American Rifleman by Kelly Young 8/1/2022
FN has changed a lot in its recently re-released High Power—from the size to the lock-up to the higher-capacity magazine—but, as a result, this new take on an old classic is now even more of a joy to shoot.
There can be a tendency to think of the High Power as a platform more or less stuck in time, because its principal design remains relatively unchanged since 1934, and its evolution has been pretty static for the past few decades—and was seemingly outright dead there for a bit recently. Nonetheless, there are plenty of examples of Fabrique Nationale (FN) shaking up its nearly-90-year-old design every now and again (as FN has never really stopped tinkering with Dieudonné Saive’s brainchild behind the scenes), and the company apparently felt that not only was it that time again, but that we were due for a big one. Within just a few months of Springfield and EAA entering the market with their own clone renditions of the pistol that deviate in only minor ways from the long-established template, FN announced the launch of a new genuine-article High Power that differs from its legacy product in multiple, much more substantial respects.
This is no mere M1911A1-style tweak or subtle refinement. Despite largely retaining the classic High Power’s iconic aesthetic, the 2022 re-introduction departs so significantly, both externally and within, from its predecessor that they share no parts interchangeability or commonality at all. The new guns are longer, taller and heavier than their precursors (arguably enough so to bump them up into an entirely different weight class), feature a contemporary new action with a revamped and streamlined takedown procedure, employ different sights and higher-capacity magazines, and possess additional controls that represent the platform’s first real attempt to offer a left-hand-friendly control scheme. They embody a full-on re-interpretation and modernization of the High Power—think less paint job and more pushing out a few walls to create an open floorplan.
But, if well planned and executed, home renovations typically result in a functional improvement and/or an increase in value—can FN claim the same with its new-again High Powers? Having now had a chance to put several hundred rounds through two different examples of the 2022 pistols, my conclusion is this: It depends entirely on what you as the user want to get out of your High Power experience. Those looking for a trip down memory lane with a svelte, elegant gun may struggle with this new version on a conceptual level—but those who can divorce themselves from the nostalgia, who are simply looking for a heck of a sweet-shooting, all-steel 9 mm, will love it.
Now before anyone tries to make the contention that FN’s newest variants are too large or too different to be “true” High Powers, let’s take a deep breath and remember that John Moses Browning’s original 1922 prototypes were not only behemoths that had to be shrunk down considerably to placate the French Ministry of War, but they were also striker-fired. Over the years, the manufacturer has also offered double-action/single-action High Powers (the HP-DA), Vigilante models with an aluminum frame as an option, the long-barreled GP Competition, models with decockers, and slightly beefed-up and modified .40 S&W-chambered High Powers—so the precedent for significant experimentation has long been established. And that’s not even taking into account the many prototypes that FN never brought to market (including a compact double-action variant) or the voluminous minor tweaks made to the platform in the early years of chasing individual military tenders.
I view the new pistols as FN’s attempt to create an updated 21st century High Power that better appeals to a whole new generation of shooters. This endeavor is both admirable and wise—as our community has added several million new members to the roster in recent years—and this massive influx of first-time shooters is unencumbered by the emotional attachment to the original High Power that many of the rest of us have. As we run down the new guns’ features and note the changes made to the platform, you’ll see that they mostly center around improving its ergonomics, increasing its reliability and versatility, and maximizing its ease of use—you know, the kinds of things that new shooters are much more interested in than fidelity to a design that made its debut a full four score and seven years ago.
More:
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/different-but-oh-so-familiar-fn-s-21st-century-high-power/
