Girsan P35 PI (RANGE REPORT)

[Grayfox54]

I picked this up today. This is Girsan's version of the Detective Model Hi-Power. The slide and barrel are 1" shorter than the standard Hi-Power at 3.88". Girsan calls it the MC P35 PI. As I understand it the "PI" stands for Private Investigator". 

Let me preface this by saying I do own an original FM Detective Model. These were made back in the early 90s by FM Argentina. AFAIK, FM was the only company to produce and sell a reliable compact Hi-Power clone. Its a wonderful pistol and I do love mine. However, they have become scarce and the last one I saw for sale went for about $1200.  I don't really want to take a chance by carrying mine. 

So when I learned of Girsan's new clone, it really caught my interest. I've heard a lot of good things about Girsan. I found this one at Bud's the other day for $503. That's about $50 cheaper than I've seen one anywhere else. So I went for it.  Anyway, I picked it up today. With tax, insurance transfer and TICS I have $605 in this gun. 

Sorry about the pics, I'm afraid I'm not much of a photographer. 

First impressions: On initial inspection the gun appears to be very well made. Fit of all parts is excellent. No sharp edges are noticeable. The plain black finish is smooth and seems quite solid. Nice 3-dot sights and an Ambi safety. Its a good looking gun. 

The bad: First off the grips suck. Feel completely wrong for my hands. But that's easy enough to fix. In fact I've already got a new set on the way and they should be here in the next day or so. BTW: this will be the only change to the gun's appearance that I will make. 

The really bad: OMG! The trigger on this thing is absolutely horrible!  Long, extremely gritty and , according to my gauge, breaks inconsistently at between 9 & 10 lbs!    Ok, this is gonna take some work.  From the way it feels, I'm thinking that much of the problem is going to be in that magazine disconnect which it does have. That will be the first thing to go. We'll see what happens after that. 

Hi-Power triggers are notoriously hard to tune. But a smooth, clean 4-5 Lb trigger is possible. For what I got in it, I can afford to tinker with it a bit. 

 Step one is to get it to the range in its box stock configuration  and try various loads through it. That's if the rain will ever quit and I have a chance? Considering that lousy trigger, I'm not really looking for great accuracy. This will be a reliability test. Then I'll take it from there. 

Anyway, the goal is to have a reliable, compact Hi-Power carry gun. Stay tuned, I'll post updates as this project progresses. 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Grayfox54

[Grayfox54]

I got the new grips. A set of Altamonts I found on e-bay. Nice looking grips, but the ridges around the raised center section were sharp and felt like they cut into my hand.  A little work with some sandpaper and they now feel great! 

[Grayfox54]

I got it to the range this afternoon. Dug around in the ammo supply and came up with 6 loads.

Winchester White box 124gr FMJ NATO

Winchester SXZ 115gr JHP

Remington Golden Saber 124gr JHP

And three of my handloads using 115gr JHPs, 115gr FMJs and 124gr LRN. 

All told, I ran about 175 rounds through the gun. I'm happy to report it ran like a champ. I did have 2 feed jams, but both of those were with the same 20 year old 13 round magazine. So I really think it was to blame. 

Despite the heavy, gritty trigger I was able to keep most of my shots in the black at 7 yards.  I did have to adjust the rear sight just a tad to the right. But then I have to do that with most of my guns. Just the way my hands work i guess. Today was about testing function and reliability. It passed with flying colors. 

I'm thinking seriously about changing the thumb safety lever. While the Girsan lever is styled after the factory Browning design, it just don't feel right and has sharp edges. One of my hi-powers has the C&S safety and I do like it. But I really like the design of the lever on my SA35. I think I'll give Springfield a call and see if I can buy one. 

All in all, I really like this gun. 

Now, lemme see what I can do with that lousy trigger. 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Grayfox54

[hipower]

Thanks. I do appreciate the comments. Personally, I'm still holding out for the SA35.

[CMDRStormBorn]

2 hours ago, hipower said:

Thanks. I do appreciate the comments. Personally, I'm still holding out for the SA35.

