Anyone looking for a gun they can carry regularly has a lot to consider. There’s a new handgun coming out every month it seems, and there’s never a lack of tough choices to make as each new feature or added customization enters the fold.
Compare options side-by-side, and you’re going to see some differences that can help make an informed decision that’s a little easier.
We’ve been fans of the FN 509 family of 9mm pistols since they were first introduced, and one in particular has caught our eye as a great example of a very capable gun with carry-friendly features, made for comfort and reliability.
Here’s a rundown of the biggest differences and benefits of the FN 509 Midsize as an everyday carry gun.
1. Best of both worlds
When you shrink a full size pistol down, you’re making fundamental changes to the overall performance. That’s not to say compact handguns can’t do the job, but the FN 509 Midsize brings together a four-inch barrel and slide with a midsize frame. That helps retain the functionality of a full-size gun, with more concealable features like a shortened grip and an easy-racking, lighter recoil spring.
2. Improved grip
The texturing on the FN 509 Midsize’s grip, along with the two interchangeable backstraps provide an ideal fit for any shooter. The combination of textures make for a sure-handed grip without being abrasive, a welcome change from other guns.
The texture is designed to handle challenging conditions like heat, humidity or rain, promoting better recoil management and more reliable follow up shots. Even the 509 Midsize’s slide has specially-designed cocking serrations to avoid slipping.
3. Sights set to carry
The standard fixed, 3-dot luminescent sights on the 509 Midsize help you acquire your target even in low light situations. They’re made to minimize the risk of catching or snagging on the draw.
4. Fully ambidextrous
The FN 509 Midsize is made to accommodate any shooter with fully ambidextrous controls. Lefties won’t have to compromise, adjust or adapt to the pistol as it features both slide stops and magazine release on both sizes of the gun.
5. Magazine options
The 509 Midsize ships with a pair of magazines, either two 10-round or two 15-round options. It’s compatible with FN 509 17-round and 24-round magazines, as long as you use the appropriate magazine sleeves. That’s four capacity choices, something most carry guns don’t give you.
6. Accessory-ready
The FN 509 Midsize comes with a mil-standard Picatinny rail, so you can add the accessories you need. A light, laser or both give you the options and capabilities you need for your needs and style of carry.
7. Military heritage
FN America took their line of striker-fired pistols in a new direction in 2017 with the introduction of the FN 509. It was born out of their entry in the Army’s modular handgun system competition. FN’s tested the 509 with more than 1 million rounds during the gun’s development process to ensure that their new flagship 9mm pistol is ultra reliable.
8. The backing of an industry leader
FN handguns have earned the respect of the commercial, military, and law enforcement customers around the world with their commitment to design excellence and quality. The 509 Midsize benefits from FN’s distinction of producing the worlds most battle-proven firearms. The 509 family of guns follows in that tradition and are made entirely in the United States in the company’s state-of-the art production facility in Columbia, South Carolina.
FN takes pride in the firearms they produce and the customers who buy them to safeguard their lives. The 509 Midsize is a carry gun you can buy and carry with confidence.
Why would you need sleeves with longer mags?
My SR9c will take 17 round mags with no sleeve as will every Glock 26 I have ever shot.
Want to impress? Do a comparo with a Glock 19 and a Sig 320 Compact.
You can use a 17 round mag without a sleeve but there will be gap in the grip. I put tape under the sleeve to keep it in place.
Some of FN’s hammer fired guns that had manual safeties were not bad guns. I contemplated buying one for my collection but the striker fired gun is not safe to handle or use because of its lack of a manual safety. Just like the Glock if you accidentally touch or snag the trigger the gun fires and causes an accident while holstering the gun or handling it.
I will admit they at least did not adopt the unsafe Glock take down system that requires you to have the slide forward and then pull the trigger which is a disaster and accident waiting to happen.
I might add accuracy was adequate but not outstanding with the FN plastic guns I fired at the range which included the hammer fired guns too.
Would I buy the striker fired FN, no and for the above reasons.
One would argue having a good holster is part of carrying a striker fired gun. I understand to each it’s own but a gun is only as unsafe as the person carrying it.
Well said, Ton E. The best safety is the one behind the firearm.
Wrong, machines that are poorly designed cause unnecessary accidents and death and that is exactly why we have back up safeties on lawn mowers, anti-lock breaks, safety glass in automobile windshields and the list goes on and on. Guns are no different and if the Glock and other copy cat weapons were under the Consumer Safety Protection Agency they would never have been allowed on the market without a manual safety and the Glock would have been double banned because of its totally unsafe take down system, again an accident waiting to happen and happen it does over and over again because of Moronic engineering.
