By Joe Berk
I went to Turner’s (a local gun shop) today because I saw online that they have the Girsan 9mm Hi Power clone pistols in stock. I wanted to see them in person. I’ve been to three dealers looking for these and only my local dealer (2nd Amendment Zone) had one in stock.
When I last fired a Browning Hi Power (back in the 1970s) I did not care for the Browning Hi Power’s grip. It’s been described as grasping a brick, and that was my impression back then. Don’t get me wrong: Some folks love the feel of Browning’s Hi Power. I could get used to it, I think. Springfield Armory also makes a Hi Power clone, but it’s not on the California Department of Justice Roster of Approved Handguns. You know our politicians in California.
These Girsan cosmetiguns are made up kind of like what I imagine cartel or pimp guns look like. Years ago, Taurus had a polished aluminum and stainless version of their PT 92 (their copy of a Beretta 92), with gold accents and white pearl grips, and I’m sorry I didn’t buy one back then (you never know when a job opening for a pimp or a cartel kingpin might turn up). Anyway, when I saw advertisements for the Girsans, I thought I would take a look.
2nd Amendment Zone had the black chrome Girsan with copper-colored accents in stock. It was pretty, but the trigger was atrocious (it was Letitia Jones heavy and it was gritty as hell). Nope. In person, I thought the black chrome version looked cheap, and the trigger was a deal killer. This Girsan is $899. It could have been $99 and I still would have taken a pass. It was that unappealing.
At Turners this morning I saw the polished and sand blasted stainless steel version. It is a beautiful pistol. It is also $899 and I was ready to give the guy my credit card until he took it out of the display case and tried to rack the side (to check it before handing it to me). The slide wouldn’t rack. He cocked the hammer and tried again. No dice. The sales guy could get the slide back about a third of the way (enough to see the chamber was empty). Then he let it go forward and handed it to me.
I tried to rack the slide with similar results. It wouldn’t budge beyond moving rearward about one third of its intended travel. I dropped the mag to see if that would help. No dice again. I tried the trigger and it was a bit better than the black chrome version at 2nd Amendment Zone, but with the slide not racking, it was a no go. It sure was a beautiful handgun, but it was a nonfunctional piece of junk.
I next asked to see the gold Girsan. Even in the display case, I didn’t like the look of it. In pictures, it looks good. But seeing it in person was a nonstarter. The kid behind the counter took the gold Girsan out and couldn’t rack the slide, just like on the silver version. He offered to hand it to me and I declined. “Do you have any that work?” I asked, doing my best not to sound snarky. I was being polite. I’m trying to be a better person in my senior years.
“We’ve had some that do, but a lot of them have this problem,” the youngster behind the counter admitted. “I think they have a problem with the bluing,” he said, looking at the gold automatic in his hand. The gold version is $929.
I think the problem is the plating. Girsan may not have thought through how the increased thickness (due to the plating) would affect slide/barrel/bushing/frame relative movement. It’s amazing that such a thing could occur. Even as I type this, I can’t believe it. It’s also surprising Turner’s would keep these in their display case.
I next looked at the black Girsan. It is not blued; I think the finish is some kind of flat black powder coating (the guy behind the counter didn’t know what the surface treatment was). This is the economy version. It racked okay and the trigger felt almost acceptable (but not great). I didn’t like the look of the grips, but they felt better to me than the other Girsans shown above. As the economy version, this Girsan Hi Power clone is $569, which is probably a bargain compared to the other three. But, with the racking problems described above, who knows that other issues these guns have?
I thanked the kid behind the counter and then told him I wouldn’t be buying a Girsan. If a gun gets out of the factory that won’t allow racking the slide, it doesn’t say very much about Girsan’s quality. Nope, not for me.
I looked for Girsan reviews online. There are a few Bubba YouTube videos out there, but I wasn’t going to rely on them. Any mental defective can publish a YouTube video (not that there’s anything wrong with being a mental defective; the California legislature is full of them). Most of the time when I see these online Bubba reviews, I’m amazed these guys can operate a camera or figure out how to post a video. Maybe they have other people helping them. It’s the price of living in a free society, I guess.
Before leaving Turner’s, I spotted a SIG P320 in the display case. I like SIG (I have a SIG P226 and it is a marvelous handgun). I shot a P320 last year at my indoor range. Even though it is a striker-fired pistol (with all that entails with regard to trigger pull), I was impressed with it. I shot several tight groups with the P320 and doing so was easy. The gun fit me. I’m not surprised the US Army selected the P320 to replace the Beretta. The SIG P320 is a great gun.
The P320 has had some bad press for inadvertent discharge(s), but SIG recently prevailed in a lawsuit (with a unanimous jury verdict) that negated that story. I think anti-gunners jump on such things whenever somebody screws up and lets a round go unintentionally, as occurred with the Remington 700 and a few other firearms. The P320 is a nice handgun. It looks great, I like the short barrel, and I like the desert tan colors. I think the P320 would make a good concealed carry gun. This may be the next 9mm pistol I buy. It is $669, which is reasonable given the price of everything else today.
