Posted: 5/6/2013 11:07:56 AM EDT
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Okay, finally found a 40 Hi-power. Had a couple of questions that I'm not sure about:
1) Are all the 40 hi-power mags of the "mouse-trap" design? 2) Did the 40 mags come with a robar-type coating, or was that added after the fact? 3) I've read these can be converted to 9mm by using the 9mm barrel and 9mm mag, anyone have any experience with this being done? 4) Were the barrels in the 40's SN# to the gun? Every 9mm I've seen has the SN# on the barrel hood, unless a custom barrel has been put in, and this 40 does NOT have the serial number on the barrel, so I'm wondering if the barrel was changed out. The gun is supposed to be a Novak job, and appears to be some really good work, but I can't verify it through Novak, as according to them, they keep records based on customer names and not SN#. It has the Novak 3 dot night-sights (a little dim), the Novak no-bite hammer mod, and an awesome trigger, even with the mag safety still installed. Grips are the full checkered design I usually see on Novak customs as well. Near as I can tell, it was a 40 HP sent to Novak for the basic package, and had the No-Bite hammer mod added to the basic package. Came with 5 magazines, all of them with a robar style coating/nickel boron? on the mags. 
I'm very happy, especially since every 40 I've seen in the last 4 months has been selling for 800 + just for the basic gun. |
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Mags are correct, good thing you got that many, they are hard to find and expensive. Mec-Gar .41 Action express mags work fine with .40 , even harder to find.
9mm barrel is 2 lug, .40 is 3 lugs. To change caliber you need a Bar-Sto barrel. They make a conversion barrel, but only once a year so you have you contact them. My barrel is NOT serial numbered. It is the original Browning barrel that came with the gun. My HP's serial numbers last three number are 666. I bought it on june 6th, 2006. The gun counter guy asked me several times, "Are you sure you want this gun and want it today?" I had no idea what he was asking for until he pointed out the numbers. I just laughed. |
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The ones I picked up hold 10, and from what I've been able to find out, that's the standard.
So far, two of us with BHP 40's do NOT have serial numbered barrels, so it may have been standard, I'll have to wait for a couple more people to chime in before I can call it a true statistical significance though. |
| My barrel is stamped with Cal 40 S&W. The original equipment mousetrap magazines are coated.Mine are also 10 rounders. I have a couple after market Meggars I`ll have to check. Mine has the black epoxy paint finish on it. It also has tool marks on the underside of the slide. |
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The ones I picked up hold 10, and from what I've been able to find out, that's the standard. So far, two of us with BHP 40's do NOT have serial numbered barrels, so it may have been standard, I'll have to wait for a couple more people to chime in before I can call it a true statistical significance though. Thanks. I'm still adjusting to the new mag cap ban in CT, and trying to figure out what guns we CAN own. I don't like the idea of purposefully reduced capacity mags, as I've had bad luck with them in the past. I like hi-powers, so a .40 might be an option in the future. |
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Well, 3 or 4 is still hardly a giant sampling, but it seems like the barrels do not have serial numbers on them, so my barrel has not been changed out. Those of you with barrels at home, are your barrels crowned? Or are they rounded like the normal 9mm BHP barrels? The Novak package says they will crown the barrel, and mine IS crowned, but if yours are also crowned that's one more thing in doubt.
Yeah DanTSX, your new mag limit is 10? Even the Beretta 96 is actually an 11 round mag, but can be neutered to 10 for CA and other states. I had two that were manufactured at 10 but then was able to buy several of the 11's. The sub-compact Glocks are good choices, as you won't run into the mag issue, a Browning in 40, a Beretta 8045 (only has an 8 round mag), 1911's in 45 with 8 rounders, or in 9mm with 9 or 10 rounders. Heck, how about a Glock in 45 GAP? Depends on what your local stores are carrying by way of ammo I guess. |
| Don't know if anybody is looking for .40 HP mags, but Underhill's guns in Washington IN has 5 or 6 .40 HP mags for $20 each. (812) 254-3888 Don't know the guy - I was just in there today and thought I'd pass it along. They are just plain .40 mags - no mousetraps. |
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Well, 3 or 4 is still hardly a giant sampling, but it seems like the barrels do not have serial numbers on them, so my barrel has not been changed out. Those of you with barrels at home, are your barrels crowned? Or are they rounded like the normal 9mm BHP barrels? The Novak package says they will crown the barrel, and mine IS crowned, but if yours are also crowned that's one more thing in doubt. Yeah DanTSX, your new mag limit is 10? Even the Beretta 96 is actually an 11 round mag, but can be neutered to 10 for CA and other states. I had two that were manufactured at 10 but then was able to buy several of the 11's. The sub-compact Glocks are good choices, as you won't run into the mag issue, a Browning in 40, a Beretta 8045 (only has an 8 round mag), 1911's in 45 with 8 rounders, or in 9mm with 9 or 10 rounders. Heck, how about a Glock in 45 GAP? Depends on what your local stores are carrying by way of ammo I guess. IIRC- FNH stopped numbering barrels on commercial HPs before the .40 was ever offered. I own two 9mm Mk.III HPsand neither has a barrel numbered to the gun. I purchased them brand new. |
