Buy Girsan MC P35 Online Best Hi-Power

“When we were looking at how to make the MC P35 OPS more useful and offer the customer something that they really wanted directly from the factory, a light and bright red dot that uses a mounting pattern that’s almost universally accepted without any sort of adapter plate was the overwhelming choice,” said Chase Duffey, EAA’s national sales and import manager. “Now, if the customer wants to keep it as is from the factory or if they want to accessorize it with lots of commercially available products at their local shop, they have every option right out of the box.”

The ask on the Girsan MC P35 OPS Optic, with the FAR-DOT included, is $850.

A Turkish import via Florida-based EAA Corp, the affordable and well-made MC P35 is set to go the distance for those looking for an affordable Hi-Power clone.

EAA announced the MC P35 late last year, and it is finally filtering out to distributors’ warehouses and gun store shelves. A resurrection of the classic late 1980s Browning/FN Hi-Power Mk III design, it is a short-recoil-operated single-action pistol with a frame and slide crafted from 4140 steel.

What You Get

The MC P35 has a couple of noticeable differences from the late Cold War-era Hi-Powers: a ring hammer rather than the more typical spur hammer used by the Mk III and a 15-round flush-fit magazine produced by Mec-Gar of Italy. In a move sure to hurt the feelings of Hi-Power fans the world over, the Girsan has a magazine safety disconnect – in other words, it doesn’t fire without a magazine inserted.

 

 

Reliability

We evaluated the Girsan MC P35 with just over 1,000 rounds of ammo from Barnaul, Browning (see what we did there), Federal, Winchester, Remington, and Speer. These ranged from 115 grain through 147 grain in weight, and across both ball and jacketed hollow points.

At the end of the day, we wound up with a grand total of two malfunctions, with the last round in an old magazine failing to feed into the chamber. This was more than likely due to the mag rather than the gun.

Trigger

The trigger, even for having the magazine safety disconnect, wasn’t horrible for a single-action “combat” pistol of 20th century design. It broke at about 4 pounds on average with just under half an inch of travel with a corresponding reset.

Could the trigger be better? Sure. However, keep in mind this is a $500-$600 all-metal gun with the only plastic being in the grips, so you must set your expectations in a realistic region. Of note, we did find it smoothed out a little after the first 500 rounds or so.

The folks over at BHSpring Solutions in Indiana have been evaluating one of these for a couple of months and confirm that all internals such as the springs, trigger, etc. are replicable with OEM parts and their aftermarket custom items. They also did a material hardness study and found the slide, barrel, and many of the internal components to be anywhere from 10 to 20 percent harder than common OEM parts.

Accuracy

The fixed sights on the Girsan MC P35 utilize a long white stripe on the front with two corresponding stripes on the rear. They can be replaced should the user desire.

 

 

The Nutshell

At the end of the day, the Girsan MC P35 from EAA is a shot in the arm for those who have always wanted a Hi-Power but didn’t want to pay that Hi-Power money. However, picking up where FN/Browning left off when they closed the line, the design is dated compared to what you get for the same amount of cash these days, but that isn’t the point. It’s fun to shoot, a bit retro, and gets lots of curious looks on the range and gun counter.

If nothing else, it allows a canvas for custom Hi-Power builds at a price that doesn’t make you wince. Speaking of customizing and moving into the 21st Century as far as features go, EAA is planning to release updated variants of the gun, including some with a flat trigger and accessory rail.

We’ll bring you more on that as soon as we get it.

The pistol is fast from leather, fast on target, and fast to a center hit on man-sized silhouettes. Most of the firing was done at 10 yards. While the pistol handles as well as most High Powers, a High Power with a lighter trigger is easier to get hits with when firing off-hand. When firing from a solid bench rest position, I am able to manage the heavy trigger more efficiently and the difference is less noticeable.

EAA Girsan MC P35 Specifications

• Type: Recoil operated, semiautomatic
• Cartridge: 9mm
• Capacity: 15 rds.
• Barrel: 4.7 in.
• Overall Length: 7.8 in.
• Width: 1.4 in.
• Height: 5.1 in
• Weight: 2 lbs., 3 oz. (tested)
• Finish: Matte blue; matte Dark Earth (tested); matte two-tone (silver/black) (tested)
• Sights: Notch, dovetailed (rear); ramped blade (front)
• Trigger: 7 lbs., 7 oz. (tested)
• MSRP: $567 (tested)
• Importer: European American Arms Corp.

The Girsan was fired for accuracy at a long 25 yards. I used the Black Hills Ammunition 124-grain JHP and Winchester 115-grain Duty loads. The pistol averaged 2.5- to 3.4-inch five-shot groups at a 75 feet. This is service grade to a little better and certainly accurate enough for any defensive chore most of us will encounter.

If you are a Hi-Power fan as it stands, the EAA Girsan MC P35 Match has the most features at the best price. With an adjustable rear sight, light rail, and a flat trigger, this is quite a pistol. You could afford a trigger job for competition or for personal defense use it as it is. The OPS, my personal choice, is perhaps an even better overall choice.

