Hi-Power Versions

I probably shouldn’t say this, but sometimes I think John Browning never finished the Hi-Power, his final pistol design, because maybe he had second thoughts about the way it was coming together. The design was finished by Belgian small arms designer Dieudonné Joseph Saive at Fabrique Nationale nearly nine years after Browning’s death.

Many have complained about the trigger and magazine disconnect arrangements, but to be fair, Browning could not borrow much from his former, and in my opinion, superior, 1911 design as the patents had already been sold to Colt. Anyway, my job here is to make it easier for you to work on the many versions of the Hi-Power, in use worldwide for over 80 years. It is my hope that I can correct errors I have found in publications dealing with this design, or at least clarify instructions therein.

Disassembly To begin disassembly, extract the magazine. It won’t drop free on its own, unless someone has worked on or removed the magazine disconnect. More about this later. Examine the chamber to be sure there’s no live round present. Next, Far Don’t lose it. Now you can remove that firing pin retainer, pin, and spring. pull the slide all the way to the rear and lock it there using the safety lever. Push the slide stop (55) up.

Pushing on its opposite end, peeking out of a hole on the right side of the slide, remove it to the left. Holding the slide against the tension of the recoil spring, release the safety lever and allow the slide to move forward off the frame. Flipping the slide over, find the recoil spring (23) wrapped around the recoil spring rod or guide (22).

Grab the "knuckle" end of the guide with a hole through it (where the slide stop went through) and pull on it, compressing the spring and allowing removal of the pair from the slide. In some versions the knuckle may have a spring/plunger arrangement inside designed to keep the slide stop in place. I suggest leaving these parts alone unless you’re sure there’s a problem there. Lifting the barrel upwards and out means the gun is now field stripped. For further disassembly go to the firing pin and spring.

In some versions of the Hi-Power you can remove this by simply depressing the back end of the pin (8) with a small punch or the end of a small screwdriver. Slide out the firing pin retainer (6) as on a 1911 pistol. On other versions, however, you must, at the same time, either keep the front end of the sear lever (30) depressed or remove it. And if you’re going to remove the extractor (30) later, you will also need to remove the sear lever first. I say go ahead and remove it now.

To remove the sear lever, drive out its retaining pin located just under the extractor. Driving from right to left, remove the sear lever, exposing the little spring under it. Don’t lose it. Remove that firing pin retainer, pin, and spring. Introduce a small roll pin punch to extract the extractor pin. With this pin out, lift out the extractor (3) and the small coil spring (5) under it. I’ve found two odd-ball "tools" that make Hi-Power work much easier.

The first is an ordinary two-inch binder clip from an office supply store and the second is a "double hook" tool improvised from coat hanger wire with the upper hook leg about 0.6" long and the other leg about 0.25" long with the bends about 2.5" apart. These tools are helpful for removing the sear (28), sear spring (32), and safety mechanism (24) and a big improvement over the wooden clothespins commonly recommended. The

With this pin out, lift out the extractor (3) and the small coil spring (5) under it. Far We will depend on these while removing and reinstalling the sear and thumb safety components. On top, an ordinary 2" binder clip from Office Depot. On bottom, a "double hook" made of coat hanger wire. The upper leg of the hook is about 0.6" long and the lower leg about 0.25". The bends are about 2.5" apart. double hook also helps when reinstalling the sear spring.

As aside note, large binder clips like this have also been an excellent source of flat spring material for unavailable gun parts. A magazine retainer spring for a Hungarian pistol and an extractor for a Scandinavian rifle come to mind. Cut and shape the flat material with Dremel cutoff wheels. Poke the short leg of the double hook tool into a grip screw hole.

While holding the frame in one hand, use the other hand to cock the hammer back far enough to insert the longer leg of the double hook into the top of the hammer, holding it in place even after the sear is removed. Note, if your Hi- Power has a spur hammer without the hole, make your double hook’s top leg differently to accommodate. The binder clip clamps the sear spring toward the back of the mag well. To remove the sear (28), lock the hammer back with the double hook.

Use a small punch to push the sear pin out, allowing the sear to drop out and partially free up the ejector. Swing the ejector’s nose down. Doing this assists when removing the thumb safety components (2). Removal of the binder clip releases the sear spring (32) and it will either fall out or can be removed into the mag well and upward, out of the frame. While restraining the hammer, remove the double hook, gently allowing the hammer to come forward and relaxing the spring in the hammer strut assembly (13).

