Whats one with Novak Night sights, trigger job, mag well bevel, "reliability" package, and front and rear stippling generally run?

Thinking of picking one up, but am having a hard time placing a price on something like this jewel

Gun is new with Novak doing the custom work listed above

A guesstimate is fine

A new BHP should cost about $1,000.      Go to CDNN and check.

Go to the site of the custom shop to check the package prices.

HP35's are not all the same.   The had an internal extractor.   The commercial models sold in the US after 1952 had external extractors.    

There are also different sizes (weights).   When the HP35 was introduced with the 40 S&W, they had a thicker slide.   I think that also applied to the 9mm version of the time.    I would encourage you to check.    

The modern BHP has been made (assembled) in Portugal, Canada, and Belgium.

My personal favorite for real work is the MK I, slim/original slide, all Belgium manufacture and assembly.

For sure a external extractor

I can see made in Belgium assembled in Portugal on the right of the slide.

It's a 9mm gun.

Fair price for the gun with the work?

Racy if I'm not misreading the gun is new.

I would think somewhere right around 1800. Maybe a little more with the stippling.

That's the exact number I personally had in mind.

Appreciate confirming my thoughts

Brand new?  I'd say $1800 is a "get it now" price and $2000 is still doable.  Seven years ago, the Novak Spec Ops package for a BHP was $1200 just for the parts and labor.  You're proposing to get similar but slightly less involved work done and just with inflation-adjustment that would be about $1375 now (assuming prices haven't gone up, etc.).  Throw in another $900 for a good deal on a new Hi-Power...

Welp

I won the thing

I threw a 1800 dollar bid in. I felt it was high, then I was worried when I was still winning 3 days later

Buy it now price was 2700

Got it for $1775

I really wanted a beavertail, but I suppose I can get that added later if I find it necessary.

Its got just the modifications I personally found needed from shooting surplus guns. I always wanted a gun with Novak stamped into the slide

I knew that was you. Nice pistola. I am jelly.

i have a Novak Spec Ops for years.  Thinking about sending it back for a refinish and new tritium.

OP, I am sure you will enjoy your new BHP!

Didn't want to give away a decent deal by letting people know where

I guess it was a decent deal at least.

I was really eyeing the NH modified ones.

But once I saw this Novak I figured it would be easier to get rid of if it ends up not being the gun for me

Now to go source some kydex

Itd be sweet if I end up with this gun by the weekend, but likely itll be next week. Ill post up some quality pics once I get her

Gunbroker listing, or where?  We can look at pics there.

Heres a few I pulled.

The pics the seller posted are not very great. Most out of focus.

Im really interested to see how the front and rear stippling turned out. Those pics he took of that are pretty blurry and you cant tell from the pics how nice the stippling is

Tough to tell from those pics but it also has the C&S No-Bite hammer and upgraded grips.  That may be the full Spec Ops package - in which case you did pretty well I'd say (and you won't have to wait a year either.

Just noticed it has a Bar-Sto match barrel too.  If you decide you don't like it, I'll take it off your hands for $1500

Wow I made out that well?



Sweet this never happens to me!

I see where it says barsto on the barrel now

I feel a lot better about this deal now

I emailed the seller to clear up the barrel.

I started thinking, since its not listed on the build sheet, I wonder if novak did the barrel work or if someone else did.

Yeah, I'd have that same concern.  A badly fitted Barsto barrel is no prize, though still a valuable part if you discover the problem the easy way vs. the hard way  Did you check the date of the Hi-Power based on the serial number?  The build sheet also says "BHP MkII 3DN" - a MkII would be about 20 years old at a minimum.

Thats just the night sights. Its a MkIII.

It has a MkIII ejection port cut anyway.  I'd still check the serial number with all the Israeli surplus stuff out there.  Although, that is still a good deal even if done on an old surplus MkIII.  A 2000-era Hi-Power serial number will start with 511M, 245M.  A 2010-era Hi-Power will start with 511Z or 245Z.

Seller did confirm Novak did the barrel work, says he doesn't know why it was left off the build sheet.

Things happen, I believe him.

I believe it to be a MKIII, but I do not know for certain. The gun has never been fired according to the seller.

Yeah, BB is right.  I wasn't paying attention or I'd have noticed it was a MkIII just by looking at the ejection port.

