Post by jaypee on May 24, 2017 14:50:07 GMT -5
Back in the early 2000’s, the KBI import firm of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a principal importer of the Hungarian FEG Hi Power pistols, decided to try its luck at marketing a Hi Power pistol that could righteously have “Made in U.S.A.” stamped on it. In order to come up with a domestic Hi Power, KBI contracted with FEG to supply them with unfinished FEG P9 pistols in kit form, which would then be finished by American subcontractors. This would allow KBI to claim domestic manufacture with the “Made in U.S.A.” inscription stamped on the pistols’ frames, which they hoped would be warmly received by American shooters.
It was a disaster for KBI. The idea of having the pistols finished in this country was fantastically costly and caused KBI to lose money on every one of the new pistols it sold. Mr. Kassnar, CEO of KBI once wrote that KBI lost money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on the project. The pistol in question, as you may have guessed by now, was the Charles Daly Hi Power, commonly referred to as the CDHP.
But what was very bad for KBI turned out to be very good for shooters in that it provided them with a very handsome Hi-Power clone that could be had for a very reasonable price. The Charles Daly Hi Power was a well-made standard FEG P9 pistol, a very faithful copy of the Browning Hi-Power, except for enlarged dovetail slots for custom sights, an extended safety lever, and a firing pin retaining plate milled off to accommodate a large rear sight.
The pistols were finished initially by Dan Wesson and had “HP” serial number prefixes and dovetail slots set up for Novak sights made to BHP dimensions. After a few hundred were finished, Magnum Research took over and finished the rest of the production run. These guns had “HPM” serial number prefixes and dovetail slots set up for Novak sights of M1911 dimensions. These are nice pistols that are, in my opinion, well worth the prices being asked for them.
This is my CDHP. I added a set of MMC adjustable sights and some Herrett's grips. It shoots very well and, like I said, was entirely worth the money. These are very nice guns.
JayPee
It was a disaster for KBI. The idea of having the pistols finished in this country was fantastically costly and caused KBI to lose money on every one of the new pistols it sold. Mr. Kassnar, CEO of KBI once wrote that KBI lost money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on the project. The pistol in question, as you may have guessed by now, was the Charles Daly Hi Power, commonly referred to as the CDHP.
But what was very bad for KBI turned out to be very good for shooters in that it provided them with a very handsome Hi-Power clone that could be had for a very reasonable price. The Charles Daly Hi Power was a well-made standard FEG P9 pistol, a very faithful copy of the Browning Hi-Power, except for enlarged dovetail slots for custom sights, an extended safety lever, and a firing pin retaining plate milled off to accommodate a large rear sight.
The pistols were finished initially by Dan Wesson and had “HP” serial number prefixes and dovetail slots set up for Novak sights made to BHP dimensions. After a few hundred were finished, Magnum Research took over and finished the rest of the production run. These guns had “HPM” serial number prefixes and dovetail slots set up for Novak sights of M1911 dimensions. These are nice pistols that are, in my opinion, well worth the prices being asked for them.
This is my CDHP. I added a set of MMC adjustable sights and some Herrett's grips. It shoots very well and, like I said, was entirely worth the money. These are very nice guns.
JayPee