(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. Female workers Agnes Apostle of Dauphin, Manitoba and Joyce Horne of Toronto, Ontario conduct a final assembly of a 9mm. In its more than 80 years in circulation, nearly every nation from the United States to North Korea has used a version of this pistol in some respect. For decades after the close of the war, the Hi-Power saw action in other conflicts, from both sides of the Chinese Civil War to the hips of elite British SAS commandos as they stormed the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. The relatively high-capacity magazine, combined with an ergonomic and user-friendly design that made it reliable, durable, and comfortable to shoot meant that the Hi-Power immediately became popular with militaries around the globe, serving with the American, British, Canadian, and Free French forces during WWII - as well as Germany after Nazi forces captured the venerable pistol’s factory. 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. 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. Now, 87 years after it was first introduced to the world, Belgian gunmaker Fabrique Nationale (FN) has reintroduced the Hi-Power for the modern shooter, unveiling the company’s new 9mm ‘High Power’ pistol at SHOT Show 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Present in historic conflicts from both sides of the toughest battles of World War II to the Iranian embassy siege in London that made the British Special Air Service a household name, this single-action semi-automatic pistol was unbelievably innovative for its time, boasting a number of features that made it truly higher power than other options of the day. The Hi-Power - known as the Browning Hi-Power, the Browning Automatic Pistol, the Grande Puissance, P-35, Pistole 640(b), and so many other names - is arguably the most widely-used military handgun of all time. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or send us an email at with what you want to see. (Fabrique Nationale) SHAREĮditor’s note: the Task & Purpose gear team is reporting from SHOT Show 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fabrique Nationale's new 'High Power' iterations of the classic Hi-Power pistol.
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