SA-35 vs L9A1 vs MC P35 - Overview & Comparison

A rather long but comprehensive look and comparison of the three Browning HP35s clones currently on the market in the US.

[@CharlesONeill-bk9bj]

excellent comparison of these three hi-powers

[@JosephAnthonyJosefius]

Thanks to your review(s) of the Inglis L9A1, I just purchased this pistol. I already own the Springfield SA-35, but the lanyard ring and 100% compatibility with FN HiPowers sold me. Subscribed.

[@ejesoriginal]

I am glad I found your review. It hit all the points without clutter. I prefer no mag safety with a firing pin block, so that leaves the Ingles for me. I am looking hard at their case hardened model, but I may wait a bit longer for more real world shooting reviews to get out there. Thank you for an excellent review!

[@lepley65]

Nice review! Answered all my questions, thanks!

[@Chris-qk4vc]

This was a fantastic review and very helpful! Thank you.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

More HP videos on the way. Be on the lookout for them.

[@cervus-venator]

I loved the detailed comparison as it answers a lot of questions that I had about these new makes of the Hi-Power. I have three Hi-Powers with one being a Canadian made Inglis No. 2 from the 40's. The other two Hi-Powers I have are an FN MK II and an FN MK III Practical. I got the MKII as a range shooter, but given the prices on these now I tell people who are looking for a hi-power range gun to look at these new makes you went over. I've been kind of partial to the Girsan myself, but I'm liking the Inglis now. Personally for a range shooter I'd say any of these three will work. It is all in what someone wants to spend on it.

[@Lex5576]

The part of the Springfield frame where the buffer spring sits looks to be a little more beefed up with thicker metal. If I could, I would own a Hi-Power in every flavor they make them. I love them just like I do my beloved 1911s. Only a Hi-Power is less of a pain to disassemble/clean/reassemble etc. I want a Springfield, and the price is good enough that I'll order one soon. They're typically sold for $150 less than MSRP, give or take a few dollars.

[@trenacook7694]

5 Star table top Review. Thanks again.

[@KossoffFan]

I've got an FEG Hi Power (needs work though) and I've been wanting to get one of these new clones. Thank you for this excellent overview.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Have the FEG repaired, they are nice pistols.

[@KossoffFan]

@@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022 I plan to. I don't think there's a semi auto pistol that feels more right in my hand than a Hi Power.

[@01Sassoon]

The Inglis L9a1 is Black Chromate finish. It's actually very nice. Mine had the common issue that you see in Older HP's were the slide stop pops up on a partially full mag, when shooting. this is due to the recoil rod spring weakening over time and use. The recoil rod spring in the Inglis seems to be a little weak. I replaced the rod with a new FN manufactured rod, and this fixed the issue. The Inglis runs flawlessly. Springfield had a few ejection issues after 700 - 800 rounds, due to a weak extractor spring. I'm not sure if Springfield fixed this problem, or not.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Thanks for sharing.

[@rubensoto2532]

Good Channel, congratulation 🎓 from Venezuela

[@mehrkilo]

I bought a Girsan MC P35 a few weeks ago on sale for $359 at Vance in Columbus OH now the price is $569 to $589.

[@ThomasSimmons-j9l]

Get the nickel model on palmetto

[@gc7057]

SDS says Inglis magazines are made by Sabatti SPA, Via Alessandro Volta, Gardone, Val Trompia, BS, Italy. Sabatti, Tanfoglio, Pedersoli and Fabbrica Armi Isidoro Rizzini are partners in the Italian Firearms Group.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Thanks for sharing.

[@WalterRitchey]

I've heard of a lot of issues with the Springfield. I'm really considering the Ingis over a milsurp. Seems that they're made well to spec.

[@trenacook7694]

Thank you for doing this! Nice!

[@plantguy100]

Would agree the appearance and build quality are so similar, the basis for choosing between them narrows to a) the price and b) the trigger break weight and quality? The price of the Girsan and Inglis are similar at around $400, whereas the Springfield is roughly $600. Am I correct the trigger weights are 4 lbs for the Inglis (Ozerbas), 6 lbs for the Springfield and 8 lbs for the Girsan, the latter being most similar to the old FN High Power trigger? (The new 2022 FN High Power is supposedly a substantially different gun with a lighter trigger in the 4/5 lbs range.) I have the Girsan and have no hammer bite issues. The hammer doesn't go back far enough. Also, later Girsan models have an extended beaver tail, as I'm sure you know.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

I own a Girsan Match with the extended beavertail and that is my favorite HP35. I've got a fleshy web and I get hammer bite from most HP35's and 1911's. The beaver tail cures that for me. In fact, it was this Girsan Match that got me back "into" HP35's. I've always liked them and owned several in the past and then dismissed them because they bite me. Enter the Match and the HP35 love affair is rekindled. I do have a video on my Girsan Match on this channel. Also, the SA35 has a better trigger pull as the pistol is not fitted with a magazine disconnect. Thanks for watching.

