Why no mention of FN pistols?

In '12 I bought an FNP40 and another right after because I liked the first so well. Sold the first to buy a Sig a couple years later and now I have a second FNP40 again, plus another Sig. :rolleyes:

There are around 4000 rounds through the one FNP40 now, the other was used so I don't know. The Only ammo it doesn't like is American Eagle 165 grain, I had a bunch of failures to eject. Other than that, it has eaten everything else through it, Hunting Shack Munitions, Freedom Munitions and at least 12 other FMJ and JHP common 'name brands'.

The downside to owning one? Parts are generally not available. I'd like to buy a couple of recoil springs when I find a compatible replacement.

If you know where to get the spring please shoot me a message!

Thanks
 
dstryr said:
The downside to owning one? Parts are generally not available. I'd like to buy a couple of recoil springs when I find a compatible replacement.
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In the case of the FNX and the FNS, the barrels, some magazines, and the recoil spring assemblies are the same (or so close as to be the same). The recoil spring assemblies are also almost identical to those used in Glocks with comparable slide sizes.

Glock factory guide rods and springs are captured assemblies like those used in the FNX and FNS (and maybe in the FNP), but some after-market vendors offer guide rods and separate springs (non-captured) that can be used in place of the factory Glock assemblies.

That approach might work for you. I would expect the recoil spring and guide rod for a Glock 19 might be very similar to the FNP guide rod.

If you have a friend with a Glock 19, you might compare the Glock guide rod assembly to the one in your FNP to see. They are almost drop-in interchangeable with the FNS 9 and 40s. (The biggest difference between these guns, as they move up in caliber, is that the larger caliber gun generally has a slightly larger (or heavier) slide. The strength of the recoil springs don't always change.
 
I get what the OP is referring to. FN is not at the top of most people's list and not pushed by retailers. They surely take a backseat to Glock, SIG, and S&W when it comes to semi autos. But not in terms of quality or performance. But in terms of popularity. Anyone who's familiar with handguns knows the FN is a very respectable pistol. Maybe if they can round up a police department or two or three then they'll catch on.
 
I tried to like them, and in a way still do. I had one of the hammer fired guns in 45 and another in 9mm a few years ago. I felt that they had all the features to make just about the perfect gun.

I've sorta settled on the Glock platform, not that I'm particularly crazy about them, but they just seem to work for me, the price is right and they are offered in 10mm which I really like.

I bought the FN's with the thought that if they worked out I might eventually sell the Glocks and change over to the FN design. But for whatever reason the 45 I had was less accurate and reliable than I'd hoped for. Probably just the rare lemon. The 9mm however was a very good gun, but after a while I decided to just stay with Glock, at least for now and sold it. I'm tempted to give them another try with one of the striker fired versions.
 
I agree they are not mentioned as much as Glock, Sig and others but are quality guns. I do wish they would catch on more so the aftermarket would pick up for support items. I own and shoot an FNX-45 and it pulls bedside protection so I do truly trust that gun. I would purchase another but they haven't made it yet an FNX-9 long slide. I also would like to add a 5.7 but they are to expensive.
 
I'm very surprised at the responses I have read here to my post. For hearing so little about them, there appears to be plenty of folks who have owned an FN pistol. I had started thinking there must be reliability issues with them since I hardly ever heard anyone talk about them. I can see where getting parts or accessories would be an issue for concern. You guys have got me thinking now. ;)
 
FNs are very much "sleeper" pistols due to their marketing (or lack thereof) to the civilian population. I guess when you make more small arms for the US Government than any other manufacturer you can afford to not buy glossy full page ads in every issue of Guns & Ammo. :)
 
I have been following this thread for several days.

I was flipping through channels last night and on SPIKE TV there was a FN commercial....on the new 509.

First commercial I have even seen for FN.
 
The shiney new pistol models are getting much more attention and are sucking the oxygen out of the room. FN as a brand is not very "vocal" in advertisements or the media and the classy Browning Hi Power is not visibly as popular or as attention getting. Times and styles change.

BTW, I love my Belgium made FN BHP 1969C; one of the best guns I own.
 
If they are giving away the FNS-40 again this fall, I will likely own one!

Might have to sell off my Glock 23 to make this happen as i STRONGLY prefer the manual safety!
 
