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Thread: FNH FNS9 Two Weeks and 2,265 rounds

  1. #1

    FNH FNS9 Two Weeks and 2,265 rounds

    I picked up an FNS 9mm almost two weeks ago. As some of you know, I had started shooting a carrying a G19 for a while because of classes I was teaching to Glock Agencies. A friend of mind suggested that I take a look at the FNS9 as it would be comparable to a G19 but with a manual safety, which makes it a little more AIWB friendly.

    I got an all black, 4 inch version with night sights and manual safety. They make the gun without the safety for those that are so inclined.

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    First range trip was just to check the zero and see where the sights hit. I have to say that I was very impressed with the accuracy of the gun as well as the point of impact. The sights were not only dead on, the gun shot a 2" group at 20 yards with no sweat. It also had no issue digesting my carry ammo along with a few hundred more rounds of my full power reloads.

    Recoil impulse is on par with a G19, maybe just a hair snappier. I would say that is due to what feels like a very heavy recoil spring. I would guess that it is quite a bit more recoil spring that it needs to be, but then I would expect that it has been calibrated to run with full power +p+ loads like WCC NATO 9mm. I am considering playing around with the recoil spring weight a little to see how that impacts recoil impulse. I did not want to do that until I had finished the 2000 round test.

    The trigger has quite a different feel to it that other striker fired guns I have used. From inspection it appears that the pre travel in the trigger is moving the striker the whole time and then the trigger seem to come to a very noticeable break point. So more striker movement than a Glock for sure. The M&P and the XD are both basically fully cocked striker systems, so no comparison there at all. The interesting thing is that the reset on the trigger is fairly short for a stock striker fired gun even though it has all that pre travel in the trigger. Basically the sear cocks the striker and then rotates down to release the striker at the end of the trigger pull. When the gun fires and the slide cycles, the sear pops back up very much like an M&P, except that it moves back and forth with the trigger bar system. It is a very interesting trigger system and a different approach for sure. It gives a nice prep point if you will, but then has a rolling break, a very unique feel for sure.

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    The mag well on the gun is almost like a competition gun and one of the fastest reloading guns I have ever used. I was able to do some sub 1 second reloads with this gun and that is something that has been very elusive for me with other guns.

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    The mag button was also very easy for me to use and with my large hands I did not have to change my grip at all to drop a magazine. It is a push button type and fully ambidextrous, so one could chose to use the thumb or trigger finger without switching anything.

    The slide stop is also ambidextrous, but it is clear that they designed it as a slide lock and not a slide release. While I was able to use it as a slide release for emergency reloads, it is harder than most guns that I have been using and I could see that some may really have and issue here. If you are a person that manually releases the slide by racking it, then no issues here at all.

    The night sights that come with the gun are not bad at all. FN was smart enough to only put the white ring on the front sight and leave the rear sight with just plain inserts. This worked quite well for me as I was able to paint the white ring orange, like I do on almost all of my guns, and have a sight picture that I am fairly used to.

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    The rear sight is a U notch configuration and I do like that. As I said, for stock sights they are pretty darn good.
    Now, they did put serrations on the rear sight and left the front sight plain, I would switch that around for sure. The other issue I have is the rear sight is a sloped design, think Novak's, so using the rear sight to clear malfunctions is not a good option. Given the heavy recoil spring, doing one handed malfunction drills is a challenge I can assure you.

    More in the next post.
    Last edited by LangdonTactical; 03-03-2014 at 05:45 PM.
    www.langdontactical.com
    Bellator,Doctus,Armatus

  2. #2
    The grip texture is on the rough side for sure. Someone told me it is like that to pass the bloody glove test. Knowing how slippery blood is, I can see that logic. I did have to take some sand paper to the left panel area right where my strong hand finger tips contacted that side of the gun. On the second range outing, those little texture bumps were starting to get the best of me. After rounding them down a little, I have had no issues since.

    On the grip texture issue. It is not just FN, but all gun companies seem to not texture the most important part of the grip for me. Right under the slide stop and below the safety area where my left palm drives against the gun. Why do they all think that needs to be smooth? That is one of the places that I want the most texture on a gun.

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    They all don't want to run the texture up to where I want it! But that is why they make skate board tape and wood burning/soldering guns

    I also had to grind the back corners of the slide, which I have to do to almost every gun I own. So that is nothing new. I grip the gun as high as I can, and after the first range session the rear cocking serrations at the bottom of the slide were leaving a nice cut right across the knuckle of my right thumb. I have had to get sewn up there before and Gocks without bevertails do me in every time.

    Now I feel like I keep pointing to things I don't like. Well I can do that with every gun ever made. Let's talk about all the stuff they did right.

    Accuracy! This thing is a tack driver. One of the most if not the most accurate striker fired guns I have ever shot. The lock up on the gun is rock solid and it shows when you're shooting it. It does not have the tell tale sign of the slide moving on the gun when the striker releases. Striker fired guns have the issue of the recoil spring trying to hold the gun in battery while the trigger movement is pushing on the striker in the other direction. In the case of the FNS, this thing seems to be rock solid.

    The internals of the gun look really well made. They are using stamped steel parts like other companies, but it all looks and feels to be really solid and much thicker. The trigger bow/bar is double sided. Kind of like a CZ or say a 1911. It comes around both sides of the magazine to push the sear unit to the rear. It appears to be a really solid set up.

