FN Magwells Overly Flexible

One of two things is happening here: either this guy has an incredibly defective gun, or he's using a cheap airsoft or bb gun to get attention and get views on his youtube videos. I suspect the latter, because his dialogue is very inconsistent ("haven't even shot this FN today" ... "noticed the issue when mags wouldn't drop free") and, well, a defect of this level is about on par with discovering that the steel and aluminum chassis of your car was actually made from plaster and papier-mache.

This google search will show you discussions about magwell flex within the last week. All of them are this video popping up on different gun sites. In basically every topic several people immediately put their FNs out in the 100 degree sun to see what happens, and report a bit of flex but only a small fraction of what the video shows.
 
One of two things is happening here: either this guy has an incredibly defective gun, or he's using a cheap airsoft or bb gun to get attention and get views on his youtube videos. I suspect the latter, because his dialogue is very inconsistent ("haven't even shot this FN today" ... "noticed the issue when mags wouldn't drop free")
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Highly doubt that it's an airsoft gun, and based off of all the instances of FN's with soft polymer frames I dug up due to the naysayers I doubt it even more. Also just because he hadn't shot it that day, doesn't mean he wasn't having problems with mags dropping free on prior outings with it. The video was posted on the FNH USA facebook page, and while they responded and hit the like button on a bunch of posts below and above it, they refuse to acknowledge the video and respond to it. If this was actually an Airsoft gun and not one of theirs, you better believe they would have discredited the video and claimed that it was not a real FNX. Not that it means much but the guy in the video is Dustin Ellermann who won Top Shot season 3 and is a director at a Christian youth camp. If you watched the show he's a pretty good dude, very humble and doesn't seem like the dishonest type.
 
The video was posted on the FNH USA facebook page, and while they responded and hit the like button on a bunch of posts below and above it, they refuse to acknowledge the video and respond to it.
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That's pretty standard fare. When you answer the negative posts it gives them attention and credibility. To your own point though it's also a good way to make a complaint die away. Like I have said, I'm not an FN fanboy. I am still not convinced this is definitive proof of a widespread issue that justifies the accusation that all of FN products aren't worth buying, but it would be good to see FNH get ahead of this. Keep in mind though that the video was posted on 8/11. In the corporate world there are plenty of lawyers and managers to talk to before addressing a negative story, especially for a company as big as FNH. It may be a long time before they respond, if ever.

I don't have any reason to believe Ellermann is lying. He seems decent enough, but the world is full of decent enough folks that also lie. I'm not sure what he'd get out of lying about it though. I would still like to hear back from him when he calls FNH and what they say then.
 
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I am still not convinced this is definitive proof of a widespread issue that justifies the accusation that all of FN products aren't worth buying
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I personally don't think it's a widespread issue either, there would be far more posts about it over the years if it were. But at the same time, it seems that here and there they are letting bad batches of polymer slip through QC, even as small of a percentage as that is, it's enough where they might want to look into a new formula or process for the polymer that they use. It seems this problem though is almost limited to the FNX 45 for whatever reason, almost all of the examples I posted were about the FNX 45 including the original video by Dustin.

I don't think all people should stop buying FN pistols or that they are junk, but like I mentioned before, even prior to this I really had no interest in FN's as they didn't appeal to me, that coupled with QC issues that I have come across just reinforced it. Not to mention, since FN's aren't on the MA approved "list", they aren't exactly easy to get here. There are ways around getting guns that aren't on the approved list like having LEO friends who can get them for you, which I have many of, or find shops that will sell them regardless, which I know a few that will, but it can be a real PIA.
 
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Dragline45 said:
I personally don't think it's a widespread issue either, there would be far more posts about it over the years if it were. But at the same time, it seems that here and there they are letting bad batches of polymer slip through QC, even as small of a percentage as that is, it's enough where they might want to look into a new formula or process for the polymer that they use. It seems this problem though is almost limited to the FNX 45 for whatever reason, almost all of the examples I posted were about the FNX 45 including the original video by Dustin.
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That seems to be a reasoned response and attitude. I agree. Most of the problems that can be found on the FN Forum -- and they're relatively few -- have to do with the FNX 45. In the cases I've found, those who had problems had them resolved. But, soft polymer frames is seldom mentioned. IF there is an issue with a broader group of FN polymer-framed guns, it's unclear. (It doesn't seem to be a problem with the new FNS models.)

We've heard about problems, here, but we've NOT heard about how FN dealt with them. On other brand-centric forums (ala Glock, SIG, CZ, Ruger, etc.) you HEAR IT when the gunmaker doesn't respond, or responds badly. (Or if the importer doesn't respond or responds badly, as is/was the case with EAA and certain large-framed Witnesses...)

That's the missing component that makes all of this strum und drang seem somewhat unreal. That missing component makes all of this appear to be a very localized issue with a couple of angry users' (and non-users'!) emotions seemingly making an effort to turn what may be a minor problem into something more broad. It seems a bit like the folk who continue to attack Glocks -- apparently because they're Glocks (and not nice steel 1911s.) Not surprisingly, most of the folks who hate Glocks aren't Glock owners; many have only HELD them; most haven't shot them...
 
