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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2017 22:52:36 GMT -5
Picked this up a few years ago from SARCO for $500. I had just bought a MK II, so I was somewhat reluctant to jump on another Hi Power so soon, but luckily for me Obama had just made another anti-gun speech, so my wife gave me marching orders to go get it. It originally came with a black painted finish that wasn't as nice as FN's epoxy, so I took it to my tame gunsmith, Old George, who did a nice matte blue finish on it (pretty much matches the finish on the FN MK II), and also installed an SFS kit and a Garthwaite trigger. I did the Trijicon night sights myself . On the FM 95s, FM used the same front and rear dovetail dimensions as its Belgian MK III cousin, so it was just a tap off and tap on operation using trijicon BRO2 sights. . It shoots really well, but due to the lack of Hi Power cuts at the front of the slide, it still weighs the same as a MKII. No weight savings at all. Personally, I prefer the balance and feel of the full size Hi Power better, but the Detective still a fun little The grips are VZ Pro Slims and the watch is a Marathon Steel Navigator.  Chick on the photo a couple of times and it gets bigger... Attachments:
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Post by jaypee on Jun 9, 2017 5:50:02 GMT -5
Put a "For Sale" sign on it and you'd get trampled with offers I'd bet. Very nice little gun, Mr. Burgs.
JayPee
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Post by gt40doc on Jun 9, 2017 13:47:21 GMT -5
That is a nice looking Detective, for sure. I just like the feel of the "commander sized" HPs. A lightweight Detective would be the "cat's meow". A fella on another forum has built one, and is in the trial period of reliability and endurance.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2017 16:36:12 GMT -5
I've often wondered about the long term durability of a lightweight Detective. I'm not worried so much about the aluminum frame, but rather the unique, round, crossbost on the lightweight frame and its interaction with the Detective's barrel, which was designed to interface with an oval crossbolt found on a steel framed Hi Power. Some of you may recall that FN used round crossbolts on their earliest Hi Powers, but that they were quickly changed to oval crossbolts for a reason. So, why FN reverted to a round crossbolt for the aluminum framed Hi Powers is a somewhat of a mystery. Perhaps it has something to do with the properties of an aluminum frame vs a steel frame? The lightweight Detective combo may work now, but will it continue to work long term a few hundred or few thousand rounds later? If somebody like Don Williams told me it was good to go, I'd feel better about it. Absent that, my concern would be that once you ruin a crossbolt - especially on a rare aluminum-framed Hi Power - you've basically ruined the gun for all time. On the other hand, I can 1000% totally understand and agree with why the owner want's to do it. If a lightweight Detective is your Holy Grail pistol, then a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!  |
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Post by gt40doc on Jun 9, 2017 18:33:19 GMT -5
I have not heard much recently about this fella's "project". I do wish him good luck on it. He did state that he was watching the cross bolt very carefully, and would report periodically. I believe that he built it as a CCW handgun. I would want to run a lot of ammo through it before I was willing to stake my life on it. I will see if I can find any recent followup on said HP.
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Post by CXM on Jun 10, 2017 7:54:33 GMT -5
THE STORY OF THE FMFEG DETECTIVE.... I have a couple of Detectives that started life as kits both acquired used... The first one is on the hulk of a FEG HP I bought that was a turkey from the start... it had all sorts of issues that no amount of work seemed to fix... I got that gun in the mid 1990s... the first FEG I bought is a real gem... and I bought the second one thinking it would be as nice a gun (and first one cost me $179 new!!!) Anyway, after an incompetent gunsmith screwed the slide up trying to install new sights the gun basically was retired to the bottom of the safe way in the back. One of the problems that gun had was a walking trigger pivot pin. A few years ago someone posted on one of the old HP sites about how to fix the walking pin by preening the hole I decided to give that a try and out came the FEG from early retirement. The preening trick worked like a charm and I wound up with a chassis without a quality slide. Happily CDI had surplus slides available and I got one for not much money which restored the FEG to workable condition... but at the same time I won an auction on Gunbroker for a Detective slide/barrel set. So once again, the FEG, now christened as the FMFEG or 'Femfeg' was operational and in this incarnation as a Detective size pistol.  Here is the right view of the FMFEG Detective... I am going to have to have the gun re-finished, the bake on finish the amateur gunsmith did on the frame isn't great and looks weird... CeraCoat of the whole pistol should improve it significantly.  This is a left side view... As soon as I held the Detective model, I realized the gun has a really nice balance and feel much like a Colt's Commander when compared to a full size 1911. History tells us the JMB wanted the army to adopt a 4" pistol rather than the 5" they insisted on for the 1911... this may well be one of the reasons for that advice to the Army. Of course the proof of any gun is at the range... where the Detective proved it's self not only accurate but in typical HP fashion it has been totally reliable as well... I realized I really like a Detective model and happily was able to find another one, this one is also a 'conversion kit' made by FM but mounted on a FM HP frame, which came with slide as a package... It too works well and is reliable... another keeper I think. Since the photos were taken of the FMFEG Detective I have installed Navridex thing Teak grips... which don't look as good as the Spegals by any means but do improve the feel of the pistol in the hand... SO, I'm looking for more Detectives... or conversion kits... they are not easy to find... but I'll keep looking... I need to... Mrs CXM is casting envious eyes on the FMFEG...  FWIW Chuck
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Post by gt40doc on Jun 10, 2017 12:44:11 GMT -5
Chuck,
Your FMFEG Detective is crying for a quality CeraCote finish, maybe even a tutone like the BHP practicals. I, also, keep my eyes peeled for a decent price on another FM Detective, but they are few, and far between.....plus pricey!!!
