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186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




posted
I inherited a mid-60s T series Hi-Power in near mint condition. It is un-fired and in its original leather zipper case. I have always wanted a Hi-Power and am itching to shoot it. But I wonder if that is a mistake as I read online that these are desirable to collectors. I do not want to sell it and this is not a back-door WTS ad. With the Hi-Power I also inherited a 1910 .380 Also un-fired. Any advice from Browning experts would be appreciated. I do not know much about these pistols.
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
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If you don't want to sell them, you should enjoy your pistols.

Though the current prices on High Powers would lead you to believe otherwise, there are many, many High Powers out there, in any condition imaginable, and from any period of HP production- decades and decades of these pistols. They are not rare.

I doubt you are going to put any appreciable wear on these pistols with modest amounts of use, and prices on HPs are such that you still would have pistols with high resale value.

Just don't put any +P ammunition through your High Power. You'll want to stick with 115/124 grain FMJ ammo from reputable manufacturers.


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Posts: 107266 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




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Thanks Para. I think I will shoot them. I have plenty of Speer and American Eagle 124 grain so I will use that. Thanks for the tip not to use +P.
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I personally wouldn't shoot it, but I'm coming from the perspective of a collector. If that were my only BHP, I'd buy a non-collectible BHP as a shooter. The shooting experience wouldn't be any different.
 
Posts: 222 | Registered: July 06, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Military Arms Collector
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I seriously doubt it's actually unfired, you can shoot a couple of mags every once a while and still baby it if you're careful. Just be careful during disassembly/assembly with the take down lever so you don't put an idiot mark on it. Those types of finish damage are the most traumatizing to look at.
 
Posts: 10831 | Location: Orange County, CA, USA | Registered: March 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Whether you shoot it or just love on it from the safe, don’t store it in that beautiful leather case.
Those 1910 380’s are wonderful little pieces as well. I think they get too little attention.
Nice pair.
 
Posts: 826 | Location: Baltimore, MD | Registered: March 29, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I also doubt it is unfired... which would bring up the question for experts... how do you prove a pistol that is in 100% condition has never been fired?

You gotta put a through rounds through it just because.


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Posts: 4441 | Location: Greenville, SC | Registered: January 30, 2017Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by austintx:
I personally wouldn't shoot it, but I'm coming from the perspective of a collector. If that were my only BHP, I'd buy a non-collectible BHP as a shooter. The shooting experience wouldn't be any different.


I'm not so much a collector as a shooter, but I agree and would still not shoot it.

I had a T series that had very good internals, but the gun looked like it had been through combat and the finish was all but completely gone. It had taken on a patina that I actually liked, but it was no replacement for the beautiful original blued finish.

I'd hate to see that happen to a mint Hi-Power.
 
Posts: 7324 | Location: the Centennial state | Registered: August 21, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




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Appreciate all the comments. I will post some pics later today since we all love pics Smile My dad told me he never shot them and he bought them new, but they certainly could have been test fired. The internals look new to me, but I am not an expert by any measure. They have far too much sentimental value for me to sell them.
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I am in the shoot them camp. A pistol that is never shot is merely a paperweight.


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Posts: 232 | Location: Eastern Nebraska | Registered: November 19, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Not an expert here, but a recent convert back to Camp Hi Power via a salty MkIII that received a little custom-love somewhere along the line.

I’d vote with the “shoot-it” voices, personally, with the caveat that I don’t know enough about BHP history overall that might suggest otherwise.

Looking forward to the pics of yours either way!



"The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." - George Costanza
 
Posts: 6687 | Registered: September 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
My dad told me he never shot them and he bought them new, but they certainly could have been test fired. The internals look new to me, but I am not an expert by any measure.


The pistols would have most certainly been proof fired before they left the factory. "Unfired" is somewhat of a misnomer describing a firearm which has never been fired after leaving the factory. "... how do you prove a pistol that is in 100% condition has never been fired?" With very few exceptions, I generally assume any gun I consider purchasing to have been fired at least once after having left the factory. In this instance however, I can think of no reason for a father to misrepresent the condition of the pistols. While I am in the "don't shoot the safe queens minority", to do so would not be a grievous error. Enjoy!
 
