Why no love for the FNH FNX guns?

Yikes!!!! I can tell you that has to be an isolated incident. My FNX 9 has never been that way. Even after being left in the hot car all day. But that was crazy.
 
Constantine's link to You Tube is the video I mentioned. It's the ONLY such record of any such failure I've ever seen. I've also seen the followup video from the same owner who says the FNH replaced the gun and the new one isn't like that.
 
I have also heard stories of grips melting from the hot weather with Glocks in Florida, but those stories are generally told by guys who hate Glocks, and I've never been able to confirm any of them

I've seen plenty of Ceracote-ed Glock frames. Since you have to cure Ceracote in an oven for an hour at 250 deg., it's pretty safe to say that sunlight will not melt one.
 
I have also heard stories of grips melting from the hot weather with Glocks in Florida, but those stories are generally told by guys who hate Glocks, and I've never been able to confirm any of them

I've lived in Miami Florida all my life and I've always been a part of the gun community/culture. Never have I ever seen a Glock meltdown like that FN in the video I posted did.

And I used to leave a Glock in my car all day long.


Different polymer. :) So those stories you heard probably aren't true or at the very least exaggerated.
 
Constantine said:
I've lived in Miami Florida all my life and I've always been a part of the gun community/culture. Never have I ever seen a Glock meltdown like that FN in the video I posted did.

I wasn't trying to suggest that those stories were valid. I offered it as an example of another BS story about polymer-framed guns. If you read that WHOLE paragraph you see that I said I've never been able to confirm any of those stories. I thought they were BS from the start.

That said, I know a couple of Glock-haters (several are retired LEOs) who continue to tell these stories, based on what they've been told by fellow LEOs who supposedly owned the guns. It was BS then and is still BS now. Almost all of the other stories I've heard about polymer-frame failures have been told by someone who knew someone who had a friend, etc...

Most of the polymers used in handguns are remarkably similar -- and all variations of the original Nylon 6,6. Most of the variants are Nylon 6, a generic version of the basic material developed to avoided legal issues.
Each gunmaker tweaks the formula used in their guns a bit -- and when there are problems, like the bad FNX frame, it's typically something done wrong when a particular batch of the material is produced.

The FN in the video was not a meltdown. The owner complained about the grips softness. He didn't blame it on heat. The gun continued to function properly, too. But he was troubled by the softness, and that was a very proper response. He sent the gun to FNH, and they replaced it. I've never heard of it happening with another FNH weapon. It was clearly a production problem and not business as usual.
 
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Walter Elliott said:
Do you have any mo info on the FNX that melted?

Better yet, ask if anyone has PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE of any polymer-framed gun melting anywhere but in a fire. You'll hear all sorts of second-hand stories but I've yet to hear of one that can be verified. According to Wikipedia, nylon 6,6 (whic supposedly used by Glock, S&W, Springfield, and other gun makers) will melt at 509 degrees farhrenheit.

Picnic Tables:
While a picnic table can get pretty hot in some parts of the country on the hottest part of the hottest day of the summer, a wood picnic table will start to burn at about 451 degrees; that means the picnic table would have burned up before a polymer gun frame on top of the table would have melted. (Anyone here ever hear of a wooden picnic table spontaneously combusting. Anyone here ever try using a metal picnic table?)

Car Interiors or Car Dashes:
While some suggest that the inside of a car can exceed 200 degrees fahrenheit on a hot day, that's still not hot enough to melt a polymer gun frame. As best I can tell, car dashes are made of a type of PVC, and that -- when tweaked to make it more heat resistant -- has a melting temperature of about 300 degrees farhrenheit. Again, we haven't heard a lot of horror stories about car dashes melting. (Some do crack.) I wonder why polymer guns fail with the PVC, which has a lower melting point than Nylon 6,6 (or 66) doesn't?
 
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DA/SA hammer-fired pistols with polymer frames are regarded as neither fish nor fowl.

Maybe they're considered red meat? I like my CZ P-07 a lot, and my Sphinx SDP which has an alloy and polymer frame, is very nice, indeed.

That said, some might consider DA/SA guns neither fish nor fowl, too. :)
 
The impression I get is that FN is much like Steyr in that it is all about the military contracts and any civilian sales are incidental.

As for the FNX, DA/SA pistols are badly out of fashion, plastic or not.

It's all about the SA-style trigger and modular grips these days.

