There’s a lot to consider with any new handgun purchase. So many advancements in design and now-standard features have given everyone an encyclopedia’s worth of options to sift through.
But now there’s a lineup of pistols that’s risen to the top thanks to an intelligent combination of all the things you want in a handgun, and none of the things you don’t. Each model in the FN 509 lineup is designed with all the features you’d expect in a well-conceived, striker-fired 9mm handgun.
Now there’s an easy way to get a look at a 509 pistol yourself at a dealer near you. Use FN’s online dealer locator, and you’ll be one step closer to seeing the top choice handgun yourself.
1. Take your pick
The FN 509 lineup consists of three excellent options to meet any gun owner’s needs. There’s the original duty size 509, the suppressor-ready 509 Tactical with optics mounting options and the new 509 Midsize that’s perfect for everyday carry. They’re all chambered in 9mm, and include the same great basic feature set.
2. MilSpec design
The 509 was designed as part of the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System program. FN took the existing architecture of their striker-fired FNS Compact and redesigned it to ensure even greater reliability and durability.
If you know anything about the rigorous testing the military puts prospective weapons through, you know the 509 design has been through the wringer from its inception. It’s been tested with over 1 million rounds fired during its development process.
As makers of the most battle-proven firearms in the world, FN takes pride in ensuring the durability and dependability of all of their products, a legacy that’s fully reflected in the ultra-reliable FN 509 family.
3. Thoughtful ergonomics
In designing the 509 striker-fired pistols, FN went above and beyond, putting a lot of thought into how the 509 feels in your hand. The blend of textures and interchangeable backstraps ensures a sure, comfortable grip, even when wet, and easy recoil management.
4. Ambidextrous versatility
The FN 509 features fully ambidextrous controls. There are slide stop levers magazine release buttons on both sides of the pistol. A 509 pistol will be fully functional no matter which hand is dominant or when you’re forced to shoot from your weak side.
5. A better barrel
The barrel length is 4 inches on the 509 and 509 Midsize, and 4.5 inches on the suppressor-ready 509 Tactical. The cold hammer-forged, stainless steel barrel on the 509 pistols has a recessed target crown to enhance accuracy. The barrel has an expertly polished chamber and feed ramp for reliable feeding, time after time.
6. Easy slider
With its aggressive front and rear cocking serrations, the he 509’s slide is easy to rack. The pistol’s external extractor doubles as a loaded chamber indicator, so there’s never any doubt that you have a round chambered and ready to fire.
FN even strengthened the front portion of the slide near the recoil spring box substantially, which improved drop test performance from greater heights.
7. Set your sights
The 3-dot sights on the 509 and 509 midsize are luminescent. The 509 Tactical features suppressor-height tritium night sights. That ensures the good sight picture you need, even under pressure in low light conditions.
FN has also thoughtfully designed the 509’s sights so they don’t interfere with a clean draw, and the rear sight’s vertical front face lets you rack the slide one-handed should you need to.
8. Battle-proven frame design
The fiberglass reinforced polymer frame varies in size between the Midsize and duty size frame 509 models, but it’s the same researched and developed frame that’s built with a purpose.
There’s a standard 1913 accessory rail to mount lights and lasers as well as the aforementioned interchangeable backstraps for a perfect fit.
9. Tested trigger
The 509 has a flatter faced trigger which allows for a more natural, controllable trigger press and a cleaner break. The trigger pull ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 pounds.
10. A passionate promise
Above all else, the 509 family represents the pinnacle of FN’s dedication to creating dependable, innovative firearms of the highest quality.
The FN 509 is made in the company’s state-of-the art production facility in Columbia, South Carolina. Its reliability and shootability give owners a new level of performance in a family of pistols they can rely on now and for generations to come.
Too out of the first three articles are sponsored content. That is a great way to kill the enterprise. Your readership understands that you need money to keep going but if it appears that actual content is just a mechanism to attract readers so you can bombard them with infomercials then TTAG will soon be history.
