Thoughts on the SFS

[HRFunk]

What's the general consensus on the SFS? I have one at home in the box, and I attempted to install it in my CDHP. As I mentioned in another thread, there's a slight difference in the dimensions of the safety and the frame of that particular pistol that prevented me from completing the install. So now, I'm considering the idea of putting it in my Mark III, but I can't decide if I want to change it from its factory configuration. Any thoughts?

[CXM]

I have a NIB 2016 vintage BHP I tried to install a SFS in and so far have had no success... it sits on my work bench, been too busy to work on it at the moment...

Some people have had no problems... it has been a mess for me.

FWIW

Chuck

[gt40doc]

I looked into the SFS system back when they first became available. I know they appeal to some of the folks, but they just don't trip my trigger. Perhaps if I owned one, and did some range time with it,  I might change my mind.....don't know.

[smith10]

I have installed them, on a customers gun years ago. And have had an FN that was an SFS gun from the factory.

My take on it is this....if you even have open carried a HP, you will have a hopefully well meaning person say. "hey did you know your hammer is cocked" !??!?!?With the SFS the hammer APEARS to be at rest. Thus thwarting the well meaning(hopefully) pest.

They also tend to be a bit harder to snag on the draw.

Now....the manual of arms is different enough to warrant training on it to set the push the hammer forward to on safe the gun, instead of the regular HP and 1911 push up on the safety move.

[Jäger]

Jun 9, 2017 13:58:44 GMT -5 smith10 said:

I have installed them, on a customers gun years ago. And have had an FN that was an SFS gun from the factory.

My take on it is this....if you even have open carried a HP, you will have a hopefully well meaning person say. "hey did you know your hammer is cocked" !??!?!?With the SFS the hammer APEARS to be at rest. Thus thwarting the well meaning(hopefully) pest.

They also tend to be a bit harder to snag on the draw.

Now....the manual of arms is different enough to warrant training on it to set the push the hammer forward to on safe the gun, instead of the regular HP and 1911 push up on the safety move.

I often open carry in Montana.  Not the California-flavour area of Montana around Missoula and Bozeman populated with the university crowd, mind you; they're to the south.

Here, I have yet to have somebody say "Hey, do you know your hammer is cocked".  Although - if I did - I would probably peer down and go "Oh thank God - I thought you were going to tell me I was walking around with the hammer down like some kind of moron parading his idiocy".  Of course if I had the SFS installed, instead, I might have some well meaning guy sidle up to me and mutter "Don't want to embarrass you man, but you forgot to cock and lock your gun when you put it on this morning".

All that aside, I am just somebody that the SFS setup does absolutely nothing for me.  Starting with the looks of it - yes, I know, you don't carry a gun for looks, but nobody developed an attraction for the High Power because they looked just like a Glock.  After carrying a HP for about 40 years now, thereabouts, I think it works just fine, pretty much exactly the same way it left the factory.  Everything just fits, as is.

Burgs is probably our resident SFS fan.  There's a guy who can comment on all the nuances of the SFS, including for carry.  Perhaps that's who you should be asking about it, instead of people like me who have never used it or carried with it, just tried it once or twice and decided they officially don't like it  Burgs is your man.

[rob52]

As Jager says, Burgs is the "resident SFS fan" and expert. I have learned a lot reading his posts over the years, and his comments prompted me to buy original FN/SFS hi powers in 9mm and 40 cal. I have shot them fairly often and extensively, especially the 9mm. The trigger action is really good. But pushing the hammer forward to make the gun "safe" goes against everything that I've done with the 1911 and Hi Power platform for about 50 years (and I sold my Glock, Sigs, etc years ago so that I wouldn't have to think about what pistol I had in my hand--striker, DAO only, DA/SA, etc). Even when practicing drills I will occasionally forget which pistol I have and try to rack the slide with the hammer forward--it doesn't work. And since I don't carry open, and since I work to keep my carry weapon concealed, that aspect of cocked vs. noncocked is a nonissue for me.

So, I'm glad to have the two SFS pistols, and a number of people on this forum and others are ardent supporters, but for me I will only carry or rely on a non-SFS--that's just personal preference (or an indication of my intelligence--I was educated in the finest public schools that Arkansas had in the 50s and 60s (<.

[Deleted]

For me, there are several advantages, to the SFS system. I've been carrying cockd and locked since the early '70s. It doesn't bother me, but I've come to like SFS better. I call it Condition 1A.
When I decided to get back into Hi Powers again, the first one I bought was SFS. I found that I liked it a lot and eventually all of my Hi Powers end up SFS-ed.

SFS completely and totally eliminates any and all causes of hammer bite and chew. The hammer geometry of the SFS is such that the hammer just can't hit the web of the hand, nor can the hand get chewed by getting caught between the hammer and the grip tang. The SFS hammer isn't my favorite, aesthetically, but it looks very much like the S&W semi-auto hammers of the time and I happen to like S&S semi-autos.
I did call C&S a few years back and asked if they could make a custom hammer that was different - maybe more along the lines of the Delta 1911 SFS hammer (yes, I use the 1911 SFS too) and the answer from the nice guy at C&S was, "Uh, no."

The SFS system adds a hammer block, which might be a factor for some who have the older Hi Powers that weren't built with one. It doesn't add or subtract anything from the trigger pull, it's just there.
Some claim that SFS gives a better trigger pull. I find that while a gunsmith can give you an excellent trigger pull, SFS alone makes little or no difference.

The hammer being cocked is an extra indication that your pistol got knocked off safe. Sometimes you can hear it. The different manual of arms - pushing the hammer forward to safe it - was effortless for me, even after decades of normal cocked and locked.

My favorite feature, however IS the slight difference in operating the SFS system. Every person I've handed and SFS pistol to in the safe condition couldn't make it work. They fiddle around trying to cock the hammer (it won't), pull the trigger (nothing) and then they usually look for help. This was my first reaction when the nice Cabela's lady showed me one. I handed it back and told her, "This thing's busted".
So, should anybody get your pistol, the SFS system will most likely give you a few seconds to "correct" the situation. I carry 2 guns.

I'm not a SFS spokesperson. I'm not trying to sell it to anybody. It's just a feature that I like on Hi Powers and 1911s.

You're mileage may vary. I drive a Hemi.

[klwhp]

The last lwt i bought from GB had the SFS system on it with a very light trigger (like 3lb light)plus the safety was very easy activated also. When taking it to APW- Cogan i decided to go with the standard C&S trigger sear and safety.It turned out fine with crisp 4 pound trigger and clean crisp safety.I may put the SFS in a range gun later.

[noglock]

Jager:

I had heard there was a relationship between the average level of common sense and the mileage to the nearest major college town. My take on the sfs is this:

I do not open carry, and;

She is going to have to be really young and attractive for me to allow a momentary loss of my gun for an examination of how it operates.