I’ve always thought the Hi-Power was one of the coolest guns out there. A mix of the classic lines and curves of an all-metal gun with a fairly modern capacity enthralls me. What’s been missing for decades is a compact version of the Hi-Power, but that itch has been scratched by Girsan.
The MC P35 PI is Girsan’s take on a design that never officially existed. It’s not the first, the FM Detective claims that title. It’s not the last, since Springfield Armory introduced one, but it’s by far the most affordable.
The name MC P35 PI is certainly interesting. The P35 was what the Hi-Power went by in British military service. PI would seem to stand for Private Investigator, a callback to the Argentinian Detective model. The Detective moniker has been a way to distinguish small guns ever since the Colt Detective Special.
It’s fallen out of favor for K monikers, but for a classic gun, it’s due for a comeback.
The Detective’s Hi-Power
Girsan makes a pile of Hi-Power clones under the MC P35 moniker, but the Detective was the first to interest me. Since compact Hi-Powers are so rare, I couldn’t pass it up. There are two models, one has a rail and optics-ready design, and the other has a classic design.
I went with the classic model.
The MC P35 PI isn’t a true compact design. It’s a bit more akin to something like the Glock 19X. The slide and barrel are trimmed to 3.88 inches. The frame remains the same full-size design capable of housing full-size Hi-Power magazines that hold between 13 and 15 rounds, depending on the manufacturer.
The Girsan MC P35 PI might be shorter, but it’s a classic Hi-Power for better or worse. It lacks a beavertail, so you get hammer bite. The magazines still don’t drop free, and the magazine safety exists.
It’s those Hi-Power quirks that you either love or hate. On the flip side, we get all the good features of a Hi-Power.
We still get a light single-action trigger. It’s good, but you’re not getting Staccato light. The Hi-Power grip has always been a fantastic design overall and feels fantastic. It’s somewhat svelte and encourages a high grip regardless of the hammer bite.
The safety is large and ambidextrous. Your thumb will easily find the slide release, making it easy to drop the slide when reloading. The full-sized frame provides full-sized controls.
At the Range With the Hi-Power
Girsan makes both an aluminum frame and a steel frame. This is the steel frame model and weighs 26 ounces. That little bit of all-metal weight helps keep the recoil fairly low.
It’s certainly a little snappier than a full-sized Hi-Power, but easy to control. The full-sized grip gives you a good purchase, which translates into excellent control. Nailing double-taps is a cool breeze on a hot day.
The slide snaps right back in place after every shot. The combination of a full-sized grip and short slide seems to make a gun that cycles quickly, and your sights snap right back in place between shots. This makes those quick double, triple, and general long strings of fire quick and accurate.
The sights are a three-dot variety and are fine. Nothing special, but usable enough. The white dot on the front sight is easy to track in the day.
I’m a red dot man, but I didn’t feel underserved by the sights. I was able to consistently make shots on a 10-inch gong at 25 yards. Even when swinging, as long as I timed it for the upswing of the gong, I kept it moving.
Combine a hefty gun with a fast cycling slide and the meager 9mm round makes for an easy day at the range.
Out to 50 yards, I could engage IPSC-sized steel and make consistent hits. Over and over and over, I dropped 9mm rounds into C-sized steel with ease. A light trigger and big sights make it easy to land my hits.
Target to Target
I’ve been working on my target transitions, and the Girsan MC P35 PI offered an excellent option for a little live-fire practice. I started at 15 yards going from left to right with targets that started large and steadily decreased.
Driving my eyes and then the gun resulted in more hits than misses, even when shooting four and six-inch gongs. The gun’s quick return to the battery and low recoil make it easy to repeatedly nail the targets.
I tried my hand at a No Fail Pistol Drill from Chuck Pressburg and admittedly failed. It’s 10 shots at 25 yards into the black of a B8. Every shot requires a draw and a shot fired in under 3 seconds. A single miss or par time failure is a failure of the entire drill. I landed seven of my hits in the black, and all 10 hit the target.
I also blew through the par time four times. I need to work to be sure, but for an iron-sighted compact handgun made in Turkey, I don’t feel too bad. I shot Monarch steel-case ammo throughout testing and had no malfunctions. I’ve owned this gun for a few years now, and the round counts escaped me.
The only problem I had was with a specific aftermarket magazine that seemed to choke the gun. I tossed it and haven’t looked back. I’ve used Mec-Gar mags and FEG magazines without a problem.
The Girsan MC P35 PI Challenges
Reloads are a problem. The magazine doesn’t drop out and requires you to manually pull the mag from the gun. This slows things down considerably and certainly doesn’t give you any record-breaking speed.
Hammer bite gets annoying and leaves the web of the hand red, but it didn’t break the skin or become anywhere near as irritating as slide bite. It doesn’t distract me, but I can see why beavertails were added to previous generations of the Hi-Power design.
The Compact Hi-Power
We never got an official compact Hi-Power, so having an affordable take on the concept from Girsan scratches an itch I’ve had since reading gun magazines in the 1990s. It’s a fairly nice gun, especially for the price point. Hi-Powers are not traditionally cheap, so having an affordable option makes it an easy buy.
