We should thank the U.S. Army for being indecisive on sidearms. If not for its on-again, off-again approach to picking a new pistol, we wouldn't have the choices we now have. FNH-USA has been unveiling 9mm and .40 S&W pistols for defense and law enforcement for the last few years, getting designs out to replace the classic Hi Power. Had the Army simply said "We need new handguns" and gone through an undelayed test and selection process on the first go-around, FN would not have had the time to produce the FNP-45, a big blaster of a .45 whose slide is a big chunk of stainless steel and whose frame is molded polymer. The front and rear sights are pressed into dovetails, and the extractor is an external one, using a spring-and-plunger-powered system. It also has a lump on it for use as a loaded-chamber indicator.

Desirable features on the FNP-45 include three-dot combat sights (left) and an ambidextrous slide stop (right).

The frame is molded with a light rail out on the dustcover (and the serial-number plate recessed in there, along with a bar code for those of you who use scanners for inventory) with the non-gripping areas given a pebble-texture surface treatment. The trigger mechanism is a traditional double action/single action employing an ambidextrous decocking lever at the upper rear of the frame.

The slide stop is also ambidextrous, with the left-side lever nestled inside frame abutments, while the right-side lever is simply protected by a boss coming up out of the gripping area. The magazine catch is ambidextrous, placing the FNP-45 in nirvana for small-arms designers in the modern era: It doesn't matter which hand you grab it with, everything works the same regardless.

The gripping area is noteworthy. Usually, what we get on polymer frames is some arrangement of grooves or sandpaper-like surfaces but nothing that really gets into your skin and hangs on. The checkered texture of the FNP-45 does a very good job of keeping your hands in place. The checkering is part of the mold, and it is located on the frame where you'll grasp it and not elsewhere. Combined with the pebble texture of the rest of the frame surface, the FNP-45 is highly unlikely to be slipping around in your hand.

Using Magtech Guardian Gold and Cor-Bon 230-grain JHPs, accuracy results at 25 yards were well beyond "combat spec."

The FNP-45 is a hi-cap .45 made to withstand the expected standards of the new selection process. Back when HK offered the Mk 23 for the SOCOM requirements, the service standard was 30,000 rounds of +P .45 ACP. As a result, all likely candidates will be big guns, and we again benefit. All other things being equal, a bigger pistol (heavier slide, beefier frame sections) will be more durable than a smaller one. And have softer felt recoil, too.

The first impression I had of the FNP-45 was that it was big. The contour of the frame at the rear up under the slide is, at first grasp, a bit boxy. Coming from a 1911, with its sports car-like contour there, the FN is definitely larger. That's the downside, making the trigger reach a bit long but still quite manageable. The upside is that the larger area spreads felt recoil across a wider area, making the FN recoil feel softer, even though an all-steel 1911 is heavier.

The beefier frame and slide put the bore axis a bit higher over your hand, a difference likely to be noticed only by competition shooters. If you compare the FNP-45 to a 1911 (I hate to keep coming back to the old standby, but we need something most of us have all shot for comparison), the FNP-45 front sight is going to rise higher in recoil. But it won't do anything more than that, and the very effective texturing on the gripping area of the frame will keep the gun from squirming on you. As I've mentioned before, muzzle rise is not a problem. The front sight pops up when you shoot; it drops back down and you're back on target.