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I have no special insider knowledge, but when a quality product fails to sell, the reason is usually a combination of the retail price and the dealer cost (e.g., the profit to be made on a sale.) Some customers will believe (rightly or not) that their favorite gun is so superior that it is worth hundreds more than any other gun on the market. But no dealer is going to buy and tout a gun, no matter how good, on which he makes $100 when he can sell a dozen guns on which he makes $200 each for only a little more effort (and probably hear a lot less BS from the customer about the "super" gun).

Jim
 
James, I think I disagree or misunderstood you.

Price is where demand equals supply. If average customers are willing to pay 400, but the dealer breaks even at 500, very few guns will be sold and it will not be popular, except with rare case buyers.

FN pistols will sell at the going price $450-$550, but the marketing is so weak that I honestly think nobody on the consumer side knows much about it.

The FNS also has some small flaws. First the grip frame is long compared to the slide. Good for fighting, but not for CCW. Second, the trigger is rough and nobody is covering that part of the market. Last, there are just a lot of players in this market that are all good.
 
I finally sold my FNS-40 a few days ago. I really only bought it because of it being on sale so cheap. I really hated the grip and a coworker said he would buy it at what I wanted for it, which basically got me even, so it was gone. I decided to get rid of my .40 S&W stuff, and that was one strike against it, but the real reason I sold it was I really really really hated the over aggressively textured grip. Yeah, I could have sanded the little points down, but doing that to a new, unfired gun was just crazy, IMHO. It looks like it's replacement has the same overdone grip texturing. Too bad.
 
I liked the FNX when I shot it, and the FNX-45 is a wonder - a double stack .45 that feels like a 9mm in the grip. If I had confidence they'd last like a Glock, I'd have bought one.

However, the anecdotal reports aren't leaning that way and it is still a big pistol compared to the Hi-Power.
 
However, the anecdotal reports aren't leaning that way and it is still a big pistol compared to the Hi-Power.
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Well yea. It's a double stack 45 holding 15+1 rds of 45 ACP compared to 13+1 rds of 9mm. To me that's like saying the pickup truck is bigger than the compact car. It kind of goes without saying.
 
I was thinking of the FNX-9 when I made that comment. It is about a half inch taller than a Hi-Power and the squared slide makes it look thicker/bigger even though it is a wee bit shorter.
 
Hi, Nathan,

You said, "FN pistols will sell at the going price $450-$550..."

Apparently not. In my limited experience, customers are more likely to be influenced by 1) price and 2) dealer recommendation than by national ad campaigns or sites such as this one. Ads my get a customer into the store, but the product and the salesperson do the selling. The points you mention may seem minor, but can be deal breakers unless balanced by hefty discounts.

Jim
 
As others have indicated, the focus of the company has mainly been on the Military and Police markets. That said, I chose the FN product because of my impression having tried a friend's FN pistol.

I have owned both the FNS-40 and FNX-40. Each in its own right was better than any other .40 pistol I have handled.

FN builds quality, well-built, reliable and accurate weapons. My .40 pistols are too large to carry concealed without a jacket. Nevertheless, I consider them to be the equal to any large size revolver or pistol I have owned for protection purposes.
 
Nathan said:
The FNS also has some small flaws. First the grip frame is long compared to the slide. Good for fighting, but not for CCW. Second, the trigger is rough and nobody is covering that part of the market. Last, there are just a lot of players in this market that are all good.
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The new FNS-9c and FNS-40c seem to have addressed your long grip concern and owners feel the .40 recoil isn't much different than the 9mm model. Just about any gun that offers mags holding 14+ 9mm or .40 rounds tend to have long grips, so there's almost always a tradeoff with grip length vs. capacity.

There are several "do-it-yourself" videos on You Tube showing you how to smooth out the FNS trigger, and a guy on the FN Forum is working on an update that includes shortening the reset, too. I'm looking forward to it.

Apex is releasing a trigger kit for the new FN-509 (which is based on the FNS system, updated for the U.S. handgun competition -- which SIG won) and we are told that the same kit will work in the FNS-9 and FNS-40.

I have both an FNS-40 and FNS-40L and they are maybe the best-shooting .40s I've owned -- and I've owned a bunch of them over the years: Glock, SIG, CZ, S&W (both 3rd Gen and the Pro model), Steyr, Witness, etc.
 
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