[@plantguy100]

@@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022 The updated Girsan mc p35s with pic rail, straight trigger and extended beaver tail have no mag disconnect. Girsan did not install them. Unfortunately, they still have an 8 lbs trigger which make target accuracy very difficult. Thus the Ozerbas Inglis appeals, though Mark at B&H Spring Solutions thinks the inglis trigger is too light for a hi power. I don't know if that's true. I do know the new 2022 FN Hi Power has a much lighter trigger than the old FN Hi Power, though some argue the new one really isn't a hi power with significant design departures.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

@@plantguy100 My Girsan Match had a 5lbs trigger out the box. I reworked the trigger to about 4lbs. I like it just fine.

[@plantguy100]

@@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022 Interesting. Apparently there is considerable variance among the models, though I do realize the hammer spring can be changed and the parts polished to lighten the trigger.

[@blafishing7581]

Hopefully Inglis comes out with a full parkerized version soon....be really sweet looking.

[@triggerman1092]

I have the inglis and love it. I cant beleive the quality. The springfield is made by tisas in turkey and is put together and fluffed and buffed by springfiield here in america. Thats alot of extra $$ for a name. Also i beleive the springfield has a few mim parts while the inglis is all forged

[@thomasward00]

Here we go again, the SA35 is made in the US, Springfield isn't dodgy about foreign make, when the 1911 was made by imbel in Brazil, they were marked as such, the XDs and Hellions are marked Made in Croatia.... Why would Springfield then lie about the SA35 being made in the US

[@triggerman1092]

@@thomasward00 call them. Ask them where the frames and slides are made.

[@triggerman1092]

@@thomasward00 look up gun digest article on it. The frames and slides come 80% done from tisas. Sprinfield fluffs and buffs and finishes the rest of the build

[@triggerman1092]

​@@thomasward00for some reason my last comment was deleted. But i said look up gun digest article. It tells u that they are made in turkey. They basically come in 80% done but springfield polishes and finishes the rest of it. That way it can be said made in usa. They cant say that about the other guns because they come in completely finished and ready for sale

[@thomasward00]

@@triggerman1092 I've seen it in that article, he says I have it on good authority but Springfield doesn't say.... again, My local dealer did a factory tour and he saw them being . Made next to the 1911s.... why would Springfield mislead and lie when many of their products are marked with different country origins... For instance, the M1A isn't advertised as Made in the USA, The barel and bolt are made in Taiwan, it's labeled as such.... Springfield's new 22 Rifles are clearly marked, Made in Turkey, but they will pick the SA35 to lie about, not to mention the hi power was never an American gun to begin with

[@richardespinoza6243]

If I am not mistaken I believe Inglis made a Hi power pistol for the Canadian military in World War II . Inglis was the first company outside of Browning and FN to make a Hi Power pistol

[@codyjames1952]

Thank you it did help me .

[@dennisjwest.7016]

I have one that was built in india on Canadian machinery never hear about it. Looks and shoots fine

[@johnlabree6286]

Very informative comparison.

[@joshuamartindale868]

I have a mid 80's production FM Rosario Browning Hi Power made in Argentina under license from FN Herstal it has a mark 3 ambi safety and the mark 2/3 spur hammer instead of the ring hammer its a good gun finish isnt great but i got it years ago in Joelton TN used for $400 before these Turkish and American clones came out. 😊

[@gregcampwriter]

I recently bought an Inglis L9A1. Two magazines in the box is a bare minimum, and if I'm going to buy a Tisas gun from Turkey, anyway, there's no point in paying the extra $200+ that Springfield wants for adding its logo.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Would have liked to have had one of the older Tisas Regent clones to throw into that comparison.

[@Serenityindailylife]

The regent was the same but had different steel hardening. It was the one downfall of the regent. It wears faster but had different finishes.

[@Serenityindailylife]

The springfield magazines are made by act mag, like their 1911s The inglis is a mk3, the girsan is a mk2, the springfield is a mk2 commercial design. They are from the same factory(girsan and inglis) they are cut on a cnc machine, it just requires a line being added on the program to add those extra lines. The sds guy at shot show said they are machined at the same factory and assembled in seperate factories. Girsan uses distributed manufacturing where they use a bunch of subcontractors to assemble them. Tisas owns and assembles the inglis products in house. Btw, the inglis is the only ones that has 100% parts compatibility with the Browning. The girsan has 90% compatibility, the SA is grip panels only. Check that safety before you try to swap it, springfield said there are no parts that interchange because they wanted to update and patent it. If it doesn't, I'd try a cylinder and slide safety, I own several of their hipsters, including one with a chopped slide and barrel for carry. I had it made in the 90s.

