The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the author’s modified Hi Power enabled him to hit pop-up targets out to 300 yards.

The first thing you notice about the .40 is that the slide is thicker. FN had to make it heavier to tame the recoil of .40 S&W ammo, and it had to install a heavier recoil spring for the same reason. It is possible to fit a 9mm barrel to the .40 Hi Power and have a dual-caliber pistol--or a 9mm that will withstand the hottest loads--but only Bar-Sto makes such barrels, which sell for $200.

Why isn’t this option more popular? Because a hot 9mm +P+ load in a .40 Hi Power feels like a .40 Hi Power. So why bother? If you want a standard 9mm, modern, high-quality pistols can handle 9mm and 9mm +P ammo without problem.

One problem that many of us have faced, me in particular, is that the Hi Power was designed for a different era. Back when the design was being finalized, shooters shot one-handed and folded their shooting thumb down. Hammer bite was not a problem back then.

Today, with two-handed shooting and a high thumb hold, it can get interesting. For me it can get messy. An unmodified Hi Power will bite the web of my hand so severely that I’ll bleed before the magazine is done. Ted solves that problem by modifying the hammer.

No more bite.

He also adds his own larger thumb safety. The original thumb safety is about as large as a parking brake in a compact car and often easy to miss. With the Yost thumb safety you can treat the Hi Power like a 1911 and be sure of hitting the safety on the draw.

The Hi Power can have a heavy trigger because of the trigger linkage used to accommodate the hi-cap magazine. Ted’s triggers range from four to five pounds pull weight, and this one came through on the low end of that range and is perhaps the nicest Hi Power trigger I’ve ever felt.

Ted “lifted” the frontstrap, for a higher hold, and then did his sharkskin stippling front and rear.

Up top, the slide has been flattened just enough to accept 50 lpi serrations, leading your eye from the Yost-Bonitz rear to the ramped front with a gold inlay line down the middle.

The rear sight at first appears to be blocky, not as sleek as other designs. It’s that way for a reason. In the training circles I’m in, we’ve recently been using alternate slide-racking methods. If we need to do a one-handed slide actuation, we can do it on a belt, holster or other common object--but only if the rear sight allows it. The abrupt front face of the Yost-Bonitz rear sight gives you purchase on the holster for one-handed manipulations. Elsewhere the Yost SRT has the edges broken so you won’t tear your hands up just from handling and shooting it.

One thing Ted hasn’t changed are the magazines, but he doesn’t need to because Hi Power magazines (at least the good ones) have a reputation for reliable function. The .40 S&W was unveiled just before the assault weapons ban, and by the time FN and Browning had the .40 Hi Power ready, 10-round magazines were the legal limit. So FN added a novel feature: an ejector spring.

In the bottom of the magazine is a mousetrap-type spring that presses against the frame. The spring is so stout that if you have an empty magazine in the pistol and turn it upside down, the spring will hurl the magazine clear of the frame. With the .40 Hi Power you never need worry about getting an empty magazine out. Knowing Ted, he could probably remove that and rebuild the magazine to gain you a round or two, but what for?