Author Topic: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back  (Read 7306 times)

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Offline Blicero

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Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« on: December 04, 2014, 05:49:25 PM »
I just did a little horse trading with a buddy of mine, here's what it yielded:

An early occupation Belgian Hi Power made for the Germans, likely in '40 or '41 before the tangent rear sights were eliminated. It has the plexi-glass grips which were popular on guns in the period. Because of its high capacity and unobtrusive hammer, these guns were popular with the Falschirmjaeger, who were dropped with only a pistol and a couple grenades. Enjoy some pics.






"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

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Offline Justin Hell

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2014, 05:57:37 PM »
Never seen leaf sights on a pistol...that is pretty wacky.

I would love to hear a range report of its accuracy at 500 meters.

Nevertheless, you have a neat piece of history there fer sure! :)

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2014, 07:20:26 PM »
Cool looking pistol  8)  Is this in 9x19mm?  500 meters does seem a bit of a stretch, but so is 2000 meters on the typical WWII rifle's leaf sight. 

I can't believe the Fallschirmjäger didn't also carry some Jägermeister für die Frauleins.

Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2014, 08:06:39 PM »
In the liquor vein- Jon you probably know about this guy- I think his name was Siskes? There was an Abwehr Colonel responsible for catching, imprisoning, and sometimes turning some 50 British, Dutch & Belgian spies dropped into the Ardennes late in the war. His war trophies were all the flasks of whiskey that the Brits were dropped with. He kept them long enough to drag them into whatever retirement home he went to in his twilight years. The old folks home requisitioned the flasks. Or is "liberated" the proper euphemism here? I don't know why, but that saddened me.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

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Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2014, 08:08:35 PM »
Earlier Hi Powers had shoulder stock provisions cut out of the frame. I imagine 500 meters might be more plausible shooting with the stock? I don't know. Either way, it seems a tad unrealistic.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon

Offline Justin Hell

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2014, 09:18:03 PM »
Just so I can wrap my head around what it might be like to shoot one at that range, how about a pic with the leaf set at 500 meters. It almost seems like it would be out of the natural range of most humans to shoot safely...but my mind's eye is a fogged a lil' bit at this hour. :)

Online Loose}{Cannon

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2014, 09:25:12 PM »
Always wanted a Hi Power....   looks great man. Shoot it yet?
      
1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms... It doesn't matter how many Lenins you get out on the street begging for them to be taken.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2014, 09:42:21 PM »
In the liquor vein- Jon you probably know about this guy- I think his name was Siskes? There was an Abwehr Colonel responsible for catching, imprisoning, and sometimes turning some 50 British, Dutch & Belgian spies dropped into the Ardennes late in the war. His war trophies were all the flasks of whiskey that the Brits were dropped with. He kept them long enough to drag them into whatever retirement home he went to in his twilight years. The old folks home requisitioned the flasks. Or is "liberated" the proper euphemism here? I don't know why, but that saddened me.
I did not know about the Abwehr officer but found Hermann Giskes by Googling. Interesting little tid bit of history about his successful spy capturing activities and the flasks 8) It's also interesting that he worked for American intelligence after the war.  How quickly the enemies changed after May 8, 1945.

Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2014, 03:14:23 PM »
Giskes! Thank you. He must have been one of the "moderates" that was more concerned with his future than loyalty to party, if he was instated in a postwar position. I was only reading about him 4 weeks ago. My memory retention is getting tenuous. It's tough getting old and senile. What were we talking about anyway? Get off my lawn!

Right, Hi Power.
I did manage to burn a few rounds after my friend left. This is a Hi Quality gun, I can see why a lot of people think they're some of the nicest ever made. It's SA only, for some reason I was expecting DA/SA like the p38. The trigger pull is surprisingly short. Here's what it looks like with the 500m setting.




