i'd love a Hi-Power, but i've never had a chance to buy one.
heck i'd like a smith 59 too, and a Sig 220... LOL
I'm with you fiver.
IMO.....The Hi-Power has one of the best grips on a double stack frame and it was introduced in 1935!
I don't currently have one, but I've owned a couple of Hi-Power's. They have some quirks (like a trigger linkage that changes direction about 4 times) but the guns are solidly reliable and good shooters.
The grip of the CZ-75 shares the excellent form of the Hi-Power.
Again, in my opinion,..... the CZ-75 really takes the basic layout of the Hi-Power and improves upon it in multiple ways.
The CZ has a DA/SA action, better safety in terms of ergonomics and function, full length internal slide rails, omits the magazine safety and is a very well-made gun. If you don't mind the size and weight - the CZ-75 is a super good 9mm pistol. All steel, well made, very durable design.
The SIG P220 [AKA P75] was a groundbreaking pistol in many ways. As the P75 (Swiss military trim) it is a 9mm pistol but most in the U.S. are chambered in 45 ACP. That design incorporated a LOT of innovation.
Folded steel slide with a separate breach block. Aluminum frame with full length internal rails. A de-cocking lever with DA/SA action. And the forerunner of the barrel to slide locking system that utilizes the squared off ejection port to lock the barrel to the slide (as opposed to internal locking lugs cut inside the slide like on a 1911 or Hi-Power). This system is still a Browning style tilting barrel, short recoil locking system, but the locking interface is far simpler than the original Browning design. In fact, it is so simple that almost every modern version of the Browing tilting barrel system now uses that squared off ejection port to lock the barrel to the slide.
There are many older pistols chambered in 9mm Luger that are very good pistols.