Unicorns

A good Browning High Power has always been my #1 Unicorn. Followed very closely by #2, a SIG P210.
Those are so close as to be more like 1 and 1.2…

The Browning is a very special pistol to me.  Not that I’ve some nostalgia for it… but I’ve just always held it in high regard.  The pistol is almost as historic as the 1911 and is considered by many to be John Moses Browning’s crowning achievement in handguns.
The SIG has it’s own merits that make it extremely desirable.  One is it’s fabled accuracy. The other is its accuracy.  The downside to the SIG P210 is that it’s a very expensive pistol.  It requires a lot of machining processes, which naturally increase it’s cost.  But there is a cult following of the 210 that doesn’t allow used 210’s at reasonable prices to be found.  Those that are put on the market are snagged up so quick it’s insane.  Now that SIG is officially making them again, it’s going to mean new used 210’s on the market, so hopefully this changes.  But most guys who buy one, and shoot it, do not sell them off.  I’ve yet hear anyone that has actually owned one that said they didn’t like it.  Not one.  I’ve heard some guys who’s borrowed one sour grapes..

 

More on this later.

24 thoughts on “Unicorns”

  1. The P210 Swiss military issue is one of my top 3 pistols that I hope to get before I kick it. I’m not much of a HP fan…I do respect it’s history and also there are so many variations that would make a Luger collector jealous. So which HP tickles your fancy? Just saying you want a High Power is like saying you want a Ford or Chevy but not saying which model.

  2. The Hi Power’s an old favorite of mine. I got my FN MK II surplus from the Mishteret Yisrael with heavy wear. A reblue, mag disconnect removal, and a set of modified Hogue wood grips later, it’s a perfect carry-sized nine with character and experience that can still hold its own.

  3. I had a Hi-power with the high target sights. Didn’t care much for the grip and traded it off for more than I paid for it. Like the Gold Cup I sold, much more accurate that I was and I hope they ended up in accurate hands.
    My Unicorn is a SIG 225, I get along with small grips. When the used P6s were available I was on short money as usual.
    Geoff
    Who notes there are so many guns, so little money…

  4. Here is a freebee for you. Hillary , right for Russia. WRONG for America ! I sold a lot of bumper stickers back in the day. This one would sell . One of my best was life’s a bitch and then there’s Hillary. Gault

  5. I just got one of my unicorns. Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan. Handled one two years ago. Should have purchased it then. Ended up buying the Mrs. a GP100 in .357 magnum. And everytime I went into the gun store to find another Alaskan the salesman just shook his head… till the week before Christmas. You should have seen the smile on his face because he knew I was going to be filling out a form 4473 that afternoon. He as correct.

      1. I have not had a chance to put very many (i.e. >50) rounds through it. In single action the triger is nice and light. Fairly long reset but in a defenseive use follow up shots could come easily as the adrenilne cocktail pumps through you. I would describe the recoil as a gentle push. Granted I’m a large human at 6’8″ 275 lbs. so recoil is mostly in my head. The mass of the gun probably helps in the recoil department as well. After I get more ammo for it I’ll take it out and see how accurate it can be. With that 2.5 in. barrel longer shots will come down to me but at shorter ranges I’d guess it could make nice groups no problem.

        1. Did you get the 454 or the .44 mag? I have the 454, its a great gun. I hope to send it to moonclips.com to get they cylinder machined to take .45 ACP moonclips, for giggles.

          1. Went with the .44 magnum. Figured that ammo should be easier to find at hardware stores and smaller mom and pops stores. Plus I would like to pick up a lever carbine in .44. Commonality of ammo very important in my opinion.

  6. Picked mine up in1982 from a gun shop owener who wanted a new one my high power was made in 1968 and came with a booklet from growing in Utah one of my keepers

  7. You have excellent taste in Unicorns. Both of those guns were Unicorns for me as well but I managed to get both of them within the past few years.

    I bought one of the surplus Israeli police Hi-Powers that was imported a few years ago and paid about $350 for it. It shot fine but looked pretty beat up. The rear sight in particular literally looked like someone has hammered nails with it. I removed the mag safety myself and sent it off to Don Williams at The Action Works for his “advanced tactical package”. Finished it off with a set of Speigel coco-bolo grips. Took a long time, but the gun is beautiful and shoots great. I think that Cole’s Distributing still has a bunch of surplus Hi-Powers on their gunbroker site.

    Also got a P-210-2 / P49 about a year ago. Haven’t done anything to that other than shoot it. The fit/finish is amazing and way the slide moves is unreal. I picked that one up off of either gunbroker or auction arms (I forget which) for a great price from a guy known as “Lavartus” who apparently researches and imports Sig 210s.

  8. I have a 1969 Browning FN Belgian made high power that just exudes gunmaking sexiness. Bluing is so deep you can see your reflection. Checkered walnut stock is elegantly tasteful and functional. It is virtually pristine. Have original zippered soft case and the optional leather. There’s just something otherworldly right about it, like JMB’s crowning glory mated with old world FN craftsmanship and care. Heck, they even clocked or indexed all the external screw slots to line up with each other.

    What is amazing to me that this pistol was just a standard production model.

    I couldn’t part with it for any price.

    It’s just “right” somehow I cannot explain. Yeah, my Unicorn.

  9. The Australian Navy still uses/used BHP’s. Also, years ago I’d talked about BHP with a fmr co-worker. One day on the manufacturing floor he shows me his BHP. His father-in-law had given it to him. That says something about a son-in-law.

    BTW. That manufacturing plant had a hanging trap target. One time the company president stopped production and fired a few mags through his AR. The brass was picked up for reloading ammo, it would have been a slip and fall risk anyway.

  10. I’ve owned a MkIII BHP since the summer of 1991. It’s still my “Go To” autoloader. As for the P210, yeah, I’d love to find one, particularly a Danish M49. That and the S&W 3.5″ M27 are
    Why a Dane? Because I don’t have safe queens and wouldn’t feel bad about shooting the piss out of it.

  11. Damn thunder storms & power outages!

    I’ve owned a MkIII BHP since the summer of 1991. It’s still my “Go To” autoloader. As for the P210, yeah, I’d love to find one, particularly a Danish M49. That and the S&W 3.5″ M27 are my unicorns, well okay and an H&K P9S.
    Why a Dane? Because I don’t have safe queens and wouldn’t feel bad about shooting the piss out of it.

  12. My HP dates from ’89.
    If I don’t have a 1911 on my hip it’s the HP.

    Local gun shop owner has a P-210. Did he let me fire it? Of course not.
    The bastard DID let me dry fire it and offer to get me one … retail.
    Only my Gold Cup has a comparable trigger.

  13. Wow!
    Talk about similar tastes!

    I’d LOVE a P210, but even before I was disabled, i simply couldn’t afford one. And, i would have had to engage some gunsmith artiste to fashion an ambi-safety for it.
    It took me 22 years after I first read of JMB and his Browning to acquire one. At a gun show with SIX factory magazines!. She had a pre-installed ambi, and was Belgian!
    Sadly, she and the other 52 guns were taken when the 800# safe was taken in it’s entirety. Bolt down your safe, regardless of weight!

    gfa

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