Even FN is almost there with their 509.

And FN's pistol magazines are curiously expensive. They are usually $45-50. There's been some deals I've passed on since I wasn't sure I could stomach such pricey mags.
 
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kozak6 said:
The impression I get is that FN is much like Steyr in that it is all about the military contracts and any civilian sales are incidental.

That clearly has been their key focus in the past, but they may be turning the corner. With the new FN-509 (and the FNS line, which shares a number of components), FNH has been working with a couple of after-market vendors to create and make available trigger components and kits for the FN-509 and FNS lines. If trigger kits and trigger systems are the starting point, it's hard to predict what ELSE might be coming down the pike.

kozak6 said:
As for the FNX, DA/SA pistols are badly out of fashion, plastic or not.

Fashion can be a fickle mistress, as a lot of guns that are "badly out of fashion" continue to be popular, and have a very substantial following. The 1911 is one such example. You seldom seen a striker-fired or polymer-framed gun coming out of a custom gunsmithing shop. Then, too, I've always been a big CZ fan, and it's only now -- almost 20 years since they first hit U.S. shores that CZs have begun to have a noticeably following.

What's that saying? "There's no accounting for taste."

kozak6 said:
It's all about the SA-style trigger and modular grips these days.

While U.S. Army and Air Force went for a modular style weapon, the Navy and Marines haven't bought in, yet. And the "modular" part has more to do with the major system components (like the fire control assembly) than grips.

"Modular" designs have yet to find much of a following among civilian gun buyers here in the U.S. They're purchased but it more because that's what's available than because its what the buyer seeks.

That design approach more makes sense for on-going military applications, than for civilian use -- as it allows quick component replacement when time is important. It probably makes sense for a gun-maker, too, who can build share key components across gun sizes and calibers.

And while SA is a way of describing the actions of most of the newer striker-fired guns are called double-action by their makers and by the BATF (or is that BATFE?)

Some suggest that "modified double action" might be a better term as the striker or hammer spring isn't released in true single-action style. With nearly all of these guns, the trigger also complete the spring-charging process and THEN releases the striker or hammer. It's not quite DA, either. Even some of the hammer fired guns work this way.

kazak6 said:
Even FN is almost there with their 509.

And FN's pistol magazines are curiously expensive. They are usually $45-50. There's been some deals I've passed on since I wasn't sure I could stomach such pricey mags.

Glock is a pleasant and admirable exception -- as most factory mags are ridiculously expensive, especially if Mec-Gar or some of the other after-market vendors don't offer mags for the gun in question.

If you've ever had a high-end SIG, like one of the X-Fives or a P-210, you'd really understand what costly means. (I once waited almost a year for a P-210 mag from the factory -- the only source -- which was going to cost me $100, but finally gave up; I eventually sold the gun [during a time of financial hardship]; it went with the two original factory mags.)

Price isn't generally the only issue -- as just getting the darned things can be an issue. (The very popular M&P Pro mags were made of Unobtainium for quite a while.) Finding some double-stack .45 mags for CZ-pattern guns is often difficult, too. Extra mags for any NEW model gun can be hard to find and expensive.
 
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I love my FNX 9 less.

I've only had my FNX 9 for a couple of weeks and was fairly impressed with it right off the bat. However, I've tried replacing the grip insert and the old one will not come off. Supposedly a paper clip inserted into the little hole on the insert will push a tab and the insert comes right off. That ain't work'n. :mad: Has anybody else had this problem, and if so what did you do to solve it?
 
Don't use a paper clip. Get a small punch, or the butt end of a 1/16" drill bit, and press in slightly while pulling down on the grip insert. (That's the owner's manual recommendation.) If you press in too hard, things go awry.
 
Ive had an FNX 40 for a few years and i love it. I like da/sa alot, like having a decocker, like the agressive stippling and 3 mags coming with it. Its accurate and its my truck gun and has experienced a few down south hot summers in a black f250 and is no worse for the wear.

Some people dont like naner pudin so you cant plz everybody.
 
Some people dont like naner pudin so you cant plz everybody.

Don't trust those people. I am very much considering a FNX9 to replace a M&P 2.0 in 9mm that I was very much disappointed with. Guess I am just a DA/SA guy at heart. I had a FNS40 a couple of years ago that I liked pretty well for a striker gun but it had two things against it, in my book, 40cal and the lack of a thumb safety.
 
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