Remove the thumb safety components (24) by pulling and wiggling the left side safety lever out. Note, if it seems difficult to remove, do not succumb to the temptation to drive or pry it out as doing so can do serious damage. In some versions this lever contains a springloaded plunger which will try to fly out and be difficult to find later so be careful. Other, more gunsmithfriendly versions feature a small vertical pin holding the spring and plunger in place.

If your Hi- Power has ambidextrous safety levers, one of the levers (usually the right side) will be held onto its shaft by a tiny vertical pin through the top of the lever. This must be driven out with a very slim punch. My beloved punch was obtained from Brownells (080-513-639) and is available singly or in a terrific kit of three sizes with available replacement pins. Then, if applicable, the other safety lever and its shaft should be pulled/wiggled out.

Either way, removing the thumb safety components will also have freed up the ejector and the hammer strut assembly. They can now be removed as well. Reassembly We’ll start with if you need to use a different hammer spring. You may want a lighter spring to improve trigger pull, though, in the case of the kits from Cylinder & Slide (Cylinder-Slide.com, this can be achieved by using better sear and hammer engagement and machining.

To begin, insert the hammer assembly into a drill press or milling vise upside down with the hammer on the bottom. Using pliers, turn the little nut clockwise one turn or so to compress the spring enough to allow removal of the tiny locking pin above the nut. Carefully fit the small nut into the chuck of the drill press or mill and tighten the chuck. Manually turn the chuck counter-clockwise and unscrew the nut. You can then swap springs and reverse the above steps.

When doing so, be sure to tighten the nut enough to leave room for the tiny lock pin at the end of the strut and replace it. Using pliers again, unscrew the nut enough to hold the locking pin in place. To swap hammers, drift out the cross pin holding the hammer and strut together. Note that many of these cross pins have one end larger than the other which should tell you which way to drift. Before attaching the new hammer, also note the curve in the strut as it relates to

Both: Demonstration of the helpful odd-ball tools to remove the sear (28), sear spring (32), and later, the safety mechanism, (24). In my experience, these improvised "tools" area big improvement over the wooden clothespins sometimes suggested by others. The double hook will also come in handy later when reinstalling the sear spring. As aside note, large binder clips like this have over the years been an excellent source of flat spring material for unavailable gun parts.

A magazine retainer spring for a Hungarian pistol and an extractor for a Scandinavian rifle come to mind. Cut and shape the flat material with Dremel cut-off wheels. While holding the frame in one hand, use the other hand to cock the hammer back far enough to insert the longer leg of the double hook into the top of the hammer, holding it in place even after the sear is removed.

Note, if your Hi-Power has a spur hammer without the hole, your double hook’s top leg will need to be shaped differently, but the concept is the same. Arrow indicates the location of the sear pivot or sear pin (31). To remove the sear (28), lock the hammer back with the double hook as described. Using a small punch, push the sear pin out. This will allow the sear to drop out and will partially free up the ejector. the hammer, as shown in the parts diagram.

The curve is back, toward the rear of the pistol, and slightly visible in the parts diagram. To install the sear, hold the sear spring back far enough to be behind the sear. I use the binder clip here. During this time, the hammer must be held far enough back to allow the sear to block it. To do this, I use the double hook tool. Then, with the shaft of the safety lever holding the hammer and ejector in position, partially insert the sear pin from the left, just far enough to keep the top of the ejector horizontal.

Here comes the dexterity challenge: With a punch positioned through the frame on the right, work the punch through the sear, then through the ejector and the frame to temporarily push out the sear pin. Now rest a minute. Then work the sear pin back toward the ejector and sear, gently pushing the punch out. Voila! For disassembly and reassembly of the trigger and its components, first note their relationships. The small pin at the rear of the trigger retains the magazine disconnect (21) and its spring (20).

Many of your customers will want these removed as this will lighten the trigger pull and allow the magazine to drop free. However, this raises the subject of liability. It’s your call as to whether you want to "tamper" with safety components. Before drifting out the larger trigger pin (58) above the trigger, consider how much you want or need to remove the trigger assembly.

It comes out rather easily but getting it back in together with the trigger lever (57) in its proper position is, in my opinion, the toughest part of working a Hi-Power. Assuming you do want to remove the assembly, drift out that larger, middle pin, left to right. Once it is driven out, the trigger assembly can be rotated down into the trigger guard and removed. This pin runs through a coil of the trigger spring (59).