People are not perfect they make mistakes and when you design something that is guaranteed to cause unnecessary death and injury only the insane and the ignorant would not ban it immediately or demand it be redesigned to pass safety inspection. Its called “Common Sense”, something totally lacking with the Far Right
“the best safety is between your ears” the grave yards are full of such people who proclaim ” I never made a mistake in my life and never will”
The 4 Rules of Gun Safety
1. Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything that you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger, out of the trigger guard,.
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
“Treat guns as if they are always loaded” so you never clean your glock, right? Because you’d have to pull the trigger, but it’s always loaded.
Parroting the ‘rules’ in this context is silly.
I’ve never had a problem with my Gold Cup’s thumb safety. Because it’s a 1911, it never occurred to me not to use it. On the other hand, I don’t miss it on my S&W M&P 9. With either gun, I’m careful about holstering. Likewise, I keep my trigger finger on the frame instead of on the trigger. Doing so doesn’t require conscious thought. It’s how I was “raised”.
Although there is a trick to avoid pulling the trigger on my M&P during field stripping, I’ve never bothered to learn it. What I do, instead, is check the chamber first even if it’s only been a few minutes since I last checked it. I would point out that field stripping a 1911 isn’t completely hazard free. The gun needs to be cocked with the thumb safety off. Failure to verify that the chamber is empty combined with carelessness about touching the trigger could result in a negligent discharge.
Neither of the design features you are complaining about is inherently unsafe but they are unforgiving. Mechanical remedies don’t improve safety. They just let careless gun handlers get away (temporarily) with unsafe behavior.
totally wrong from your fist word to your last
Irrefutable proof: Example. The Beretta requires you to lock back the slide as the first step to taking it down. If you have forgotten to check the chamber the loaded round is immediate ejected and the slide must be locked back as well so even you forgot to unload the magazine the slide will go forward telling you the gun is still loaded. None of these safeguards are incorporated into a Glock. The slide must be forward and you must pull the trigger. If you forget just one time in your entire life to check the chamber you shoot yourself or someone else. Even the mentally challenged can figure this one out but unfortunately the Far Right are not that high on the evolutionary scale and they prove it with their posts like “the best safety is between your ears” the grave yards are full of such people who proclaim ” I never made a mistake in my life and never will” .
Your the guy that needs safety warnings on a disposable coffee cup, Right? A individuals FAILURE to Read and Comply with Usesr Manual Warnings, Cautions and Instructions and or Mishandling or abuse of this firearm may result in Injury, Death or property Damage!
So don’t play that safety no safety whinny story over and over. If you can’t follow instructions your odds are you shouldn’t be handling firearm. Only mfg Defect like some Mdl 700 triggers that fired when the safety was engaded or gun dropped are not HUMAN ERROR NEGLIGENT DISCHARGES! It’s great you like gun safeties, I don’t want them on my defensive handguns. Don’t imply that your carelessness for procedures is a good reason for others to only use handguns with Safeties. You should stay away from revolvers too.
Just own your limitations, don’t try and reduce others to you level.
Vlad would have the government design guns, a bureaucracy to enforce new laws on their use and taxes increased to pay for it all. Then the government would be surprised when there still were accidental discharges and start all over again.
Totally wrong. Like your other posts, you are factually incorrect and making things up. The Beretta 92 series doesn’t need to be locked back to disassemble. The slide doesn’t even need to be moved even a little, like a Glock. Push the button, rotate the lever, and the slide pulls forward freely. There could be a round in the chamber or not. A properly trained person will check the chamber before disassembling, just as they won’t point the muzzle at something they aren’t willing to put a hole in.
You are not familiar with the Beretta or it’s problems obviously. You are in the dangerous white-belt area of knowing enough to get into trouble but not enough to avoid it in the first place.
Vlad, you don’t own any guns.
And clearly, you would be the idiot to forget removing the bullets before cleaning, or paying attention to avoid an ND.
B.D I CONCUR.
If you’re to dumb to clear your weapon before cleaning. Maybe you shouldn’t own one. Pulling the trigger for takedown isn’t a big deal.
If you didn’t see it yesterday Vlad is at least 100 years old. Only yesterday, he was talking about the good old days back in the 40s and 50s.
Vlad is a 18-20 year old who had never touched a gun.
…and here I was convinced that “Vlad” was a group effort of paid anti2A Bloombots working shifts. Inconsistencies in his answers over time show several personalities at “work”…either that or (Occam’s Razor) it’s one demented soul in Mom’s basement with severe MPD.
Seriously doubt that “he” owns any firearms…other than those imaginary ones in his game console.
I have also considered the Twelve Faces of Eve construct.
