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New from Springfield Armory ... SA-35

C. Stockwell said:
So what?

The people interested in BHPs buy them for the provenance and because people tend to buy what isn't available new anymore.
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Same argument as the people that think any 1911 without a Colt roll mark isn't a 1911.

Since FN isn't making HPs anymore, people that want the form factor without going the CZ route will buy these up rather than pay rape prices if they are shooters and not fussy collectors.
 
CrackPot said:
Not at all. The Hipower continues to be wildly popular and in demand. That no reputable company currently manufactures them has driven up the price on the used ones quite a bit. It is a classic gun and one everyone should have in their collection. The MSRP on the SA-35 is well below what the browning hipowers are going for used. They ceased production in 2018.

I expect it will be extremely successful and impossible to keep in stock for a long time to come
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^this

SA is very clever for building a hi power clone. I personally find the hi power to be awkward and never jived w it but they will sell a ton of these the same way they sell a ton of M14 clones.
 
Is the safety lever still a giant hunk of shit? Worst part of the BHP hands down. That one flaw limits its usefulness.
 
CrackPot said:
Really
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LOL

I guess if you hold a gun long enough, you get more in the used market than you paid for it. I've got a trunk-full of those guns now. I didn't even know people WANTED A BHP. I had a hard time FINDING one. . . . 10-12 years ago. I traded for it in the FS parking lot. I can't even remember what I traded for it.
 
Zappa said:
That's the original design, SA didn't change it.
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It isn't. The originals had internal extractors and after a few early batches the French requested the modification to an external.
www.handgunsmag.com

Classic Handguns of the 20th Century: The Browning HI-Power - Handguns

By David W. Arnold Slide/Barrel assembly showing cam under barrel and sear
www.handgunsmag.com www.handgunsmag.com
hgbrowning_hi225b.jpg


The Hi-Power today remains little changed from the original pistols of 1935. Some of the first models manifested a tendency for the internal extractor to break. This was corrected by replacing it with a short, more rugged extractor.
Click to expand...

drgrant said:
Is the safety lever still a giant hunk of shit? Worst part of the BHP hands down. That one flaw limits its usefulness.
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SA said they changed it to a more ergonomic design. The only crap thing they kept was the slide stop (why they wouldn't try to modify the geometry of that while keeping it in the same place is silly)

Edit: I expect SA to release the "LOADED OPERATOR" version in a few months with the front/back strap stippling, maybe some slide milling for grip/glare, a rail (because CZ), maybe more ergonomic improvements to the slide stop because that's what they did with their 1911s.
 
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Waher said:
It isn't. The originals had internal extractors and after a few early batches the French requested the modification to an external.

SA said they changed it to a more ergonomic design. The only crap thing they kept was the slide stop (why they wouldn't try to modify the geometry of that while keeping it in the same place is silly)
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Didn't know that, all the examples I've ever seen or owned were external.
 
Dennis in MA said:
LOL

I guess if you hold a gun long enough, you get more in the used market than you paid for it. I've got a trunk-full of those guns now. I didn't even know people WANTED A BHP. I had a hard time FINDING one. . . . 10-12 years ago. I traded for it in the FS parking lot. I can't even remember what I traded for it.
Click to expand...
Wanting and keeping are not the same. I see the demand for want. After that they are someone else’s problem.
 
Personally, I love the Hi-Power.
I had two, one was a MKIII version, satin finish with adjustable sights, really nice gun which BTW I bought from a fellow NES'er.
However, I sold that one when was moving to NH, to another fellow NES'er, so it got to stay with one of our compadres in Mass.
The one I kept began life as a parkerized, fixed sight "Assembled in Portugal" variant with black plastic grips, IIRC, it was made in 1989. It looked a little scratched up, like someone carried it often, I got a good deal on it, something like $300 in the early 2000's. I shot it a bit and really liked the ergonomics, but that's always been a strong point for the P35, it's universally praised for how well it fits most male hands.
I later discovered Sal Ballesteri at a gun show, and had him do a custom finish on it.
He did a double layer of hard chrome, polished out like a mirror, and gold plated the trigger, hammer, slide release, safety and mag release. I wanted to gold plate the extractor too, but Sal advised against it, because it flexes and the gold could flake off.
It's the one in the center of this photo. It's the most "bling" gun I have in the collection, and I only carry it when I'm wearing a tuxedo. The custom work cost me $320, which was $20 more than I paid for the gun, but I wanted to splurge for something unique. I wish Sal was still around [angry]

Stainless_Toys.jpg

Anyway, I think SA has a hit with their reincarnated SA-35.
Deleting the mag drop safety is a huge improvement, this was one of the most popular gunsmith mods (back in the day) to improve the trigger. Using forged frames, slides and barrels is also a big improvement, along with modern CNC machining and tighter tolerances. I'm really tempted to put my name on the list for one, but I have a feeling that this is only an introductory version, and they'll come out with a stainless model in the future.
I think SA will sell a ton of these, they're filling a market void that us nostalgic types are yearning for, a real metal framed handgun that isn't a 1911 or a revolver. And the P-35 is already a world renowned favorite for it's functionality, esthetics and ergonomics, so what's not to like ??? These will sell well because not everyone is looking for an EDC, although this would certainly be acceptable as one, this is for your third or twenty seventh handgun.
 
Good on Springfield, they will sell a ton of them.
I'm buying one and I already have a pile of "real" BHP's.
The best part of this is having decent base guns for custom work. Most of the "real" hi powers that FN was making for the past couple of decades really were generally shit guns.
They did little to nothing to improve or update the platform and let it die on the vine. I'm sure SA will end up offering a whole host of models with more bells and whistles in the future.
The one thing that SA does really pretty well is 1911's and I'm sure they'll be able to do a halfway decent BHP.
 
Waher said:
Same argument as the people that think any 1911 without a Colt roll mark isn't a 1911.

Since FN isn't making HPs anymore, people that want the form factor without going the CZ route will buy these up rather than pay rape prices if they are shooters and not fussy collectors.
Click to expand...
Yawn...nothing new. Weapons expert Peter G. Kokalis did a review of the Hungarian FEG version of the HP35 in the November 1989 issue of SOF magazine. He described it is a faithful recreation, right down to the fine details and very accurate and reliable, at an affordable price point. What we have here is a rehash of something that was well-engineered and marketed for export well over three decades ago!
 

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