Add you need to restore the edit function.
Two not too.
Unless you are using a decade old browser, the edit functions are there for 5 minutes, but you need to check the 2 top boxes “Save my name…” and “Notify me …” when submitting your comment/reply
Well I’ll just see about that.
Well I’ll be god d—ed!!! It would have been nice if someone would have said that MONTHS AGO!!!!!!
It’s not necessary to check a “Notify me…” box to have the edit function available. Just the “Save my name…” option is sufficient.
Beto is a furry.
Please be true. A politician is only doomed when he’s caught with a dead woman, or a live boy…or a fur-suit.
It’s true. Some right wing group that calls themselves ‘Mother Jones’ has video proof.
https://greatamericandaily.com/video-beto-orourkes-past/
Can not find the edit button?
I found it! It is counting down to liftoff.
You mean Soy-Beta Male…That schizophrenic and Bi-polar Demo-NUT…?
“Beto is a furry.”
What a day to be alive. A Falcon Heavy launches, we got to see a black hole yesterday, Israel lands on the Moon, and Julian Assange has finally been taken into custody to be shipped to the USA to face justice.
Does it get any better than this???
*snicker* 😉
TTAG Brought to you by FN
First FN509 model has issue with left side operation of mag release. Fixable by dropping in the tactical version of the mag release. However they are hard to obtain. So some owners continue to limp along with reservations if this is the best choice for CCW. A simple part should be mass produced and never run out of stock.
Other than design issue that is fixable, it is a fine gun. It would be ideal if FN customer service would further enable owners to get it fixed instead of going to FN forums, independent parts sellers, and DIY. A few other large pistol manufacturers would be all over it with their service department. The original position by FN for left side being hard to release the mag was to prevent accidental releases when gun in IWB carry.
Loved the FNS9c I shot at Texas Firearms Festival, then traded a G19 for one. Wasn’t right for me. Bought the 509 loved it except the mag release, so I traded the 509 off.
I dont really see or know what the differences are between the 509 and the FNS. But I kept my FNS-C for about 2 weeks. Not a very comfortable for IWB carry gun. Replaced it with a PPQ – SC. To me a much better gun in the all respects.
my plastic striker fired what?
one reason the policy players numbers 369 apply firmly to this assumption.
Top 4 reasons they are not my top choice
Not a Beretta
Not a CZ
No hammer
Plastic Fantastic
No thanks…
I had a FN509. Didn’t like it due to the left handed controls being almost impossible to operate. And the weak ejection issue. Sold it and bought a Beretta
I like my 509. It is in the carry rotation. Damn fine gun.
Great gun, but the slide release is just aweful. I wish it was more like H&K’s, Beretta 92, or the one on the Walther PPQ.
Baltimore County Police to Replace FNS-40 with Glock 17 Following Accidental Discharges
Posted February 1, 2019 in Daily News, Pistols by Matthew Moss with 181 Comments
Tags: Baltimore County Police, FN America, FNS-40, glock
Baltimore County Police officer with FNS-40 c.2015 (BCP)
Back in December local news in Baltimore reported that Baltimore County Police had problems with their FNS-40 pistols and were looking to replace them with Glocks. Baltimore County Police Department began reviewed their FN pistols in October 2018, and have made the decision to replace them.
Baltimore County PD initially selected the FNS-40 Long Slide back in 2013, ordering 1,920 .40 S&W pistols in 2015. Apparently, problems began in 2014 during the weapon’s initial roll out, and again in 2016 when it was reported that officers had experienced an accidental discharge with the new pistols. According to documents obtained by Fox News in 2016, nine pistols were identified as having issued. Baltimore’s local ABC News affiliate reported in 2017 that an officer was injured when his weapon
One officer from Baltimore County Police, Cpl. Shawn Vinson, said:
Well this is an important tool that we carry every day as a police officer and you have to have confidence in that weapon to know when you are going to use it, when you need to use it that is is going to work and it is going to work properly.
