To shoot or not to shoot

[badabang]

A pre 70's Hi Power preferably with tangent sights has been one of my bucket list guns for a while but never found a really nice one I could afford.  Well I found  '68 T series, T22xxxx, in  small WI town a month ago. No tangent but it looked like new for a price I couldn't pass up.  The store owner told me he purchased the gun from  lady whose husband had passed and she sold him the Hi Power, a shotgun and a rifle. He didn't know anything else about the history.  After picking up the  gun from my FFL., I field stripped it  and thought that it looked unfired, but gunky. The oil has started to harden and it was dusty/dirty inside.  This week I stripped it completely  down and did a clean and lube. I could find no evidence of any powder residue anywhere. The magazine has no indication that it has ever been used. The barrel looks like the side has been racked many times, but again it is otherwise pristine. The feed ramp has no marks other than original machining marks. The bluing has virtually no handling marks.  I'm convinced that this gun has never been fired!  So now my dilemma, shoot it or not. I have no box or instruction book. It had no Browning rug, but I bought a nice used original one off eBay. Looking at sales on Gunbroker I think this HP may be worth at least twice what I paid for it.  So what do you guys think, should I shoot it or keep it as a collectable safe queen?

[ToddSig]

Pictures are always nice and would give us a better idea of what you have.

I have several T series pistols, which I shoot. Many people collect T series Hi Powers, and they are considered desirable, but not really that rare. Unfired would be rare. How is the bluing on the slide and the frame? Are the grips original and are the blond or darker, blond being more desirable for the period? A T22xxxx dates it to a 1968 production. There are a decent number of 1968 Hi Power T series Hi Powers available. Is it Browning rollmarked or is it a FN Surplus T (three stacked serial numbers on the barrel, slide and frame)? Unless the bluing is pristine and everything else is correct and in LNIB condition, I would lean toward shooting it and enjoying it. Or, given that you got a great deal on the T, buy another Hi Power to shoot and carry.

MY Avatar on this site is my 1968 T.

Here is my 1967 Tangent T



1965 T

[jonnyc]

Personally, I don't own any guns I won't shoot

[Mister Coffee]

1) Shoot your guns.

2) Sell it for "at least twice what I paid for it," and buy something to shoot.

Have fun. Life is short (and getting shorter).

[gt40doc]

Shoot it. I own a Renaissance Model (69C), and it goes to the range just like my other BHPs.

[badabang]

ToddSig, Mine looks like your boxed 1965T, but the original grips are darker like your tangent. It's Browning roll marked and the only mark on the bluing is a faint almost unnoticeable abrasion mark at the turn of the trigger guard. I may have to shoot it. Like the other commenters, I don't own any guns that I haven't shot, including a paper cartridge Sharps carbine. But then I never had an unfired 52 year old gun.

[Bob Reed]

Hello,

Words mean things, you know, like a magazine isn't a 'clip' and vise-versa. So, with that said, I would NOT shoot that Browning Hi-Power, but I would 'fire' it.

I've never shot a gun before, but I have 'fired' many different types of guns in my lifetime.

We went shooting last Sunday, and I test 'fired' my new gun.

I would never shoot one of my guns, but I 'fire' them every chance I get.

It's brand new and I haven't had a chance to 'fire' it yet.

I shot a burglar in the head, the first time I ever 'fired' it.

I am sorry, men, but I just couldn't resist. Please carry on, and Fire for Effect!