I hit the range with my 9mm FNS today.
I like the ergonomics and the design, it seems well made just like you would expect.
I intended to shoot 300 rounds but I had to cut the testing off at 100 rounds.
No malfunctions at all and accuracy seemed fine, certainly on par with my Glocks and M&Ps
The pistol seems way over sprung as 124gr. ball at 1200fps only ejected 4-6 inches.
The 17 round mags are a bear to load. I could only get 12 rounds in the mag without a mag loader
The grip frame is very coarsely embossed, to the point that I had to stop shooting as it was blistering my hand. I have never had that happen before.
Before the next range trip the grip is getting sanded.
I am going to attempt to replace the recoil and mag springs. There is no sense in them being that heavy.
Can you compare the trigger to a Glock’s in particular rest distance. Also does it sit as low in the hand as a Glock or is it higher up like a PPQ? This seems like an interesting pistol.
Pat
The trigger is 7.5 pounds more like a M&P than a Glock
Bore axis is very low
Recoil is straight back with little muzzle rise
Here’s my take on this pistol. You all may not agree, but here goes. The trigger is not Glock-like. It is much heavier unless you are using a Glock NY trigger. The trigger’s reset is also much weaker going back forward than a Glock’s. It sort of feels like it’s weakly flowing forward if that makes sense. Once it does reset however, it is crisp and positive much like a Glock. I do like this.
This pistol has more felt recoil than a Glock 17 in my opinion. The texture is relatively aggressive. My hands weren’t rubbed raw, but I definitely could feel it after 200 rounds. This isn’t a big deal in my opinion. The gun definitely feels thicker than a Glock, and the webbing of my hand didn’t feel all that comfortable at the end of shooting…kind of felt like holding a block.
The gun points very well and naturally…like a 1911. I used the straight backstrap. The axis of the boreline is low which is good. The stock sights are ok…night sights with a larger dot on the front sight. Can’t complain for a stock gun.
The barrel seems a bit thin, as with the FNP and FNX 9mm pistols, but I don’t really see it as a problem. I never shot it from a rest, but did shoot it off hand at 25 yards at 5.5" bulls. The gun shot pretty well…grouping about the same as a Glock 17…at least for me. I do sense that more accuracy can be extracted from the FNS though since it was the first time I shot it, and I really did not like the heavy trigger. Nonetheless 10 round groups at 25 yds came in about 3-4" or so with a flier. I am pretty sure the gun can probably do better and that it’s mainly shooter error.
The gun feels very high quality overall…at least that’s my subjective feeling. I think I like it slightly better than the M&P and less than the Glock. Although it’s a good gun, I don’t see this pistol converting masses away from the Glock or M&P. It’s just another option out there. Oh yeah…reliability. Only 200 rounds so there’s not much data, but I didn’t have any problems whatsoever. Everything fire, extracted, and ejected fine.
In short,
Pros: low axis of boreline, decent sights, accurate, positive reset, aggressive texturing, good pointability
Cons: heavy trigger, weird weak resetting when trigger going forward, thicker feeling grip
This is just my take on the new pistol. YMMV
BTW: I completely ignored the thumb safety. It’s just not needed on a striker fired gun.
I polished the sear last night on the FNS and now it has a more manageable 5 3/4lb. trigger pull
Well! This contradicts what the bloggers have to say. They seem to be united in the impression that the trigger is better than a Glock, and that it is slimmer to boot!
The frame feel is subjective I guess, but maybe you should try dryfiring other FNS’es at the shop to make sure you didn’t have bad luck with yours?
I got mine as one of the newest ones to hit the market so I ordered it online, but I can pretty much guarantee you that everyone I’ve talked to feels that the trigger is heavier than a Glock’s. Overall, most everyone who has fired the pistol that I’ve spoken with agrees with me with regard to both the trigger and grip. It just feels very very squarish. It’s not a big deal, but you certainly certainly notice it after a longer range session. I can definitely see how it could become uncomfortable after a pistol class requiring 1000s of rounds.
