The Hi Power handgun ranks alongside the 1911 as one of the most famous firearms of all time. At SHOT Show 2022, FN announced the imminent release of an entirely redesigned “High Power,” and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it.
“Everything about this pistol is an evolution of the original design,” FN reps told us when we stopped by their booth. Aesthetically, FN engineers were careful to replicate Browning’s original design. But it’s not a remake or a replica: it’s a modern redesign of a classic firearm.
FN started its High Power redesign by increasing magazine capacity. Rather than 13 rounds of 9mm, which was considered high capacity at the time of it the original gun’s release, the new High Power will come with 17-round magazines. Unfortunately, the new gun won’t be compatible with old magazines.
From there, FN redesigned the takedown mechanism to operate with a simple rotating release, which is a huge improvement over the original. The slide stop and safety are ambidextrous, and the magazine release is reversible.
For sights, FN used the FN 509 dovetail cut, so users will have lots of aftermarket options available.
The trigger is a 4-6-lb. affair that breaks like glass.
The FN High Power will be available in stainless steel, black, and flat dark earth with G10 grips sold separately. The stainless will run $1,369 MSRP, and black and FDE will be $1,269. FN hopes to start shipping these handguns in late February or early March.
If you’re wondering why FN and not Browning is resurrecting the “High Power,” here’s quick history lesson. John Moses Browning invented what would later become the famous “Browning Hi Power” handgun not while working for the company that bears his name but while working for Fabrique Nationale (FN). Browning passed away before he could finish the design, but it was completed by Belgian gun designer Dieudonné Saive.
At the time, FN named the gun the “High Power” due to its large-for-the-era magazine capacity (13 rounds), and Browning’s design went on to become one of the most widely used military pistols in the world.
Click HERE to learn more about the new FN High Power.
This pistol doesn’t even look like the original Browning P-35 Hi Power . If you consider all semi auto pistols look about the same ,well then it kinda looks like a Hi power. F N should just market this as a new pistol. They didn’t copy the Browning just made it look so.At $1300 or so I’ll stick to my COLT 1911
No thank you FN. You can have your polymer or investment cast pistol. I will keep my machined steel Hi Power made in Belgium that runs ammo like a sewing machine. I also have a FEG Hungarian version for a beater and it is also machined steel and has never failed. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Was there any mention of the magazine safety being deleted in this FN High Power?
Just as soon have the Springfield 35 for about half the money and it even interchanges with original Hi Power parts and accessories. JMO
I get the nostalgia but I don’t understand why anyone would opt for this over the half dozen or more polymers that are just as reliable, (if not more) running 19-21 round mags. It’s heavier, hold less ammo…. what goes in the + column?
This will never replace my original HP with it’s high polished, glossy blued finish. A beautiful specimen. I suppose these might be nice guns for the younger folks, not for us older guys. I like my Glocks just fine and find them superior to most other brands.
I proof read anything I turn out, usually 3-4 times. Reading the article above, I found 3 errors (not too bad these days). The most glaring one was calling it a “High Point”. Really????
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that frame appears to be made of polymer material, not steel. FN is calling it a HP, but nothing really interchanges with the original, it’s a total re-design, you gain two rounds (and your old mags DON’T work), you lose “cocked-n-Locked”, you end up with another “fantastic plastic” 9mm and a price point that’s twice what the competition sells for…Please explain to me why this is better. I’ve wanted another HP for decades after having to sell my first one, but never got around to it, I’m buying the Springfield model specifically because it’s much more, if not a totally, faithful copy of the original. Springfield will work out the bugs, they’re not known for shoddy pistols so they’ll do just fine.
I fully agree with DK above.
Please, please, please, please make a high gloss Blued version.
High Gloss Blued…Yes!
Dull finishes are for dull people and jungle/desert combat.
The CZ-75b is a cross between the 1911 and the Browning. It’s a great firearm and sells for around
600$.
New pistol with an old name. Is that a grip safety? As a lefty, I like the idea of having controls for me too, without having to go to a gunsmith. I was liking everything until I heard the price. Ouch! For the price, I think I would rather have a CZ75B single action and its a little cheaper.
