gunsnrovers

I posted this on the FNHiPower site, but wanted to get some feedback from this sight as well. I appologize in advance for posting the same issue on multiple forums.

Heres's the scoop:

I took my new Hi-Power to the range on Friday with the following gear:

4 x 17 round KRD mags
4 x 15 round KRD mags

500 rounds S&B 115gr FMJ
100 rounds PMC 124gr FMJ
50 rounds 124gr +P Hydra-Shock
40 rounds 124gr +P ProLoad
50 rounds 124gr Golden Saber

Everything was shot 8 yards at a 25 yard NRA slow fire pistol target. My goal was to test the gun and mags for reliablity. Accuracy was secondary.

Shot 100 rounds of S&B followed by the ProLoad and then Hydrashok through 2 of the 17 round mags. No issues. Gun and mags were fine. Put the mags away.

Switched to 2 x 15 round mags and got out a second batch of 150 rounds of S&B. Again. No issue. Everything was in the black and the gun shot fine. Again, put these mags away.

Changed to 2 new 17 round mags and 100 rounds of S&B. The gun had fired 390 rounds total and was filthy. I think I had too much oil on the gun and that compounded with the S&B's leaving a lot of residue.

On this new batch, the 1st 50 rounds were fine except both mags would not hold the slide open after the last round. Nose of the follower is dragging. Not gun related.

On the 2nd batch of 50 rounds (same mags), I have two failures to go into battery and 3 failures to feed. The rounds are jamming on the top of the barrel. Mags still won't enage the slide stop after the last round. I marked these two mags and put them away.

Took out the last two 15 round mags and last 100 rounds of S&B. 6 failures to feed (same problems as paragraph above) and 2 stove pipes. On several occasions, the slide recoil was slow.

Quick disassemble and run a bore snake down the barrel.

Run through the 100 rounds of PMC and the 50 rounds of Golden Sabre. Use the 2nd set of 17 round mags. Everything feeds fine. Mags still won't engage slide stop. Again, follower is dragging.

All this shooting was done in a 2 hour period. The gun was very very hot.

All in all, I attribute the vast majority of failures to the magazines. I will tear them down, clean them up, and tune them a little bit to see what happens.

The failures to feed, the stove pipes, and the times I noticed the slide slow down I attribute to a dirty gun caused by too much oil and dirty ammo. I like the S&B and it's very cheap, but it leaves a mess.

I'm strongly leaning to my problems being magazine and ammunition related, but wanted feed back. I don't want to be overlooking something when I go the range again. I plan to put another 500 rounds of S&B and another 50 rounds of Golden Sabre down the gun next Saturday. I will make sure the gun is not as lubricated this time to see if that limits the fouling build up.

Regards,

Jeff

Stephen A. Camp

Hello, sir, and thanks for the detailed report. I do have one question. Is your HP marked "Browning" or is it one of the new ones being imported by FN?

Thanks and best.

gunsnrovers

This is a "Browning" marked pistol. Date code is 2001. Assembled in Portugal.

I am still trying to confirm with FN and the CA DOJ about the legality of the FN's in CA. From the few I have seen for sale on line, the FN boxes are labled with Browning stickers (the lable they use to seal the box that has the serial #, details, etc.) and include Browning marked literature and instructions. However, the CA DOJ currently only lists the FN HP-DAO as CA legal. Neither FN nor the DOJ have replied to my phone inquires or emails.

I have a feeling we will never see them in CA even though the MKIII is legal here. :evil:

Regards,

Jeff

gunsnrovers

After the above report, I cleaned up the magazines and fired another 500 rounds of S&B as well as 100 rounds of Federal Nyclad HP. The gun ran perfectly.

I believe all my initial issues were caused by the magazine and poor grip handling on my part.

Currently, it's off to ARS for a trigger job and new sights.

Regards,

Jeff