Other Semiauto Handguns

  • Makarov!  Well Worth the Money!

    This is not a “range report” on the Makarov.  I have a couple of those out there on www.pistolsmith.com and www.1911forum.com as well as other sites if interested. This concerns my observations of the little jewel after fair use over a bit more than a year. With other than the 115 and 120-grain JHP loads, these pistols are normally dead-bang reliable…

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  • FN’s DAO “Hi Power”

    The pistol shown is the DAO version of the “HP-DA”. The traditional DA/SA version came out in the ’80’s circa US military testing for a new 9mm handgun to replace the 1911. This pistol has been an on-again/off-again production item with FN. (Introduced in 1983 but discontinued four years later, but produced again in 1990.…

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  • Can the Hi Power Still Make the Cut?

    I read and responded to a firearm forum post in which a fellow was concerned about an upcoming IDPA match.  It seems that he expected I to be more of a challenge than a previous one and he noted that he would probably be the only Hi Power shooter amongst folks using Glocks, XD’s, S&W’s and other…

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  • Browning/FN Hi Power and CZ-75: Are They Related?

    Not infrequent discussions on various firearm sites suggest that the Hi Power and the CZ-75 are relatives. Some opine that the latter is a descendent of the former. Let’s take a look at these two pistols and see where they share common traits and where they don’t in order to see just how true their…

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  • The Hi Power and the Glock 17

    It is no secret that my favorite 9mm pistol has been the Browning Hi Power and that either it or a 1911 pattern pistol is my most often used pistols at the range. Before retirement as a police officer my duty sidearm was either a Hi Power 9mm or a 1911 in .45 ACP. These…

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  • Corbon 9mm 115-gr. DPX +P

    (Fired from Browning Hi Power w/factory barrel, w/Barsto barrel, and from Glock 26) Today’s defensive shooters expect quite a bit from expanding ammunition.  In the past, expansion was a “sometimes” thing.  While that is still true today, it’s my observation that bullets intended to expand actually do…most of the time. No longer is expansion itself enough. …

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  • Browning Hi Power or 1911 for Defense?

    It’s not unusual to find fans of the single-action automatic at this crossroad somewhere down the shooting trail.  Folks who are wedded to one or the other of these classic designs wouldn’t change …and that’s fine.  There are some for whom it presents a “dilemma”.  Note that I did not say a serious dilemma. That doesn’t mean that it’s…

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