    Front cocking serrations. I am a fan of front cocking serrations on a handgun. I don't care if it is a 4" gun, or even less. I like them and it gives me options for manipulating the slide.

    Trigger guard. They did a good job here. I don't feel the need to take a grinder to the trigger guard where my strong hand middle finger goes. Factory Glocks just cause me all kind of issues there. In fact almost every gun on the market could use some rounding in that spot, some more than others for me.

    Safety lever. I was very surprised at how well it works. It is very small, but when I started training with this gun, I decided that it was best that I practice with the safety on most of the time so that I get used to taking it off safe during the draw stroke. I did not want to have the issue of having left it on safe and or it inadvertently getting placed on safe while carrying it. That could be really bad and wanted to make sure I was taking it off safe or at least going through the motions of taking it off safe. It was surprisingly easy to take off safe quickly as a natural part of the process. Since I have spent quite a bit of time shooting a 1911, it was not a hard adjustment at all.

    Magazines seem to be very solid and well made. No issue here at all and I have been working with the three that come with the gun. I guess I am going to have to break down and go get some more. I have an issue with magazines, if I don't have at least 10 for the gun, I don't really have that gun.

    Holsters. I had heard that the FNS would work in and M&P holster. Well I find that is kind of true. It works in some M&P holsters and it works in some Glock 19 holsters, but it really comes down to how the holster is made. I spent most of the time I carried the gun using my JM Custom AIWB for a Glock 17. Was it a perfect fit, no. Did it hold the gun well, conceal it well, safely, while giving me very fast AIWB draws,, YES. I also found the FNS would fit in a Galco holster I had for a G19 as well as one or two of my Safariland holsters for the M&P (it did not fit in Safariland Glock holsters by the way). I did not want to buy a holster when I got the gun as someone was good to me and talked me into pre ordering an In-Victus as soon as I started down this path. A buddy of mine pulled some strings and Mark Garrity got the holster made for me and it arrived ahead of when I thought it would be here. I know some here have had issues with his delivery times and the like from Mark. I have heard he is back on schedule and meeting delivery times these days. What I will say is that he delivered a great product.

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    When I first got the holster and put the gun in it, it looked as though it was not going to work well. The barrel area of the holster looked really short and I thought for sure I was going to have roll over issues with the short 4" barrel and the full size grip loaded with 17 rounds. Boy was I wrong. I don't know how he does it, but it really tucks in well. And it is super comfy. I have been wearing it almost not stop for 4 days and I really am impressed. It is also pretty damn fast. I did have it made for a FNS40 just in case I had to go down that road. The FNS40 has a wider slide at the top and so the 9mm fits just a little looser in the holster. It holds it fine as the rest of the gun is the same, but it lets it go very nicely and I have no issue getting good draw times with this holster.

    All in all I have to say that I am quite impressed with the FNS. This is a real contender in the Striker Fired market and it will be interesting to see how well they do. I did hear that Baltimore PD went to FNS 40 5inch guns. So they must be doing something right.

    Hope you all like the review.

    Ernest Langdon
    Last edited by LangdonTactical; 03-03-2014 at 07:08 PM.
    www.langdontactical.com
    Bellator,Doctus,Armatus

  3. #3
    Hokey / Ancient JAD's Avatar
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    Really well done, and tempting. Were you able to ride the safety, or do you just wipe it? Were you able to reapply it when dismounting the gun, or only when holstering?
    Ignore Alien Orders

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by JAD View Post
    Really well done, and tempting. Were you able to ride the safety, or do you just wipe it? Were you able to reapply it when dismounting the gun, or only when holstering?
    I would not say that I was able to or even tried to "ride" the safety like you would on say a 1911 with a nice ledge to put my thumb on. I basically swiped it off when I drew and swiped it back on when I went to holster. I feel like I would treat this gun like it was a striker fired gun that did not have a safety, except for the holster and draw part. At least that is what I am doing right now. I may have to think that one through a little more?
    www.langdontactical.com
    Bellator,Doctus,Armatus

  5. #5
    Site Supporter JSGlock34's Avatar
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    Thanks for the review; very informative. Look forward to your 2014 class schedule as well!
    "When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."

  6. #6
    Site Supporter Trukinjp13's Avatar
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    Awesome review! Have the same one! Switched from a g19, never looking back. The fns just feels so nice in my hand. Never could warm up to the g19. Also since my shield I liked having the safety model. This way both my striker fired guns are set up pretty close.

  7. #7
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    Thanks for the informative review!

    Quote Originally Posted by LangdonTactical View Post
    On the grip texture issue. It is not just FN, but all gun companies seem to not texture the most important part of the grip for me. Right under the slide stop and below the safety area where my left palm drives against the gun. Why to they all think that needs to be smooth? That is one of the places that I want the most texture on a gun.
    This is one of the reasons my modern HK pistols stay in the safe, my cold performance with them is abysmal due to the recessed area under the slide stop that lacks texture.

  8. #8
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    Awesome review, thanks. I admit, I've never considered an FNS before - but that's changed.

  9. #9
    How do you assess the shootability of the FNS compared to the P30 and Beretta 92? Did they get rid of that problem, reported early one, where the gun could be tied up with an odd set, exactly what I have forgotten, of manipulations?
    Last edited by GJM; 03-03-2014 at 08:01 AM. Reason: Spell better
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  10. #10
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=AicVIt_PNLQ

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    GJM - I *think* it was fixed on new guns, but old guns were not recalled/updated.

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