Something somewhat different: A gunwriter in this month’s ‘Guns’ magazine writes that the 9 mm Browning Hi-Power, any year, can reliably feed any kind of cartridge.
It was my understanding that it will only reliably feed full metal jacket rounds, and not hollowpoints.
Anyone know?
(I have found out if you have a forged barrel +P ammo is OK.)
Your understanding is incorrect. The High Power is supposed to be able to feed any type cartridge - but like most pistols there are occasionally some brands and ammo designs that individual specific pistols won’t like due to production variances.
I’ve had many a P35 over the years and aside from some WW2 production Inglis-made guns all would cheerfully swallow most any hollowpoints. I only ever had one weird interaction where a license-built Argentine High Power didn’t like Black Talons. The projectile would sometimes get hung up on the feed ramp. The pistol would devour Hydrashok and the later Golden Saber worked just fine. I couldn’t be bothered to find out why it didn’t work, especially when every other High Power I had at the time didn’t have a problem with it.
I think that the BHP +P ammo issue was not the barrel but rather frame cracking. The older 9mm BHPs are forged. When Browning introduced the .40 cal version, it changed to a stronger cast frame for both the .40 and 9mm versions.
PD ammo has been moving from bullets with hollow points to expanding bullets that don't have an actual hollow point. As to which ammo will work in what gun -- it is highly recommended that one try the ammo out at the range first before relying on it for defense.
I think we'll see Colt continue as a brand pretty much "forever" in spite of what the unions and bad management have done to the company. Someone will buy and reorganize the wreckage. With luck, they'll preserve the blueprints and old tooling, and maybe bring back popular models that Colt hasn't been bothering to make in decades.
Brands that are household names usually live on. Jaguar is owned by Tata Motors (India), Volvo is owned by Geely Holding Group (China).
It’s been my experience that it does not feed HP’s reliably. The feed ramp is too steep and the HPs, especially SilverTips, are shorter than ball. Jamming occurs.
Don’t know if it can be corrected by a smith or not. I never inquired.
One particular commercial Hi-Power of early 1990s vintage has proven itself capable of digesting NATO ball, commercial ball and hollowpoints from Hornady, Speer, Remington, Federal, Winchester ...