John discusses his first impressions on picking up the FN 509 Pistol. (This is NOT a gun review.)
I got my hands on an FN 509 Pistol at a local retailer. I’ve carried its predecessor, the FNS, and I still like it.
Both the FNS and 509 are modern, striker-fired, Glock-like pistols, but the 509 has a slightly shorter grip (which means magazines are not backward-compatible with the FNS) and is trimmer and more elegant overall.
The FNS is G17-sized. The FN 509 Pistol is G19-sized. However, both are double-column, 9mm, 18-shooters. Both are priced in the ballpark with all the rest.
I get the impression that the FN 509 is superseding the FNS, but I’m told both are currently in production.
The FN 509 handgun, like an S&W, features a “jointed” or “articulated” trigger, unlike Glock (and just about everyone else), which has a “tabbed” trigger. Many have personal preferences, but both systems are perfectly acceptable.
Some have voiced the opinion that a jointed trigger may be pushed backward by a tight-fitting holster, an eventuality far less likely with a tabbed trigger. But I know of no incidents where anything like this has ever actually happened, so all that is just speculation.
Both systems are designed to prevent the pistol’s trigger from essentially “pulling itself” through momentum when the pistol is dropped on a hard surface and strikes the rear of the slide.
Unlike what we have seen from SIG in recent weeks, this makes the pistol “drop-safe” from any height, not just six feet.
Yes, I know pistols are not supposed to be dropped, but every gun manufacturer knows, or should know, that when their products get into the hands of average consumers, they will be misused, abused, beat-up, neglected, and otherwise ill-treated in every way imaginable, and some that defy imagination!
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SIG, with its flagship pistol, the 320 (which currently has neither a jointed nor a tabbed trigger), is in the process of discovering this the hard way!
I like the FN 509, and I’ll probably be carrying a copy before long.
Good competition makes good products! The entire cadre of modern production service pistols, Glock, SIG320, FNS, FN509, H&K VP9, Walther PPQ and PPS/M2, S&W M&P, SAXD and XD/M, Canik TP9SF/Elite, CZ P10C, Kahr, Ruger AA, Beretta APX, I can recommend.
All are acceptable and suitable for serious use, including concealed carry, but none are “perfect.”
I don’t see a return to hammer-fired pistols with manual decocking levers any time soon. That era is long over.
Double-action revolvers still work just fine but have their limitations.
And the dwindling 1911 crowd will be around for a long time to come, but every year, they all get one year older!
“Today’s ‘advanced weapons’ are tomorrow’s museum exhibits!” ~ Anon
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent and unlawful lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance, if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that their students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or inactions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to the Planet Earth. Mr Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
