The Browning Hi Power, also known as the P-35, is an elegant pistol with sophisticated lines, graceful contours, and a history of service. This handgun has a long and distinguished service life. It arguably gained some fame as the sidearm of choice for the British Special Air Service (SAS). After the Second World War it also became a global go-to for Western armies, intelligence agencies, mercenaries. Browning Hi Powers were even first service pistols for the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. However, in the United States, Hi Powers never reached the same popularity as the 1911–what most consider Browning’s greatest design. Nonetheless, Browning Hi Powers held special places in the hearts of many shooters. When Browning discontinued it, many were disappointed.
Throughout the years, several companies have imported Hi Power clones with fit and finishes ranging from fair to very good.
In 2021, Springfield Armory surprised the American gun-buying public by introducing their own version of the classic Browning Hi Power with the SA-35. The Springfield Armory SA-35 remained faithful to the original Hi Power, but Springfield Armory also squeezed in some modern upgrades.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
Springfield Armory added improved iron sights to the SA-35. The new pistol also made away with the magazine disconnect safety found on the original 1935 design. Other SA-35 enhancements include an extended thumb safety and a magazine with a capacity of 15 rounds. While 15 rounds may not sound remarkable, the original Browning Hi Power fed from a 13-round magazine. After Springfield Armory launched the SA-35, the pistol became an immediate hit. For the first year or so, its demand significantly exceeded production.
Cylinder & Slide’s Magic Touch
I’ve been fortunate to know Bill Laughridge, the founder of Cylinder & Slide, for over 35 years. While Cylinder & Slide is likely best-known for its 1911 work, the shop is equally skilled in performing its magic on other handguns. This includes revolvers and other semi-auto pistols, especially the Browning Hi Power.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
Some 20 years ago, Laughridge had a wild idea to chop a Hi Power down. His modification turned it from a duty size pistol into a sub-compact, concealed-carry dream. Laughridge called this modified Hi Power “The Pathfinder.” The Pathfinder not only had a shortened slide, but Laughride also removed about ½ inch of material off the frame. Pathfinders were very cool pistols, and they belonged in the same clique as other cutdown Hi Powers from gunsmiths like Austin Behlert et al.
It wasn’t too long ago that I found myself scrolling through Cylinder & Slide website. I noticed a fully modified Springfield Armory SA-35 that Laughride had worked over. Not only did he add almost every custom feature available, but this pistol also had a truncated slide. This pistol’s shortened slide basically turned it into a Commander-sized SA-35. This gun certainly intrigued me. I called Laughridge and it wasn’t long before he kindly loaned us this pistol for this review.
Working Over The SA-35
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
I am not exaggerating by mentioning that this particular SA-35 actually has almost every custom feature that Cylinder & Slide offers.
In addition to the shortened slide, its barrel was also cut to four inches. The newly cut barrel was also recrowned at 11-degrees. This was accomplished by removing a section of the slide and then grafting the muzzle portion back in place.
Cylinder & Slide paired a Heinie Ultra Low Ledge rear sight with a C&S Strong dovetail front sight– the shop also installed a gold bead. The top of this SA-35’ slide was matted and its flats were polished.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
Internally, all of the pistol’s surfaces were deburred throughout the pistol. Likewise, all of this SA-35’s contact surfaces were polished. Cylinder & Slide radiused the extractor and set it to the proper tension. A Cylinder & Slide wide combat trigger replaced the OEM SA-35 trigger. Similarly, the trigger spring and hammer were also replaced with Cylinder & Slide parts. Finally, the shop also installed a trigger stop. All the newly replaced ignition parts gave this SA-35 a clean 4 lb. 3 oz. trigger pull weight. Physically, this trigger broke cleanly with minimal overtravel.
Cylinder & Slide’s work didn’t just stop at the upper half of this SA-35. Laughridge expertly hand-stippled the frame’s front strap and back strap with a precise border. The OEM factory thumb safety was replaced with a Cylinder & Slide extended safety that has a spring loaded detent for positive manipulation.
However, the piece de resistance is the beautifully crafted, extended beavertail. This allows the hand to obtain a high purchase on the backstrap without the discomfort of the sharp edges found on an unmodified Hi Power or SA-35. Finally, the entire pistol was blued in-house using Cylinder & Slide’s own tanks.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
Shots Fired With The C&S SA-35
After hitting the range, the first thing I noticed was how well the pistol balanced in my hands. While I never thought that Hi Powers were particularly nose-heavy, the shorter slide and barrel improved both the balance and the recoil impulse on this worked-over Springfield Armory SA-35. This is a result of both the reduction in length and the faster cycle rate. The extended beavertail also spread the recoil impulse across a wider portion of the web of the hand. Additionally, the improved trigger, with the overtravel stop allowed for an extremely pleasant shooting experience.
I tested the pistol using Federal 124-grain Punch JHP, Hornady 115-grain FTX Critical Defense and Speer 124-grain Gold Dot. I also shot approximately 100 rounds of Federal 115 gr. FMJ. The pistol cycled all the loads and I had no malfunctions whatsoever. I used my Garmin Xero C-1 chronograph to measure velocity. Accuracy testing was shot off-hand from 15 yards.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
I also shot a Hackathorn’s “The Test.” It consists of shooting 10 rounds from 10 yards in 10 seconds on an NRA B-8 bullseye target. I scored a 95/5x. While a good run, it would have been a great run had I not rushed my last round and pushed it low into the 7 ring, losing 3 points with one bad shot. The pistol tracked well and the gold bead front sight aided when shooting a black target. I then backed up to 25 yards and then 45 yards and shot both steel plates and a steel silhouette. As long as I did my part, the steel just kept falling and pinging!
Thoughts On The Custom Work
The fact of the matter is that true custom gunsmiths are becoming rarer commodities. Working over a pistol like the Springfield Armory SA-35 featured in this review calls for a high degree of experience and skill. Simply put, it’s not an easy job.
It’s why this kind of skill, experience and talent is priced accordingly. The cost of the finished product, with $799 factored in for the base gun, is $4,778.47. Considering the amount of parts and labor that went into this project, I think the price is more than fair. I certainly would have enjoyed a couple more range trips with this special SA-35, but Laughridge ended up calling and asking that I return the pistol as soon as possible–one of his patrons ended up purchasing it.
It has been a couple of years since I had my hands on a pistol modified by Cylinder & Slide to evaluate. Spending a couple of weeks with this short-slide SA-35 was quite enjoyable. In the past, the shop has worked on a number of imported Hi-Power Detective models. It would certainly be interesting if Springfield expanded the SA-35 to a Detective model.
Cylinder & Slide Compact SA-35 Shooting Results
| Federal Punch 124-grain JHP | |
| Average Velocity | 1,162 FPS |
| Extreme Spread | 33.0 |
| Accuracy | 2.75 inches |
| Hornady Critical Defense 115-grain FTX | |
| Average Velocity | 1,140 FPS |
| Extreme Spread | 33.3 |
| Accuracy | 2.50 inches |
| Speer Gold Dot 124-grain GDHP | |
| Average Velocity | 1,177 FPS |
| Extreme Spread | 33.9 |
| Accuracy | 2.25 inches |
