So I bought an FNX-9 and an FNX-40 on my return to the states a week or so ago. Stripped and gave a quick cleaning to both at the gun shop, then took them to the shop's range to try them out. I was generally pleased, but decided to reconfigure both when I got home.
Note: For just about every purpose but caliber and capacity, these guns are interchangeable. The 9 is a wee bit lighter, but the grips are the same, the overall bulk and shapes are the same, and the triggers and controls are virtual twins. Accuracy was also very comparable. Recoil was more in the .40, no surprise, but it wasn't bad. So, while I'll specifically review the 9, please note that the same factors generally apply the the FNX-40 as well.
1. These pistols come with 3 magazines, which is nice. The 9mm magazines hold 17 rounds, and the pistol is 17+1. The .40 magazines hold 14 rounds, and the pistol is 14+1.
1a. All magazines fed reliably with FMJ, Gold Dot, and Hornady TAP ammo.
1b. All magazines were a severe pain to load by hand; springs are tight, feed lips are narrow. They function beautifully, but are hard on thumbs, and I could not manually load the 9mm magazines to capacity.
1c. I bought an UpLula mag loader today. Worked just great.
1d. FNX mags have been redesigned for ambi mag release, and are not compatible with FNP mags. (The ambi mag releases work quite well.)
2. The pistols come with 4 interchangeable backstraps. Two are thicker, rounder contour, and two are thinner and flatter. In the thick and thin pairs, there is one each of very rough checkered and milder checkered. The guns came in the box with the thick, rough backstraps. I found that mildly chafing on the 9mm, and very uncomfortable on the .40. After the first range session, I switched to the thick, milder backstraps, and those are perfect for my hands. Note that the sides of the grips are pretty aggressively stippled, so a rough backstrap really isn't a control aid IMO.
3. The pistols come with a pretty neat 3-dot sight setup, where the front dot is about twice the size of the rear dots. Makes it a breeze to quickly acquire the front sight. Also makes it easier to shoot with both eyes open.
4. The pistols will fit in holsters made for the FNP. I've read that others have found the FNX pistols fit well in SIG P250 holsters.
5. The pistols have a safety setup that allows cocked and locked carry (my default mode). However, the safety levers can be pressed down past "fire" to a decock position. The tension against the levers has been improved over the FNP. I think you'd have to work pretty hard to accidentally decock.
5a. The weapon can be cocked with the safety on "safe."
5b. Although the safety is frame mounted, it does not lock the slide. On the minus side, the safety won't hold the slide in battery when you holster. (A well placed thumb while holstering will fix the problem.) On the plus side, you can insert a magazine and chamber a round with the gun on "safe." You can unload the weapon with it on "safe." I like this.
6. The triggers are comparable in DA mode to a CZ75. The triggers in SA mode are somewhere in between a HiPower and a CZ75. There is some takeup in SA mode, but not a lot, and the break is predictable.
7a. I've only put 100 rounds through the FNX-40 so far, so while it has had no malfunctions, it's too small a count to draw any major conclusions yet. (I expect, though, that it will be just fine for many rounds to come.)
7b. I've put 350 rounds through the FNX-9, including 50 TAP 147gr and 50 Gold Dot 124gr +P. No problems whatever. Shoots slightly low with 124gr and 115gr, and dead on with 147gr. Recoil is no big deal with either load.
8. Takedown is very similar to that of a SIG. Takedown lever can only be turned down when the slide is back.
9. Control positions for all other controls are right where 1911, BHP, and CZ75B fans like them. Safety, slide release, and mag release are all ambi.
10. Accuracy (again, the .40 shoots very similarly to the 9mm, but these pics are from today with the 9mm):
50rds at 5yds
100rds at 10yds
In both cases, I was aiming at the shadow along the bottom edge of the target's right eye (left side of the image from our perspective); this was with 115gr range ammo, and was slightly below POA, but not much.
Summary: I'm very happy with these pistols. Only major issues are -
A) Holsters are not common. However, you can use FNP or SIG P250 holsters. SimplyRugged.com makes FNP/FNX holsters, and I have a Cuda. Sam Andrews is currently making me a MacDaniel II, as well. But going to a store and finding a holster, not so easy.
B) You'll want the UpLula mag loader unless you like to do push-ups on your thumbs.
