I am finally thinking about biting the bullet and buying either an already built custom Hi Power or having a gunsmith build one for me.  However, I wanted some more information before deciding which route is best.

If I were to send one off, it would likely be a Mark III Practical as I have always liked the two tone look.  I do realize that most custom work would require refinishing so it could be made two tone at that time, but I am not sure if it is any easier/cheaper if it is that way from the beginning.  In terms of custom work, the primary thing that I would be sending it off to get would be a beavertail.  I would also want texturing on the front strap, trigger work, upgraded sights, upgraded safety lever,  reliability work, and fit an additional threaded barrel (if one is available).  When I look at custom build sheets, there are so many other options (and usually not much in way of explanation as to what it entails if it is not plainly obvious) and I want to try and avoid leaving out anything major or anything that can really boost reliability.  Plus, some places will just list things such as "reliability packages" without a full description so it can be difficult to make sure you are hitting all of the major reliability improvements if everything is listed out as a separate option on another sheet.

Additionally, I have been looking at possible gunsmiths that can do the work, and I believe I know the major ones (Midwest Gun Works, Robar, Cylinder & Slide, Action Works,  Jim Garthwaite).  However, there are so many other results that pop up when searching and I do not really know much about them and their reputation.  I also don't know if there are any smiths that have bad reputations that should be avoided.  Additionally, most of the smiths that I have found don't give an estimate as to their wait list.  I understand the reason for this and can be patient, but I would also prefer not to wait forever so it could be a factor.

Finally, in regard to potentially purchasing an already customized Hi Power, I know that Nighthawk is making customs.  However, beyond that, it does not appear that there are any gunsmiths that are selling custom guns that were never paid for or other reliable sources, so it seems to just depend on luck as to whether there are any customs that come up for sale and I see them.

I have 4 questions regarding this, but I realize that some of them are loaded questions.  I also know that for some of the questions regarding options and wait times, many gunsmiths will help you with these items.  However, I also know that they have their business to run and don't want to waste their time, so I am trying to at least narrow down possibilities and come up with a general list of what I would like to be done before calling to try and smooth out the process.

1)  Are there other forums that are good for answering questions like this and that are friendly to newcomers?  In my experience, there are some forums where if you post a question like this, you essentially just get told that the questions have been answered before and to search through previous threads.

2)  Does anyone know of any reliable source for customized Hi Powers or someplace where there are some available if I don't want a Nighthawk, or is my best option to just keep searching various forums and gunbroker?

3)  Are there any other gunsmiths that I should look at other then the ones that I listed above?  Conversely, are there any that I should avoid?

4)  Last, if you were going to get a custom Hi Power built, what would be your must have options?  I am referring mainly to reliability and performance options and not so much to cosmetic options.  As I said, I know alot of smiths will walk you through parts of this, but I want to try and get at least a preliminary list of work that I want done before I call around.

Thanks for all of the help.

Garthwaite or Cylinder & Slide

Beavertail, mag safety removed, new trigger and hammer fitted, Novak plain black rear and tritium front, stippled front and back strap, spegel or VZ grips.

I had one done by Ten Ring precision, pretty much the above done to it.  It was ok, but I wasn't very impressed with the beavertail on it.  Also the first time I went to pick it up it was blued when I'd requested it be hard chromed.  It did get sent to Tripp for hard chrome and when I got it back, upon locking the slide back there was a scratch in the chrome that was covered up by the slide stop when it was in battery.

Novak's does Hi Powers.

Mine below was a Practical. I had my local pistolsmith mill the Novak's in and install the Cylinder & Slide Shop's slotted hammer, wide trigger and tool steel sear and strip off the black paint on the slide and blue it. I'm very happy with it.

I had mine done by Novaks. Prices were in line with the market, the wait was very short, and they did great work. They also are pretty responsive to questions/etc and emails.

Personally I'd just start with a blued one and have it refinished as required from there. Why start with a chromed part that's going to need to be stripped and then rechromed anyway?

Novak used to stock a couple of custom Hipowers...can't hurt to call them and ask, or send them a mail and ask.

My must have options on mine were a stippled or checkered front strap (the front strap is really thin, too thin to be checkered really, so stippling it is...either that, or grip tape...), a better thumb safety (I have a C&S on mine but the Novak one would have been fine too), a trigger job, proper sights obviously (I asked Novak to make the front nightsight green and the rear yellow or orange, and they did it for me) and a bobbed and dehorned hammer.  I get bad hammer bite on BHPs. Even with Novak bobbing and dehorning the hammer, it can still draw blood after a couple hundred rounds. I asked the guys at Novak to fit a C&S no-bite commander-style hammer and hard sear, and they did...but the C&S parts can be pretty tough to get a really good trigger job out of (or so I was told). They did a good job on it, but it's not as nice as the job they were able to get with the factory sear and hammer...so while I have the C&S parts still, I usually just used the bobbed hammer they made for me instead, and just live with the hammer bite when I do high round count sessions at the range. I mainly went with the C&S parts simply because I already happened to have them laying around; I'm not married to their parts.

I've also dropped a bunch of weight recently, so that might lower the hammer bite too

The other main reason I sent it in was to be refinished. I bought a standard blued gun and it was awesome (except for the hammerbite and 48lb trigger)...but the blued finish just wasn't holding up. I had already worn the backstrap's finish clear off just from rangetime. At the end of the day I sent it to Novaks and had them apply their Special Ops (I think that was it) package to it, and finished it in Birdsong's Black-T.

There's a little part of me that kind of regrets not getting a beavertail installed when they were offering it...but honestly, beavertails look weird on a BHP, no matter how comfortable it may make them. They also sometimes just look unnecessarily long, which seems like it'd actually be uncomfortable to carry.

I had already removed the mag safety before I sent it to them, but if you don't remove it before sending it...I would highly recommend having them remove it.

I wound up sending it back to them to have a threaded barrel fit to it, as now that silencers were legal here...well, anyone who grew up reading cold war spy novels has to have a silenced Belgian automatic, no?



It's hands down my favorite gun. The only reason I don't carry it everywhere is because if something happens and I actually need to use it...I don't want to lose it, sitting in some evidence locker, waiting to be cleaned

I had 4 of them done by Bob Cogan atAccurate Plating & Weaponry.  Very pleased with his work, both the gunsmithing and the hard chrome plating, one was cerracoat.  He cut Novak dovetails and did a great job of front strap stippling.  Trigger work was also to my liking.  Turn around time was excellent.

Mine was worked on by Cylinder & Slide.  Unfortunately I didn't know Jim Garthwaite worked on at the time or it would have gone there.  He's a great guy and gunsmith.  Used to shoot the breeze together over adult beverages at the USPSA Nationals.  There's also Don Williams, at The Action Works, who does fine work.

I had a beavertail and trigger job done @ C&S.  I should have had the mag disconnect taken out too.  Now I plan on having night sights installed, a Garthwaite trigger installed and getting rid of that damned disconnect.  I had a different mind set 20+ years ago when C&S worked on it.

There are plenty of competent BHP pistol smith's to go around. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of the above mentioned smith's. Novaks has been my go to BHP &1911 modification builds since 1982. Mr. Stump at Novaks does excellent BHP work with a reasonable turn around time frame. Looking forward to seeing your finished product OP.

Heirloom Precision: