Back in 1994 I picked up, from my LGS, an Argentine FABRICACIONES MILITARES (Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares (DGFM) M90 Detective which is a modified shortened slide / barrel P35 made on FN equipment licensed to FM.



After breaking it in, determining that it was a "keeper," I decided in 1995 to customize it.

I bought and installed several Cylinder & Slide parts: CS025C Duty Carry spring kit (hammer & firing pin), CS037 trigger, and CS035 safety. (And yes, the C&S trigger and safety as delivered had a purplish hue for whatever reason.)

I removed the magazine disconnector and tweaked the trigger function. I also beveled the magazine well and stippled* the grip front and backstraps. Had a local shop reblue the gun and then added Craig Spegel madagascar rosewood grips and Hogue hex grip screws.

It uses either CZ75 Compact (Wolff #53917) or bhspringsolutions replacement recoil springs as factory springs have never been available in the States.

The pistol weighs 30 ounces unloaded and uses any Hi-Power P35 13x or 15x magazine.







It remains a favorite.



* The long ago discontinued tools I used to stipple the gun:

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

I havee been keeping my eye out for one of these.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I have been keeping my eye out for one of these.

There's an M95 version as well. Back in the day there were also slide kits to convert P35s.

I love my FM Detective! I lucked out and won an auction years ago for one before the prices started going through the roof. Mine is an M90 and the only mods I had my gunsmith do were to remove the magazine disconnect safety and install a commander hammer to eliminate bite.

This is the gun I used to certify for my CHL. I've replaced springs with stock, added rosewood grips and break it out and shoot occasionally. It's definitely a keeper for me, too.

So, if I understand correctly, a full size P35 grip and frame (with a presumably shortened dust cover), and a shortened slide/barrel... a la Commander.

That is kind of nifty.

What is the barrel length?

Super cool! I learned something new today; thanks for sharing that.

Man, that looks like a perfectly balanced Hi-Power. Better than its bigger brother. Like the P228 to the P226. Very cool. Thanks for sharing, B.

Nice pistol, but an unexpected pleasure seeing the stippling punches. Thanks for sharing.

I had a chance to buy one locally, it had even been recently refinished. But I had just gotten my BHP (which I have a lot of money into and is quite sweet), so the timing was just not good. Someone else snapped it up.

I used to see a few at local gun shows but they were always in beat-up shape.

Very nice! I've seen those around, but never when I had an opportunity to buy one. Looks like a great choice for CCW, but you probably have to go to a custom leather maker like Milt Sparks. Do either of you guys carry yours and if so, what was your choice?

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
So, if I understand correctly, a full size P35 grip and frame (with a presumably shortened dust cover), and a shortened slide/barrel... a la Commander.

That is kind of nifty.

What is the barrel length?

The barrel is 3.7", the overall length is 6.3" and weighs 30 oz unloaded. Also of note is that the top of the slide is ribbed unlike the FN HiPower.

For comparison, the standard HiPower has a 4 5/8" barrel with an OAL of 7 3/4" and weighs 32oz unloaded.

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:
Looks like a great choice for CCW, but you probably have to go to a custom leather maker like Milt Sparks. Do either of you guys carry yours and if so, what was your choice?

My 1911 commander leather works fine (Andrews leather McDaniel II, Simply Rugged 'Cuda, C5 leather Versa-Max style, etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Man, that looks like a perfectly balanced Hi-Power. Better than its bigger brother. Like the P228 to the P226. Very cool. Thanks for sharing, B.

Totally agree Dr. Q!

As an aside, back in the '90s some felt the compact Detective was a kissing cousin to the ASP and Devel single stack 9mm's.

Nice looking Detective model. I have owned mine (Model 90) for at least 12-15 years or so. They are just the "right size" for me, though I do love my full size BHPs. For some reason, I can not shoot my Detective as well as I shoot my full size BHP.......most likely just the shooter. Mine has functioned 100%, and I can't imagine ever letting it go.

Very cool. It does indeed look well balanced. Thanks for posting about the Detective model as I didn't know of its existence.

TxRod,

Your Detective looks great with those rosewood grips. It also looks to have a gloss blue finish. Mine came with a matte finish which I retained when it was reblued. I sometimes think I should have gone for a glossier treatment like yours. Nice!

Oh, my that's nice. I've never really been a full size Hi-Power fan having shot a couple of them, but my God, that is sweet.

Never knew there was such a pistol, what a beauty and thanks for sharing the pics.

OMG! Talk about crazy prices. Yeah the Detectives have gone up but not this far up by any stretch. Here's a used Cylinder & Slide custom chopped Browning Hi-Power for <gasp> $3750! Someone bit as it shows sale pending. Link



Frankly I like the slide on mine better.

I had a great MkII.
Never knew about the M90 Detective.
It certainly is compact.

The stipple tool ...

Thanks for sharing!

Since folks showed interest in the sadly discontinued Brownells stippling tools, thought I'd share a picture of my well used set:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
So, if I understand correctly, a full size P35 grip and frame (with a presumably shortened dust cover), and a shortened slide/barrel... a la Commander.

That is kind of nifty.

What is the barrel length?

The barrel is 3.7", the overall length is 6.3" and weighs 30 oz unloaded. Also of note is that the top of the slide is ribbed unlike the FN HiPower.

For comparison, the standard HiPower has a 4 5/8" barrel with an OAL of 7 3/4" and weighs 32oz unloaded.

I assume this is a steel framed gun, correct?

I'd really like to see what a Detective would look like with a classic FN BHP type royal blue finish.