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Well, 3 or 4 is still hardly a giant sampling, but it seems like the barrels do not have serial numbers on them, so my barrel has not been changed out. Those of you with barrels at home, are your barrels crowned? Or are they rounded like the normal 9mm BHP barrels? The Novak package says they will crown the barrel, and mine IS crowned, but if yours are also crowned that's one more thing in doubt. Yeah DanTSX, your new mag limit is 10? Even the Beretta 96 is actually an 11 round mag, but can be neutered to 10 for CA and other states. I had two that were manufactured at 10 but then was able to buy several of the 11's. The sub-compact Glocks are good choices, as you won't run into the mag issue, a Browning in 40, a Beretta 8045 (only has an 8 round mag), 1911's in 45 with 8 rounders, or in 9mm with 9 or 10 rounders. Heck, how about a Glock in 45 GAP? Depends on what your local stores are carrying by way of ammo I guess. IIRC- FNH stopped numbering barrels on commercial HPs before the .40 was ever offered. I own two 9mm Mk.III HPsand neither has a barrel numbered to the gun. I purchased them brand new. My .40 is serial numbered on the barrel |
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That's an excellent contender for shooting +P 9 MM ammo, the slide is super beefy. All you need is a 9MM barrel fitted to your slide and some 9MM mags.  You aren't the first person to make this comment, either here or elsewhere. Where would I find such a 9mm barrel? Bar-Sto? I have several 9mm mags as the BHP is my favorite 9mm. |
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That's an excellent contender for shooting +P 9 MM ammo, the slide is super beefy. All you need is a 9MM barrel fitted to your slide and some 9MM mags. You aren't the first person to make this comment, either here or elsewhere. Where would I find such a 9mm barrel? Bar-Sto? I have several 9mm mags as the BHP is my favorite 9mm. Bar-Sto is the only place I've seen .40S&W to 9mm BHP conversion barrels offered for sale. Link |
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I've got a .40 HP Practical and it is not serial numbered on the barrel. Came with two mousetrap "coated" mags with Pachmayer rubber bases.
Paid $499 used (LNIB, never fired) back in 2001/2002. Nice thing is the guy that sold it to the shop also sold it's 9mm Practical twin, also LNIB. Got that too, but it was $599 w/two 13-round mags. Didn't complain, then, and won't complain now considering how the prices shot up. Guess I should thank FN for flooding the market with HP's back then. |
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That's an excellent contender for shooting +P 9 MM ammo, the slide is super beefy. All you need is a 9MM barrel fitted to your slide and some 9MM mags. You aren't the first person to make this comment, either here or elsewhere. Where would I find such a 9mm barrel? Bar-Sto? I have several 9mm mags as the BHP is my favorite 9mm. Bar-Sto is the only place I've seen .40S&W to 9mm BHP conversion barrels offered for sale. Link I want to get a threaded conversion barrel, but I dont understand the benefits of +P ammo? |
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Meaning the ballistic benefit? Or do you mean the benefit of using +p in a gun period?
+P ammo is loaded hotter and faster, i.e. more pressure and more velocity. The increased velocity allows for better bullet performance. So by using +p ammo you are increasing your chances of stopping the threat with a good hit, because the bullet will transfer greater energy, since it has more energy to transfer, and the bullet will perform better, also increasing your chance of getting a stop. The problem with +p is the increased recoil and pressure from the round for shooters that don't shoot it regularly, or from guns that aren't built to handle the pressure on a regular basis. The BHP is one of those guns that wasn't built with the idea of +p ammo, but in the 40 configuration, it's already built to handle a higher pressure cartridge, and when using the +p 9mm, everything should be find. The other advantage to using the +p instead of using the gun as a 40 (which I think might actually be your question) is that you get 40 results with 9mm capacity. So instead of having 10+1 in a 40, you can have as many as 13+1, 14+1, 15+1, or even 17+1 with the KRD mags. |
| I don't have a HP in .40 but I do have a P226, P229 and a M&P, all of which are in both .40 and 9mm. I can say that the .40 version using 180 grain fmj kicks a fair amount more than the 9mm 124 grain +P Speer Gold Dot. Not uncomfortably so but enough to be readily apparent in a course of fire while using a timer. |
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I don't have a HP in .40 but I do have a P226, P229 and a M&P, all of which are in both .40 and 9mm. I can say that the .40 version using 180 grain fmj kicks a fair amount more than the 9mm 124 grain +P Speer Gold Dot. Not uncomfortably so but enough to be readily apparent in a course of fire while using a timer. Yes I agree about 180's, but 165's feel fine to me. I know a lot of people complain about .40's on here, but I dont think its bad at all if you have the right load. My standard CCW load was Magtech 135's for a longtime. I could shoot those pretty damn fast and they had a cool white flame  !
A few weeks ago the store I work at at some .40 that was 200gr. I almost bought them just because I have never seen them before, but passed because of how I feel about the 180's. |
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Makes sense, I've already got a Glock 32 in 357 with 40 and 9mm conversion barrels, and a Sig P250 in 40 with a 357 conversion barrel.
Maybe next time I've got some spare cash laying around I'll look into the 357 and 9mm barrels for it, but right now I'm still just enjoying it in the 40 configuration. |
| I had one and sold it. #1 I didn't like the trigger because it made my finger sore from shooting. It would pinch between the trigger and trigger guard. #2 The hammer would pinch my fleshy (read into that FAT) hand on the web like a mil-spec 1911. It drew blood a couple of times. #3 I never experienced it but I heard that the 40 Cal frame didn't hold up well over time. #4 Finally I sold it for way more than I paid for it. Bought it new for $425 and sold it for $800. When I did shoot it thought it was accurate. Mine was serial numbered on the barrel. |