Im so ready to have this thing in my hands

I have nearly that same build; MKIII, Spec-Ops package (or whatever they call their FBI-like package), Bar-sto barrel, Black-T finish. The main differences with mine are that I had already fitted a C&S extended thumb safety and wanted to keep it, and that after a couple of iterations...I had them fit a C&S no-bite hammer and sear package. Their MKIII hammer work makes it so it doesn't pinch your hand between the end of the frame and the hammer shank (which is how old BHPs ate your hand) but I was actually getting hit by the spur of the hammer, just like a WWI 1911. Even after they bobbed it, I was still getting smacked with it, so I asked them to fit/refinish the C&S set, and it's been great. And, I had them fit the wider rear notch night sight, with orange rear and green front. The green really pops, and as we all know...front sight, front sight, front sight. This way you're never confused with which is front, especially at night...

The grip stippling doesn't look all that sharp, and it's not, but it's pretty positive; mine doesn't move around much when shooting.

You got it for a steal; you couldn't build one at that price. Congrats!

Thanks sir!

Just waiting for it to show up.

So Im curious, on the finish, do you think the one I purchased has simple blueing or Black T. I simply assumed it was a matte blue finish from the pic, but again they leave a lot to be desired, much like the description on the GB add. If it is indeed Black T Im going to go buy a lottery ticket as I never get killer deals

I should be able to tell in person pretty quick once it shows up. My Pro which I ccw currently has black t. It seems a lot shiner now than when I first got it 3 years ago

Probably blued; the Black-T was an add-on option.

Then again so was the Bar-Sto barrel, so...

Haha that's what I'm saying.

Oh well. Hopefully we will all find out soon

Just be aware, going in - the trigger will NOT be like a nice 1911 trigger. Honestly - your best comparison would be a good Glock trigger, and I'll tell you why  - if you look at how a BHP trigger/hammer is done, you'll see there's a LOT of slop/play in it no matter how well it's done.The reset won't be as pronounced either, unless you swap in an earlier model BHP trigger return spring..but if you do that, you add an easy pound, maybe more, to the trigger pull. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Once you work that through though, and get used to it....it's a sweet shooter.

Ive never felt one without a mag safety. It was pretty bad. Its been awhile since Ive felt one but if I remember right I could take up a decent bit of the trigger pull before it would contact the sear, after which it wasn't horrible. Sorta like a 2 stage rifle trigger. Or I suppose like a glock trigger like you mentioned.

I do own one. But it doesn't get shot for a few reasons.

It will be here likely Thursday I would assume. I got a tracking number last night and it looks like itll be departing there today.

Ill give the gun an honest shot, if its not for me Im selling it and stocking up on .45 ACP.

Im looking forward to a all steel 9mm gun

Its been too long since Ive fired one to remember if it was a super soft shooter or not.

I'm looking forward to the photos!

Looking like Thursday!

I got a tracking number last night, but hasn't been picked up by UPS. I figure itll go out tonight and its a 2 day package so.

This things badass.

$855 worth of work based on the Novak invoice. Then I caught a handwritten note at the bottom. "Sorry for the delay, I did some more work free of charge, hope you enjoy". Oh yeah that's $855 worth of work from 2000. Night sights still seem good surprisingly.

So I'd say that's where the bar sto barrel came fom

Put 100 rounds through her. I gotta say. I like this thing. Yup theres no reset though . But does shoot like a dream

It's shoots really soft. Once I get some more rounds through it I think I can really put it through some paces.

Safety is kinda meh.

And here. Best I can do at the moment. My phones camera seems to be going down hill

Lack of reset sorta sucks, does it have a 2 coil trigger spring or the original 3 coil that was used with the mag disconnect.

Congrats Chase looks like a beauty.

You know I didn't even look. Id say the original 3 coil.

Trigger breaks nicely. But Ill have to learn where the reset exactly is.

Best I can equate the trigger to is no joke my Geisselle DMR trigger in my AR. It has some take up, you can feel it engage the sear, then just a tid bit more pressure and the hammer falls. Feels just like a nice 2 stage rifle trigger.

I had planned on changing the grips, but I really like how this thing sits now that I finally got it in my hands.

Now just for my holster to show up

You can put in an earlier gen 2 coil spring in, however, it'll add a pound or so to the pull It certainly firms the reset up...along with everything else.

I may give it a shot down the road.