It looks to me like they reinforced the chamber area by quite a lot, probably make it more suitable for +P ammo, which is good. I agree with most of the other comments about needless complication. When I shoot my old HP’s left handed I just use my index finger to release the slide stop and operate the safety. It’s not difficult with a little practice. Extra magazine capacity is OK, no big deal one way or another. One feature they deleted from this new gun is that on the older ones when you cock the hammer and engage the safety , it also locks the slide just like the 1911. I like that feature; it allows you to reholster the piece without partially racking the slide. Good that they are offering a stainless version.
So FN ceases production, Springfield Armory, and EAA step up and bring it back. Suddenly FN comes out with a new and improved version. Is the High Power that good of a sales item that three different companies can produce a version? Also, the Turkish made EAA version is supposed to be sub $500. Is FN and Springfield going to try and match the price or just claim originality and throw in the towel when they have to sell at overstock prices?
Magazine and part compatibility of the Springfield has me leaning it’s way.
Girsan is making one too.
“If you’re wondering why FN and not Browning is resurrecting the “High Point,” here’s quick history lesson.” … NEVER resurrect a “High Point”, just bury it in an unmarked grave.
HiPoints are very hard to kill, and even harder to prove that it’s significantly less functional than the day it left the factory.
Just sayin’….
I wonder how the sales will compare in the coming years to Springfield’s new HP offering. This latest FN take is different enough to throw off the purists, although it may appeal to a segment that favor some things about the HP and dislike others. It is also worth pointing out that FN (& Browning) has kind of done this a couple times before with the HP-DA, BDM,/BPM-D, although both (especially the latter) are quite different, but neither sold well, nor came close to replacing the HP as an icon. My point being the tweaking of the HP over the last few decades has not seemed to result in anything long lasting that shifts the enthusiastic fan base of the largely unchanged HP design to something “new”. Oh, and why won’t the magazines be compatible? Was that too much of an engineering hurdle (truly curious but unable to not sound snarky)? In all kudos to them for working at it as I doubt it will suck, and for all of us firearms enthusiasts it is yet another cool pistol to get to know. Thank you FN! (I don’t like the QR code either, maybe hide it somewhere under a grip panel??)
I’ve been pondering the SA-35 as well. Initial research is reporting a fair amount of extractor issues after 800+ rounds. Might wait and see a bit longer.
I’d love for someone to tell me what was so hard about disassembling a Hi Power? All you had to do was lock the slide back with the safety and push out the slide release. So instead of the one piece slide release holding it all together there are now multiple pieces to do the same job. And that’s an improvement how?
I guess I can understand the ambi slide release even though it looks terrible, but the extra takedown lever in front of the right sight slide release is the final blow to the beautiful lines of the original Hi Power. Seems like all FN did here is design a cheaper/easier to make gun and called it a High Power.
They took the original sleek design and over engineered it with ambi-everything and a take down lever. Plus it’s to much money. There are quality clones available for much le$$. The SA-35, Tisas, and others, offer the original design for those wanting the classic feel of the Browning. If you want an all steel, hammer fired, hi-cap 9mm similar to the Hi Power, take a look at the CZ-75 B in blue or stainless. If you want a true Hi Power, look elsewhere.
The title of this article is a bit of a click bait. If this pistol is not compatible to the old one, it is not a resurrection — incompatible barrel and magazine — unless you would use that term to what Doctor Frankenstein did. Or calling the Stoeger Luger a resurrection of the the pistol designed by Mr. Luger.
In other words, it is a cousin.
I was intrigued, and even excited, the read the High Power was coming back…until I read it isn’t really a High Power, it just looks like one. I wish FN well.
And it doesn’t even look very much like one, with all those extra levers added.
I agree, the Springfield seems like the better P-35. It’s too bad one of them hasn’t offered a lightweight version with a forged aluminum frame.
Springfield’s remake is more to my liking, more like the original, and about half the price.
Other than SS , Springfield’s version looks to be the better choice , esp. For the $$
Might be interested if FN would:
1. Make them in high polished blue with checked walnut stocks like the original.
2. Eliminate that rediculous QR code on the right side of the frame, just above and behind the trigger.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.