Panzerschwein
member
Looking for a surplus Hi Power 9mm. What's a good one? Not looking to spend a bunch of money. What is a good buy in military surplus Hi-Powers?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Looking for a surplus Hi Power 9mm. What's a good one? Not looking to spend a bunch of money. What is a good buy in military surplus Hi-Powers?
Thanks.
Real military surplus Hi-Powers are few and far between these days. Not many of the countries who used 'em release surplus firearms for sale to milsurp dealers any more. Our lot will chop 'em(Canadian Inglis HPs were made in 1944 and '45 only. Still in use and will not be released.)
However, as mentioned there are hordes of used BHP's on the assorted auction sites.
"...Hi Power tips, tricks, recommendations etc..." Take out the silly mag safety.
Let me disagree with that - Kareen MK I is a Hungarian FEG P9M and Kareen MK II & III's are Bulgarian Arcus 94 with couple of cosmetic differences. To my knowledge Hi-Powers were never produced in Israel....and a few were Israeli-made knockoffs (Kareens?)...
You will find a godly number of surplus HPs on Gunbroker... and you will find some good buys...
The military surplus is of course a shooter grade gun... some are refinished (usually parkerized) and most are in mechanically excellent condition... A refinished example will make an excellent SD gun that also looks nice for carry. They also make great a chassis for a project gun.
The best known Gunbroker sellers are CDIsales (formerly Gary Cole) who has an excellent reputation for delivering guns that are better than described... a plus with CDI is they show photos of the actual gun you will get as opposed to some dealers who show a representative gun (usually a lot better than what you get.) Mach1 also has a good reputation.
Other dealers get HPs at times, but my experience is they usually are a disappointment when compared to the photo shown... they usually fit within the grade description, but just... as opposed to the guys who amaze you with better quality than described... I prefer to buy from the latter dealers.
AIM, SOG and others have HPs from time to time (which often means they were imported by Century... and thus have a quite large import mark stampped on the frame of the gun... something that is not necessary and I avoid... still, I have bought a few HPs from them as well too. In general they didn't misrepresent the condition of the guns... but they barely made the grade claimed... I was left feeling very unhappy with the purchase... now they would have taken them back... with shipping both ways at my expense... something I didn't like... so I kept the guns and ultimately refurbished the guns... I guess I would say I might buy something from them if the price is VERY good and i can't find the item somewhere else... otherwise I'd buy elsewhere... As long as you know the deal in advance and it's ok with you there is no reason not to buy from the big guys...
I got a defective HP from CDI (not something that I would have expected a dealer to notice) and he took it back without a problem and paid for return shipping as well... you cant ask much more than that...
FWIW
Chuck
be careful with surplus. having bought many over many years. i have a rate of about a 30% chance of getting with with defects. some very minor and easily fixed others much more expense to be repaired. typically almost every hi power or feg clone i have bought has suffered from this problem. the disconnector/seer whatever the part is called that keeps the hammer back when the safety is on.....setup is out of spec and allows the trigger to be pulled and move that part up and almost let the hammer fall. most wouldn't notice it unless they watched while pulling the trigger when the safety was on. often right on the edge of being dangerous. wont not fire or affect shooting, but keeping locked and loaded is asking for trouble. seen lots of sloppy armoring done regardless of cosmetic condition. also the most common issue is pitted bores, but worn out springs is also common. you can get lucky too. point is hard to buy without really inspecting it over and come out even. so if they have a check it out before accepting the transfer and easy return policy without percentages held on returns use it before you accept the transfer. point of note most ffls ive used dont want to sit around while you check it out but some will. best to know up front before going through a time wasting for everyone exercise.
my real point being is buying surplus to save money doesnt work out that way always. buying surplus to add to a collection of old and hard to find firearms makes more sense financially. sometimes spending up front more pays dividends. instead of getting a worn out pistol where you have to find a good gunsmith who knows what to do and parts on hi powers is pricey and barrels for hi powers 2s and even 3s are about impossible and when you do are often more costly that the entire surplus gun.
good luck on the hunt.
Thank you
I see. I didn't know the surplus ones had a high failure rate... very interesting.
well high for my own experiences...others may have much better sucess rates? dont know only know my own. then again most of the good surplus was cleaned out long ago. stuff being brought over now was likely considered the junk back in the good old days but its all that is left.
my real point is saving money on surplus vs. new gun. sometimes yes sometimes no. just be careful what ya buy and from who etc.
First, go here and learn just about anything you might want to know about the Hi Power. http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/
That's pretty much the Bible for Hi Power info.
If you want a good used surplus HP for a fair price, contact Mach 1 Arsenal (a big importer of Israeli surplus guns, and the importer for many of the guns that AIM and lots of others resell), talk to Kerry Kreiman (USMC Retired) Phone 865-982-3950 Ext 104 and tell him what you want. He'll tell you with honesty what he has at the moment. Judging from what they're offering on GB right now, they appear to be kind of between batches right now, but they may have some that aren't listed on GB. Several times during the year they get new batches in, and there are almost always a number of excellent guns in there. I suggest you get a Mk III.
The Hi Power in the photos below is one that Kerry picked out for me a couple years ago for $480. It is an excellent shooter, has an outstanding trigger for a HP, looks like it'd been carried but fired very little. He's recently had some that looked about the same for similar money, such as this one: http://www.gunbroker.com/item/589572421 I have no idea what they have on hand at this time, but I've watched their offerings from time to time over the past couple of years and as I said, they periodically get new batches in, and offer some great-looking guns in the $500 range. The HP is an outstanding gun, IMO.
I see. I am seriously reconsidering now... I didn't know this.
I see. I am seriously reconsidering now... I didn't know this.