Hello all,
Like many of those who have a Hi-Power in both 9mm and .40 S&W, I have found that I prefer the nine. So much so, in fact, that within a few weeks of getting my forty H-P (w/SFS), I began looking into the idea of getting a 9mm conversion barrel for it. But from what I've read, some work, some don't, and all require a rather substantial outlay of both time and money. Random Web browsing has it merits, however, as I discovered that FN Hi-Powers in .40 S&W share a rather curious similarity with the Argentine-made FM M90 Hi-Powers in 9mm. One of the changes that FN made when they adapted the 9mm H-P to the .40 S&W cartridge was to beef up the ejector by making it wider than the 9mm version. FM, meanwhile, had built a licensed copy of the Belgian Hi-Power for twenty years, but when that agreement ran out, the Argentines produced a redesigned version they callled the M90, which, for whatever reason, had the thicker ejector blade of the Browning forty Hi-Power. What this means is that you can swap FM M90 slides in 9mm onto the FN Hi-Power frame in .40S&W. I am lucky enough to also own an FM M90in 9mm, so I made the swap.
In short, IT WORKS! I loaded seven magazines with 100 rounds of Federal Champion 115 grain FMJ ammo, then installed the 9mm M90 slide on my forty FN Hi-Power frame using the original .40 SFS slidestop. The gun fed, fired, extracted, and ejected all 100 rounds of 9mm ball with no malfunctions of any kind. It was comfortable to shoot, accurate and reliable, and it was easy to take down and clean since I no longer had to wrestle with the stiff recoil spring of the forty H-P. And, since I already had the FM M90 in my collection, this was a cheap and effective conversion. So, if you have a forty Hi-Power that you wish was a nine, you might take a look at the idea of swapping a FM M90 slide assembly onto your gun. It works for me!
Like many of those who have a Hi-Power in both 9mm and .40 S&W, I have found that I prefer the nine. So much so, in fact, that within a few weeks of getting my forty H-P (w/SFS), I began looking into the idea of getting a 9mm conversion barrel for it. But from what I've read, some work, some don't, and all require a rather substantial outlay of both time and money. Random Web browsing has it merits, however, as I discovered that FN Hi-Powers in .40 S&W share a rather curious similarity with the Argentine-made FM M90 Hi-Powers in 9mm. One of the changes that FN made when they adapted the 9mm H-P to the .40 S&W cartridge was to beef up the ejector by making it wider than the 9mm version. FM, meanwhile, had built a licensed copy of the Belgian Hi-Power for twenty years, but when that agreement ran out, the Argentines produced a redesigned version they callled the M90, which, for whatever reason, had the thicker ejector blade of the Browning forty Hi-Power. What this means is that you can swap FM M90 slides in 9mm onto the FN Hi-Power frame in .40S&W. I am lucky enough to also own an FM M90in 9mm, so I made the swap.
In short, IT WORKS! I loaded seven magazines with 100 rounds of Federal Champion 115 grain FMJ ammo, then installed the 9mm M90 slide on my forty FN Hi-Power frame using the original .40 SFS slidestop. The gun fed, fired, extracted, and ejected all 100 rounds of 9mm ball with no malfunctions of any kind. It was comfortable to shoot, accurate and reliable, and it was easy to take down and clean since I no longer had to wrestle with the stiff recoil spring of the forty H-P. And, since I already had the FM M90 in my collection, this was a cheap and effective conversion. So, if you have a forty Hi-Power that you wish was a nine, you might take a look at the idea of swapping a FM M90 slide assembly onto your gun. It works for me!