Note: For just about every purpose but caliber and capacity, these guns are interchangeable. The 9 is a wee bit lighter, but the grips are the same, the overall bulk and shapes are the same, and the triggers and controls are virtual twins. Accuracy was also very comparable. Recoil was more in the .40, no surprise, but it wasn't bad. So, while I'll specifically review the 9, please note that the same factors generally apply the the FNX-40 as well.
1. These pistols come with 3 magazines, which is nice. The 9mm magazines hold 17 rounds, and the pistol is 17+1. The .40 magazines hold 14 rounds, and the pistol is 14+1.
1a. All magazines fed reliably with FMJ, Gold Dot, and Hornady TAP ammo.
1b. All magazines were a severe pain to load by hand; springs are tight, feed lips are narrow. They function beautifully, but are hard on thumbs, and I could not manually load the 9mm magazines to capacity.
1c. I bought an UpLula mag loader today. Worked just great.
1d. FNX mags have been redesigned for ambi mag release, and are not compatible with FNP mags. (The ambi mag releases work quite well.)
2. The pistols come with 4 interchangeable backstraps. Two are thicker, rounder contour, and two are thinner and flatter. In the thick and thin pairs, there is one each of very rough checkered and milder checkered. The guns came in the box with the thick, rough backstraps. I found that mildly chafing on the 9mm, and very uncomfortable on the .40. After the first range session, I switched to the thick, milder backstraps, and those are perfect for my hands. Note that the sides of the grips are pretty aggressively stippled, so a rough backstrap really isn't a control aid IMO.
3. The pistols come with a pretty neat 3-dot sight setup, where the front dot is about twice the size of the rear dots. Makes it a breeze to quickly acquire the front sight. Also makes it easier to shoot with both eyes open.
4. The pistols will fit in holsters made for the FNP. I've read that others have found the FNX pistols fit well in SIG P250 holsters.
5. The pistols have a safety setup that allows cocked and locked carry (my default mode). However, the safety levers can be pressed down past "fire" to a decock position. The tension against the levers has been improved over the FNP. I think you'd have to work pretty hard to accidentally decock.
5a. The weapon can be cocked with the safety on "safe."
5b. Although the safety is frame mounted, it does not lock the slide. On the minus side, the safety won't hold the slide in battery when you holster. (A well placed thumb while holstering will fix the problem.) On the plus side, you can insert a magazine and chamber a round with the gun on "safe." You can unload the weapon with it on "safe." I like this.
6. The triggers are comparable in DA mode to a CZ75. The triggers in SA mode are somewhere in between a HiPower and a CZ75. There is some takeup in SA mode, but not a lot, and the break is predictable.
7a. I've only put 100 rounds through the FNX-40 so far, so while it has had no malfunctions, it's too small a count to draw any major conclusions yet. (I expect, though, that it will be just fine for many rounds to come.)
7b. I've put 350 rounds through the FNX-9, including 50 TAP 147gr and 50 Gold Dot 124gr +P. No problems whatever. Shoots slightly low with 124gr and 115gr, and dead on with 147gr. Recoil is no big deal with either load.
8. Takedown is very similar to that of a SIG. Takedown lever can only be turned down when the slide is back.
9. Control positions for all other controls are right where 1911, BHP, and CZ75B fans like them. Safety, slide release, and mag release are all ambi.
10. Accuracy (again, the .40 shoots very similarly to the 9mm, but these pics are from today with the 9mm):
50rds at 5yds
100rds at 10yds
In both cases, I was aiming at the shadow along the bottom edge of the target's right eye (left side of the image from our perspective); this was with 115gr range ammo, and was slightly below POA, but not much.
Summary: I'm very happy with these pistols. Only major issues are -
A) Holsters are not common. However, you can use FNP or SIG P250 holsters. SimplyRugged.com makes FNP/FNX holsters, and I have a Cuda. Sam Andrews is currently making me a MacDaniel II, as well. But going to a store and finding a holster, not so easy.
B) You'll want the UpLula mag loader unless you like to do push-ups on your thumbs.
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I have a leather IWB holster that I had gotten for the XD 9mm. The FNX fits just fine and may be a little more comfortable due to the top of the slide being narrower. Magazines are expensive, I found the best price on line at A&A Arsenal. HTH
