The Charles Daly Hi Power

[EssOne]

One of the more well-known pistols among enthusiasts is the Browning Hi Power, Mr. Browning’s last design. Its granddaddy was placed into production as the FN Model P35 in 1935 and it has been made in the millions over the years since then. For instance the German Army captured the FN factory when it overran Belgium in 1940 and produced over a quarter million of these guns for its own use before the war ended in 1945. After the war, FN concentrated mostly on the military market until Browning Arms decided to market the gun in the United States as the Browning Hi Power around 1950. It has been sold here continuously ever since.

 

By 1970 FN and Browning’s Patents on the P35 had expired, so the Communist Hungarian arms conglomerate, FÉG, began producing the most faithful copy of the Hi Power ever seen outside of the FN plants in Belgium and Portugal. Completely reverse engineered, FÉG simply called it their Model P9. It was imported into this country during 1985 and 1986, and again from the early 90’s until FÉG declared bankruptcy in 2004. Importers such as Kassnar Imports, KBI, Century International, SSME, and Tennessee Guns International imported the guns under several model numbers. The most prolific of the importers was the Kassnar family’s KBI Inc., which imported them under their in-house model number PJK-9HP, and also as the Charles Daly Hi Power, which is what this story is all about. Here’s a photo of a first issue FEG P9, known as the KBI firm’s PJK-9HP. This is the gun that became the Charles Daly Hi Power discussed in the following paragraphs.

 

 

Along about 2006 or so, KBI Inc., came up with a different way to produce and import these guns. He began importing them as unfinished kits which would be finished by contractors in the USA under the banner of the “Charles Daly Hi Power.” The real draw here is that they would be the only mass produced Hi Power ever to have “Made in USA” stamped on them.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work. The Charles Daly Hi Power cost more to produce than it sold for, and KBI Inc., lost money on every one they sold. But they are darn good guns that are well worth their money and then some. If you hanker for one or own one, here are some facts that may be helpful to you.

 

The first finishing contractor for these guns was Dan Wesson Inc., who finished the first 800 units (corrected 5/1/15 from the 500 originally stated) with serial numbers beginning in “HP.” The Dan Wesson guns were provided with dovetail slots set up for Novak style sights made to Browning Hi Power dimensions.

 

The remainder of the Charles Daly Hi Power production run was finished by Magnum Research, Inc., and carried the serial number prefix “HPM.” The Magnum Research guns had their dovetail slots also set up for Novak style sights, but to the dimensions of the Colt M1911.   The Charles Daly pistol in the photos is a Magnum Research "HPM" pistol and the sights are indeed made for the M1911

 

 

OK, so what about the guns. Are they worth anything? Yes, they certainly are.  And they’re getting hard to get because their owners know what they have and don’t have much interest in getting rid of them. If you find one in good condition, you have a good gun made to the standards of well-made commonplace pistols, but not to the meticulous standard of finish workmanship found in the Browning gun.  Their prices will run between a third and half as much as a new Browning Hi Power, so you can’t expect them to contain that gun’s premium finish work. I’ve owned five of the P9’s marked as CDHP’s and PJK-9HP’s and have never had a malfunction, so I think very well of them.

 

They came with Uncle Mike's black rubber grips, which are functional but not attractive enough for me, so they were replaced right quick with a set of Herrett’s Cocobolo grips. They come with the FÉG extended safety lever, which is one of the nicest ones around. The sights provided on these guns were big dot express sights, which my old eyes and old habits just couldn’t get the hang of, so I replaced them with a set of adjustable sights from the now-defunct Miniature Machine Company of Las Vegas. The exterior finish is matte all over except for the sides of the slide, and the blue job is more grey blue than black blue. The external polishing of the metal is very well done.

 

 

How accurate are they? Every one of them I’ve had were just as accurate as any of the mainstream 9mm’s like the Beretta 92, the Smith and Wesson 5906, and even the Browning Hi Power. If you can handle the sights, the inherent accuracy is there, and most of them have good enough triggers in them to really develop their accuracy potential.  And any magazine that will work in the Browning Hi Power will also work in the Charles Daly Hi Power. I don’t think you can go wrong with one if you can handle a single action gun. So if you happen to run into one over at the LGS be careful, they tend to want to follow you home. Hope this information will be helpful to you.

 

EssOne

 

PS: How about the double action FÉG Hi Power pistols you see on the gun auction sites?  The sellers are badly mistaken - they’re not Hi Powers at all. They were designed as loose but fairly faithful copies of the Smith and Wesson Model 59 and have nothing in common with the Hi Power beyond the Colt/Browning locking system. They’re good guns in their own right; they just aren’t Hi Powers.

Edited May 1, 2015 by EssOne

[pops572]

Very good write up, I toyed with the idea of getting one of those CDs, and even found a used one for $259 but just couldnt get it after a fiasco with a CD 1911. After reading this now I regret I didnt.

[zenworm]

Thanks for this info. I had never heard of the Charles Daly variant and definitely didn't know Dan Wesson finished the first run. That's really cool!

[Smith]

One note, the FEG HJK-9HP is an almost identical clone of the hp and all parts interchange. FEG ALSO made the HP9 (clone of the Browning DA9HP) and the FEG P9R which is what the Smith series you mentioned is designed after.

My first handgun was a hjk-9hp and I had no idea how good a gun I had. I've had a lot of hi powers since, and I'll still grab a feg hp if the opportunity arises. It's a hp without the Browning markup our beautiful bluing. Edited May 4, 2015 by Smith

[graycrait]

I too had a FEG with the KBI model numbers some years ago. I picked it primarily to learn how to do an action job on a Hi Power.  Did the job then traded it off.  The gun worked well and I said to myself, "Hmm, wonder why all the hub bub about this design?"  One has to hand it to JMB though, two iconic handgun designs back to back.  Oddly the gun or design didn't do it for me and then I went on a small tear for CZ 75s for a year two.    

[TNWNGR]

Concur on this being a well written article and I still own my first BHP purchased circa 1975 while woefully regretting not keeping others I owned. It's a surprisingly pleasant pistol platform to work with but I steered well clear of that particular hammer design as well as having my own HP hammer's bobbed. In the HP pistol's I owned I largely used hard cast lead or jacketed rounds and fondly recall experimenting with some of the early Super-Vel loadings with mixed results.

[Moped]

Interesting write up!  I had one of the FEG Hi-Powers once upon a time.  My personal opinion was that it had an awful gritty trigger and the internals were made of cheap metal.  I didn't keep it very long.  Later on in life, I got an actually Browning HP.  It was far superior in fit, finish and accuracy with a decent trigger.  I've considered purchasing one of the FEG double actions in .45ACP, not long ago, but remembered the quality of the other FEG I had and put my hands in my pockets and walked away.