Fox New’s Baltimore affiliate, Fox 45, recently reported that the Arizona Department of Public Safety had shared testing results with the Baltimore County Police. The study by the Arizona DPS found that the pistols can experience out of battery detonations and accidental discharges from knocks to the weapon, including holstering as had previously been reported.
As a result at the end of 2018, Baltimore County Police announced that the department would be transitioning to from their FN pistols to 9x19mm Glock 17s, at a cost of $1.4 million, through an Emergency Justification for a Replacement Service Weapon. At the beginning of January FN America responded to the problems and the department’s decision in a press release.
Here’s FN’s statement in full:
FN America, LLC has supported Baltimore County Police Department, above and beyond the call of duty, in their transition to the FNS™-40 pistol. The company made every effort possible to work with the department to alleviate officer concerns and to instruct the department on standard maintenance procedures.
FN America, LLC acknowledges the company was aware of occurrences of officer-induced accidental discharges with the FNS-40 pistols used by Baltimore County Police Department over the past five years.
FN America, LLC is also aware that a report, generated by an independent testing lab following the first incident, certified that there was no manufacturing defect present that could cause the pistol to misfire. This report attributed the incident to an officer-induced accidental discharge.
According to Baltimore County Police Department’s statements to the media following an incident in 2017, department spokesman, Cpl. Shawn Vinson, acknowledged that none of the officer-induced accidental discharges, focused on by your media outlet, could be attributed to a malfunction of the pistol. Please reference the WMAR ABC Baltimore article published Dec. 11, 2018 by Brian Kuebler. [https://www.wmar2news.com/news/region/baltimore-county/baltimore-county-police-set-to-spend-14-m-on-new-guns]
Baltimore County Police Chief Terrence Sheridan provided two reasons in his Emergency Justification for a Replacement Service Weapon dated Oct. 30, 2018. The first being a reported condition that could cause the FNS-40 pistol to delay fire under a very specific set of unlikely circumstances, originally reported by an Arizona police department. Under manipulation in a closed lab setting, the slide of the FNS-40 was moved out of battery at a very small and specific distance and the trigger was pulled. The pistol functioned as designed and did not fire. However, it was discovered that if the trigger was held to the rear, the pistol could delay firing until the slide moved back into battery, or if force is removed from the trigger and the slide moves back into battery. FN has no knowledge of the condition ever occurring outside of a lab environment. Nevertheless, FN immediately addressed this potential condition with both the AZ department and BCPD by replacing the striker in each FNS-40, at no cost to either agency. FN subsequently posted a Service Bulletin to the public with an offer of a free striker upgrade for those who wished to send their pistol in.
Second, Chief Sheridan describes the potential of a catastrophic failure, attributed to three firearms out of 1,920 FNS-40 pistols in service with BCPD. Three pistols experienced a trigger pin either backing out or moving slightly out of position. This trigger pin is a component that requires routine maintenance and should have been replaced according to the armorer’s manual provided to Baltimore County Police Department range staff.
It is unclear whether BCPD range staff previously serviced any of the FNS-40 pistols in their possession according to the armorer’s manual provided. However, BCPD Police Chief Terrence Sheridan noted in his Emergency Justification for a Replacement Service Weapon dated Oct. 30, 2018, that BCPD range staff were able to quickly replace this trigger pin, returning the three FNS-40s to service.
Through both internal and independent testing of the FNS-40 pistol, FN America, LLC can emphatically refute the presence of any manufacturing defect that could potentially have caused Baltimore County’s officers to experience accidental discharges. FN America also asserts that if the FNS-40 pistols had been properly maintained, the occurrence of “catastrophic failures” described by BCPD would have been extremely unlikely.
The FNS pistol has been tested thoroughly and certified for law enforcement duty use. We stand firmly behind our product, our testing and quality practices.
