Browning Hi-Power (GP) doesn’t fire – bent sear lever

Recently, I had a problem with my old Browning Hi-Power: about 10% of the time, it didn’t go off. I could use all the force I had on that trigger, nothing happened. Racking the slide always solved the problem.

browning-highpowerFirst I checked if maybe something was wrong with the safety or whether the gun went into full battery (maybe the recoil spring was worn). My next idea was that the trigger spring (48) was a bit worn out and didn’t push the trigger lever (46) snug against the frame anymore (my Hi-power has the mag safety removed which allows more side-ways travel on the trigger lever). If that was the case, the trigger lever would be hitting the slide when pulling the trigger rather that the sear lever (30). In a correct functioning Hi-Power, when the trigger is pulled, the trigger lever pushes the sear lever (in the slide), which in turn pushes the sear (in the frame), releasing the hammer. But also that didn’t check out, because when the gun was blocking I still could pull the trigger quite far, further than I would have been able if the trigger lever was really stuck on the slide.

Finally I found out that the problem was cause by a bent sear lever (30). The trigger lever pushed the sear lever correctly, however that being bent, it just bearily reached the sear, resulting in a failure to activate it about 10% of the time.

I’ve bent it back for now, the gun works perfectly again, but that quick fix will only temporarily hold I guess. I’ll have to buy a new sear lever. I thought I would share this for all Hi-Power fans out there who run into this annoying problem.

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Hämmerli X-esse Sport review

my-hammerli-xesseI bought my Hämmerli X-esse Sport about 1.5 years ago as an affordable alternative for a real target gun. The fact that the X-esse still looks “normal” compared to competition weapons, I took as a plus. I fired about 3000 rounds with it (rough estimate). This post here reflects my personal experience with my Hammerli X-esse Sport, calling it a thorough review would be exaggerating, but I hope that its still helpful for people considering to buy this fine weapon. Continue reading

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Ammo comparison because of picky Browning Hi-Power

My 9mm Browning Hi-Power seems to be ammo picky. Not that it has feed issues (it “eats” everything), but precision seems to be very ammo dependent.For example: with GECO ammo 124gr FMJ, I have no trouble holding the black (i.e. get decent groups) on a standard ISSF pistol target at 25 m (diameter of black = 20cm = 7.8 inch). However, with S&B or Magtech 124gr FMJ ammo, shots end up all over the paper target. I should add some quantitative data on this phenomenon some time, but I’ve been testing this several times, shooting groups of 5, switching ammo brands. Continue reading

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SR1911 front-sight improvement

I have mentioned that my Ruger SR1911’s broke during shooting earlier this year, something that has happened to many people. Getting the front sight replaced has been quite an adventure. Cutting a long story short: I brought it back to my local gunshop for repairs, however obtaining a new sight from the importer lasted forever. I eventually contacted Ruger in the US myself to get the local importer off his butt and take action (Thank you ladies at Ruger export sales for the prompt follow-up). Anyway in this process, I got assurance from Ruger that they had solved the front sight issue by now.

sight-letter

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