Since the Browning "Hi-Power" was discontinued around 2018, everyone who ever was moderately interested but hadn't gotten one yet has entered the market. At least 5 Turkish firearms manufacturers (to my knowledge) now offer High Power style pistols, some with modern upgrades such as beavertails, optics cuts, and picatinny/WML rails, and some adhering to the "classic" High Power lines and features. The Centurion 14, made by Alpharms in Turkey and imported/branded by Century Arms, is one of the latter.

To address the elephant in the room up front, the primary draw of these pistols, other than their pretty faithful similarity to the FN/Browning originals, is the nearly unbelievable price. This one was listed at $389 in the handgun case of my local Cabela's, but since they price match for Cabela's card members (and possibly for everyone; I'm not sure) I was able to get it for $369 and my Cabela's points covered the tax. And I gotta say, no matter your personal feelings about Turkey as a country, they are putting out some amazingly good firearms, particularly for the price.

The Centurion 14 is an attractive blend of "classic" High Power features with some MKIII touches as well. I'm not sure whether the frame is forged or cast; internet sources claim both. Some also say Alpharms is the source for the frames and slides that are finish machined and otherwise finalized by Springfield Armory to make their SA-35 pistols, which are almost universally liked. Regardless, the frontstrap of the Centurion 14 is a little thicker in profile compared to my Israeli police surplus FN High Power, which as far as I know is considered a MKIII. Measuring from the front of the magazine cutout to the front of the curve of the frontstrap, the Turkish pistol is a little thicker. But the pistols look and feel nearly identical, with the Centurion having a superior overall appearance, since it's new, and my surplus FN has a well-beat-up black epoxy finish. Neither the original nor the Turkish copy has a beveled magazine well.

The finish of the Centurion 14 has been variously claimed to be "anodized" (by Sootch00 on youtube, who seems like a good guy but his info is often very incomplete or downright wrong), or cerakote (it isn't), or nitride (don't think so), or parkerized (doubt it), or simply "matte black," which is what I believe it to be. Flat bluing or "matte" blued finish, which is attractive and functional and gives the whole pistol a purposeful, serious-use vibe, similar to the MKIIs back in the day. The prominent "CENTURION 14" billboard on the right side of the slide isn't my favorite feature, but the font looks classy and it could certainly be worse (older Rock Island Armory 1911s are a good--or bad--example).

The top of the pistol doesn't have the MKII rib, and the "bushing" at the front more closely resembles the more subdued MKIII style. The shape of the ejection port resembles the latest "Hi-Powers" Browning sold, but the flat, checkered plastic grips are akin to the "classic" pistols of the 1960s and earlier. There's no lanyard loop. The front and backstrap are both smooth, as with the original pistols.

The sights are both dovetailed, and my info says they are proprietary cuts. The rear is a cosmetic nod to the Novak-type triangular/shaped sight, but isn't a Novak-cut dovetail either. The sights are a 3-dot, white-paint arrangement, and despite my typical aversion to 3-dot sights, I had no trouble shooting this pistol well. I'd prefer a fiber-optic front and blacked-out/serrated rear for range/competition use, but I can live with it.

The controls are bog-standard HP, with the thumb safety being the old, stiff, and abbreviated non-ambidextrous type. It's my personal view that one reason the Israelis developed the "Israeli carry" practice of carrying their duty pistols condition 3 (chamber empty, hammer down), and racking the slide upon the draw is due to the High Power's basically unusable thumb safety. If I were to carry this particular pistol for defensive or competition use and wanted to take advantage of condition 1/cocked and locked, I'd definitely install a thumb safety with a longer/more pronounced ledge.

The trigger pull is typical of non-customized High Powers, which is to say, not great. It breaks quite clean, but measures about 7 or 8 lbs by my calibrated finger (my Lyman gauge is currently out of order but I've gotten pretty good at estimating trigger weights). My FN's is a little better, around 6 lbs, but that's due to my removing the magazine disconnect safety from that one. The Centurion does include the mag disconnect, and I'm probably going to remove it, purely because it prevents the magazine from dropping free and also is a PITA for competition use since you have to insert an empty mag for hammer down at the end of each stage. Removing it should improve the trigger a bit also, though it makes the already nebulous trigger reset even more nonexistent in my experience.

In actual shooting, the Centurion 14 felt great and performed well, chewing through multiple magazines of Fiocchi TargetMaxx 115 grain ball without any malfunctions, and this ammo produced bullet impacts just above my front sight at 15-18 yards on steel, which is exactly where I prefer it. My moderate/low-powered range reloads (which I tried first) induced several FTE and FTF malfunctions during my initial range visit, but swapping in some proper-powered factory loads alleviated those issues entirely. I haven't tried any JHP loads yet but I understand they shouldn't be an issue, as the Centurion has the modern-type feed ramp without the humped profile of the very old HPs.

