Girsan MC P35 Ops Part 1

First, Steve would have thought this thing to be ugly! He likely would have phrased it in these pages as something along the line of how he preferred the classic lines of the Hi Power. If I had presented it to him, he would likely have added some adjectives to how ugly it was, knowing he couldn’t hurt my feelings about it. He was not fond of the long tangs or light rails messing up the perfect symmetry of Le Grande Puissance.

I love beautiful guns and find the Hi Power sublime. However, I do not find the beavertail or the light rail objectionable, only different. The red dot is a function of my eyes no longer focusing up close as they did when I was younger. I can see the front sight with clarity but the top of the rear sight is often indistinct and I will vertically string groups on those days.

The Girsan is made in Turkiye (as it says on the side of the gun). It is distinctly heavier than a standard HP but not as much as a steel frame 1911. The front strap is very slightly enlarged at the bottom which pushes the little finger out noticeably when moving from an HP to the Girsan. The safety levers are nicely beveled at the rear for those of us who shoot high thumb and ride the safety. The extended tang is well rounded and still allows a high grip on the backstrap. The gun comes with one 15 round Mec Gar magazine which I used exclusively for the initial zeroing and shooting.

The straight trigger was something that I thought I would not like. Boy was I wrong. I actually started eyeing Steve’s old Mk II that I bought from him over 25 years ago, wondering if it needed one. There is noticeable creep but it broke at 5 1/2 pounds and I am hoping it cleans up with some use. The trigger breaks when it is perpendicular and did not bite the bottom of my trigger finger the way the factory curved ones sometimes do when I miss a grip and get too low on the trigger.

After I picked the gun up from my FFL. I went straight back to my home range and attempted to zero the optic. It was already loose by round number 8 so I replaced it with a Holosun 507K I had lying around. I used the screws that came with the budget dot that came on the gun. It took about 15 rounds to zero that optic at 25 yards. I shot this group with some Atlanta Arms 115gr JHP and followed it up with a group of some 115gr ball. Both groups were standing unsupported at 25 yards.

This first quick range session resulted in 65 rounds being fired with no stoppages. Nothing fell off except the OEM optic. A variety of HP magazines worked fine, including the LE mags with the mousetrap spring on the bottom rear to eject them from guns with the magazine disconnect. The disconnect is one thing the gun did not come with and Steve would have liked that.

I plan to rest this gun for accuracy and shoot some performance drills with it. I want to see if the long tang saves me some time on the draw by not having to perfectly locate my hand to avoid slide bite or severe hammer pinch. I would also like to know about the longevity of the gun. I will treat it like I would a duty gun and see how it holds up. I plan to add parts to this story as we go. Other things will be interspersed but this Girsan HP cousin will be a focus for a while.