By Scott Smith | Contributing Editor
Fully customized FN Hi-Power by KGB Custom is a practically perfect pistol no matter what you use it for. He added Pachmayr grips to better fit his hand.
It seems I am a dinosaur, because I am partial to all-steel single stack 1911s and Browning Hi-Powers, so when in late 2017 I learned that Browning was planning to discontinue the icon of their line, the Hi-Power/P35, I acted fast.
Apparently consumers were not purchasing single action all steel pistols.
The news of Browning ceasing production of the Hi-Power caused the price to skyrocket. Fortunately I was able to procure a used FNH model manufactured in Argentina at Ottawa Ordnance in Ottawa, Ohio (Phone: 419-523-4911; Online: ottawaordnance.com). The pistol was in amazing shape and would be perfect to have KGB Custom (Phone: 419-235-5839; Online: kgbcustom.com) rebuild this pistol into a perfect Hi-Power.
Fabrique Nationale Herstal, commonly known as FNH is the parent company of Browning and Winchester firearms. Over the years FNH has licensed production of the Hi-Power to many countries; Canada, England, and Argentina. As noted earlier, this particular pistol was produced in Argentina. You can generally tell Argentine Hi-Powers by the small rib on the slide.
KGB Custom does an amazing job installing a custom beavertail, C&S components and blending the rear Heinie sight to the slide.
Overall I was impressed with the condition of this pistol. Cindy Verhoff, owner of Ottawa Ordnance was not kidding when she said it was in great shape. There was little wear even on the slide rails. I would grade it at 90%.
This was an early Hi-Power; the front sight was part of the slide. I believe it is a Mk II. Original pistols have the WWII hump and a bump sights while Mk III sights are dovetailed. Like all P35s the trigger is bad at best thanks to the magazine disconnect. The spring loaded plunger must be depressed in order for the pistol to fire. It is easily removed and greatly reduces the trigger pull and trigger creep. Needless to say it was removed.
I tested the stock pistol with mixed factory and reloaded ammunition. It fired the various loads to point of aim/impact in 5-inch groups at 25 yards. It had no issues with hollow points; many of the older pistols can be finicky. Overall, I was pleased with the Argentine Hi-Power, save for the blood the hammer drew.
Heinie’s fiber optic front sight is easy to pick-up and makes the P35 a great pistol for action shooting.
I knew it shot so it was off to KGB Custom where Karl Benning could work his magic. Since this pistol is going to be a shooter, I wanted new sights, trigger job, new hammer/sear and a beavertail welded and fitted. If you are familiar with Hi-Powers they are notorious for biting the web of your shooting hand and drawing blood.
To improve the trigger pull I wanted Cylinder & Slide’s (Phone: 217-228-9500; Online: cylinder-slice.com) hammer, sear, and trigger. The hammer and sear will set you back $109-141.00. C&S’s hammers and sears are far superior to OEM parts. Most importantly if you are not having a beavertail fitted to your Hi-Power the C&S is a no-bite hammer that will save your hand. I also wanted a chrome wide trigger, it is $69.95. The blued version is $52.50. The wide trigger gives you better feel which results in a perceived reduction in trigger pull.
This being a Mk II, the safety is as diminutive as the front sight. Cylinder & Slide can remedy that with a single side safety that will set you back $52.50 or you can get an ambidextrous model for $87.75. Like better sights I strongly suggest an extended safety for ease of operations. If you are like a lot of shooters who use Brownell’s (Phone: 800-741-0015; Online: brownells.com) you can find all of these Cylinder & Slide parts, or you can order them from C&S.
Lastly KGB was going to fit a custom beavertail. This is one of the best options you can add to a Hi-Power. Not only does it totally eliminate hammer bite, but it helps control recoil when you are shooting fast controlled pairs. I would have this $350 part installed over any fancy milling, because it makes the pistol a pleasure to shoot.
The P35 returned home after about a year. When it arrived, I was stunned. It looked and felt amazing. The stainless hammer and chrome trigger contrasted nicely with the all black Parkerizing.
Two other items caught my eye; the sights and the beavertail. I really liked how the Heinie Ledge Sights (Phone: 217-228-9500; Online: heinie.com) were installed. The leading edges were rounded allowing the sight to blend into the slide. The rear sight is not melted into the slide. It just flows without any sharp leading edges to catch your hand on clearing malfunctions. The front fiber optic sight is easily picked up and you have the option of using red or green fibers to meet your needs.