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Post by CXM on Jun 10, 2017 13:09:13 GMT -5
No kidding... the last Detective I bought came on a FM frame but cost me $500!!! Still if you find one you have to jump on it... I paid about $400 for the first one which was a kit!!! I'm thinking of using the CeraCote finish that is black semi gloss that looks a lot like the FN epoxy finish... Have to see... V/r Chuck Chuck, Your FMFEG Detective is crying for a quality CeraCote finish, maybe even a tutone like the BHP practicals. I, also, keep my eyes peeled for a decent price on another FM Detective, but they are few, and far between.....plus pricey!!! |
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Post by klwhp on Jul 1, 2017 15:27:53 GMT -5
I'm the one that did the LWT Detective over on the other forum,and BTW i'm glad to be here with you HP fans.The Detective was fired 5-6 hundred rounds before taking it to APW without showing any wear on the bolt or any failures at all.Since i have had it back maybe 2-3 hundred with no problems,so i have been carrying it a lot.When not it i carry a LWT Defender in .45.They both fit in the same OWB holster.The Detective with 15 rounds weighs less than the LWT Defender with 8 rounds.Not sure how to do pictures yet so maybe later.
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Post by klwhp on Jul 1, 2017 15:33:57 GMT -5
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Post by klwhp on Jul 1, 2017 15:35:58 GMT -5
Think i got it not a very good picture but i am not very good with cell camera.The other on is a LWT also.
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Post by gt40doc on Jul 1, 2017 18:04:39 GMT -5
I'm the one that did the LWT Detective over on the other forum,and BTW i'm glad to be here with you HP fans.The Detective was fired 5-6 hundred rounds before taking it to APW without showing any wear on the bolt or any failures at all.Since i have had it back maybe 2-3 hundred with no problems,so i have been carrying it a lot.When not it i carry a LWT Defender in .45.They both fit in the same OWB holster.The Detective with 15 rounds weighs less than the LWT Defender with 8 rounds.Not sure how to do pictures yet so maybe later. So good to see you here on this forum. Also, thank you very much for the update on your most interesting project. It really turned out dynamite from the photo. I think it is a project that many have thought about, and wished for, but did nothing else about it. Having put 8-900 rounds through your LW Detective with no damage to the cross bolt is very encouraging....at least it is to me. If you don't mind, please update from time to time, on your LW Detective's progress. |
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Post by klwhp on Jul 3, 2017 18:55:45 GMT -5
Will do! my thoughts on this was more carry than range so after watching it very careful i see no damage or wear.As far as anyone building one there are a couple of ways to go.You could cut and crown the LWT barrel to the Det. length or you could weld and machine the lugs on a standard barrel to match the LWT frame pin.I don't think either would be to hard.On my gun the lockup is good (2-2.5 inch groups at 25 yards)with factory self defense loads.Also my LWT slide and barrel now rides on the FM frame and after 300 rounds have had no problems with it.I intend to carry it a lot (LWT) and shoot it some and see how it goes.
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Post by pdx1953 on Jul 28, 2017 19:22:45 GMT -5
Will do! my thoughts on this was more carry than range so after watching it very careful i see no damage or wear.As far as anyone building one there are a couple of ways to go.You could cut and crown the LWT barrel to the Det. length or you could weld and machine the lugs on a standard barrel to match the LWT frame pin.I don't think either would be to hard.On my gun the lockup is good (2-2.5 inch groups at 25 yards)with factory self defense loads.Also my LWT slide and barrel now rides on the FM frame and after 300 rounds have had no problems with it.I intend to carry it a lot (LWT) and shoot it some and see how it goes. I posted this in another section (I'm new to this Forum) but here's my M-95 Detective. I bought it from a dealer in Idaho in March 2016 for $700 OTD & the dealer said he had people offering him more than I paid but he was a man of his word & I now own a nice, fairly rare gun. At least I think they're rare - I don't ever see them for sale on Guns International or GB.    |
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Post by CXM on Aug 12, 2017 8:11:12 GMT -5
The detective went off for a Cera-Coat about 10 days ago... should be back pretty soon... V/r Chuck Chuck, Your FMFEG Detective is crying for a quality CeraCote finish, maybe even a tutone like the BHP practicals. I, also, keep my eyes peeled for a decent price on another FM Detective, but they are few, and far between.....plus pricey!!! |
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