A week or two back, I got a message from Kevin Gibson that was "oh schit..." and then a weblink.
Well, obviously I had to check it out. Glad I did. The link was to an importer in Yankeeland that had just received a small batch of alloy frame FN HiPowers, and for a very good price. A quick call (and good thing it was quick because I get one of the last two), and it was on my way to my FFL.
It arrived holster worn, but in good condition otherwise. The two mags with it were numbered to the gun. No, not from the factory, but to the unit and officer designation from the Belgian PD that had traded these in. HP made in 1980, assigned to GV unit B, officer 550. Mags are stamped "B 550".
Several new grips were ordered to try them out. My Spegels that ride on the other HP didn't fit; the alloy frame is has slightly wider rails on the front of the grip by about 1/16", and I wasn't trimming down the Spegels. The Navidrex grips from Brownells were decent; better than the originals, but not to my liking. The are simply thin and flat with a "slick" checkering. The Mil-Tac grips are very nice and look fantastic, but again don't quite fit for the same reason as the Spegels. They are almost identical in profile and measurements to Spegels, and since Craig isn't making Delrins any more, and the Mil-Tacs are a VERY good G10 laminate with good, aggressive, but not uncomfortable grip they are a great alternative. I might keep these anyway, just in case.
The VZ 320s are superb. Thinner than Spegels or Mil-Tacs, or originals, and with a flat-wedge taper and very good grip, they fit like they were made to and changed the feel of the HP from "good" to "THEY'RRRRRRRRRR GREAT!"
With that done, it was time for a range session. I pulled out the 9x19 stockpile, added some more to it, and headed to the range. Sixteen (yes, 16) different JSP or JHP rounds were tried, from the old stock Remington 95 grain JSP to 147 grain subsonics and LOTS in between (Hydra-Shoks, PDX, Critical Defense, EFMJ, StarFires, GoldDots, GoldenSabres, etc.) The HP fired all of these without a failure of any sort or any hiccups in addition to several hundred rounds of 115 FMJs (Remington and Speer). Everything worked, and worked well. Surprisingly, the 115s and 124s shot high (not bad, just a bit high) while the 147s were dead on and the 105 EFMJs (rebranded Federal "Guard Dogs") were also dead on. The 105s are the carry load for now, backed up by the Browning (Winchester) BPX 147s as they were the most accurate.
All up, with 31+1, the FN alloy frame HP weighs in at 31.7 oz. That's Glock 17/19 weight range with better than normal BHP handling.
Oh, and a nice surprise - whomever did the triggers on these in Europe did them quite nicely. With the mag disconnect still intact and functional, the trigger breaks very clean and crisp at about 5.5#. That'll do, Donkey... that'll do.
