I saw a Bulgarian 9mm ARCUS 94 H-P Clone (sorta) at my LGS the other day. After reading positive reviews I bought it this morning. I gave $225.00 OTD for it.

It uses H-P mags and H-P stocks will fit with a bit of whittling. For it's intended use (car pistol) I don't know if I will bother replacing the stocks.

I cleaned it then grabbed a few loaded H-P mags and took it to my range. It performed flawlessly and is pretty darn accurate to boot. Very mild shooting due to the weight and likely the stocks.

When I brought it back I cleaned it again and took a bit more pains to look inside. I could find only a very few visible tool marks. Though heavy it seems to be very well made. Other than the stocks it's all milled steel as best as I can tell.

I understand they were imported till 2007 by a few importers, This one is marked Miltex Inc. out of MD.

As far as holster fit it's neither fish nor fowl and would not fit my H-P holsters but did fit a 1911 holster.

For a inexpensive 9mm pistol I've not read any bad reviews on it.





Compared to my Argentine H-P. It's 4oz heaver.

SAO right?  The 98's are DA.

I'm always on the lookout for a clean one.......haven't found one yet.

ETA-

Do the slides interchange?
I have a ..22 Peters Stahl .22 LR conversion I'd use in it.

FYI Century has 94's in their unlisted deals arrow link at centuryarms.biz for $179 each + shipping.  two tone only I believe

I thought the 94 was the single action.  Glad it takes HP mags.  I use to have a 98DAC that did use the 13 round HP mags.   They are good shooters for a HP clone.  I hope you enjoy it.  David

If it's unlisted, how do you find it?

Just like dwcopple's post said,look for the on the top right hand corner of century's website.




 
 

H-P Stocks do fit but they need to be altered a bit for the safety on both sides as the levers are configured a bit differently than a regular H-P.

The guy at the pawn shop gave me a set of H-P MoP stocks to experiment on and it turned out Pimp-tastic.

The main thing is it made the safety much easier to operate.



I also beveled the corners of the beavertail as there was a bit of a sharp point there. While I was about it I took the corners off the bottom of the hammer. For something so small it made a big difference in the way it feels in the hand.

who is the guy in your avatar?

Had one back in 2003.  Hammer bit me bad.  Other than that, not a terrible gun.

After scanning 40+ pages, I'll be damned if I can find it. Found a 98, no 94s.

No idea....Seemed to be appropriate given the tin foil on this site.

New in stock. Arcus 94

The one like I have is fugly enough but the two-tone (IMHO) is even fuglier.

no doubt. they got the colors backwards...the slide is supposed to be silver, not the frame...FAIL

I had the 94C at one point and it worked well. Used regular Hi Power mags with no issue. I sold it because the extended tang pushed down too much and didn't feel right.

I got back from my LGS with a $5.00 set of used Pachmayer Signature H-P grips. I put then on and discovered right away that I did not like the front strap cover so I cut it off.

It required the same fitting for the safety levers as the MoP stocks. These are a bit thinner toward the butt so I think I will stick with them.  

I've wanted a 2-tone 94 for a while now.  I managed to score a FEG on Gunbroker for $75 on a no reserve auction. It's pitted a bit but it shoots like a dream.  Gotta love Browning designs.

I ordered an Arcus 98DAC, should be picking it up this weekend. $295 shipped wasn't bad at all.

Mine was a good shooter.  It is one of those guns that I wish had more support in the US.  A commander sized HP is great, just no one knows about it.  David

Also ordered a replacement spring kit, and 2x mecgar 15 round magazines. The thing is built like a tank, I should be set for awhile.

I had some 15 rounders also.  They worked great.  I tried a HP mainspring and it didn't work for me.  I thought the 98DAC was a perfect size and the DA option for those who do not like cocked and locked is a plus.  I ordered a set of wood grips from Marschalgrips.com.  They took quite a while to ship, but I really liked getting rid of the finger grooves.  I hope you enjoy it.  David

WHY DID I HAVE TO CLICK ON THIS THREAD!!  

my FEG BHP clone I re-did this past week.  Duracoat, VZ grips, new springs everywhere, and new 15rd mecgar's.  Needs a bit of sear work yet.