FN had previously attempted to address concerns and issues with the pistols by replacing the striker in each FNS-40, at no cost. They also noted that “catastrophic failure, attributed to three firearms out of 1,920 FNS-40 pistols in service with BCPD. Three pistols experienced a trigger pin either backing out or moving slightly out of position. This trigger pin is a component that requires routine maintenance and should have been replaced according to the armorer’s manual provided to Baltimore County Police Department range staff.” You can read the press release in full here but FN concludes that “the FNS pistol has been tested thoroughly and certified for law enforcement duty use. We stand firmly behind our product, our testing and quality practices.”
Baltimore County Police Stunned By Accidential Discharge of New Pistol
Posted at 11:55 am on March 4, 2016 by Bob Owens
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FNS-40LS
In late 2013, Baltimore County Police selected the FN-America NFS40 LS as the new gun for the department’s officers, as noted by Guns.com at the time.
For anyone curious as to where all the long-slide versions of FN-USA’s latest FNS pistols are going, they’re headed to police departments across the country. Case in point, the Baltimore County Police Department has just signed a contract with FN-USA for nearly 2,000 long-slide service pistols.
The Baltimore County P.D is currently equipping their sworn officers with the relatively new and exceedingly popular service pistol, adopting it immediately.
“We are pleased that the Baltimore County Police Department is the first to field the FN FNS-40LS pistol as their new duty firearm and look forward to serving them in the coming years,” said FN-USA President Mark Cherpes. “Today, Baltimore County has become the largest law enforcement agency in the country to turn to the FNS line of striker-fired pistols as their firearm of choice.”
Rank and file Baltimore County Police, their firearm selection committee, and agency brass are now very uncertain about that choice, after what appears to be the accidental discharge of one of these pistols while it was secured in a retention holster and both of the officer’s hands were full. When the supervising officer removed the gun from the retention holster, he removed the magazine and ejected the spent cartridge.
The Fox 45 video report on the department’s history with the FNS-40 LS is, to put it mildly, alarming.
Unfortunately, this early February discharge was not the first sign of trouble for the FNS-40 LS carried by the Baltimore County Police. There had been a prior discharge of one of the handguns while the department was still evaluating the pistols for service.
There are two investigations centered on the gun almost all Baltimore County Police officers use as side arms. Crime and Justice Reporter Joy Lepola began investigating these guns more than 18 months ago. One of those guns went off inside a police precinct, while secured inside an officer’s holster.
On February 2, 2016, a Baltimore County police officer walks into the Pikesville Precinct when the jolt of a gunshot, stops him from taking another step. What’s unclear is how it happened.
According to reports FOX45 obtained from the county, the officer says the gun discharged while in its holster. Five officers gave statements saying they were nearby when they heard the gunshot.
The department says it is unaware of a holstered gun ever discharging until now. The department was warned it could happen.
In 2014, a FOX45 investigation uncovered serious safety concerns buried within hundreds of reports and inter-office emails. At the time, the county was in the process of buying new guns for every police officer, almost 2,000 .40 caliber pistols made by FN-America. In one complaint, an officer claimed a round went off without someone’s finger on the trigger.
Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson supported spending almost a million dollars on the guns.
“I don’t want anything out there that’s inferior. I won’t stand for it. I don’t care what the cost. If I made a mistake, which I certainly don’t believe we did, I would admit it,” he said back in November 2014.
Without seeing the documents obtained by Fox 45 its impossible to know just how bad of a problem Baltimore County has been having with these pistols, but there were nine of the handguns identified in documents as having some significant issues, including metal shavings in the striker channel.
fns-40
I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories involving the maintenance of police-issued firearms, from holstered handguns jammed up with the remnants of french fries, to an improperly re-assembled shotgun that I personally witnessed an officer pull apart in training because an armorer stripped the threads on the gun.