I prefer the XD design. I have trained myself to release the grip safety and place my thumb on the rear of the slide during reholstering. Springfield also has flush fit and extended mags available for many of their models.
I wish FN the best – but no amount of “sponsoring” can make these pistols acceptable for most of your readership. Maybe this one would be fine for a range pistol. Too much negative press – from Baltimore PD to you name it. I have lost the photo but I have one of someone pinching the grip frame (minus mag) after setting out in the sun for a while. I suppose you guys have to pay for hosting, etc … so, thus, the sponsored content.
The FN pistols you’re talking about were the FNS series guns. Not the 509.
Isn’t the 509 a variant of the FNX?
I mean FNS
It’s essentially an improved version of the FNS
Love my FNX-45, sweet gun, never a problem.
Adding to what Dan said it was Baltimore County PD not the City PD plus Arizona DPS had similar issues with their FNS40 Long Slides also. FN has quietly moved away from the FNS pistols.
Eddy Jolley you win…troll of the day! “…from Baltimore PD to…to…hmmm…errr…ummm… you name it…”
“Too much negative press”… no pistol has received more negative press than glocks. Between *glock-leg*, to unsupported barrels going *glock-boom*, to terrible triggers, sights, and an unnatural grip angle. They have been surpassed by a number of firearms and glock has done little in its five generations to maintain the lead they once held.
The “sun pistol” you mentioned was ONE gun from a youtuber, a FNX (not FNS) that FN replaced with a brand new gun. How dare FN not make every gun perfect…right Eddy?
Finally, “…can make these pistols acceptable for most of your readership…” I didn’t know you now speak for most of the TTAG readership, must have missed that memo. Dan did you forget to circulate the “Eddy now speaks for most of the readership” memo?
Im sure that reliability is similar to most of the other polymer pistols on the market today, but the trigger? AWFUL. I would say for sure one of the worst triggers in a production striker fired handgun today. I’d say an sd9ve is even better, because while it’s heavy at least it’s smooth.
Problem is I can buy an excellent MADE IN USA firearm plus more magazines, ammo and a quality holster just for the price of one of these. The Ruger SR9/SR9C is a good example.
I have to agree with the SR-9. What a great pistol.
I posed this question before, and I don’t think it was answered. Did Ruger bring back the SR series as a budget alternative like the Smith & Wesson SD? The SR lineup is back on their website after being gone for months.
It’s my understanding at least from my LGS that Ruger went with the American series as a replacement for the SR9. I know their Security 9 is a good seller but the SR9 was/is being phased out. At least that was my understanding. I know the manager wished Ruger stayed with the SR9 because in his opinion, it was the better of the two-SR9 vs. the American.
I mentioned in TTAG several months ago they were gone.
As you mentioned, Ruger quietly re-added them to their site.
I also see them popping up on gun.deals……..so i guess,they decided folks wanted them.
Maybe some people dont want the Security 9 or Sec9 compact.
And maybe they had a bunch of parts they needed to use up.
Time will tell….the SR guns are great.
Thanks. I missed the earlier post.
Several of the firearms I shoot are Ruger, namely the KP89, the KP 95 , the KP944. Loved shooting every one of them and have never had a firing or ejecting problem from any of them. To me, Made in America, says something still.
What has the Ruger fan boi’s panties in a bunch, that they have hijacked this thread?
Great guys the discontinued SR-9 costs $350.
A bit to much overcompensating?
Over compensating is HKs territory.
We just like good pistols…..like the SR9 and 9c.
to Sgt Preston
Sorry but unless things have changed the FN plastic pistols were and are all made in the U.S.A. The only one I am not sure about is the FN5.7 as that may still be made in Belgium.
Another Tubberware pistol. Be still my beating heart.
A compact version of the FNX series would be an interesting choice without much competition.
The 509 just does not “Feel” right. It is also more expensive. The Ruger line of compact and sub compact are better CCW. Not as good as a HK P7M8 or a Sig P210 but certainly a better price point.
Then there was Wally,
The FN is too expensive!
Then compares it to $2,000 dollar H&K and Sigs.
Quick check on Buds….$579 for the FN 509. For the as good or better fully American made/American company, M&P 2.0 9mm Compact……$394. That is $185 that can be spent on holsters, sights, ammo or mags.
Thanks for playing FN……but not thanks.
What an ignorant comment.
Maybe you shouldn’t use Buds, 20 second search turned up a FN 509 at Gunprime for $445.
Guess you’re no longer getting extra holsters, sights, ammo and mags.
I just searched Gunprime (horrible web site) and I searched on “FN 509 Midsize” and the cheapest I could find was $549.