With regard to the trigger, the reset is a very positive click just like a Glock’s but the force of the trigger moving back forward feels very weak…just something that I’m sure one will have to get used to. If this gun had a lighter trigger (which I’m sure it can be tuned), I could see it offering something more than a Glock or M&P does.
With the 9mm M&P having accuracy issues and the Gen4 Glock problems (and later Gen3), the market could certainly welcome a new competitor. Like I said earlier, subjectively I could feel that the accuracy potential of this pistol is pretty darn good…definitely better than the M&P’s that have accuracy issues. Nonetheless, IMHO I do not see FN taking a huge share of the LEO market away from Glock and S&W. I’m guessing it’ll wind up as a Walther PPQ…one of the newer guns with good things about it, but probably won’t get as ubiquitous as the Glock or S&W. It’s sort of like getting a SCAR in terms of carbines…a few neat things and interesting features, but has drawbacks and doesn’t really offer much over a good M4. Only time will tell.
Hm, alright. People gush so much about this gun I’m kinda won over already. 
I really want to give one a try before I sell my soul to Glock.
I’m concerned about magazine prices, people say they’re high.
He the guys at my local gunstore has an FNP-45 Tactical. I like how it fits in my hand, but I can see how it could cause some blistering after prolonged shooting. I’m interested in knowing how it goes once you’ve sanded it down a bit.
There is no such beast (for now) as an FNS-45. You probably saw an FNP-45 which is DA/SA.
Thank you for the mini-review.
I am very patently waiting mine to come in. A few guys I shoot with went to shot and test drove the FNS9, saying it is VERY nice and well worth a shot to see if it will replace the glock 19/17 everyone carries/trains with. The only complaint they all had was the long-distance travel of the trigger.
That’s what it was. My bad. I couldn’t tell on the product page, just went by look, and ran with it.
I hear that Dave Sevigny will be shooting the new striker fired FNH variant. You should get that version and then compare it to the glock or M&P. It looks very similar to the M&P.
That’s what the FNS is.
He the guys at my local gunstore has an FNS-45 Tactical.
No, they don’t. If they do then FN would very much like to know about it as they haven’t made one.
Just got mine in, took it apart, cleaned it real nice and going to run 500rnds through it tomorrow morning.
The gun is VERY similar to the M&P and Glock. The ambi-features are awesome and the gun feels great in my hand.
I have read complaints online about the trigger, dry-firing the gun the trigger felt like the butter that is my 3.5lb Glock trigger, even though I know its more lb than that.
Will post report tomorrow.
Looking forward to your range report, this is definitely on my short list of guns that I want.
Yes, please keep us updated. I am also taking a hard look at this pistol.
Strange
Not going to start another thread, even though I probably should, one is enough.
Reason for purchase:
I bought the FNS-9 specifically because I had an FNP-45 Tactical and it is a great gun, the only complaint was the external hammer (my opinion). This gun “bridges” the gap between the external hammer FN pistols and what I carry off duty currently, G4 G19.
Out of the box observations:
When I first took it out of the box and did some dry fire I could quickly see why the gun is going to be very popular. Very comfortable grip, follows my natural line of sight to the target. The trigger was crisp, but the reset length (compared to my G19) was instantly noticeable.
At the range, first 50 rounds:
I wanted to figure out how this gun shoots before I started with any type of serious drills with it, I shot my G19 right next to it to be able to see the difference between the two. My instant observation was that you needed to be on the bottom half of the trigger. The gun has a trigger “safety” like the Glock does, but it cannot be defeated by only pulling the top of the trigger (like I do with my G19 - finger is usually at the top of the trigger, makes for a cleaner pull). You can see by these pictures what I am talking about. The top of the trigger will not move until the bottom is engaged.