This has been a very intriguing thread to me as a Browning hi-power is one of the only unchecked boxes in my collection.  Overall, I gotta go with hipower on this one and hold out for the SA35.  Girsan didn’t do a bad job on this one, but I’m getting to be a real gun snob with age I guess.  Refinements just kind of “speak to me” as opposed to when I was younger & excited by everything as a project.

[Grayfox54]

I don't blame you. I do have a SA35 and its an outstanding pistol. But as of yet they aren't making a Detective version. 

As I mentioned, I do have a FM Detective, but its too scarce and expensive for EDC. 

That's why this Girsan caught my attention. Not too expensive and the right size for carry. I knew it would need some work, but I kinda enjoy that sort of thing. 

[Grayfox54]

I called Springfield Armory today to try to order one of their safety levers. Nope. Because it is a part of the safety system they will only replace that part themselves. They will not sell them. 

Oh well, I do like the Cylinder & Slide safety. However, their parts are getting hard to come by. As I understand it, the owner has retired and nobody is taking over the business. There is some doubt if they will still be around once existing stock is sold out. C&S is out of the safeties. So is Brownells. Midway still has a few.  I have one on the way. 

[hipower]

15 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I don't blame you. I do have a SA35 and its an outstanding pistol. But as of yet they aren't making a Detective version. 

As I mentioned, I do have a FM Detective, but its too scarce and expensive for EDC. 

That's why this Girsan caught my attention. Not too expensive and the right size for carry. I knew it would need some work, but I kinda enjoy that sort of thing. 

I do have a Detective. I've run maybe 50 rounds down the pipe. I origionally bought it for the novelty when I saw the ad. It is a nice, fun little pistol. Not sure of it's value. Came in a cardboard box I believe.

I have seen promo articles stating that all three clone manufacturers are planning "Detective" copies. 

[Grayfox54]

3 hours ago, hipower said:

I do have a Detective. I've run maybe 50 rounds down the pipe. I origionally bought it for the novelty when I saw the ad. It is a nice, fun little pistol. Not sure of it's value. Came in a cardboard box I believe.

I bought mine LNIB about 5 years ago for $400. I'm not sure if it had ever been shot. Neither me or the seller really knew what it was at the time. I just knew I liked it.  Mine was imported sometime after the 1994 ban, but before it expired.  I know this because it came with two 10 round magazines. 

The last one I saw for sale was on GB about a year or so ago. IIRC, it brought right at $1200. But if several companies are going to bring out their own versions of the Detective, I'm not sure if that value will hold up.

My Browning MK III was my first semi-auto pistol. Bought it brand new back in the early 90s. Been in love with the Hi-Power ever since. But, like the 1911, I enjoy shooting the full sized guns at the range. But for carry, I prefer the Commander version. My goal here is a Hi-Power for edc. 

 

[CMDRStormBorn]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:48 AM, Grayfox54 said:

I don't blame you. I do have a SA35 and its an outstanding pistol. But as of yet they aren't making a Detective version. 

As I mentioned, I do have a FM Detective, but its too scarce and expensive for EDC. 

That's why this Girsan caught my attention. Not too expensive and the right size for carry. I knew it would need some work, but I kinda enjoy that sort of thing. 

Well great now you’ve made a hypocrite out of me & I want a detective hi-power clone when I can find one… in Stainless!  While I was looking around for that I couldn’t stop myself from ordering the newest version of SAR 2000 in stainless (CZ 75 clone with Tanfoglio influences).  So much for me no longer being interested in “project guns”.

 

[hipower]

1 hour ago, CMDRStormBorn said:

Well great now you’ve made a hypocrite out of me & I want a detective hi-power clone when I can find one… in Stainless!  While I was looking around for that I couldn’t stop myself from ordering the newest version of SAR 2000 in stainless (CZ 75 clone with Tanfoglio influences).  So much for me no longer being interested in “project guns”.

 

Don't think the Detective was made in Stainless, but could be misinformed on that.

