After an 18-month wait I finally had my cataract surgery in January. One of the downsides was that I didn’t have quite as much near-focus vision as I’d had before…not that much less, but enough that regular pistol sights were a little more out of focus for me. I’ve been using reading glasses for the past year or so so it wasn’t a huge change, but it was enough that it gave me the idea to try a pistol with a compact optic. I’ve been using red-dot sights on my black rifles for years, but I hadn’t tried a handgun with one. I picked up a couple of Trijicon RMRs off the EE, and both a Glock 17 MOS and FX FNX 45 Tactical from a couple of site sponsors. I figured the Glock would be quite familiar to everyone, but the FNX maybe less so—I had never even seen a newer-gen FN pistol like their FNP, FNX or FNS lineup until mine showed up. Here are some thought after the first week.
I picked up the FDE model—the appearance of the colour varies a fair bit depending on the light from almost an olive colour to a caramel brown. The “Tactical” version of the FNX varies from the regular version, I think, by having a longer (5.3” vs. 4.5”) barrel, higher “suppressor” night sights, and a slide pre-milled for compact optic mounting.
It’s a full-size pistol for sure—the normal cap magazines holds an impressive 15 rounds of .45 ACP. I was apprehensive about the grip size but it’s surprisingly manageable—the extra capacity is achieved not by increasing the grip’s girth but by having a grip that is longer than other comparably-sized pistols. The grip circumference is only 14.5cm, just a bit more than the 9mm Glock 17 at 14cm. It’s a very manageable grip, even with my small hands.
The grip has raised grooves on the front strap and a bold pyramid-like texture on the side. I like the grooves—they let your fingers slide into a good grip easily while still providing a solid purchase. The pyramids feel, to me, more or less the same as a Gen 4 Glock…maybe a bit more aggressive.
The only grip customization is changeable backstraps. What’s neat is that in addition to two different shapes (straight and curved) you have a choice of textures (grooved or pyramids)—I don’t know if any other pistols have this feature.
I’ve got the straight-backed pyramids on mine. (Is that a lanyard loop at the bottom?)
The FNX is a DA/SA pistol with a combination safety-decocker. The safety can be applied with the hammer down or cocked. It’s not quite as positive-feeling as the safety on an H&K USP, and there’s not as much of a “stop” when sweeping the safety off before activating the decocker…it feels to me like you might inadvertently decock the pistol under stress. The slide release is a Glock-style nub that’s protected by inadvertent activation by some protrusions. I prefer a larger-to-activate slide release myself. It seems that smaller slide releases might be becoming more common—my SIG P226 Legion has a similarly small one. I guess the modern thing to do is the slingshot slide release but I prefer a slide-stop release. The rear suppressor sight is significantly higher than the normal sight. The bore axis is quite low, too. I'm not a "low bore axis at all costs" guy, but all things being equal, a low bore axis is better.
Controls—even the mag release—are ambidextrous. the mag release is your typical push button release, not a H&K or Walther paddle-style one (which I would have preferred).
The trigger is smooth and there are no humps or grooves inside the trigger guard (I hate those on the HK45 or SFP9). There’s a molded-in overtravel stop on the trigger (but what’s funny is that there’s still significant overtravel after the break).
Here’s a quick demo of the trigger pull—I like it.
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The front sight is, of course, tall as well. A thread protector is included…this would be an awesome pistol for a suppressor!
Here’s the sight picture through the RMR (I always find it hard to get a picture that represents what your eyes see). The high sights do cover a fair bit of the RMR window. I guess that since they co-witness I should be able to zero the sight more easily. I’ve heard that seeing the sights means you can locate the red dot more easily but I’m a little dubious as to if that’s a worthwhile feature. I’d prefer, I think, if they were shorter.
There are robust-looking rails inside the frame for the slide to run on.
There’s a plate on the top of the slide that you remove to reveal the drilled and tapped holes for the various optics.
An RMR-compatible plate and screws are included (not like Glock that make you buy the screws separately. The same screws are used to mount both the sight and plate.
The mags are a little odd—instead of having a notch in them there’s a small nub on the front the the mag body that engages the mag release notch. I’ve had it fetch up on the release a little a few times when inserting the mag…I’m a little concerned it could sometimes be an impediment to a smooth mag change. All three mags had the same brazed area—it must be part of the pinning process.
Disassembly is easy—lock the slide back, unscrew the thread protector, swing the disassembly lever 90°, retract the slide a bit then ease it forward. The guide rod is steel (and the mainspring quite stout).
The pistol comes with a really nice case with room for extra mags, the extras mounting plates and even a suppressor (which I’m using for the trigger lock)
So, what do I think? As fas as regular DA/SA polymer pistols go I think I prefer the H&K USP—the trigger pull is a bit better, and the safety has a more positive feel (and I prefer the USP’s slide stop and paddle mag release). The trigger pull on the FNX is a bit lighter, if I remember correctly, and the FNX’s grip is more manageable. I do like the ease of mounting an RMR (which is why I bought it in the first place
). If we were allowed normal cap mags 15 rounds would be awesome, too, as would suppressor use. As for other polymer .45s, I like the feel of the FNX better than the Glock 21 (which I find a bit large in the grip) and the HK45 (which I always found too slippery in the hand, plus the damn trigger guard groove bit my finger under recoil. I'm pleased with it so far.With a foot of snow on the ground and another expected early next week I expect it'll be some time before i get to the range—I'll update the thread once I'e had a chance to shoot the pistol.
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