If this is a maintenance-related issue it’s terrifying enough for Baltimore County officers, but it is something you would hope the could prevent with regular cleaning and properly treatment of their firearms, but if there is manufacturing or design issue, then this could be a significant issue not just for the department, but for FN-America.
Strike-fired guns now dominate both the law-enforcement and civilian handgun markets as the “in thing,” but departments around the nation have reported issues with an increase in negligent and accidental discharges since they’ve made the transition from double-action revolvers or double-action/single-action pistols to striker-fired guns. Glocks are most frequently cited as the police-issued handgun involved in a significant amount of negligent/”accidental” discharges, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that Glock simply dominates the law enforcement handgun market. With more guns on the market, there will be both more good and bad reports, period.
Agencies have also reported issues with Smith & Wesson’s M&P, and while relatively few agencies are using the FNS, these incidents with the Baltimore County Police are very unsettling, especially since the gun apparently discharged without having been touched.
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TAGS: FN AMERICAFNS-40 LSNEGLIGENT DISCHARGEPOLICE
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Author’s Bio: Bob Owens
Bob OwensBob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com. Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun. He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens. https://bearingarms.com/author/bobowens-bearingarms/
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SHOW COMMENTS
When I read this, it sounded like advertising copy. Then I noticed it was sponsored content.
Answer this. Why would I buy one of these, when the Smith M&P line is wider, functionally equivalent, better supported by the third party market, and model for model are going for $150-200 cheaper.
Out of the box S&W (before v2.0) would typically require a replacement trigger and night sights to be near equivalent for the FN. Agreed the S&W customer service (attitude) and 3rd party options are better and more extensive. One selling point at the time of the first model release was the impressive number of rounds fired in the army evaluation program…attesting to its reliability and durability.
BLUE SHEEPDOG
POLICE GEAR REVIEWS, TRAINING AND OFFICER SAFETY TIPS.
Police FNS-40 Long Slide Pistols Reportedly Accidentally Discharging!
BY AARON LEAVE A COMMENT
The FNS™ 40 Long Slide is the pistol at the center of the controversy.
The Baltimore County, MD Police Department has reported accidental discharges with their duty-issued FNS-40 Long Slide pistols. The reports are concerning, and appear to involve a mechanical issue of some kind, allowing the pistols to discharge when inadvertently bumped, or when being holstered or unholstered. Perhaps even more dangerous, the report advised the pistols may not fire at all when the trigger is pulled. The problem was identified and documented with at least (9) pistols, and included at least one incident where an officer was injured from the discharge.
Fabrique Nationale (FN) is one of the world’s most successful and respected firearms manufacturers. FN has produced dozens of firearms for militaries, law enforcement agencies, and civilian shooters for over 100 years. These firearms have been used in everything from combat to simple recreational target shooting. A firearms company does not become as successful as FN without producing superior products.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is merely an informational news publication. Nothing within this article should be construed as being a definitive statement on the reliability of FN firearms, or the FNS-40 Long Slide pistols in particular. BlueSheepdog has not conducted any independent testing of the FNS-40 Long Slide to confirm or deny the reports of malfunctions. As such, readers are encouraged to simply consider the reports in this article as informational only, and make their own judgments.
FNS Striker-Fired Pistol Discharges
The first reported investigation started with the Baltimore County, Maryland Police Department back in 2016. The investigation began when at least (9) BCPD FNS-40 pistols exhibited malfunctions resulting in accidental discharges (AD), and in some cases the inability to fire when the trigger was pulled. The ADs were reported during holstering, re-holstering, and in some cases simply when the pistols were bumped. From the reports by BCPD it does not appear the discharges are the result of a negligent discharge (ND), but are truly an accidental discharge (AD) caused by some kind of mechanical failure.
