what is the target market of the new FN hi-power?

While reasons may be many, I think the marketing audience boils down to those that want everything full size polymer guns offer, except in metal and no regards to weight.

Think CZ 75, they have a good chunk of the market and tons of fanboys.

I agree with you about FN overall, way overpriced, and no extra benefits to back up those prices.

Dunno.
Their Marketing Research must have come up with something.
And, SAI also got on that bandwagon (and beat FN to the punch by almost two months, too).

It may be that timeless designs are timeless--which is, apparently, why so many companies make 1911s.

greyling22 said:

is it for competition matches?

Click to expand...

The Hi-Power I used in club matches had the magazine disconnect removed, to show “clear” then be able to hammer down.

I never went to any sanctioned match with it though as it was against the rules to remove safety devices but all the RO’s despised them. Often having the competitor to carry an additional magazine that remained empty just for “hammer down” but that was technically also against the rules.

I think right now, just make what you can, there is someone out there that will buy it.

You know people always pick on things like the 1976 Pinto but never stop to realize the other products that were offered at the time. Sure a Pinto sounds like a turd but if your other choices were a Vega or Gremlin…

I could think of lots worse choices than another hi-power, in todays market.

make a gun and someone will buy it, that is their target market. Probably all of these companies were thinking the same thing that the plastic pistol market is over saturated so they thought "how about an old school steel gun"? all about the same time and it takes about the same time for all of them to design, test and bring it to market.

This is my take.

1. FN saw the increased interest in Hi Powers after they ceased production. Human nature being what it is, people always want what they can't get anymore.
2. Other companies also noticed and began making clones. Interest level increased again.
3. Somewhere along the way between 1 and 2 FN began to feel like they were missing the boat on a product THEY originated but no longer produced.
4. They made a decision to get back in the game, but had to find a way to differentiate their reimagined "High" Power from the clone makers.

Too early to tell whether they hit the mark, or not.

In my opinion, if they would have come out 6 months ago with exactly what SAI did -a slightly tweaked design based on the original classic- it would have been a HUGE success, and the $1,300 per unit would have had people crawling over each other to pay it.

Someone high up in marketing at FN was probably watching Field of Dreams for the 100th time and surfing the gun boards at the same time and figured, "Hey! Why not"?

Tell them they cant have it. Let someone else whip up a frenzy. Start up the mill again, add a couple of trinkets to the mix, and viola! $$$$$$


The bag just keeps getting bigger!

It does make me wonder how good FN’s competitive intelligence was…did they know with Springfield and Girsan were planning? If it was the only Hi Power entry in the market, then it might have a different appeal and their “updates” might not stand out. Having two reissues of the “classic” design make the changes more obvious (and potentially less appealing). (Although removing the mag disconnect was a good move!)

I personally don’t have a use for another 40 oz pistol…I have enough!

Here's another entry in the market - from the UK!



If you are in the market for a bespoke Browning - - -

MoscowMike said:

Here's another entry in the market - from the UK!



If you are in the market for a bespoke Browning - - -

Click to expand...

They make $30,000 shotguns that BHP clone is going to be $5k+.

I love all this talk. I love the new clones because even with all this enthusiasm I am still buying REAL BHPs for less than people are paying the the SA-35.

I have been in the BHP game long enough to know sh&t from shinola. I don’t love the look of the new FN gun but in many ways it is what people have been asking for. Better sights, better safety, no mag disconnect, no bit hammer etc…

Aesthetically they missed the mark IMHO but none of us know if the gun shoots. I find it depressing that so many of the people who are all worked up already have so little knowledge and time on the original platform. 99% of the reviewers on the new offerings are ignorant when it comes to the BHPs.

In the end FN is one of the oldest most successful small arms manufacturers ever. They make money enough money to consume and take over less successful companies. I love when forum warriors proclaim they know more about the market then someone like FN.

Time will tell if they got this one right or wrong.

PS there is nothing classic about the NH BHP. The stippling and the beavertail are an eyesore IMHO. The pistols are well build but are no where near worth the price they are sold at these days. There are much better BHP builders at that price point . IMHO

I think FN's target market is the people who haven't heard of Springfield's SA-35 at half the price???

cnj said:

I think FN's target market is the people who haven't heard of Springfield's SA-35 at half the price???

Click to expand...

Right because we all want a Turkish pistols assembled in IL sold to us as made in the USA with bad extractors and poorly fitted safeties.

If you don’t know your past then you don’t know your future…. This comment is a perfect example of what I am taking about.

I don't know the market. SA and other close copies are in it for the nostalgia, but the FN is a new gun that looks sort of like a Browning. I doubt they will sell many SAOs to military and police agencies, noise about nudging Canada to replace their old Inglis guns with Something Similar notwithstanding.

