Images by the author
Regular readers of my reviews may pick up on the fact that I’ve reviewed a decent number of High Power tribute (as Tisas calls them) pistols. OK, I admit it… I came to the High Power (or similar tribute pistol) game late in life, but now I own four of them. That’s a lot for me – I usually stick with one of something or maybe two at the most.
Why do I have so many of these things? It’s simple… I just like them, as do thousands of other shooters. Before we get into why I like them so much, let’s look at a little backstory.
A Quick Bit Of History
The original High Power was introduced in 1935. The design originated with John Browning. He had just come off his successful 1911 introduction and was tasked with designing a duty pistol for the French military. This time, he changed the barrel/frame interface by doing away with the swinging link and going to the slotted, pivoting barrel that makers use to this day, most notably Glock. He also did away with the grip safety, and (probably the most important feature), he made it in 9mm. That was requested by the military.
He died in 1926, and a designer from FN Herstal in Belgium, Dieudonné Saive, picked up where JB left off. The gun was introduced in 1935, as stated above. It got its nickname, High Power, because it held 13 rounds in the magazine… high power, indeed, for that time.
The design has weathered the decades and been adopted by many other pistol manufacturers. I have shot and own(ed) “High Powers” from Inglis, Springfield Armory, and now Tisas, and I can truthfully state that there has not been a rotten apple in the bunch. They were all made beautifully and functioned perfectly. I do like two modernizations of the original design… first, they upped the magazine capacity to fifteen on all the pistols I just mentioned, and they did away with the magazine safety that the original High Power sported.
(Disclaimer: The dreaded magazine safety was omitted on the Sport Regent but is present on this base-model nickel Regent. I’m not sure why they did that, unless they wanted the base pistol to be more like the original.)
I hate magazine safeties, as do many shooters, so I am totally fine with these changes.
This Regent
Tisas pistols are typically a lot of gun for not a lot of money. I don’t know how many of them I own… several. They are made in Turkey, in ISO9000 factories that also turn out guns and equipment for NATO. I have never seen a bad example of a Tisas pistol, and as I said, I’ve seen a bunch of them. I own Tisas 1911s, PX-9 striker-fired pistols, these High Power clones, and others, so I think I’m qualified to comment on the quality of the firearm.
This gun is a beautifully finished, satin-nickel example of what a High Power can be. The controls are in contrasting black, and the grip panels are a nice walnut-colored, checkered hardwood, which again contrasts with the almost-stainless-steel-looking satin nickel finish. There are no extraneous machining marks on the gun, no chatter or dulled edges that should be sharp. Evidently, someone who knew what they were doing did the final polish job and fitting.
Before we look at some photos I took, let’s check the specification list.
Specifications
- Overall Length 7.87 in.
- Weight 31.7 oz. unloaded
- Barrel Length 4.67 in.
- Caliber 9MM
- Finish Satin Nickel
- Magazines: 2, 15-round
- Frame Material Steel
- Safety: Manual/Thumb
- Importer: Tisas Arms Corp
- Country of Origin: Türkiye
- MSRP $639.99
Photos
Here’s what’s in the box. Extra magazine, keyring, pistol rug, lock.
Other Models
Tisas makes a total of four High Power-type pistols. They include:
This pistol, the BR9, in black; $599.99;
The Sport Regent in black; $869.99;
The Sport Regent in satin nickel, $929.99
All of these are well-built and should last for decades if properly cared for. I love the Sport Regent, with its target sights and other modifications. The link takes you to my review of that pistol on this site.
Target Time
So, how does this “plain-Jane” High Power tribute shoot? Not bad… not bad at all!
I am blessed to have my review ammo supplied by Black Hills, so I grabbed a small assortment and headed to my backyard range, where I proceeded to put holes in some 20-yard targets. I shot about 60 rounds through this pistol… it had zero malfunctions of any kind.
This was the first 9mm I’ve tested in a good while that shot low. I’m not sure why… I finally figured out that the cheap way to fix that was to hold center-hold-plus. Once I did that, the groups landed just about where they should have. I had zero malfunctions. This gun would be great in the home defense (or even competition) role.
The trigger broke at 4 lbs., 9 ounces. Not bad at all.
Why This Pistol?
Why should you consider this particular High Power lookalike? Since I own a few others, I’ve noticed a couple of things about this one.
Even though it is not the fancier Sport model, it is still quite a pistol. For one thing, the sights are a whole lot better than the original High Power’s sights. The front is a tall, angled post with a white dot, and the rear is reminiscent of the Novak sight. It’s angled upwards, serrated to cut glare, and features a big notch. They mate well together. The rear sight notch measures .420 inch and is compatible with XS Night Sights and other sights made for the High Power and Springfield Armory SA-35.
Another thing I like about this gun is the hammer. Tisas did away with the original’s spur hammer in favor of the rounded Commander-style. They use it on all four of these models. That sure cures the hammer-bite problem the original had.
I already mentioned the lack of a grip safety, so we’ll move on.
Lastly, I like the wooden grip panels. Don’t get me wrong… I like the G10 panels on my Sport model, but there’s just something about wood grip panels. I like old-school pistols, since I’m old, and I’ve always been a fan of checkered walnut or other hardwood panels.
Summing Up
The Browning High Power is a pistol still used by some militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world, so it only makes sense to issue guns in the same mould. The original pistol fought on both sides in WWII and has weathered numerous other campaigns and military actions since its introduction 91 years ago. It is still a popular pistol with civilian shooters, as well… a true classic.
The Tisas Regent is a worthy tribute to this iconic pistol. Built to a high standard, the Regent is a great example of a 9mm duty pistol. Add in the beautifully subdued nickel finish, the sights, the excellent trigger, and the wooden grip panels, and I believe we have a pistol for the ages, a definite keeper. I know mine’s not going anywhere.