I like where the poundage is at the moment. Its not super light. Honestly probably 5 pounds. But its super crisp. Take up till you contact the sear, then a little more pressure and barely any movement and the hammer flies

Gun shoots beautifully. I really like its recoil impulse.

Im excited to put it through some more paces this weekend. Id love to see what kinda group itll put down

How big of a pain is it to mess with safeties?

I noticed one little thing when shooting it the other day. Honestly I had a WTF moment with it.

Sitting there blasting away at steel. Then all of a sudden trigger pull went to 20 pounds. After scratching my head for a moment over it, it seems my trigger finger slightly engaged the safety, just enough to add a ton of pressure needed to set it off, but not enough to actually block the sear.

I think with some time on it, that wont be an issue, but its something Ill be watching closely

Welp got 1K more ammo that should be showing up tomorrow.

So lets talk springs while were here.

Should I just stick on the same maintence track as a 1911 for the BHP in regards to springs?

I kinda wonder if this thing is set up with a different spring weight combination since it went through Novak. Anyone got any ideas?

It definitely did go through different spring weights; not sure about the mainspring but the recoil spring is a lot more stout. I kind of get why, it does help a bit with some dodgy surplus mags (I have one mag that will reliably misfeed, even after Novak worked over my pistol), but honestly it might be a bit overkill....then again I'm no gunsmith so I'm sure they have a good reason for it. Depending on the age of the base platform the mainspring might be different too; early BHPs came with a flat firing pin stop and a not terribly weak main spring...later ones rounded the firing pin stop and upped the wattage on the spring. I want to say the change was made in the 70's? But I could be wrong.

A factory or factory++ recoil spring is cheap insurance, anyway. I have a buffer in mine, or had a buffer in mine...after a couple hundred rounds it was chewed up to the point where I said the hell with that and took it out. Since mine's a cast frame gun anyway, it should be able to stand up to the abuse just fine; I'm not worried about battering.


Edit - just now saw your earlier post on the safety

I bought a C&S thumb safety for mine. I carefully read the directions, saw where the contact pad was, and took forever in making it fit. All of this was before I sent to Novak, btw.

Honestly I got lucky because it only took two or three tries to get it perfect. The pain in the ass is in order to remove the thumb safety you need to detail strip the whole thing. All the way. There's no shortcuts. And re-assembling without 3 hands is a bitch. If you have a strong non-marring clamp that can clamp down the hammer to the frame while you manhandle the sear and sear spring into place and pin it, that will help a LOT.

Honestly it would probably be faster and very definitely easier (and a hell of a lot less annoying) to call Novak and ask them to fit one of their extended thumb safeties to the pistol for you. I asked them about theirs vs C&S and they told me they were both pretty much the same function-wise, and mine functions very much like a 1911 safety - very positive click on, positive click off, and you're not accidentally moving it or engaging it without knowing about it. Since they did the work in the first place, it should be right in their wheelhouse. I really wanted to like the factory ambi safety...but it was just too "soft", I guess. Very imprecise, never knew if it was accidentally engaged or not, etc. It was nice and slim, but the cost of it just being vague wasn't worth it. The C&S and Novak thumb safeties are a huge upgrade IMO.

I acutally hate to admit this, but I ran into quite a few problems yesterday when shooting this gun.

I did alot of up close work with it, just trying to learn the gun. I had multiple FTF. It seems the slide was trying to out run the mag. It would only FTF when I was shooting a traget at contact distance from the holster. Its weird as I have no issues when shooting this gun normally. Only when I would yank it out fast and pump 2 into the chest, the 3rd round would hang up as I brought it up for a headshot. It did this several times, almost has me not trusting this gun now

More lube seemed to help. I cleaned the entire gun and even a few of the mags as they have never been popped open. Springs seem kinda wimpy in the mags. I see wolff offers some 10%+ springs. Thatll be my next go to if the issues keeps presenting. I believe it to be 100% mag related as the gun feeds buttery smooth by hand.

The barrel has quite a bit of wear marks showing. As well as in the slide where the barrel makes contact.

Ive got about ~600 through it. I have 1k showing up tomorrow for it

Ill trooper on and just blame it on being kinda dirty and needing more rounds through it, not to mention at a compromised shooting position.

Heres what I was doing yesterday for reference.

I may spring for a new safety. Thatd be such a nice feature. The stock one is so squishy feeling and my trigger finger sometimes pushes it up just a bit, but it hasnt presented any issues as of late.