My whole point is, the FN is more expensive period. I gave Buds as an example. Gun Broker shows a gap as well, enough to buy a few mags at least if not more or a set of Trijicon HD’s sights.
I am not huge fan of sponsored blog posts…nothing but a big ad.
Love my S&W shield. Great CC firearm. American made. Easy takedown. Ample magazine capacity. Shoot like a dream. Happy camper.
I loved my 509, never carried it because the magazine release was a PIA. Completely changing my grip to hit it with my thumb and press super hard or changing my grip and years of muscle memory to use my index finger. Nope. I’m glad TTAG is getting some sponsored content, but I just don’t want reviews to go the way of the printed mags.
In the photo above, it shows a guy reaching with his left hand for a gun that is oriented for a right handed shooter. It is nearly impossible not to sweep yourself when drawing this way.
I wonder who staged and took this photo. It shows a fundamental ignorance when it comes to concealed carry of a handgun.
Small of the back rather than right handed. For whatever that’s worth.
The pistol is situated on the centerline of his back (observe the center seam of the trousers ). It would be very difficult to reach with his right hand having to reaching past his centerline to grasp the pistol’s grip as pictured. The pistol is set with 0 degrees cant and should be very easy to grasp with the left hand although some cant to the left would make it easier to actually draw the pistol. As is, he has to pull the pistol vertically for quite an uncomfortable distance to clear that 4 inch barrel. But he is no more likely to sweep his body with this set-up than any other carry rig. Poor photo staging? Yep.
All of the benefits you list here are also applicable to the Glock 19 gen 5, though you’d need to opt for the upgraded sight package if you want night sights from the factory. Although with Glock, you have more third-party sight options than FN or any other manufacturer out there.
GlockTard alert. You gotta get of Gaston’s glock.
I had a Gen 5 G19….sold it. Worst Glock I ever owned.
Super slick slide finish. I missed the finger grooves and for once in my Glock life I finally understood why people called them “Blocks” because without those finger grooves it felt like a 2×4. The notch at the bottom of the grip was just stupid. The flared mag well at the bottom pushed my fingers up towards the gun and made the grip cramped, vs on the gen 4 my pinky just ever so slightly overhung but I could still grip comfortably. Lastly that Ambi slide stop sticks out way too much and is ugly as F. With my high grip I would bump it and lock the slide open with rounds still in the mag. Lots of folks complain about this.
Trigger was better. Not as good as my M&P 2.0 but like a Gen 4 glock with the stock minus connector.
Mayne just buy something that works like an H&K P30. Problems solved
I owned an FN pistol once. An FNX. Never again. Number 8 is the biggest joke there is. FN has NO support for their pistols. Unless your the military or some similar entity. After needing support for the pistol, I attempted to contacted them several times via email and their contact page over several months. No reply. Then I contacted them via phone several times only to get “disconnected” which was their term for hanging up on me without any resolution to my problem. Dumped the turd and told the buyer my issues. He was fine with it. Won’t ever sell me another FN at any price.
That would never have happened with Ruger.
Some folks like a Chevy truck, and some love a Ford truck. It’s the same with firearms. Buy,carry and shoot what YOU like. I myself like one in the tube. So I like a pistol with a ‘decocker’. Check out the CZ 75D PCR 9 mm. Happy shooting, and above all BE SAFE.
Pardon the question but what might EDC mean? Thanks in advance for clarification.
EVERY DAY CARRY…you’re welcome. Lotta’ pricks commenting tonight! I never see the FN 509 in gunshops.
I don’t see the issue about field stripping firearms whether they are strikers or hammer fired. You unload the magazine, ensure the chamber is clear (multiple times), and ensure there’s no live ammo anywhere near the area you are field stripping it. Do I think pulling the trigger on the Glock while the slide is forward to field strip it is the best? Nope. But if you do what you’re supposed to do then there should be no issues.
I own three fns and two 509s and the 509 mrd with a Trijicon optic is mainly what I carry except for when I carry my p365. Most of you commenting are fan boys of your inferior guns. I have many guns that cost twice as much as my FNs but I still 8 out of 10 times choose to shoot my FNs and I shoot one to two times a week. I’ve owned numerous brands of firearms and I would choose FN over any other manufacturer. I don’t like to bad mouth other firearms but I bought a Ruger SR 1911 and it was the worst gun I ever owned, it did not feed hollow points,the barrel link fell out and the firing pin broke. Glock people undercut their trigger guards, replace sights, do trigger jobs put grip tape on them etc. All my FNs are stock except a Trijicon rmr on my 509. PS ,Vlad is obviously an immature liberal gun hater.