Recently I've started looking at Hi-Powers as I want to get a nice 9mm for my fiancee. They've been a bit difficult to find and it was only this weekend that I've been able to have one in hand. It was a new FN in matte black, and it felt pretty good, better than any of the polymer pistols and much better than the Beretta.
I understand that part of the reason that the US went with the 9mm M9 was because they wanted to ammo compatibility with their NATO allies. But why did they choose the Hi-Power over the M9? By the 1980s the Hi-Power was already a battle proven sidearm. And given that many of our allies use the Hi-Power, it would have made more sense to adopt it. What happened?
I understand that part of the reason that the US went with the 9mm M9 was because they wanted to ammo compatibility with their NATO allies. But why did they choose the Hi-Power over the M9? By the 1980s the Hi-Power was already a battle proven sidearm. And given that many of our allies use the Hi-Power, it would have made more sense to adopt it. What happened?