WVsig said:

Right because we all want a Turkish pistols assembled in IL sold to us as made in the USA with bad extractors and poorly fitted safeties.

If you don’t know your past then you don’t know your future…. This comment is a perfect example of what I am taking about.

Click to expand...

Maybe I misunderstood your post, and my apologies if so. That said...All of us don't want the same thing, but what is the draw for buying the FN over the Springfield when the Springfield is half the cost? I get that the SA is unproven at this point, but until the FN hits the consumer's hands, its faults have yet to be discovered. No one knows if it will be good or bad, but even if it is perfect (it won't be), I sure don't see it being worth double the cost to the lion's share of the market.

cnj said:

Maybe I misunderstood your post, and my apologies if so. That said...All of us don't want the same thing, but what is the draw for buying the FN over the Springfield when the Springfield is half the cost? I get that the SA is unproven at this point, but until the FN hits the consumer's hands, its faults have yet to be discovered. No one knows if it will be good or bad, but even if it is perfect (it won't be), I sure don't see it being worth double the cost to the lion's share of the market.

Click to expand...

My take is that FN is not going after the traditional BHP market, There are millions of FN guns already out there that can fill that need.

They build a modern BHP adresssing some of the wants people have been calling for for years. Again I think arguing aesthetics is 100% valid but until we shoot the pistol we don’t know if FN got this right.

What I do know is that the original BHP withs it’s multiple versions is for me a great pointing pistol. It is by all other accounts an avg pistol. It has many flaws all of which can be addressed to some extent. I have 10+ custom built BHPs in the collection which all in one way or another address the short comings of the Saive BHP design. These are done by some of the best BHP smiths in the world.

The SA-35 in its stock form is a half measure to fixing the BHP. The sights are better the thumb safety is better but the trigger by most accounts is not better than the FN with the mags safety removed and properly sprung. It is not a complete answer to the BHP’s shiort comings.

Now we don’t know much about the new FN High Power but I put a lot more than $600 into making a stock classic BHP into what I want. If and it’s a big if the new one shoots and handles well stock it might be a better value then the stock SA-35 clone. Again time will tell.

I have shot the BHP enough to know that the stock SA-35 is not a replacement for a truly finished BHP. I have to ask how much time do you have on the BHP? How many have you owned? How many rounds down range? Do you have a real frame of reference to make educated statements about the platform? If you do I would love to hear them,

cnj said:

That said...All of us don't want the same thing, but what is the draw for buying the FN over the Springfield when the Springfield is half the cost?

Click to expand...

Cost is irrelevant. I wouldnt give 10cents for the SA35. I cannot pass judgment on the FN pistol till I put some paws on it.

I’ll give you eleven cents each for a few million of them.

See how it works yet?

I have browsed several forums befor joing this one, and there always seem to be a common theme... Overly analytical threads.

You are all forgetting the basic intent of selling anything... Money.

Now, Im sure there are companies that put quality over quanity, but the sole reason for any business to make any product is to sell one (or more) to every human on the planet in the hopes it will be the talk of the town and make them billionairs...

When a product flops there is a huge rush to research the failures and try to change them, and if the number of failures are outmatched by the cost to fix them then the design is scrapped and a new design is put into the works. Rinse repeat.

I don't know how they did it but they took one of the most beautiful handguns ever made, kept 90% of it yet still managed to make it look like an abortion. On the plus side, I like that the grip is a tad longer with a 17 round mag. My hands are on the large side of average and my BHP grip always felt a tad crowded. Changing the hammer geometry to eliminate hammer bite is great as I always occasionally get bit by mine even after 30 years. In principle I like the rail although it looks hideous the way they did it.

But boy, the downsides! If I read it right it mostly looks like a BHP but lacks parts commonality. They brutalized the looks of the gun to modernize it yet inexplicably didn't include an RMR cut (!) for reasons that pass understanding.

To be honest of the homages/clones I think the Girsan looks to be the best! Quality remains to be seen for all of three of them of course.

These are being marketed to old farts with disposable income and a longing for the good old days. SA will get the guys on fixed incomes and FN will get the guys living off their portfolios.

kidneyboy said:

These are being marketed to old farts with disposable income and a longing for the good old days. SA will get the guys on fixed incomes and FN will get the guys living off their portfolios.

Click to expand...

Guys with disposal income buy real FN/Browning High Powers and will continue to do so. That is what I did yesterday LOL. #noclones

I always wanted a Hi-Power, but the CZ-75 cured me!

I read the comment about the SA-35 being made from Turkish parts and assembled in the USA. Tell me it isn't so!