Posts: 3488 | Location: Western PA | Registered: July 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by ScotP7:
Whether you shoot it or just love on it from the safe, don’t store it in that beautiful leather case.


Unless you like freckles Frown


In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act
 
Posts: 3435 | Location: W. Central NH | Registered: October 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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A year or so back, I sold my 1960~ T series. It was passed down from my Dad's. It was shot some, but not a lot. It was otherwise pristine and had the leather zip pouch. So why did I sell it?. At the time I was going through a major surgery which had better greater then zero of walking away. I didn't want my wife to need to deal with trying to get the most value. My family, although good intentions would want the easy way out, leaving a lot cash on the table. Quality Glocks... G19 G45 and recent sig P365 series I wasn't worried about. They sell for they are worth every day



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
 
Posts: 11524 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: February 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




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Here are some pics. I need to learn how to take better gun pics. Hard to get the light just right without too much reflection.

https://imgur.com/a/5yw6Mai
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by hjs157:
quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
My dad told me he never shot them and he bought them new, but they certainly could have been test fired. The internals look new to me, but I am not an expert by any measure.


The pistols would have most certainly been proof fired before they left the factory. "Unfired" is somewhat of a misnomer describing a firearm which has never been fired after leaving the factory. "... how do you prove a pistol that is in 100% condition has never been fired?" With very few exceptions, I generally assume any gun I consider purchasing to have been fired at least once after having left the factory. In this instance however, I can think of no reason for a father to misrepresent the condition of the pistols. While I am in the "don't shoot the safe queens minority", to do so would not be a grievous error. Enjoy!


Yeah I figured they had been shot at the factory at least. "unfired" was the wrong word to use. I have not disassembled them yet. Just retrieved them this weekend.
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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@FishOn - those pistols look great, sir - congrats!



"The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." - George Costanza
 
Posts: 6687 | Registered: September 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Up to you. Any gun I get will be a shooter. So an older gun to go in the safe needs to be something really special. Like if I ever win the lottery and buy a gun that can be connected to a historical person and/or event. For me a safe queen still goes to the range every so often.


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Dirt Sailors Unite!
 
Posts: 25075 | Location: NoVa | Registered: May 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
quote:
Originally posted by hjs157:
quote:
Originally posted by FishOn:
My dad told me he never shot them and he bought them new, but they certainly could have been test fired. The internals look new to me, but I am not an expert by any measure.


The pistols would have most certainly been proof fired before they left the factory. "Unfired" is somewhat of a misnomer describing a firearm which has never been fired after leaving the factory. "... how do you prove a pistol that is in 100% condition has never been fired?" With very few exceptions, I generally assume any gun I consider purchasing to have been fired at least once after having left the factory. In this instance however, I can think of no reason for a father to misrepresent the condition of the pistols. While I am in the "don't shoot the safe queens minority", to do so would not be a grievous error. Enjoy!


Yeah I figured they had been shot at the factory at least. "unfired" was the wrong word to use. I have not disassembled them yet. Just retrieved them this weekend.


No worries - "unfired" is an acceptable term to describe the condition of a pistol which has never been fired outside of the factory - a condition which appears to apply to your father's pistols. I was simply responding to your statement . . . they certainly could have been test fired. Sorry to confuse the issue with semantics.
 
Posts: 3488 | Location: Western PA | Registered: July 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
186,000 miles per second.
It's the law.




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quote:
Originally posted by TheFrontRange:
@FishOn - those pistols look great, sir - congrats!


Thanks. I always knew he had them but he never took them out of storage. When he did not have much time left I asked him where they were. He pointed at the ceiling. (Basement ceiling was a dropped ceiling with rectangular tiles). That was 18 months ago. After he passed last year, I looked all over the place up in the ceilings and could not find them. I was sad and guessed they might have been stolen over the years. But this weekend when we were replacing the ceiling I found them tucked way in a corner behind a joist. It was a great moment.
 
Posts: 3248 | Registered: August 19, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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