"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2014, 07:10:48 PM »
Yeah, 500m is very optimistic.  This is merely a calculator not real world measurements, but the best 9mm trajectory I could find in their tables gave a drop at 500 yds of 38 feet  :o

Ballistic Calculator GunData.org




Offline Justin Hell

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2014, 01:57:22 PM »
While that isn't quite as much of a lob setting as I expected, it still looks like it would be uncomfortable to shoot and aim like that.  I would think in the real world it nearly never was used...still a neat feature. :)

Offline scarymike23

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2014, 11:51:54 AM »
Yeah, 500m is very optimistic.  This is merely a calculator not real world measurements, but the best 9mm trajectory I could find in their tables gave a drop at 500 yds of 38 feet  :o

At that point it's more like a mortar strike :)

Cool gun and a great bit of history! I've actually never seen or heard of plexi grips before. I guess back in the early 40s it was still a pretty novel material. Thanks for sharing.

Offline armedhippie

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2014, 12:00:12 PM »
Same here on new to the plexi grips. That is some cool stuff right there. The leaf sight is awesome.

Great score man. I don't know how you manage some of those awesome trades man.
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Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2014, 05:48:10 PM »
The grips were made from salvaged plane material. I've seen plexiglass on Hi Powers, CZs, a Luger or two. Our guys used plexiglass on 1911s alot too, they'd stick photos of their family or girlfriends under the clear grips. Google image search "sweetheart grips" and you'll see what I mean. It's in the same ballpark as trench art- some guys think it's a neat field modification, the hardcore purists will gripe about it. Where do you think I fall?  chuckles1

I've actually been having some problems with this gun. When I first reported on how it fired, I just dumped 5 or 6 rounds out in the yard just to get the feel for it, and make sure it would function and not blow up. Everything seemed to work fine.

I took it out to the range to really spend some time with it, it was a disaster. It suffered every malfunction known to man- stovepipes, failures to eject & extract, double feeds. I couldn't get through a magazine without clearing 7+ failures. I had multiple brands and weights of 9mm on hand so I was near 100% certain I couldn't blame the ammo- the gun would not eat any of it. So I cussed out my buddy under my breath and bagged it for the day.

Once I got it home I started diagnosing it, Travis & I were talking about it earlier. The ejector looks fine. The extractor looks normal. I don't think they need replacing. So I attacked my suspected main culprit: I polished the feed ramp and chamber. 

When I got it back out, I burned through about 80 rounds, and had about 6 failures to feed. But I was pleased, ecstatic in fact. I went from a failure 60+% of the time to less than 10%. My shooting partner made a comment that at first I scoffed at but he might be onto something- he said I was just breaking it in. Seems weird for a 70-yr old pistol but if it just sat for decades, perhaps it did need a warmup.

I'm going to hit it with the polish again. If I still get failures, a new mag and action springs might be in order. My buddy who gave me the gun called me up to see how I was enjoying it. I called it a piece of Eurotrash Nazi junk and him a scumbag for dumping a headache on me. He offered to undo the trade but I wouldn't do that. I know I can get this thing running right. And when it works, this is a sweet little shooter- slick, very accurate, comfortable. I'm very happy with it. And I can't wait to test my hand at 500 yard pistol shooting.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon

Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2014, 06:23:49 PM »
Gratuitous gun pics  :P




"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon

Offline Adam7

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #15 on: December 19, 2014, 07:16:17 PM »
I love it!  I just bought a hi power from numrich, can't wait to get it in.  I would try a different magazine and see if that helps.  Can't be too much more wrong with it.  Feed lips on the mag, week mag spring or something along those lines if you've already polished the feed ramp.

Offline scarymike23

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #16 on: December 19, 2014, 08:42:48 PM »
Yeah, they're great guns. I got a handpick Euro trade-in Mk2 from AIM back when they had them in stock for like 5 minutes. They're amazing guns - feels great in the hand, points naturally, and with minimal care and feeding with last until the end of the Earth. JMB was a genius.

Can't wait to hear how your HP does on the next range trip!

Offline Blicero

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Re: Nazi occupation Belgian Hi Power, bring back
« Reply #17 on: December 19, 2014, 10:34:03 PM »
I'm glad you were able to snag one of those HPs, I'm curious to hear how you like it. That was likely the best retail deal I've seen in a long time.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon