mark III gun. I have 2 dozen in the parts bin. They are sometimes slightly oversized compared to the Mark III sear and will close the gap. If you are OCD like me, then maybe on of these options will help.

Scott

 

Well, how does the damn thing shoot? After all, that's where the rubber meets the road.

 

Great review. Thanks for doing this. At least 1 out of 3 of the FN Mark III guns that I have come across will have "some" movement in the sear with the safety engaged. Like this Girsan, none had a specific safety issue. Hammer would not fall when trigger pressed. But I just don't like it either. The easiest and cheapest fix is to give it an action job and put in a C&S sear. They are oversized so you can tune the safety to make it perfect. In some cases, I have successfully swapped in an older OEM sear from pre-Mark III gun. I have 2 dozen in the parts bin. They are sometimes slightly oversized compared to the Mark III sear and will close the gap. If you are OCD like me, then maybe on of these options will help.

Scott

Yeah, I'm thinking a C&S sear is probably in my future. Am I needlessly concerned about the whole thing? Maybe... But I'd feel a lot better if there was less play between the safety and sear.

Well, how does the damn thing shoot? After all, that's where the rubber meets the road.

I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet -- this is just a "bench review" at this point. I'm hoping to get to the range next week. 🤞

 

Yeah, I'm thinking a C&S sear is probably in my future. Am I needlessly concerned about the whole thing? Maybe... But I'd feel a lot better if there was less play between the safety and sear.

In addition to the C&S aftermarket sear, there is also the EGW hard sear for the HP. The EGW sear is about $20 less than the C&S sear ($30 vs $50). I have used a few with no issue, excellent fit.

EGW states.
Product Details

• At 55 Rc scale, our Browning Hi Power sear is the hardest sear available anywhere!
• Machined on in our CNC machining centers and ground to our geometry these sears need little to no modification.
• They have become so popular that EGW has sold more than 15,000!

Browning Hi-Power Hard Sear

 

I had one but didn't like the heavy trigger. Sold it. Y M M V

 

How did the disconnect removal affect pull weight?

 

in my case, it was night and day difference. The weight was lightened up a little although the MKIII style firing pin block left it still heavier than my SA35 and my 1961 vintage FN Hi-Power. What the big improvement was that with the magazine disconnect, it was pretty rough like it was being dragged down a gravel road. With it removed, that trigger no longer had that friction dragging up the front of the magazine and was significantly smoother.

 

If I as going to build up on one of the parts it would be the safety. But if you are replacing the sear it won’t matter.

 

Those two tone models were $389 but appear to be out of stick now. I almost picked up a 2nd one for that price. I have one of all black ones and I’ve been happy with it. Swapped out the crappy sights for some Trijicon night sights and put navridex grips on her. Gonna pull the magazine disconnect out one of these days. Overall I really like mine especially for the price. I have a Browning MK3 also.