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

@@Serenityindailylife Thanks for the info. I ordered a Cylinder and Slide safety for my Match. However, I still need to work at it to get it to function properly.

[@joshuamartindale868]

I would buy the Inglis L9A1 because of that and the fact that the company that imports them is headquartered in Knoxville Tennessee. I like supporting my local Tennessee businesses whenever I can. 😊

[@douglaswilber6607]

Hi - The profiles of the barrel lugs on the Inglis and Girsan barrels look to be the same design, and are both square-cut in the front, but the SA-35 lug is angled up to the barrel in front, but I don't know what that "ramp" adds - strength, accuracy, lockup, feeding, longevity, or? As for the frame to slide fit, apparently Hi-Powers tighten as they heat up, and if they're tight when cold, they can seize up during prolonged fire. Also, as the proof is in the pudding, whatever that means, how do they shoot, compared to each other?

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

I cannot shoot the Girsan as it gives me terrible hammerbite. The SA35 does not bite me and I shot that alongside my Girsan Match (with the beavertail) and they are comparable. I prefer the Match though, it just somehow feels smaller and faster than the SA35, don't know why. Did not fire the L9A1, as it was not mine.

[@luchernou627]

If you know the history the Inglis is the more original one.After Belgium was overrun by the nazis,de Engeneer who build the original one Mr dieudonee saive escaped to canada with the original plans and machinery parts and was accepted by the inglis company where he started building GPs for the allied forces, the factory in Herstal Belgium kept producing them for the axis forces so the GP or as you call it the HP was on both the sides of WO II active.Btw the HP was not invented by J-M browning , he made parts of it but couldnt find the fit for the big magazine thats where his prttegee dieudonnee saive came in and perfected the HP FN in 1935 ,9 years after John Moses Browning passed away.Eversince the end of WOII Inglis kept the HP/GP in production.Yes i am Belgian and Yes i own a couple of original ones like the capitan and the renaisence and two practicals in two tone.and it was my side arm during my 30 year career in the belgian army as a medic.Btw Dieudonee saive is also the inventor of the FN FAL the right arm of the free world as they call it

[@mikesuch9021]

In 1989 when we received the first of the Browning P35. It had a different hamner. I hate the bobbed officers model hammer. One of the biggest complaints was the officers bobbed or round hammer. Everybody I've ever talked to that shot a real Browning. The web of their hand. The p35 in the late 80s and early 90s had a different hammer. I won't buy one of these with a stupid round Bob Hammer that's been complained about for 100 years.

[@ThomasSimmons-j9l]

Love your accent pip pip cheerio 😊

[@triggerman1092]

May have something to do with the firing pin safetys having something to do with the compatability of the slides

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Possibly.

[@charlesburbage9086]

Good to know

[@joash480]

the girsan and englis looks identically the same, its like the same manufacturer and they just retailed it

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

We would probably never know.

[@athos1029]

How hard would it be to put an ambitious safety on the S.A.-35?

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

I guess you would have to just fit it. Totally doable.

[@bub-gy2bq]

Ambidextrous.

[@mikesuch9021]

Why did they make them with a crappy style hammers. Why didn't they make it with the original P35 tactical hammer. They really f up that model. Wouldn't take one if you gave it to me

[@oa8945]

Can't the hammers be changed

[@LoneStarLawman]

The quality of the SA35 is obviously much better with fully forged steel and cold forge barrel. No MIM parts.

[@thomasward00]

To all of the forum commandos here, my local dealer is a huge Soringfiekd dealer, about 6 Months ago he did a factory tour in Genesco plant.... The SA35 is made right alongside their 1911s. In fact Springfield's govt 1911 is a touch cheaper than the SA35.... Just dont try and nake yourself feel better with buying a Turkish clone for less money.

[@brandonvaughn1200]

My understanding was that Springfield is importing parts from Tisas and then assembling them in the factory, do you know if that’s the case or are they actually making their own parts?

[@thomasward00]

@@brandonvaughn1200 Springfield makes their 1911's and SA35 in House....

[@brandonvaughn1200]

@@thomasward00 oh nice then it would definitely be worth it then for the Springfield version

[@bjohnson1489]

Unless things have improved Springfield quality control is iffy at best on the sa35 and customer service has been less than stellar.

[@brandonvaughn1200]

@@bjohnson1489 I’ve heard that the most recent batch numbers have been good to go, but I don’t know if that’s been confirmed yet

[@artvanderlay2110]

Wow great video very informative I think I'm going with the SA 35 . By the way are You from Rhodesia ?

[@ThrowingCopperCRA-2022]

Thanks for watching. I'm originally from South Africa.