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My experience with an early FNP 45 wasn't just a qc issue, but serious design flaws. Granted, this was years ago but the trigger pin drifting issue absolutely renders the pistol completely useless, instantly! There should have been an immediate recall. Secondly, the mags were designed poorly and simply wouldn't function with several brands/types of ammo. The issues with the polymer surfaced a bit later. Fact is, these were marketed from the beginning as bet your life on combat autos and were anything but. There's far too many excellent and proven designs out there to settle for an FNP/FNX or whatever else they decide to call it.
 
10mm4ever said:
Granted, this was years ago but the trigger pin drifting issue absolutely renders the pistol completely useless, instantly!
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A legitimate quality control (or design) issue -- but one that has apparently been remedied. I could find only a couple of comments on the issue in the FNP and FNx sections, one comment dating back to 2011, and another this year -- and in both cases (one a duty pistol and a real concern for the LEO who owned it); those guns were replaced.

How long ago was the "years ago" in your case, and how was the issue resolved?
 
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Not trying to stir this anymore but if you had one of these with a flexible mag well what would happen to it after being locked in a hot car all day? Wouldn't it affect the functioning of the pistol?
 
Post #44 by Dragline is a reasonable post and is the type post that receives more positive attention than his original posts. In #44 you can tell he's looking and thinking.

The original vid feels like a chopped bit of a longer vid edited to invite startled gasps. It's purpose seems to be to outrage rather than enlighten or inform. If the problem had been going on for years, even in small numbers more vids and reports would would have surfaced. Like I mentioned earlier, who buys a gun and doesn't squeeze the grip some? With the mag in and out? Who don't dry fire, rack the slide, etc.? It's hard to swallow the idea that intelligent folk will not realize that their gun is soft like chewing gum in the hot sun till they see the video above.

When Glock was experiencing Ka-Booms in their 40s, Glock haters jumped on it often in hyped up fashion and the regiments of Glock loyalists jumped to the defense. Glock initially denied a problem but went to work correcting it anyway. Ka-Booms, except for legitimate overloading issues, declined as a result.

If the problems with FN are actual, and some seem to be (others maybe not), then FN will act.

I'm not defending FN. I'm not an FN fanboy. I'm a defender of rational thought and investigation. Along with some patience now and then.

tipoc
 
Thats funny, I love my FNX 45 and have never had any problems with it, it runs like a top. Though I have a few different poly guns I have never felt the need to squeeze the the mag well on any of my guns like that. :rolleyes:
 
I have never had any issues with my FNX 45 either. And like Merad noted the video seems a bit odd to me. How could the gun not have been shot if the person in the video claims he noticed the issue after a few magazine changes
 
And like Merad noted the video seems a bit odd to me. How could the gun not have been shot if the person in the video claims he noticed the issue after a few magazine changes
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He didn't fire it that particular day, that doesn't mean he hadn't fired it on previous occasions.
 
This thread needs more off topic H&K goodness:

hk-p2000-snapped.jpg
 
Wow! I don't believe anyone will say THAT grip's polymer was too soft...

Do you know the story behind the photo?

That weapon must have taken a big (physical?) HIT... The angle of the separation makes it look as though the front of the slide was being pushed up while the grip remained fixed, or a strong force pushed the grip down while the slide remained fixed in place (perhaps by a strong holster...)
 
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When I saw the video, my first thought was "What does he use to clean his guns?" Some cleaners, like the old Ed's Red, acts as a solvent on polymers. It could weaken polymer in the way shown.
 
That photo has made the rounds years ago. It's a CBP agent from the Mexico border who fell off a moving atv onto his pistol in an OWB holster. The top of the grip was essentially a fulcrum that took his whole weight. Had it not broken he likely would have had it jammed into his side.
 
My FNX-45 has been absolutely reliable, deadly accurate, and a joy to own. My magwell doesnt flex anything like the photo, my mags drop free without drag, and I have no worry that it will perform just as it has, for the next 50 years.
 
He didn't fire it that particular day, that doesn't mean he hadn't fired it on previous occasions.
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Doesn't prove he had fired it on previous occasions either. Thats the thing about some youtube videos - you never know what to believe because you weren't there. Can it be real? Yes. Can it be fake? Yes.
 
Walt Sherrill said:
Wow! I don't believe anyone will say THAT grip's polymer was too soft...

Do you know the story behind the photo?

That weapon must have taken a big (physical?) HIT... The angle of the separation makes it look as though the front of the slide was being pushed up while the grip remained fixed, or a strong force pushed the grip down while the slide remained fixed in place (perhaps by a strong holster...)
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The H&K was a Border Patrol gun. The officer had his collapsible baton behind the grip of the pistol on his belt when he rolled his ATV.
 
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