The beavertail was reminiscent of that on the CZ75. It is short enough not to snag on clothing and long enough to do its job. I like this beavertail enough that I can see having one added to a couple of other P 35s.
While checking it out I found the trigger to be crisp with a small amount of creep; that is normal of any Hi-Power. Pull weight is about 4 ½ pounds. C&S’s wide trigger makes it feel even lighter. Thanks to Karl’s skills all of the fire control parts mate up and function flawlessly.
C&S’s wide trigger gives you better control when shooting and the wider blade makes the pull weight seem less.
Overall the work Karl did was amazing. The beavertail looked like it was part of the original frame and fit perfectly. Installation of the Heinie sights could not have been done better by the master himself. Installing and fitting the new C&S hammer/sear/safety/trigger made the fire controls and trigger pull perfect. The KBG pistol is a shooting work of art.
Off hand at 15 yards I had 3-inch, 13 shot groups. Bearing in mind this shooting was with a variety of loads. At 25 yards the groups opened up to 4 inches. I had no doubt this pistol would be more accurate than I can consistently shoot if I ran quality factory ammunition.
The biggest issue faced for testing the P35 was the weather. It is quite challenging to shoot consistently when you have sweat dripping off your eyelashes and you feel like you are in a sauna. I was going to have to get my range time in early in the AM.
To test the KGB Custom Hi-Power I used ammunition from Black Hills Phone: 605-348-5150; Online: black-hills.com), Federal (Phone: 800-379-1732; Online: federalpremium.com), Hornady (Phone: 800-338-3220; Online: hornady.com), Remington (Phone: 800-243-9700; Online: Remington.com) and Sig Sauer (Phone: 603-610-3000; Online: sigsauer.com).
From Black Hills I had their new 100 grain Honey Badger, 115-grain JHP EXP, and their proven 124-grain +P JHP. I chose Federal’s Tran & Protect 115-grain VHP and 150 grain HST. Hornady’s 115-grain XTP American Gunner, 135 grain FlexLock and 124-grain HAP were a good sampling of their line. All I had on hand from Remington was their 115-grain HTP JHP. Finally, I had Sig’s 124-grain V Crown JHPs which has a rapidly growing following. These loads are a good cross section of ammunition on the market today for range, competition and personal protection.
Like initial test firing the P35 was not ammunition sensitive. It fed everything and fired it all. This is significant because many older pistols do not feed innovative ojives such as the Honey Badger. Even more shocking was the consistent accuracy. Offhand at 15 yards, 5-shot groups were under 4 inches with whatever I loaded, even “+P” loads. It has only been in the last decade or so we have seen “+P” rounds become popular. Often times they are wildly inaccurate, KGB’s P35 fired them like it was built to shoot them. I do not suggest a steady diet of these hot rounds; they could damage older frames such as ours. Mk III Hi-Powers should be able to handle them.
I fired 5-shot groups at 25 yards off a rest. All groups hovered around 3 ½ inches. This is about as good as Hi-Powers perform unless you go to the expense of having the rails/frame and a match grade barrel fitted. It should be noted there were several 3-shot groups that clover leafed, showing this pistol has great accuracy potential.
This is the KGB Custom P35 with all of its test ammunition. It performed well with all of it. To finish the Hi-Power, author Smith used Duracoat to give it a green camo finish.
This pistol was meant to be used for action pistol. For me the performance from the bench was good enough. What was more important was it was reliable and comfortable to shoot.
As I suspected comfort was ensured by the beavertail. Not once during all of the shooting did I get hammer bite. This is a vast improvement from my first Hi-Power which I used for an ASAA course that left me bleeding for the two days of the course. I strongly suggest having KGB install a beavertail if you own one, its money well spent.
Karl’s installation of the C&S hammer/sear, safety and hammer coupled with the beavertail made controlled pairs a breeze. The sharp clear sight picture of the Heinie Ledge with fiber optic front made picking up the sight fast and was easy to follow during recoil. This pistol was now ready for use in USPSA or IDPA.
After running several hundred rounds through the FN Hi-Power customized by KGB Custom is a practically perfect 9mm pistol. It shoots well, feels good and looks good. I cannot suggest Karl’s work enough. He can work magic on a wide variety of pistols, I was lucky enough to have him do this P35. I plan to take it out often and use it in 2020 for matches because it is accurate, safe and fun to shoot.
