New Addition: FNH FNS-9

[BrigandTwoFour]

Just brought this home today. I won't get it out to the range until this weekend, maybe.

I've been agonizing over a striker fired 9mm for six months. It came down to the Walther PPQ or this. The pistol is more for my wife than me (heh, we all know how that actually works), so I ultimately chose to take the route of easier recoil impulse and control familiarity. She already handles my Beretta 92A1 and 1911, and understands the control layout for the magazine release, the FNS operates the same way (though totally ambidextrous). The FNS reportedly has much less muzzle flip than the PPQ, though I suspect that that flip would easily controllable.

I handled a PPQ in .40 a few weeks back, I liked the trigger and reset a lot. I still don't care for the little Glock-like trigger safety, though. The FNS's trigger seems pretty good. Not as good as the PPQ, but much better than a factory M&P or Glock. There is a little bit of grit on the initial take up, but a smooth easily predictable break. I suspect that the grittiness will smooth out after a thousand rounds or so.

It came with Trijicon night sights already installed, so that's a bonus.

I watched a thread on FN Forum where they did the 2000 round challenge successfully on the FNS, no failures or stoppages reported up through 2050 rounds (and counting).

I will have more to say after getting it to the range. I plan on using it for my weekly drill and competition.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

I'll be interested to hear updates. I'm a big M&P guy but an FN striker gun is interesting to say the least. I use their SLP MK1 as my 3-gun shotgun and I have no complaints. Keep us up to date!!

[djegators]

I was going to post my own review this evening, but no sense in starting another thread. I picked up the exact same pistol as you this past weekend at a gun show. I had considering one of these for a while, but when I was able to secure an irresistible deal, it had to come home with me. Fondling it over the weekend, I was quite pleased, and eager to shoot it. Spent time at the range today, with the FNS, an FDE G17, G19, G26, and HK P30L. I will say nothing I have shoots like the HK, and I feel quite confident in carrying the G19 and G26. The FDE G17 appears like it may be an erratic ejection victim. The FNS however was very impressive so far.

Here are my initial thoughts:

* The grip is very "grippy." I like this feature, and have no worries about slippage. Might be a little rough for someone with sensitive hands. I would say the size is similar to the 19, but not having the finger grooves is an improvement. The grip angle is nice, and felt easy to point.

* Mags and mag release. I like the 17 rd capacity, and find them very easy to load. The mag release is easy to reach, and the mags jump out quite strongly. The magwell is also nicely beveled, and easy to load.

* Controls. All the controls are ambidextrous, and at least for my larger hands are easy to reach. I did not use the safety, and would prefer not to have one, but it seems small enough that it will stay out the way.

* The trijicon sights are pretty decent, and I have them on at least one other pistol, so I am somewhat familiar. I did tend to shoot low mostly, so I think the sight alignment requires the target to be behind the front dot, not on top of it. I was able to group nicely for my first time shooting it, overall better than of the Glocks, and I feel my accuracy will improve with more rounds down range.

* The fit and finish are quite nice, and the slide was not hard to pull back, yet still felt firm. The trigger was similar to a Glock, maybe a tad lighter in my opinion, but the reset is longer. I expect the trigger to become more crisp as it breaks in.


Overall I am very impressed and happy with my purchase. I expect it shoot even better for me as I get more used to it, and it smooths out over time. Very nice, well built, well designed pistol in my opinion, and I would not hesitate to recommend.

[Cosmo M3]

I did the 2000 round challenge review on the FN forum.

I really love the FNS

[BrigandTwoFour]

I did the 2000 round challenge review on the FN forum.

I really love the FNS

Has the trigger smoothed out much since you've been shooting it? It already feels like a decent trigger to me, just a little uneven friction on the take up.

I look forward to putting the FNS through its paces.

[Cosmo M3]

Has the trigger smoothed out much since you've been shooting it? It already feels like a decent trigger to me, just a little uneven friction on the take up.

I look forward to putting the FNS through its paces.

The trigger does smooth out with a clean break

[HaydenB]

Looking forward to the updates. You should think about doing the 2000 round challenge with your new toy.

[BrigandTwoFour]

Took the FNS out to the range today and put 200 rounds through it. Thought I'd post an update.

100 rounds of 115gr Federal Champion, and 100 rounds of 115gr WWB. No malfunctions, stoppages, or anything of the sort. I would expect as much.

The only other pistol I have to compare it to is my Beretta 92A1, which is a different shooting experience- and one I've become very very familiar with.

First things first, the FNS is clearly showing it self as a combat pistol. The slightly gritty initial take up before hitting the wall never factored into my shooting. I'm not shooting for groups, and much prefer drills. In that regard, I love this trigger. I found it to be just as good for me as my Beretta on single action. The reset, while a bit long, never presented a problem for me.

Accuracy is good. It took me a bit of adjustment to switch from the sight picture I've been used to forever (where the target sits just on top of the front sight) to one where the target is behind the big white dot of the front sight- apparently that is the European method. Once I got used to that, chewing out the bullseye offhand at 10 yards was a simple affair.

The recoil is negligible. It's not as smooth as my Beretta, but given the size and weight of the 92 compared to the cartridge, not much will compare. The recoil is straight back and very very controllable.

The grip can definitely chew your hand up under extended firing. I found that installing the narrow backstrap helped quite a bit. I would imagine that wearing gloves would provide outstanding traction.

The gun gets hot. I was surprised by how quickly it heated up. It's not an issue when in the firing position, as my hand rests on the polymer. But if I extend my trigger finger out in the ready position, it rests on the opposite side of the metal takedown lever, and gets very warm. I have heard of others having the same issue with the slide stop and their thumbs when shooting in the thumbs forward position.

The safety is interesting. It's large enough to be able to disengage when aiming, but small enough to be difficult to re-engage. I suppose the prevailing idea is that you need to be quick to get off safety, and will only put it back on safe after the threats are gone. It's counter to how I train with the carbine, but its workable. I imagine many would just leave the safety off all the time, as the trigger safety and "two stage" trigger would provide the same or better safety than a Glock.

That's about it so far. I'm not going to clean it and see what happens. My initial cleaning the night I got it consisted of a wipe down with Slip 2000 and application of XF-7 grease to the slide. I do this to all my pistols, seems to work great so far.

[HaydenB]

How was the ejection?

[BrigandTwoFour]

As is typical of new FNs (at least in my experience) the initial ejections came very close to my head (but didn't have any actually hit). By the end of the shooting session, there was a nice pile of 9mm brass forming about 4 feet to my 5 o'clock.