Jim's Browning '74C series 9mm

[hounddoghowlie]

being that the hammer might be in the half cocked position, try to lower the hammer to the dropped position.
go outside, put in a empty magazine, point pistol at the ground,place your thumb on the hammer and apply slight pressure on hammer and pull the tigger, allow hammer to fall if it seems to move while still holding pressure on it.

you might even try to fully cock it and and do the above if it does.

here i found a HI POWER™OWNER’S MANUAL, it the same as Jim's just has a Ambidextrous“Safety” Lever. functions are the same. older models only had left side safety's.

here is the section for lowering the hammer

LOWERING T H E HAMMER
To lower the hammer from full-cock to the dropped position the
following procedure is recommended.
1 Place the “safety” in the on safe position.
2 Insert a magazine into the pistol.
3 Point the muzzle in a safe
direction and move the “safety”
into the off safe position. Place
your thumb over the hammer
with the point of your thumb
in the “V” between the hammer
and the firing pin (the tip of cushion should the hammer accidentally fall). Apply slight
rearward pressure on the hammer.
4 Squeeze the trigger and allow the hammer to move forward slowly,
under control of your thumb.
Warning
WHEN THE HAMMER PASSES THE FULL-COCK POSITION REMOVE YOUR
FINGER FROM THE TRIGGER. THIS WILL ALLOW THE HAMMER TO CATCH
AT THE HALF-COCK POSITION SHOULD THE HAMMER SLIP FROM YOUR
THUMB. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS WARNING COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS
INJURY OR DEATH.
Slowly allow the hammer to travel forward until it is stopped in the
half-cock position.
5 With the hammer in the half-cock position, again, draw the
hammer slightly rearward and squeeze the trigger until the
hammer moves forward past the half-cock position.
6 Ease the hammer against the firing pin. The hammer is now in the
dropped position.

link for the PDF,
Hi Power

i know that the safety is almost all the way down, but it could be locking the the hammer and that's why it won't go all the way down because of the spring pressure.