no.Are they particularly fragile or finicky
while not as durable as a 9mm 1911, they will last for a long time if not abused (say with thousands of rounds of SMG ammo like the SAS has been known to do in the past).
As for finicky, I've found mine to be extremely reliable; I used to shoot IPSC (USPSA) with one. I'm a big fan of the hipower (in case you couldn't tell). I sold my G26 when I realized the hipower was actually easier to conceal with its narrower, round slide.
Steve has an excellent site on the hipower and is quite an expert on the design, though he is too humble to admit it:
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is also a good site:
http://hipowertalk.com/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;