Beating both to the punch, European American Armory (EAA) began importing Girsan’s MC P35 from Turkey in 2021. The MC P35 is based on the Mark III with the addition of a ring-type hammer and three finish options. This year, EAA’s Paul Richter also revealed future models that will feature an accessory rail, fiber-optic sights, enlarged magwell, flat-trigger, a beavertail and unique G10 grips. Retail prices are $544 for a black example, and up to $567 for a tan or two-tone version. Today, the MC P35 is the least expensive P.35-type pistol you can buy.

My recent study of the MC P35 reveals that Girsan was largely faithful to Saive’s final design. The short-recoil operating system pioneered in the P.35 is now commonplace. It differs slightly from the M1911 in that recoil force pushes the P.35’s barrel and the slide rearward momentarily. A lug at the bottom of the barrel features a notched channel, and during recoil a horizontal bar slides into that channel and tilts the chamber and barrel downward, which allows the slide to continue rearward.

At full recoil, the empty cartridge case is ejected from the chamber. The rearward motion of the slide resets the hammer and the return spring pushes the slide forward, which collects another cartridge to chamber. The barrel moves forward and locks up to make the gun ready to fire.

The internals of Girsan’s MC P35 follow the same recipe with few modifications. The pistol is easy to disassemble and maintain, and it doesn’t require the removal of a barrel bushing like Browning’s Model 1911.

The MC P35 includes one, 15-round blued Mec-Gar magazine. Spares are readily available from us in 10-, 13- and 15-round varieties. $35

There are other features on the MC P35 that will be familiar to those who have handled continuations of the P.35. The MC P35 sports an external extractor, which was a feature added to High Power pistols in 1962 as a response to reliability concerns experienced with earlier models’ internal extractor design. The MC P35 also includes the original magazine disconnect, which means that the pistol will not fire when the magazine is absent. Tactically, some users loathe this feature for the fact that it disables the pistol and opt to have it removed by a gunsmith. Others view it as an attractive safety feature.

Another enhancement that’s found its way to the Girsan is the beavertail and ring-type hammer. Original P.35 pistols with spur hammers were prone to injuring the web of the shooter’s hand with a high grip. Though EAA indicated that a model with a pronounced beavertail is forthcoming, the use of a ring hammer marginalizes the risk of hammer bite when shooting with a firm grip. Until the introduction of the ring hammer and extended beavertails, the High Power could discourage a high grip, especially for shooters with large hands.

Introduced on the High Power Mark II in 1982, the bilateral safety lever on the MC P35 features the same enlarged design. Also true to the Saive’s FN P.35 are the forward-leaning serrations at the rear of the slide; there are no front slide serrations. However, unlike the P.35 (but like Saive’s prototype mags), Girsan’s MC P35 ships with a 15-round metal mag made by Mec-Gar. Additional 10-, 13- and 15-round magazines can be ordered directly from us ($35).

The ramped front sight and rear notch are dovetailed and drift adjustable. They wear white stripes, which are quick to align, though unusual in appearance.

There are notable differences between the MC P35 and the original P.35, as well as modern clones. The flat, checkered wood stocks have been substituted with plastic grips. The style of grip emulates the plastic grips with built-in  thumb rests that first appeared on the Mark II. There is molded checkering below the rests. This continued the attempt during the 1980s to make the High Power more appealing to both left- and right-handed shooters.Visually, the MC P35 stands apart from the plain black and bright two-tone models that were available at the end of the Mark III era.

 

Girsan offers the MC P35 with the modern touch of surface treatments to protect the steel frame and slide. Of course, the MC P35 is available in the original blued finish ($544), but it can also be had with your choice of Dark Earth or two-tone silver-and-black surface finishes ($567). As of this writing, all three introductory models wear a matte finish and black polymer grips, but we’ve seen a prototype with ball-dimpled and serrated G10 grips that look excellent on a black gun.The MC P35 comes with a dovetailed rear sight and front blade.

 

The dovetail on the base of the long front sight is contoured to match the rounded profile of the top of the slide, which is a nice detail. There are recessed vertical slots on the left and right side of the black notch rear sights, and these slots are filled with white paint. There’s a similar painted line that runs up the spine of the front sight. It’s an effective arrangement and rather more advanced than the austere blued metal humps you may remember. However, I think a set of night sights or a fiber-optic dot front and U-notch rear would be more aesthetically pleasing.

For a few extra dollars, the two-tone MC P35 wears an attractive black slide and a silver-finished frame. $567
Every MC P35 has a 4.7-inch stainless-steel barrel with “9MM” marked on the chamber. Unlike the new FN High Power with a lowered ejection port, the Girsan remains faithful to the original ejection port.

“MC P35” is marked on the right side of the slide and “GIRSAN” appears on the left. EAA and its import marks are stamped on the left side of the frame, while the serial number occupies the right front of the pistol’s frame.

The Girsan MC P35 measures 7.8-inches long and 5.1-inches in height. The slide measures just .90-inches wide, but the widest point on the pistol is at the polymer grip’s thumb shelf. That distance measures 1.4 inches. Weight is listed at 1.8 pounds, but G&A’s two test guns scaled at 2 pounds, 3 ounces, with empty mags.