At my LGS today just holding some random guns and I came across an FNS 9mm. Never really gave it much thought but it feels pretty good. It seems like it’s the 509’s double stack older brother maybe perhaps? Question is does anyone have one and if so how do you like it?. My gun store has it for under $400 new so it looks like a decent deal.

Don't have one but I hated the one I shot. Felt cheap and plasticky and had a terrible trigger with sharp burrs everywhere. YMMV

Bought one when they first came out. Liked it. Trigger broke. They recalled and fixed them. It didn’t make sense to me since I can get Glocks at blue label pricing.

A FNS in 9mm replaced my SIG 229 as my carry gun. It's reliable and accurate and I have no issues with mine.

-Tom

Why are they so cheap? Because FN released an updated version, the 509. So they dropped the price of the FNS.

The FNS isn't pretty; it's appearance is pretty spartan. The grip is really nice and grippy. The mag release is a little unusual, being an oval hump, but I kinda liked it. The trigger isn't good or bad. But as average as the thing seems, I just had fun shooting it. I don't know why. I was rather surprised by it. I was doing a test/review of 9 top striker fired pistols and the only two I really wanted to keep shooting were the P320 and the FNS.

Main target was 15 rounds at 7 yards. Smaller two were 5 at 15 each.

My FNS9 runs rings around my other SFA pistols. Only down side is the high cost of mags and FN Customer service which is the worst in the industry... I’d still buy a pristine variant under $400..

Thanks for the replies guys I went and bought it about an hour ago. $359.99 before tax and a $20 gift card to the store. Not bad IMHO. Plus it comes with 3 mags. Never had a FN so wanted to just add one for range fun.

We're one of the few departments that issues FNS pistols. We had significant problems with double-feeds when lights were attached to the 9mm pistols. FN America took the problem seriously and replaced the barrels and magazines. This greatly improved the reliability of the pistols. The high profile magazine releases resulted in magazines being ejected by chairs, center consoles, and so forth. This can be remedied by replacement with a low-profile release which makes ejecting the magazine somewhat more difficult than many other pistols, but is certainly doable. I understand FN now offers a release that is high profile on one side and low profile on the other which would probably be ideal. Some of the more serious shooters found the sights challenging, but qualification scores have gone up overall.

The weight and size of the pistol are appreciated after packing 226's for years. FNS-9 Compacts are authorized for CI and Street Crime people. The .40 Compact I tried during the test process several years ago had low profile magazine releases which were impossible for me to operate with gun in hand, but I have heard no complaints about the issue Compacts.

You may locating a holster is a bit challenging, but they are available.

^^^^^^that’s good info to know. Hopefully the issues would have been well worked out before mine was made, it is a new build. Though just meant to be a range toy, it would be nice to know I could use it as a HD set up with a light if I really end up liking the gun.

quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
My FNS9 runs rings around my other SFA pistols. Only down side is the high cost of mags and FN Customer service which is the worst in the industry... I’d still buy a pristine variant under $400..

I was interested in a FNS9 until I read a detailed account from an owner on the FNS fan forum who relayed that FNH CS's official word was that the FNS has an expected useful lifespan of 12K rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
.... Only down side is the high cost of mags and FN Customer service which is the worst in the industry ... I’d still buy a pristine variant under $400..

I would not buy another FN at any price.

Hopefully I won’t have to use their customer service

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
My FNS9 runs rings around my other SFA pistols. Only down side is the high cost of mags and FN Customer service which is the worst in the industry... I’d still buy a pristine variant under $400..

I was interested in a FNS9 until I read a detailed account from an owner on the FNS fan forum who relayed that FNH CS's official word was that the FNS has an expected useful lifespan of 12K rounds.

I can’t imagine a modern design gun with a cold hammer forged barrel being good for only 12K rounds.

FN's customer service was great with us, but we were an organizational purchase. They acknowledged that there was an issue with the pistols (of course, we had sent them video). I can't speak to private purchase.

That said, we had an officer drop a locked back pistol from the holster while running a rifle qualification course. When I asked the firearms training coordinator if an armorer was able to get the weapon running at the range, he advised me that the pistol would have to be sent into the factory. That took me back, but I guess we knew what we were purchasing.

I now have 3. 2 FNS 9mm's and an FDE compact. I shoot the crap out of them, and have yet to have any type of issue. Very accurate pistols. I will say that one of the full size triggers is noticeably more crisp and light than the other, but i am putting more rounds thru the lesser one with the hopes of working it in a little.
Also, i have ordered a complete new factory stainless upper (to turn one of the full size ones into a 2 tone look,) mags, baseplates, sights, from Midwest Gun Works and some other odds and ends and never been disappointed so FN's customer support is less of an issue at least as to parts.
Bottom line is that i cannot find much to complain about with any of the 3, and in fact parted with my FN 509 in part because the FNS pistols i had made it kind of unnecessary.

^^^^^Nice to see another positive review!

It took a while and some lube to get the trigger to where it was pretty decent. It is one of just a few truly ambidextrous guns out there. I liked the grippy grip.

Related thread:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/9380083034

I love FN rifles. I have a PS90 and previously had a SCAR 16S. I also previously owned two other PS90s.

However, after this thread, I would not buy an FN handgun: https://pistol-forum.com/showt...So-I-broke-my-FNS-9L

Granted, the thread is 24 pages, but worth reading in its entirety...

There seems to be an issue on the FNS series on what the lifespan of the gun is, and the maintenance schedule (which FN won't release). And, they denied a warranty repair because the guy didn't follow a schedule of having the gun checked every 2k rounds. That is ridiculous.

As someone on that thread said:

quote:

I realize this is not an actual maintenance schedule, but the FNS manual does say the gun should be checked by FN or a gunsmith every 2,000 rounds. Yeah, I know. That's what it says, though.

Don't do that, and they can deny a warranty claim it seems. I don't know if this new Fn pistol is treated the same as the FNS series, but this is just pure ridiculous...

Another comment on the thread:

quote:

As I read that manual, with its horrible grammar and lack of punctuation, your pistol needs to be inspected by a certified armorer every 2,000 rounds OR every year. It does not say "whichever comes first." The BS about how your pistol is such a finely tuned machine that your neanderthal mind can't possibly comprehend the complexity, leading to its certain destruction if you do more than field strip pisses me off so badly that I would NEVER buy any FN product, EVER. Sure, you're not a certified armorer, and I'm sure it's more complex than a GLOCK, but, sure as a bear shits in the woods, I wouldn't own a pistol that I have to ship off to the mothership ON MY DIME every couple of weeks/months.

All i can say about the maintenance schedule issue is that I am well over 2 thousand rounds (probably closer to 4k) with 2 of the 3 pistols, have changed nothing, cleaned and lubed probably every other range session and i don't go to a session without at least 300 rounds, and other than on the barrel and inside of the slide i don't even see excessive signs of wear.
Manual or not, i will shoot them until something breaks, and fix it. Before that happens i am just balsting away and enjoying some great feeling accurate pistols.
Just me, and i can get why someone would at least wonder about the manual terms but if everything else about the pistol works for me i don't let it stop me.