The front of this spring has a pronounced kink at the front and its longer, straight tail presses down in a groove of the trigger lever (57). The spring is installed so that the tip of the kink points down into a recess in the frame in front of the assembly and the straight rear section of the spring presses downward in the groove in the middle of the trigger pin to retain it.

To replace the trigger assembly, leave off the trigger lever for now and put the assembly back into the trigger guard with the nose end up through the frame. Holding the trigger in that position, take the trigger lever in your other hand and carefully fit the "knuckle" end into its void at the extreme rear of the assembly. Check to see if the long end of the trigger spring is in the aforementioned groove. Most of the time it will be.

If so, wiggle a punch through the frame and the trigger pin hole to locate the assembly within the frame. You’re almost home! Now insert the pin, and while holding the punch in place, tap the pin in and the punch out. Reassembly of the rest of the pistol is essentially the reverse of

Removal of the binder clip will release the sear spring (32) and it will either fall out or can be removed into the mag well and upward out of the frame. While restraining the hammer, remove the double hook, gently allowing the hammer to come forward, relaxing the spring in the hammer strut assembly (13). the installation instructions. However, I have a couple tips that may help.

When reinstalling the firing pin and spring, particularly a strong spring, a handy tool is apiece of brass or steel tubing with its inside diameter (ID) just barely larger than the rear end of the firing pin, but with its outside diameter (OD) smaller than the maximum OD of the firing pin. I use apiece of old radio antenna but hardware stores often carry many sizes of thin-wall brass tubing which also comes in handy in other mechanical pursuits certain to cross your bench.

The tubing will allow you to depress the firing pin without slipping off, compressing its spring until the firing pin retainer can be introduced far enough to prevent the pin from flying across the room. Remove the tubing and using a small screwdriver, press the firing pin far enough forward to completely insert the retainer. When reinstalling the recoil spring guide assembly, note the "knuckle" on the recoil rod is offset slightly. Install it so the portion with the hole is closer to the barrel.

In the past, while working on certain versions of this pistol I Browning Hi-Power (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 1 Barrel Assembly 2 Ejector 3 Extractor 4 Extractor Pin 5 Extractor Spring 6 Firing-Pin Retaining Plate 7 Firing-Pin Spring 8 Firing Pin (All Models) 9 Grip, Left (Standard) 10 Grip, Left (Matte Finish) Grip, Right (Standard) Grip, Right (Matte Finish) 11 Grip Screw 12 Hammer 13 Hammer-Strut Assembly 14 Hammer-Strut Pin 15 Magazine 16 Magazine-Latch Spring Guide 17 Magazine-Latch Guide 18 Magazine Latch 19 Magazine-Safety Pin & Trigger Spring Pin (2) 20 Magazine~Safety Spring 21 Magazine Safety 22 Recoil-Spring Guide Assembly 23 Recoil Spring 24 Safety Assembly 25 Safety-Lever Assembly (left) 26 Safety-Lever Retaining Pin 27 Safety Lever (Right) 28 Sear 29 Sear-lever Pin 30 Sear Lever 31 Sear Pin 32 Sear Spring w/button 33 Sight, Rear (Adjustable), Type "A" 34 Sight Base, Rear (Adjustable) 35 Sight Aperture, Rear (Adjustable) 36 Sight-Aperture Housing, Rear Adj. 37 Sight-Aperture Housing Pin 38 Sight-Elevation Screw, Rear Adj. 39 Sight Elevation Screw Spring was occasionally stumped when I encountered differences not described in whatever handbooks I was researching.

I hope this article will help you avoid these delays.

If not, email me your questions at AG 40 Sight-Elevation Spring, Rear Adj. 41 Sight-Windage Screw (2) Rear 42 Sight, Rear (Complete) Type "B" 43 Sight Blade, Rear 44 Sight Base, Rear (Adjustable) 45 Sight Leaf, Rear 46 Sight-Elevation Screw, Rear 47 Sight-Elevation Spring, Rear 43 Sight Leaf Friction Pin, Rear 49 Sight-Detent Pin, Rear 50 Sight-Windage Screw (2), Rear 51 Sight, Fixed Rear 52 Sight, Front 53 Sight, Front (Adjustable) 54 Slide w/Front Sight, Fixed 55 Slide Stop 56 Trigger 57 Trigger Lever 58 Trigger Pin 59 Trigger Spring