I have a BHP Mk III that my wife and I bought about 15 years ago.  It's the nightstand gun, so I hate to go blasting with it too much as it's the one semiauto in the house my wife can shoot really well (she recently kicked butt on her CHL qualifying test with it.)  I really wanted a range toy I could mess around with and not get in a tizzy if I left it dirty, had it broken down for mods, etc.  So when SOG was advertising these for $250, I couldn't pass it up.  With the 3% CC upcharge, postage and transfer, It was in my hands for under $300.  Not bad at all!

I told my neighbor to grab his old Hi Power as we were going to the range.  He reminded me it was in my safe, but away we went.  Other than the muzzle configuration, his old (1960-ish, give or take) one looks just like this one.  Except his bluing is immaculate.

This FEG shot every bit as accurately as my Mk III and his HP.  Despite it's rough looks, the barrel looks perfect internally.  That's not to say the range session went without problems.  It rarely went a complete magazine without a failure to extract.  However, when I got home and broke both pistols down for cleaning (my neighbor can clean his own), I found that the extractor looks, as close as I can tell, just like the Mk III.  It didn't seem unduly worn.  What I did find is that I could pinch the extractor "open" with my thumb and forefinger, whereas on the Mk III, it took the full effort of both hands to open the extractor.  I'm guessing the extractor spring is shot.  I've already ordered a new one and recoil spring (it seemed a bit limp as well) from Brownells and I'll have them fitted and ready to go next week.  I'll update this post after I do.

It doesn't have a magazine disconnect - which is a plus in my book.

Also, I was shooting the 115 gr. Precision Bullets moly coated truncated cone over a fairly light charge of Red Dot and had zero problems with feeding out of several different magazines.

As you can see, it's worn and has some dings, but it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to tinkering with and refinishing this gun eventually.

Enjoy!













































I've got some pics of the magazine that came with it, but it just looks like a slightly worn standard Hi Power magazine.  If you really want to see them, let me know.

I suggest to buy also the extractor roll-pin when you replace the extractor spring



see my thread:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_5_39/114701_FEG_PJK_9HP_extractor_problem_and_solution.html



I bought mine in immaculate condition 2 years ago for $300:







had lots of FTE issues, until I went to replace the extractor and the spring and found broken pin - after replacing it - works like a charm and has hogue grips on it:

Thanks for sharing. I have an FEG as well. No complaints.

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

Almost everything you see is surface only; like serious holster wear. The rear sight is bumped and the ring around the muzzle has a ding.  There is a small amount of pitting under the grip panels, but no brown rust. The slide/frame fit is every bit as tight as my Mk III. Other than the extractor spring, there's nothing mechanically wrong with it.

ETA: To fully answer you question, it came in a nice foam lined sturdy cardboard box.

Since I'd already ordered the extractor spring before Samal's post, I went ahead and took the sear lever and extractor out in case I needed to order another pin. Fortunately, everything was fine except that there was no sear lever spring as shown on Brownells website. Are these particular pistols supposed to have them?  It seems to function fine without one; extractor issue aside.

FEG's crappy stock pic is definitely not accurate then, as they have a different shaped slide stop and slide markings. Thanks for the review and pics, might have to pick one up eventually.

If there isn't a small cavity to hold the small spring then no, many if not all MKII styles did not have them.  Believe that was one of the additions to the MKIII line.  My MKII FN did not come with one either, the only thing I've noticed is a slight mark/marr where the hook of the sear lever just nicks the back edge of the frame adjacent to the hammer.  Is it needed no, can it be added yes.

After looking at your second to last picture again, it does not appear to be marking the frame like mine does!

I recently picked up a FEG BHP and have been really pleased with it.  If you're not familiar with this site, you should take a look as there is a lot of good information here about these pistols: FEG BHP BLOG

Howdy,

I'm a retro AR forum guy, and just happened into a deal on an early FEG HP for $219 on gunbroker.  Years ago, I had an Inglis, and loved it.  Since I sold it about20 years ago, I have wanted another HP.  Finances were never supportive of getting another one until I found this one.  From what I have seen on the web, the early FEGs were identical to the Brownings, with 100% interchangeable with parts.  This one is about 95%, and I have been more than pleased.  I shot about 50 rounds of mixed HP and FMJ when I picked it up to check it out. function was 100% and it shot a tight group off-handd, and was dead nuts on.  Best $219 I ever spent!

There doesn't appear to be a cavity in the frame to hold a spring, nor does the sear lever have any witness marks at all on the underside.  Thanks for the info.  I have to admit, I searched high and low for about ten minutes thinking I'd lost the darned thing.

I received the new extractor spring on Monday and got it installed.  I couldn't make it to the range until yesterday afternoon.  I can say it was part of the problem, but not the whole problem.  I was still getting extraction failures, just much more rarely - maybe one every other magazine.  What I did notice was that they were more prevalent with my lower power handloads.  I shot a mixture including the aforementioned Precision Bullets truncated cone, jacketed ball and JHP.  Instead of messing with the existing extractor, I've ordered one from Midway and hope to get to the range by Tuesday.  There've been no other problems and as I've gotten used to the trigger, my groups have tightened up.

new extractor should do the trick, I replaced the pin, the spring and the extractor, also, I opted for Wolf spring vs the OEM.  and yes, with 115gr ammo I had most problems before the fix

After installing the new extractor spring and it not completely solving the problem, I ordered a new extractor from MidwayUSA (Brownells was out).  I dropped it in just to see how it would work.  Compared to my Mk III, it didn't have the same tension, but I took it to the range anyway just to see if my suspicions were correct.  Unfortunately, they were.  Going by the force exerted by my MK III extractor, I modded the new one to match as closely as my carefully calibrated fingers could tell.  The following picture shows what I did.



After doing this, I took it to the range yesterday and it ran like a Swiss watch.  I'm quite happy!

My project for the weekend is to strip the bluing off, buff out any egregious scratches, of which there are very few, and cold blue it.  I'm not trying to make a show piece, just dress it up and learn a bit about refinishing.

I've decided to just strip and refinish the factory grip panels as the wear gives them a bit of character.

And here is the "refinished" FEG Hi-Power.  I used Blue Wonder blue remover and the Oxpho-Blue creme formula; both from Brownells.  Once I had the bluing stripped off, I could see that the worst of the pistol's battle scars was the pitting by the muzzle and under the grip panels.  For a gun like this, it just wasn't worth the effort to remove that much material and blend it with the rest of the gun.

For the grip panels, I first used Citri-Strip then sanded them down to get whatever gloss remained and removed some of the more shallow gouges in the wood.  Two coats of tung oil and they were done.