Disassembly is easy, once you learn the necessity of pushing up on the slide stop tab while pushing in on the slide stop shaft from the right side. The manual doesn't mention this, and if you are unaware of that little nuance of the High Power, it will frustrate you, as it cannot be pushed or driven out otherwise. Unlike the Girsan High Power (another Turkish clone), the Centurion doesn't feature a firing pin block.

The slide-to-frame fit is a bit rattly and loose, but the slide moves smoothly back and forth when racking or loading and the pistol feels good in the hand. My only ergonomic niggle is the rearmost top edge of the slide stop lever is a bit sharp against the thumb compared to my FN, but it's not a huge deal. The ring-style hammer differs from most standard MKIIIs, which usually came with spur hammers. Neither my FN's spur or the Centurions ring hammer causes hammer bite or otherwise chews up my XL-sized hands, though the FN comes reeeeally close to contact. The ring hammer does touch or slap my hand a little if I grip super high, but my skin doesn't get pinched between the tang and the hammer so it's not a big deal to me.

Shooting the Centurion and the FN back to back with the same ammo, alternating pistols every 5 rounds, revealed that they are essentially identical. I mentioned that my FN has a slightly better trigger due to the removal of the disconnect safety, and it also currently wears Hogue rubber grips which offer a better purchase, but othwerise they seem equally accurate and there's no discernible difference in recoil. Both are very satisfying to shoot, with just a bit more muzzle flip than the other service-style 9mms I've evaulated (yes, I've shot them back to back with other pistols many times; the high powers flip a bit more than the others).

The Centurion 14 comes with one Italian-made, blued 15-round magazine, which is pretty much my only compaint. 2 mags would be better, and 3 would be very welcome. However, for the price, I'm not going to complain too much.

Overall, if you want the High Power experience without the High Power ding to your wallet, you might want to look into one of these HP clones from Turkey.

If interested, here's a video, which essentially says the above:

https://youtu.be/P9qUaQDsWXk?si=aIBSt8PLl2T13GBk

I have the Girsan clone. Shoots great. No mag disconnect. Extended safety. Considering picking up the Springfield.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I have the Girsan clone. Shoots great. No mag disconnect. Extended safety. Considering picking up the Springfield.

yeah the new 4” Springfield looks interesting too. I like the flat triggers on some of the Girsans.

Excellent write-up. I assume the reason this one is even more affordable than the other Turkish HP clones is the cast frame. AFAIK, the Tisas and the Girsan have forged frames.

quote:

Originally posted by MacGyver:
Excellent write-up. I assume the reason this one is even more affordable than the other Turkish HP clones is the cast frame. AFAIK, the Tisas and the Girsan have forged frames.

possibly. I’d be surprised if the raw parts weren’t all made in the same place though but maybe they are all doing their own. I’m not sure whether it’s cast or not. If Springfield says their SA35 is forged then I would assume the Alpharms is forged as well, since they’re supposedly the supplier for the raw frames and slides that Springfield finishes here. But info can be unreliable.

I have a Turkish Inglis L9A1, and I really like it. Flawless performance after several hundred rounds fire.

No intention to hijack the thread but do these clones use the same Browning magazines ?

Yes.

I never knew there are both forged and cast frame Hi Powers coming from Turkey. Wonder where SA acquires the forged frames for their rendition of the P35?

That may have been misleading on my part. In the video, it’s mentioned that the magazine opening in the frame of this Centurion 14 looks to be patterned after the cast frames of the original HP. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Centurion 14’s frame is also cast, but that was the first thing my mind jumped to when I realized what it costs to buy. Indeed, I don’t know why else it would be that much cheaper than the other Turkish HP clones.

I was told that Springfield gets its HP slides, barrels, and frames from Tisas. I don’t know if this was ever confirmed by Springfield, but it makes some sense, as Tisas is becoming a little famous for using all forged parts for its 1911s and HPs.

quote:

Originally posted by MacGyver:
That may have been misleading on my part. In the video, it’s mentioned that the magazine opening in the frame of this Centurion 14 looks to be patterned after the cast frames of the original HP. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Centurion 14’s frame is also cast, but that was the first thing my mind jumped to when I realized what it costs to buy. Indeed, I don’t know why else it would be that much cheaper than the other Turkish HP clones.

I was told that Springfield gets its HP slides, barrels, and frames from Tisas. I don’t know if this was ever confirmed by Springfield, but it makes some sense, as Tisas is becoming a little famous for using all forged parts for its 1911s and HPs.

I know SA uses a Turkish frame and slide, so TISAS makes sense. All the Hi Power slides and frames are manufactured in Turkey these days. Nobody else is making them to my knowledge.