

For the longest time, vintage-styled versions suffered from drawbacks like an extremely heavy trigger, poor sights, the hazard of the hammer “biting” the shooter’s hand upon being cocked by the recoiling slide, and complex takedown procedures - and this is all besides the fact that in the modern landscape of firearms, 12 rounds in a full-size handgun just isn’t all that much. When FN ended the original Hi-Power production line in 2018, shooters who wanted the handgun had to trawl the used market, often pay a premium, and then further modify the weapon to make it comfortable to shoot - or worse, purchase a dodgy Turkish clone. (National Film Board of Canada/WIkimedia Commons)ĭespite its relative ubiquity, the Hi-Power wasn’t a perfect sidearm.

munitions plant in Toronto, Canada, 1944. semi-automatic Browning Hi-Power pistols destined for China at the John Inglis Co. At the time, having 12 rounds in a magazine was considered incredibly high for a standard-size handgun considering that many contemporaries like the Luger and 1911 topped out between six and eight rounds in 9mm, a feature which gave the Hi-Power its distinctive name.įemale workers Agnes Apostle of Dauphin, Manitoba and Joyce Horne of Toronto, Ontario conduct a final assembly of a 9mm. It came chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, also known as 9mm Luger, 7.65×21 Parabellum, and even. When it arrived on the market, the Hi-Power stood out from its competitors as a safe, reliable, and accurate pistol that had nearly double the capacity of competitor firearms. (Matt Sampson)įirst introduced in 1935, the Hi-Power was designed by John Moses Browning, the legendary gunmaker renowned for his design on the ubiquitous 1911 handgun, the M2 machine gun, and other household names in the firearms world. We respect what this pistol has meant to generations of FN collectors and feel the new FN High Power dovetails perfectly with the rest of the FN pistol line, carrying a future-forward design to the next generation of shooting enthusiasts.” The author handles an FN High Power at SHOT Show 2022. FN pays homage to the prolific design, while modernizing the ergonomics, functionality, and operation. “Rather than introduce a clone of the original, we had to deliver much more than other brands, knowing the FN High Power would be held to a higher standard. We recognized the gravity of reintroducing this newly redesigned pistol with such a storied history,” FN America president and CEO Mark Cherpes said in a statement. “The High Power is such an iconic design, and synonymous with FN really.