Now if you want to come near the pric Grayfox54 mentioned from Gunbroker...I might let mine go. HEE HEE

Edited April 16, 2023 by hipower

[hipower]

On 4/12/2023 at 5:35 AM, Grayfox54 said:

I bought mine LNIB about 5 years ago for $400. I'm not sure if it had ever been shot. Neither me or the seller really knew what it was at the time. I just knew I liked it.  Mine was imported sometime after the 1994 ban, but before it expired.  I know this because it came with two 10 round magazines. 

The last one I saw for sale was on GB about a year or so ago. IIRC, it brought right at $1200. But if several companies are going to bring out their own versions of the Detective, I'm not sure if that value will hold up.

My Browning MK III was my first semi-auto pistol. Bought it brand new back in the early 90s. Been in love with the Hi-Power ever since. But, like the 1911, I enjoy shooting the full sized guns at the range. But for carry, I prefer the Commander version. My goal here is a Hi-Power for edc. 

 

My dad was responsible for my BHP inclinations. He had one that he loved. I shot it a few times and liked it. Somewhere along the years, Dad sold it, and I didn't do anything until much later.

IIRC, my first was a Mkll that i later sold to my b-i-l.  Like you, sir, it was early 90s before I bought another. Little gun shop owned by a Bill Harton(?) in the Antioch Sam's area. As much as I liked them, I didn't have the funds to buy multiples of it. There was always something else to attract me.

Have a few now. But thinking of downsizing them. I don't carry them. Just fun collection I guess.

Edited April 16, 2023 by hipower

[Grayfox54]

This project is on a temporary hold as I'm waiting for the new safety to arrive. At that time I'll work on both that and the trigger. I only want to go into this thing once. Not sure how much I can do. I'm reluctant to change springs for fear of messing with the recoil pulse in the shorter slide. I sure don't want this thing beating itself to death. I sent BH Spring Solutions an e-mail, but since these are brand new, I haven't heard back from them. 

My Hi-powers are kinda gettin' to be like my 1911s. They're starting to accumulate on me! 

[hipower]

45 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

This project is on a temporary hold as I'm waiting for the new safety to arrive. At that time I'll work on both that and the trigger. I only want to go into this thing once. Not sure how much I can do. I'm reluctant to change springs for fear of messing with the recoil pulse in the shorter slide. I sure don't want this thing beating itself to death. I sent BH Spring Solutions an e-mail, but since these are brand new, I haven't heard back from them. 

My Hi-powers are kinda gettin' to be like my 1911s. They're starting to accumulate on me! 

Lets not get started on the other JMB child!

[Grayfox54]

Well, I've done all I can do with this gun. I removed the magazine disconnect, trimmed the sear lever spring a little and did some light polishing on the sear and hammer. Best I could do was get the trigger pull down to right at 7 lbs. But it is smooth, crisp, consistent and much better than it was. It really feels much better than it actually measures on the scale. I'm thinking it will get even better with use. Only time will tell. 

Much to my chagrin, I've discovered that the C&S safety lever will not work in this gun. It seems that the stud that actually blocks the sear is just a tad smaller on the Girsan and the C&S lever won't go through the hole in the frame. Also the detent position is slightly different. When in the off position the C&S lever sticks up just enough to block the slide.  While I'm not real happy with the factory lever, I can live with it. 

Ok, so its not a Browning. But for half the price, Its still a good gun. I'm happy with it. 

Of course its raining today and forecast calls for rain pretty much all next week. I have no idea when I'll get to the range to test it out. But a range report is coming. Stand by. 

[Grayfox54]

It turned out to be a beautiful day today. Sunny skies, 63 degrees and a slight wind. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the range. 

One picture is worth a thousand words. 

Mozambique speed drills at 10 yards.  Draw, 2 to the body, 1 to the head., reholster and repeat. Not bad for a decrepit old man. 

All in all I shot about 300 rounds. Not even the slightest bobble. I didn't even notice the heavy trigger. 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it. Looks like I have a new gun in the carry line up. 

[Moped]

Damn you Fox!!! You're making me want one now!!! I've resisted so far! Luckily, I have a hard fast rule. Only one gun at a time and right now, I have another pistol in lay-a-way!