I thought I'd have more trouble with the trigger reach than test-firing actually uncovered. When I first shot the FNP-45, I was at an industry gathering and couldn't do any real drills or timed shooting. At my home range I could shoot drills and see how the FN felt coming off a table or out of a holster. As for accuracy, you might think this is one of those legendary "gunwriter guns" that has been tuned just for us lucky stiffs.

Takedown of the FNP-45 is a snap. Lock the slide back, remove the magazine, pivot the takedown lever, unlock the slide stop, and ease off the slide. You're done!

Think again. As the FNP-45 is brand new, the company is still wrangling with the Department of Defense over the test procedure. As of this writing, there were a grand total of two guns in the U.S. not in the hands of the DOD (and for one weekend they were both here at Gun Abuse Central).

FN is quite proud of the barrel, as it is hammer-forged and locked up like a bank vault on both guns. Combined with the stainless slide and its super-hard Melonite finish, I can't see wearing out this barrel or pistol even after winning the lottery. I only had a chance to shoot it with a couple of factory loads, but they were both good ones. I'm sure it will shoot as well with others, as both Cor-Bon Performance and Magtech Guardian Gold shoot enjoyably small groups. Over sandbags at 25 yards, I could easily do two inches with the Cor-Bon and under two with the Magtech, and that on a cold, rain-spitting day.

The trigger is not exactly a match Bullseye or PPC-level trigger, but it is clean enough and smooth enough in the DA stroke that misses are your fault, not the pistol's. As a carry gun it is very nice indeed. The whole DA-to-SA trigger-stroke transition is overblown, in my opinion, and there are plenty of good gunsmiths who can tune any pistol to be as nice as you want it to be.

The backstrap of the FN is changeable, provided you have a simple tool. A 3/16- or 5/32-inch punch is all you need. In a pinch, in a dusty little village in Iraq, you could probably manage with a paperclip or M16 firing pin. Push the pin into the hole in the back of the backstrap to depress the locking latch. Then slide the old backstrap down and off. Slide the new one up until it locks into place, and you're done.

A plus for big pistols: The author found the FNP-45 remarkably soft-shooting and controllable.

And even if you have large or larger hands, you'll want the flat, not the arched. I thought I'd prefer the arched. It was on the gun when it arrived, and that's what I shot it with. After shooting a bunch of ammo, I figured I had to at least try the flat backstrap to be able to report on it. Good thing I did. I found the FNP was even more comfortable, manageable and easy to shoot with the flat one on. Try it; you'll probably like it. I now figure that when my FNP arrives, if I lose the arched backstrap I'll never miss it--because I'll never look for it. Down on the bottom of each of the backstraps is the modern obligatory service accessory: a lanyard loop.

The magazine is a hi-cap because that is what the services insist on. Like the DA-to-SA transition, I think the whole capacity thing is overblown. (Then again, I've never had to go mano a mano with handguns in a mud hut in Afghanistan either.) The magazines hold 14 rounds of .45 ACP, and the FNP ate everything I had on hand to feed it. I managed to do a limited amount of terminal testing and found that its 4 1/2-inch barrel produced plenty of velocity to expand hollowpoints.