The Baltimore County, MD Police Department purchased 1920 FNS-40 pistols for their officers in 2013. With several pistols experiencing malfunctions, the BCPD has made the enormous decision to replace their FNS pistols with Glock 17 9mm pistols. The cost of this replacement is estimated to be $1.4 million and was approved through the county’s emergency sole-source provisions. It is not mentioned why BCPD has elected to move from .40 S&W to 9mm at the same time they are transitioning from FNS to Glock pistols, or if the new Glock 17 pistols will be Gen 4 or Gen 5.
Baltimore County Police are moving to Glock 17 pistols after ADs with their FNS-40 pistols.
The .40 S&W cartridge has been a major player in American law enforcement for decades, since the FBI made the move in the early 1990’s after the research following the Miami Massacre. However, in recent years manufacturers have made monumental improvements to the 9mm cartridge, and many LE agencies are starting to move back to the 9mm, including the FBI.
When the reports of malfunctions began to arise, the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) conducted their own independent research on the matter. The research in Arizona seems to confirm, at least in part, the existence of a design flaw with the FNS striker-fired pistols, allowing them to discharge unintentionally. What is even more troubling in the AZDPS safety bulletin is the report these malfunctions can be repeated in FNS Compact, 4-inch, and 5-inch (Long Slide) models in both 9mm and .40 caliber.
FN America was quick to respond to the alleged accidental discharges (AD) from the FNS-40 Long Slide pistols purchased and delivered to the Baltimore County PD. In the response FN America claims an independent laboratory did not find any manufacturing defects in the pistols. In addition, FN America claims the reason for the few pistols having failures was the lack of routine maintenance The link will go directly to FN America’s website, but we’ve included their response here:
(McLean, VA – January 03, 2019) FN America, LLC has supported Baltimore County Police Department, above and beyond the call of duty, in their transition to the FNS™-40 pistol. The company made every effort possible to work with the department to alleviate officer concerns and to instruct the department on standard maintenance procedures.
FN America, LLC acknowledges the company was aware of occurrences of officer-induced accidental discharges with the FNS-40 pistols used by Baltimore County Police Department over the past five years.
FN America, LLC is also aware that a report, generated by an independent testing lab following the first incident, certified that there was no manufacturing defect present that could cause the pistol to misfire. This report attributed the incident to an officer-induced accidental discharge.
According to Baltimore County Police Department’s statements to the media following an incident in 2017, department spokesman, Cpl. Shawn Vinson, acknowledged that none of the officer-induced accidental discharges, focused on by your media outlet, could be attributed to a malfunction of the pistol. Please reference the WMAR ABC Baltimore article published Dec. 11, 2018 by Brian Kuebler. https://www.wmar2news.com/news/region/baltimore-county/baltimore-county-police-set-to-spend-14-m-on-new-guns
Baltimore County Police Chief Terrence Sheridan provided two reasons in his Emergency Justification for a Replacement Service Weapon dated Oct. 30, 2018. The first being a reported condition that could cause the FNS-40 pistol to delay fire under a very specific set of unlikely circumstances, originally reported by an Arizona police department. Under manipulation in a closed lab setting, the slide of the FNS-40 was moved out of battery at a very small and specific distance and the trigger was pulled. The pistol functioned as designed and did not fire. However, it was discovered that if the trigger was held to the rear, the pistol could delay firing until the slide moved back into battery, or if force is removed from the trigger and the slide moves back into battery. FN has no knowledge of the condition ever occurring outside of a lab environment. Nevertheless, FN immediately addressed this potential condition with both the AZ department and BCPD by replacing the striker in each FNS-40, at no cost to either agency. FN subsequently posted a Service Bulletin to the public with an offer of a free striker upgrade for those who wished to send their pistol in.
Second, Chief Sheridan describes the potential of a catastrophic failure, attributed to three firearms out of 1,920 FNS-40 pistols in service with BCPD. Three pistols experienced a trigger pin either backing out or moving slightly out of position. This trigger pin is a component that requires routine maintenance and should have been replaced according to the armorer’s manual provided to Baltimore County Police Department range staff.
