FN High Power: the legendary service pistol returns home!
SHOT Show 2022 - FN America announced the return of the High Power pistol: not a simple rehearsal of the original, but an improvement and upgrade of the baseline design of one of the most iconic service pistols of the 20th Century
The Browning High Power is back: not that it had actually ever really Ieft, given how companies such as TISAS, GIRSAN and Springfield Armory started cranking out clones – some of them, admittedly, pretty high in quality! – ever since the Belgian FN Herstal Group dropped the original from production back in 2022
FN America – the north American subsidiary of the Herstal Group – announced at the 2022 edition of the SHOT Show that the Gp.35 would be coming home with the introduction of the FN High Power 9mm semi-automatic pistols series: a modern-day revisitation of the handgun that firmly held the place of the state-of-the-art in terms of service and defensive sidearms ever since it was launched back in 1935 and all the way until, at least, the "Wondernines" and the Plastic Fantastic revolutionized the world of pistols.
FN America High Power 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol – right side, black version with black polymer grips
FN America High Power 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol – left side, black version with wooden grips
The new FN High Power is a single-action, external hammer-fired, all-metal semi-automatic pistol based on a modernized variant of the Browning-style tilting barrel locked breech working system: the barrel doesn't lock on top of the slide like it did in the original High Power, but rather in front of the ejection port.
The new FN High Power was also improved in terms of ergonomics, with a higher cut grip to avoid hammer bite and to provide a better grip.
FN America's new High Power pistol features an ambidextrous frame-mounted manual safety and slide stop release lever; the pistol comes from factory with a left-side magazine release catch for right-handed shooters, but the catch can be reversed for lefties. The new FN High Power also features a dedicated quick field-strip lever, unlike the original design where the slide stop lever also dubbed as the takedown lever.
FN America's new High Power, however, retains most of the aesthetics of the original Browning HP: slimline, rounded, non-railed frame, and coming from factory with a 11,93 cm / 4.7" cold-hammer forged, Target crowned barrel with six right-handed grooves and a 1:10" twist rate.
An oversized ejection port and finely polished feed ramp and chamber ensure full reliability of the new FN America High power pistol with most factory defensive and target/training ammunition.
The FN High Power is available in three versions – black, stainless, and coyote tan – all featuring a durable, corrosion-resistant PVD finish. Smaller components are available in black or stainless versions, and grip panels are available in black, brown or tan color; oak or walnut wood; and G10 in five different versions and colors.
FN America's new High Power pistol feeds through a double-stack metal magazine with a polymer floorplate, holding 17 rounds of 9mm Luger ammunition. Lower-capacity magazines are available to meet local restrictions.
Also issued from factory are a smooth, 2,2 kg. / ≈ 5lb trigger and a set of dovetailed, FN 509 pattern driftable steel Blackout sights.
Standing in at 20,32 cm / 8" in overall length, and weighing in at 1,13 kilograms (40 oz.) when empty, the new High Power from FN America is available on the US civilian market at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $1,269.00 for the black and coyote tan versions, and $1,269.00 for the stainless version.