At first glance, you might wonder, “Who would want a South American clone of the Belgian FN 9mm Hi-Power?”
If you’ve ever examined a Hungarian made FEG PJK Hi-Power clone, you quickly noticed the distinct difference in fit and finish compared to a real Hi-Power (not to be confused with the abomination that was the FEG P9R, which Frankenstein’d the S&W double action 5900 series frame with a Hi-Power type slide).
But what about an Argentine clone?
The assumption that a clone made as far removed from Hungary as Argentina would naturally be inferior to the Hungarian clone would be a premature assumption. It’s not a case of a clone of a clone.
The Hungarian FEG was reverse engineered on their own accord, without the benefit of the metallurgy or factory tolerances. Those unknowns led to a few liberties in its engineering that made it somewhat less than a perfect clone. Not all parts were interchangeable with the FN.
So how much worse was the Argentine clone?
The answer is – it was not a clone at all, it was a licensed version of the FN Hi-Power.
The tooling was set up at the Fabricaciones Militares (FM) plant in Argentina by the Fabrique Nationale (FN) company of Herstal, Belgium to produce their factory spec Browning Hi-Power – under supervision, for the Argentine military.
The licensed FM Hi-Power was only inferior to the degree that the finish was set to military grade, rather than a higher polish, commercial grade. It was the Argentine’s new military service pistol. But the specs and function have always been high, FN quality.
These FM pistols were almost indistinguishable from their FN counterparts in form and function.
It wasn’t until the Falkland Islands war with the United Kingdom that upset the Argentine economy and political landscape to the degree where the FM factory attempted to market their licensed Hi-Power model to the United States to keep their factory open.
Argentine military surplus Hi-Power pistols were a real bargain.
With the term of the FN license agreement expired and the patent in the public domain for decades, the Argentine factory was free to market their FM Hi-Power and change it’s design to make their mark.
Their model of 1990 altered the design of their FM Hi-Power by eliminating the distinctive lightening cuts near the muzzle on the slide. That design change cut production costs and added weight to the front, which some feel lessened the muzzle flip with the extra mass. It also made the pistol resemble the Browning 1911 just a little bit more.
In 1995, the FM factory did something wonderful – they developed a factory “Detective” slide and barrel, fully compatible with any FM or FN frame, which cut the slide and barrel length, much like Colt did with their 1911 Commander model. Before FM, this was a custom modification few could afford. And it’s shooting characteristics were perfection.
What’s a Detective model worth today? The cost of a custom job without the sacrifice of cutting down a slide and a barrel. That’s how much.
This was all going on during the Golden Years of Glock. The industry was playing catch-up to the polymer revolution. We saw the demise of many pistols like the S&W 5900 series and other steel frame Wonder Nines, including the end of the Spanish company Star, which made the Firestar and advanced model 30M/PK, which were superior to the Beretta M9 in every way. The Browning Hi-Power survived those years because it held onto its base of true believers.
But by 2018, FN ceased production of their venerable Browning Hi-Power. Polymer had fully taken over worldwide sales. Even the Israelis gave up their Hi-Powers for Glocks. The sales just weren’t there to sustain the Hi-Power into the 21st century.
FM importation became spotty until it finally ceased. FM entered a license agreement with Beretta to produce their PX4 Storm as their new military and police pistol.
All looked bad for the Browning Hi-Power but something happened that always comes with scarcity – demand for the Hi-Power suddenly grew.
Prices for used Hi-Power pistols went through the roof. And that was before Biden and the pandemic.
A Turkish company division called Tisas, pronounced “T Sash” came out with a high quality Hi-Power clone of their own, the BR9.
Besides the Tisas markings, it looks exactly like an FN Browning Hi-Power. It’s impeccably finished.
Nevertheless, it is a reverse engineered clone, rather than a licensed production model. It has its flaws. They’re minor operating flaws but still slightly inferior to the FM licensed version.
Before ending production, one of the big changes FN made to their Mark III Hi-Power was to manufacture their frame by casting a new steel alloy. Their frames used to be milled and polished steel alloy forgings.
There are pros and cons to both manufacturing methods but the FM models were always forged steel.
At the end of the day, the FM Hi-Power remains the best Browning Hi-Power descendant, second only to the Belgian FN model.
If you want to get into shooting the Hi-Power but can’t afford a Belgian FN, the first way to go is to find a used FM in good operating condition. All of the custom Hi-Power parts from speciality manufacturers like Cylinder & Slide work as intended.
Second choice is the Tisas, last choice is the FEG PJK.
Now when buying surplus Israeli Hi-Powers, they sourced components from both FN and FEG. The Israeli FN contracts had roll pins rather than tempered steel pins to cut costs but are otherwise great Hi-Powers.
The FEG contracts only benefitted by Israeli quality control. The Kareen company in Israel even worked with Arcus to develop a Hi-Power variant, capable of shooting their hotter load 9mm SMG ammunition, which is a very interesting pistol, parallel marketed by Arcus.
What you can afford is an individual consideration, however, decide for yourself by understanding the differences in Hi-Power models.
But never doubt the fact that the FM Hi-Power is the next best thing to a genuine FN Browning 9mm Hi-Power.
The FM 9mm Hi-Power is a first rate, military grade, combat pistol.