FNS-9

[Slater]

FN discontinued the FNS series a couple years ago at least. So apparently it wasn't that great of a success for them.

[GNXII]

I loved my FNP 45 when it came out & put my money where my mouth was and bought one. I bought it along with 9 or 10 mags and a shit pot full of ammo, I was all in! It worked very well for a period of time then dead trigger issues and some other reliability problems occurred. Back to FN USA so they could check it out. Came back with a clean bill of health, ready to rock. 6 mags of Federal 230gr FMJ later and same issues came back. I sold it with full disclosure to a friend who uses as a range toy when he couldn’t get it to work reliably either. A guy at our range posted up an FNS9 and FNS40 along with mags and holsters. The price was right so I picked them both up in a package deal. Early on I had some magazine issues with both guns and after a lot of searching I found replacement mags and also picked up some extras for them. They were ho hum guns they didn’t really strike a chord with me in terms of better ergonomics or reliability/accuracy nor was there a lot of aftermarket or even factory support for them. A few months before the “big panic gun run” a buddy got his CCW but was really hurting in the gun department with only a five shot Rossi revolver. He was by no means un armed with that he did want something else but really just couldn’t afford anything at the time so I offered to sell him the FNS9.He still has it but now has a Gen 5 17 & 19 MOS. The FNS40 was given to my cousin as he had received his CCW and had a house fire that same week, talk about bad luck! Everyone was ok thank god but his Ruger American was not. So he got the FNS40. Nowadays he has his Sig 365 but wants to give me back the FNS40.Maybe I’ll get the slide milled for a red dot or just keep it as is in case someone I know needs something to get them by.

[jnc36rcpd]

My former agency carried the FNS-9 for several years. We were one of four departments that adopted the FNS. The others were Hillsborough County SO, Baltimore County PD, and Arizona DPS. All these agencies now issue Glocks.

The pistols proved unreliable with weapon-mounted lights. Double feeds were common. To their credit, FN America took the issue seriously, eventually replacing barrels and magazines. This corrected the issue,

The magazine release was problematic. It could easily release a magazine if the officer was tight against a wall or chair. The release could be replaced with a low profile release as used on the compact FNS, but this wasn't the easiest to manipulate. While some investigators liked the FNS Compact, I found I had to place it on a table to get purchase on the magazine release.

I had the one post of my night sights die on me, though that really wasn't FN's fault.

The "uncommanded discharge" of a holstered FNS in Baltimore County did not inspire confidence. This was on security video and the officer did not touch his pistol. I believe this was later attributed to a cord having entered the holster. Again, not FN's fault.

After retirement, I learned that the agency experienced broken frames and one "uncommanded discharge" which may have been a press check gone awry. I don't believe the officer was disciplined (in an agency where the chief enjoys disciplining people) so I suspect this was attributed to the weapon rather than user error.

We probably had range scores improve among many shooters when we went to the FNS-9. Our previous pistols were .40 DA/SA SIG 226's and 239's so that may have occurred with many other striker-fired systems. The pistols were lighter and more compact than the 226's and everyone liked an eighteen round capacity over that of the .40 226 and 239. They were also more ambidextrous than the SIG.

I did not consider purchasing an FNS after retiring from that agency.

[Slater]

The FNS had at least one "service bulletin":

https://fnamerica.com/customer-suppo...vice-bulletin/