Tanaka Browning HiPower MkIII Review

Review by MikeG
September 19^th, 2011

The Tanaka Browning HiPower, a gun which is both quite unique in the airsoft community and dripping with class and sophistication.  It feels great in the hand, has better magazine capacity than a 1911 and just look at it, it’s beautiful.  I purchased my MkIII Silver HiPower from WGC Shop years ago for $134 prior to shipping.  A quick check reveals that it’s now selling for $177 on WGC.

Why am I reviewing such an old gun now after years of owning it?

It’s finally fixed!

Oh wait, it’s broken again…

*Snap*

The first chapter of this gun’s life is set in my college apartment.  It fit very well into my plan of attempting to own all FN-related guns (P90, FAL, M249, SCAR, M16, etc…).  I figured that collecting all of one manufacturer’s replicas would be interesting enough.  (Just look how poorly that turned out: I own three ARs, three AKs, a FAL and a P90)

In any case, in the dead of winter I decided to give my HiPower its first opportunity to take some blood.  Myself and Brandon loaded ourselves up into a car and drove to Denver to play at the PARC (Paintball Airsoft Reball Center), Colorado’s first indoor airsoft field.  After arriving and gearing up, I picked up the HiPower and with the safety engaged, gave the trigger a normal pull.  *Snap* Uh-oh….  I disengage the safety and pull the trigger again… Nothing.  I removed the magazine and a small bit of metal fell into my hand… UH OH!!!!

Upon disassembling the gun (which should be noted, is marvelously easy in the HiPower), I found that what I would call a “trigger transfer bar” had snapped in half.  This piece, which is built out of cast potmetal is integral to the function of the gun.  It’s a small see-saw that rides in the slide; when pulled, the trigger pushes up on one side and the transfer bar pushes down on the sear at the rear of the lower frame.  No trigger transfer bar, no firing… ever.  I hatched grand designs of building a replacement out of aluminum but this was eventually abandoned as my affinity for the HiPower waned and other projects came along.

The Resurrection

Seasons come and go and apparently so do indoor airsoft fields.  With the PARC having been shut down long ago due to some sort of illicit activity and DMZ Airsoft in Colorado Springs having popped up to replace and surpass it, I was now spending most of my weekends at the DMZ.  I had related my story of HiPower woe to several of the regulars there as well an addendum that I planned to eventually make the gun work again.  Eventually one of the regulars, a locksmith and all around handy and awesome guy, volunteered to make me a replacement part.  1 week later, I had a new trigger transfer bar built out of tool steel.  Awesome.  It fit perfectly and after a bit of tuning the engagement with a file, worked perfectly as well.

Where are my BBs going?

Very happily I loaded up both of my magazines for the gun which, amazingly, after 3 years of sitting around hadn’t developed any leaks.  I then headed upstairs to play a force on force game in the DMZ’s smallest field where only semi-auto is allowed.  The game started and although getting several very good opportunities to make shots, I netted no kills.  After being myself eliminated I headed downstairs to adjust the HiPower’s hop-up unit.

Once again completing the very slick disassembly process I was left looking at the very familiar inner barrel.  So where was the knob or screw for the hop up adjustment?  Seeing none on the surface of the chamber region, I looked inside the barrel and found that there was no window or cutout in the barrel for the hop-up to protrude through.  Oh great.  I managed to wait all this time for a gun with no hop-up.  I skirmished the gun a couple more times throughout the day but my kill count stayed low.  Lack of hop-up aside, I still loved my HiPower, but I had resolved to use it only for the shortest possible engagement distances.

Did I mention before now that I had been using the gun on propane for the entirety of its life?  With 134A being an expensive joke stateside and having seen Marui pistols easily stand up the punishment of the extra pressure, I figured the HiPower would cope well enough.

You knew it would end like this

One day I decided to make a short visit to the HiPower at its home, my closet.  Since it was now fixed, I no longer felt a pang of regret when looking upon it.  Even if it couldn’t shoot straight, it could still shoot, which was good enough for me.  This is what I found…

I can only imagine, but it was like wandering upon a grisly murder scene.  No explanation, no culprit, only the victim lying broken on the ground.  You know, HiPower always did hang around with those sort of friends.  It was bound to happen eventually.   Even though you’re not surprised when a plastic pistol loses its life to its propane addiction, it’s still somewhat tragic.  You just quietly pick up the parts and put them in the Styrofoam casket from whence they came.

Epitaph

As stated before, this is a great looking replica.  It feels nice in the hand and has surprising weight thanks to its heavyweight plastic construction.  However, it is a gun only collectors should even consider.

Performance: 1/5

No hop-up, no trigger bar, no slide, it’s going to be hard to hit what you’re aiming at!

External Design: 4/5

It’s a great looking gun that is built out of trash materials… It’s a great looking piece of trash.

Value: 1/5

Why not pay twice as much to get a gun you can skirmish unsatisfactorily once?

Overall: 1/5 (Obviously not an average)

Don’t use it in the cold, don’t pull the trigger with the safety on, don’t use it with propane, don’t expect to hit anything.

Disassembly (Hey, I said I would mention it later)

• Pull the slide back and lock the safety into the disassembly notch
• Remove the slide release
• Disengage the safety and the slide comes off the front of the gun
• To remove the blowback unit, a light tap of the slide on a table, and it simply hinges out, no removal of screws required.  The disassembly is elegant as hell, just like the look of the gun.