Tempted to buy a spare pair of the rubber grips and do this to them. Would only run me 20 bucks, and some time chopping the finger groove portion off.

Range Day actually got moved until tomorrow.


I actually chopped off the finger groove portion of the grips and sanded what I could. That is as good as they will look. I also replaced the flat head grip screws with hogue's version that uses an allen wrench. It does have a certain charm to it.









Pros-

+Pretty nice single action trigger. It feels a bit heavier than my Duty Apex set up on the M&P. The reset is pretty decent and is some what audible.

+Pretty nice size, think Glock 19 height, with the right grips it would be a little thicker than a Shield IMO.

+The grip angle is wonderful and it points well.

+From a price point I spent maybe $297 shipped.

+Uses Hi Power magazines. They can run from $15 to $25 depending on the source. Mecgar also makes some 20/30 rounders as well.

+Safety engages/disengages nicely. Not cheap or mushy like other guns.

+Barrel is Chromed

+Feed ramp came polished.

+Nothing looks MIM, it all looks solid, perhaps overbuilt.

Cons-

-Tons of cosmoline/packing grease everywhere.

-The gun had some sharp edges, even on the beavertail. I actually filed them down. Didn't appear to hurt the finish.

-It does have some slight tooling marks. But I'm not too worried.

-The finish on the slide is pretty crappy. Holster wear is going to happen fairly quickly.

-Sights are some what small. But aren't too bad.

-The compact size, is offset by the weight. This isn't too great for carry, but it means there will be less recoil. It's a double edged sword.

-Reverse beavertail might be annoying to some. I don't see this being an issue.

-Gun ships with some very thick hogue rip off grips. I plan on ordering custom thin grips.

-Double Action trigger is very heavy, and will never be used by me since there is no decocker. Awesome for dry fire practice I guess. If I can keep the sights aligned on a 16lb DAO trigger, it might do wonders for me when I switch to lighter triggers.

-Not compatible with BHP grips because a portion of the action is covered by the right grip.

-Parts availability is the major down side. Century doesn't carry any, but will swap a defective gun out for a new one. Some BHP can be fitted for the Arcus however. BHPSpring solutions does sell spring kits on ebay though. I think I'll be set for awhile.



I know I listed a lot of cons, but they are marginal/easily fixed. If anything I was just nitpicking. This thing seems built like a tank. If I had to do it again I would have purchased the Arcus 94 Compact. The Arcus 94 is compatible with Hipower grips and some accessories/parts. I really wanted some VZ Grips on this thing. Also the Arcus 94 don't have a beavertail. A non spurred hammer can be dropped in to prevent hammer bite.


Most BHP parts can be hand fitted to work in the Arcus though. Barrel aside.


It's 300 bucks well spent. This (Or the Arcus 94) would make a great gun for the glove box/truck/carry into liberal cities. As thick as it is with the Hogue-ish grips, it carries some what comfortably. I didn't see any printing and the height is almost an inch less than my full size M&P. If it shoots well, it could even make a good gun for instructors to have for students. I'm hoping it shoots so well, it will actually be a great confidence builder for new shooters. I'll be taking my friend tomorrow for his first range trip.


Unfortunately I now want to pick up a FEG and maybe an actually BHP MK3.( That is so going to cost me.)


We'll see how it shoots tomorrow.

David Tillander makes VZ grips for BHP's for $21 shipped out of polymer resin.  I'd order a set and do some dremeling to make them fit the 98's action.


tillandergungrips.com

He may make grips, but they're NOT VZ grips. VZ is a company, which utilizes a material called G10.

I had a pair of Butler Creek Hi Power grips on mine when I had it and they worked fine with no modification.

The grips on my pictured HP are VZ's that he molded and reproduced out of urethane resin.

For semantics we can just say VZ style.  

I owned one of these several years ago. The pistol was a very good value for the money and ran great. The thing is heavy though so it did not get carried it got traded off eventually.