Once I got to shooting a few rounds I quickly understood the trigger reset was going to be annoying. (Since my G19 has a much shorter reset) Once you fire off the round you almost have to let the trigger go 3/4 of the way back for it to re-engage. Unlike on the Glock where the distance is probably half that, if not more. The trigger itself is nice, but getting to know the “sweet spot” will take a lot more shooting.
Sights:
As you can see this FNS-9 came with Trijicon night sights. Pretty much same sights I have on my duty gun (G21) so it was easy to use. The biggest and most obvious difference between the G19 is the way you use the sights. With the G19 the sights align, equal height, equal light and you hit right on the top of the sight (like slicing a target in half). With the FNS-9 you have to aim dead center of the circle. I was hotting all low at first, and I wondered why, because I was aiming it like a Glock. I raised my sights and magic! Tight groups all the way out to 25y (once I got the trigger pull down).
Physical comparison to the G19:
I put the thinner back-plate on the FNS-9 and it was still slightly less comfortable than the G19. (Maybe I am just too used to shooting the Glocks?) They are about the same size with the FNS9 being slightly thinner profile and more capacity (17+1). Obvious differences include the ambidextrous controls on the FNS-9 and “ease of use” of those controls. The FNS-9 has big robust controls and it can be manipulated one handed, either hand without issue. I did a string of fire, loading and reloading, other strong hand and it was very easy - even engaging the safety.
Safety:
It is very easy to engage and disengage. Part of your natural draw stroke (getting a master grip) is you placing your thumb right by the safety so a few reps of it and no issue at all disengaging or re-engaging the safety, with either hand. The “red” of the safety off position is pretty easy to see. This gun has a two part “safety” system concerning the “red” color.
Look at the extractor, you will see a hint of “red” which means the gun is loaded. (With a snap cap for picture purposes) A little added feature you do not normally see (on Glocks anyway).
Capacity:
The FNS-9 came with 3 17rnd metallic magazines with a flat end plate. They load easy, drop free without issue and clean easy. The gun felt about the same as my G19 (with trl1-s + 15+1rnds). I do not know if I was just unaccustomed to it or what, I did not have a digital scale to actually see the difference (maybe a different day).
Internals:
As you can see by the pictures the internals greatly mimic the Glock and M&P pistols. The gun comes apart the same as a Glock for the most part (I am a Glock armorer, so I did not just butcher the gun trying to take it apart). Easy to clean on the inside, one part that stood out to me right away was the rear slide attachment points on the lower half. In the first picture you can see the ejector pin and it looks like it is connected to the entire rear slide attachment point.
Ammo?
Absolutely ZERO issues, malfunctions or otherwise. I fired 147gr federal’s, WPA/Wolf 9mm, even shot some RUAG Ammotec zinc 9mm’s through it. No issues. The 147gr federal’s performed the best out of the group (better than the critical defense) since I had the tightest groups at 15y, the RUAG junk was all over the place, especially at 25y.
Overall impressions:
Pros:
Capacity
Size
Natural aim
Cons:
Trigger
Sights (sorta)
Parts?
At the end of my quick trip to the range I decided to do some double/triple taps with it, since my G19 is fairly easy to use in this regard. This FNS-9 needs getting used to. The trigger is just so damn long on the reset I found myself engaging the trigger before it fully reset. While this is not a “bad” thing per say, it is definitely a training issue which will correct itself through more shooting. I will not modify the gun as of yet, unless someone releases some sort of “shorter trigger pull/reset” for it (which is doubtful).
My recommendation is if you want a very nice range gun this should be high on your list. Very fun to shoot and something that offers a different type of shooting than your standard Glock or 1911. I will probably take this gun to a training class or two for pistol work and see how it holds up (later in the summer). I will however not be carrying this gun off-duty, the trigger does not give me the confidence I have in my G19 and the sights need to be changed or I need to train myself to get used to them.
If I missed anything just post and I will answer.