It is unclear whether BCPD range staff previously serviced any of the FNS-40 pistols in their possession according to the armorer’s manual provided. However, BCPD Police Chief Terrence Sheridan noted in his Emergency Justification for a Replacement Service Weapon dated Oct. 30, 2018, that BCPD range staff were able to quickly replace this trigger pin, returning the three FNS-40s to service.
Through both internal and independent testing of the FNS-40 pistol, FN America, LLC can emphatically refute the presence of any manufacturing defect that could potentially have caused Baltimore County’s officers to experience accidental discharges. FN America also asserts that if the FNS-40 pistols had been properly maintained, the occurrence of “catastrophic failures” described by BCPD would have been extremely unlikely.
The FNS pistol has been tested thoroughly and certified for law enforcement duty use. We stand firmly behind our product, our testing and quality practices.
BSD Final Thoughts
The failure of a duty weapon is always a serious problem, and a concern that must be remedied immediately to maintain the integrity and confidence of those who work the streets. It appears the Baltimore County PD have determined the FNS-40 pistols are unreliable to an extent it is justified for them to make a major, and expensive, decision to move away from the FNS pistols and purchase Glock 17 pistols as replacements.
The videos from the testing are disturbing and raise serious concerns. However, FN America has already offered to replace the striker in every pistol, at no cost to the police departments involved. Though not an admission of fault, it is a big step on FN America’s part to restore confidence in their pistols. Let’s not forget that Sig Sauer had to do similar replacements after videos were published showing their new P320 striker-fired pistol having accidental discharges similar to the videos of the FNS pistols. This was extremely embarrassing for Sig Sauer, who had just won the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System. An award worth as much as $580 million for Sig Sauer.
So far FN America has not issued a general recall on their FNS pistols. Readers should be aware that any mass-produced product is subject to a small amount of failures despite rigorous quality control (QC). The accidental discharges shown in the video testing are a major concern for any user, but particularly a government law enforcement agency that could be severely civilly liable for any damage or injury resulting from an AD.
However a particular note, worthy of serious consideration, is the FN America response to this reported problem. Though FN America claims the failures were from a failure of BCPD to perform routine maintenance, the pistols were less than 5 years old when they began to show failures. Despite every firearm having parts that will eventually need repair or replacement, these items are rarely to the point of failure after 3 years, or even 5 years. With that fact in mind, it may be more financially productive for FN America to issue a general warranty recall, and replace all the strikers (or other parts deemed ineffective) for their FNS pistols.
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Wow, even the S&W Sigma didn’t get this much attention. We could just issue a pair of prehillaryhole DAO 4″ HB S&W Model 64S’ to everyone…and not just to the police … everyone eligible to successfully sign off on a 4473. “Negligent” discharges would be a thing of the past. Millions of trees would be saved by the 9MM VS .45ACP debate being rendered moot, and cows might even stop breaking wind, there by making the new green deal a non-starter. I really feel bad for FN, but, I’ve been carrying, using, and having no problems with Glocks of one type or another since around 1990, I guess. I wonder why that is. -30-
Today most gun manufactures rush newly designed guns into production without adequate testing and in some cases no testing at all. Ammo is not cheap and profits paramount and they know the consumer will test the gun with their own ammo and then send it back for repair when it does not work. This is how guns are perfected in the 21st Century. This is why I never buy a new design until it has been on the market for at least 2 years.
Literally 1 million rounds.
Mine only had 467 through it. That mag release didn’t work very well for me.
Two reasons they arent: 1) No 1911 2} Nobody I know (and I know lots of shooters and I go to 1 of 3 established ranges every other day) shoots one
Bought the new 509M two weeks ago. Really liked the ergos and the trigger suited me. The sights are ridiculously tall but that can be fixed. All controls on mine work fine. Then the tip of the striker broke off after 350 rounds. It’s currently in transit back to FN. Read some forum posts saying this is a common complaint. Disappointed to say the least. “1 million rounds fired in testing”. My ass
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