# my new old browning



## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

Hello everybody,

here is an old browning hi power that I bought last week. its serial number is 17xxx. estimate 1939-41. no Nazi mark.















I disassembled it right away to loosen some stuck up parts, almost complete disassembly except for the trigger mechanism, magazine catch and sear lever.









still there are some tight parts, hope to disassemble and loosen them more next time.

the stainless magazine came with the unit and the blued one is a mecgar 15rds which I bought much earlier than the browning

































the stainless magazine is not an original browning, the cut at the upper left is designed to activate the slide stop of another gun or model; the mag plate does not fit well with the butt or mag well as the mecgar does; and the shape of the mag plate doesn't look like browning's.


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

the Browning also came with a holster. original















but broken . . .















this is a nice old gun, it's worth keeping, and maybe fun shooting with

I haven't fired it yet as I didn't have the time to go to the range. however when I tried stopping the slide and then releasing it by disengaging the slide stop lever, the hammer falls to the half cock position. I'm thinking its either a worn out sear or a weak(ened) sear spring. but that's easy to fix or to replace, as of now I'm happy with this Browning.


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

nickel plating flaking out


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Comments:
1. It looks as if someone has re-polished the gun. Lots of rounded edges and dished holes. This takes a lot of collectors' value out of it.
2. It has been re-blued, I think, and the slide has been after-market plated (that is, not by Browning).
3. To me, this early model of the Hi-Power is better than the modern version. Its internal extractor is easier to tune, or replace, than the more modern external version.

Consider having the plating stripped off.

Have fun with it!


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

Thanks for the comments Steve.

I'll have it re-blued, all except the barrel and its assembly. But maybe later, will fix the sear-hammer flaw first. 
Yes, I also like this old version over the new ones. Besides the advantage of the internal extractor that you said, the sear lever retainer looks better (prettier) than the external extractor at the side of the slide.

Sure, will enjoy this Browning.


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

this is a trial posting from the photobucket, my apologies if it fails, thanks.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Using replacement parts that do not fit exactly, can create burrs or unwanted mechanical pressures that can lead to trouble. 
Good luck


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

I tried this Browning at the range last weekend. it was fun shooting - I enjoyed it very much, easy to handle, manageable recoil (very light or I may be just very excited that I didn't notice any) - no kicks. accurate sights - zero. I missed some plates though - six-inch plates?? at 10 to 15 meters - due to shooter's errors (or skill level) i'm sure.

When loading a live round by disengaging the slide stop lever from an open bold/ slide, the hammer remains at full cock (when empty, as I mentioned above, the hammer follows the slide to a half cock)

there were some FTFs and FTE. as to the FTFs i'm looking at the possibility of the interplay of the reload ammo and the humped feed ramp, our reloads are a bit pointed, polishing the hump might help. will check on the old magazine also. a weak(ened) recoil spring could also be a cause. as to the FTE, will check out the extractor - for fine tuning. i'll see a gunsmith for these.

nice gun. worth keeping.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Congrats , sounds like you've got a good plan.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

SportivoX said:


> I tried this Browning at the range...When loading a live round by disengaging the slide stop lever from an open bold/ slide, the hammer remains at full cock (when empty, as I mentioned above, the hammer follows the slide to a half cock)...


If the hammer _ever_ follows the slide, even if only to half-cock, it means that the relationship between the sear's nose and the hammer's cock-notch is not entirely correct. Maybe one or the other is chipped, or the angle between them (which should be 90°) is wrong.
This is a job for a pistol-experienced gunsmith.



SportivoX said:


> ...there were some FTFs and FTE. as to the FTFs i'm looking at the possibility of the interplay of the reload ammo and the humped feed ramp, our reloads are a bit pointed, polishing the hump might help. will check on the old magazine also. a weak(ened) recoil spring could also be a cause. as to the FTE, will check out the extractor - for fine tuning. i'll see a gunsmith for these...


When you write "FTF," do you mean that, with the chamber loaded with a cartridge, you press the trigger, the hammer falls, but the gun doesn't go "BANG!"? Or do you mean that the next cartridge from the magazine does not properly enter the chamber, and the slide doesn't fully close?
The first one is a "FTF" (failure to fire), but the second one is called a "jam."
A FTF could be caused by bad ammunition, or by a broken firing-pin spring, or by a chipped firing pin, or by some foreign material (grease?) in the firing-pin channel.
A jam could be caused by that "hump" in the feed ramp, by a rough feed ramp that merely needs polishing, or by the amateur efforts of a previous owner to "even-up" the feed ramp. Fixing this is also a job for a good pistolsmith.


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

with FTF I mean failure to feed or yes "jam". sorry I thought "jam" is just our slang here. there was no failure to fire.
yes, i'll see an experienced gunsmith for these - for the feed ramp, sear-hammer flaws, and to measure the tension of the springs including the sear spring. and of course to loosen up the parts that I failed to disassemble.

thanks for the advise

I feel some "grit" when I squeeze the trigger because of the magazine disconnect safety mechanism. i'm planning to remove this thing. is it a good idea?


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

SportivoX said:


> ...I feel some "grit" when I squeeze the trigger because of the magazine disconnect safety mechanism. i'm planning to remove this thing. is it a good idea?


Legally? Maybe no.
Functionally? Absolutely yes.

Your pistol is genuinely old, and historically interesting, but it probably has little collectors' value.
Some people would prefer to keep such an old pistol intact, just because that's the way it originally was.
Other people would prefer the pistol to be the most functionally useful as possible.

I'm of the functionally-useful school. I would remove the magazine disconnector, because it does nothing to make the gun safer. In fact, it makes the gun less useful.
If you should ever have to use the pistol to save your life, and while so doing you have to change from an empty magazine to a full one, you might find it useful to be able to fire one last shot while changing the magazine. (I always leave one last shot in the pistol's chamber, when I remove its empty magazine to reload.)
Also, as you have noticed, the magazine disconnector does bad things to the pistol's trigger pull.


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## SportivoX (Mar 5, 2014)

Thank you for those insights, really helpful. 

Since there is little collectors' value left in the old gun, I might as well modify it for practicality, without changing its structure so I can always undo the modifications - like removing the magazine disconnector, and replacing the small thumb safety lever/catch with an extended one left side only.

I'm glad you prefer to remove the magazine safety, it is a good idea after all. also, in our place, after shooting the range officer would require the shooter to remove the magazine and put it in pocket or belt pouch, to clear the chamber by 'racking' the slide, to drop the hammer by squeezing the trigger, and to holster the gun. one cannot easily do that with the magazine safety mechanism without taking a magazine from pocket or pouch and inserting it back on the gun in order to drop the hammer. Besides shooters here are accustomed with the M1911 mechanism.


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