What kind of mags/how old? If the springs are for shit, and with the extra power recoil spring, it's very possible the slide's outrunning the mag. All my carry mags are new/recent manufacture factory mags, mousetrap and all. I have a pile of surplus mags I practice with, and the one problem child mag with a weak spring that the slide outruns pretty regularly when I want to practice malfunction drills

Since it's a Novak gun, I honestly wouldn't hesitate to contact Novak about it if a respring doesn't solve the issue to your satisfaction. Otherwise, I'd start with replacing mag springs and maybe replacing the recoil spring with a factory unit, or maybe even a +1lb Wolff if you wanted to. But that's just me, I'm not an expert or a gunsmith

And out of curiosity - did you pop out and clean the extractor and area? Be careful and don't launch the spring, especially when putting it back together And if you plan on keeping it, order some spares from Brownells while you can...parts come and go and at the moment is a great time to stock up on parts and springs and other spares. 3 or 4 years ago they were impossible to find, now we're flush, and I would expect in another few years there won't be any spares again...

Roughly 10 years old I'd say

They are also the mouse trap ones. I took these out of a stash I previously had. They've never really been used.

Well see what happens. I want some more rounds and some new springs before I pass too much judgment

I hope privi partisan is decent stuff

I shot around 200 rounds again today.

Just a few issues. Again bolt over base and always last few of the mag.

Ejection seems weak too. Like landing near my feet. I think I'll pull a recoil spring from one if my oher hi powers and throw it in this one and see what happens



Yup. My other hasn't been shot much and is practically new. I didn't count coils but the one in my safe queen hi power is 3 coils shorter. I swapped em. Almost bet this thing is just over sprung and set for defensive loads. Noticeable difference in pressure needed to cycle the slide. I bet this will solve most my issues

Oh yeah, brass landing at your feet is a dead giveaway that it's oversprung, unless you're shooting mousefart loads. It should launch it a few feet away. When I'm not shooting factory loads in mine, my practice load is ~5.2gr of CFE pistol under a 124gr plated bullet. I haven't had a problem...

Nope that wasnt the issue

Still happens last round or two of the mags. Has to be a mag issue. Only happens intermittently and when the magazine is nearly empty and its a bolt over base malfuction every time.

So wolf 10%+ mag springs coming. May as well go for recoil and that 2 coil trigger spring everyone is talking about.

Since Im diving in, I may order a C&S safety and just do it myself

New recoil 18.5# spring coming, new 10%+ magazine springs, new extractor spring, Trigger, and safety on the way

Im going with a single sided safety as well to prevent any issues Ive had in the past with my trigger finger enganging the safety

Out of curiosity, did you buy a new factory mag to test with as well?

Yeah I'd agree at this point on the mag spring issue, unless you have bad mags entirely? Funnier things have happened, if you need I can send you a mag to test with, that works fine for mine...

Also if you haven't done it yet - Beretta baseplates fit factory mags just fine. I replaced all of mine with those. Way more comfortable than the sharp edged metal plates when you're carrying I think CZ mag baseplates sort of fit, but you'll need to hog out the hole in the baseplate for it to really click together..

No I didnt, but all these mags are practically new, granted theyve just been sitting. I did think about doing that however. But I honestly believe its simply the springs. Im using the mouse trap style mags, says made in Italy on them.

I think its simply a mag spring tension issue. All the issues stem from usually the last round or two of the mag. The rim of the casing is always missed by the bottom of the slide and hits the base of cthe cartridge(see pic below). Its also very intermittent. I didnt have a problem once yesterday . Im probably getting close to 1k down the tube. Maybe part of it is simply break in, Im not sure. I can shoot this pistol really well without even trying. So Ill give it a few more shots. My Professional gave me fits at first as well.

I figure I may as well replace all my mags with the stiffer springs, change the recoil out to a 18.5, extractor spring. Since Im already doing that. I went ahead and ordered a different trigger which I believe Ill like more and a single sided extended C&S safety.

I honetly believe these will fix all the small issues Ive had, the mag springs feel sort of wimpy. If not Ill reasses. If it wasnt consistently the last round or two of the mag Id think the issue was with the gun, but it feeds buttery smooth and dont believe it itself is at fault

Yea those Made in Italy mags are mec-gar. Never had an issue with any of those mags in any of my hi powers. I think you're on the right track with the recoil spring.