Sarge's FNX-45 review Part 1

[Sarge43]

I decided to do the review in two (maybe three) parts as there are different things going on here that need to be addressed. This first part will cover the unboxing and shooting of my new FNH FNX-45 pistol. The second will cover things that either weren't covered out there in my research on this pistol prior to buying, or information that I found that was just flat out wrong. There may be a third part, depending on what comes up between this and the second part. Here we go......

I bought the FNX-45 at Cabela's Friday November 4th when their "Employee pricing sale" started. Out the door price for the pistol was $658.34 before tax with the sale and my military discount.

After my looking around at the online gun stores and also locally in the various gun stores, this price seemed pretty good and I was happy with it. No FFL charges or shipping charges to deal with, just do the background check, pay the bill and head to the range. :rock:
I also purchased a Beretta PX4 Storm Compact in 9mm, but that will be a later review. I still haven't even shot that one as of this writing.
What's in the box?
This pistol came in the old familiar hard plastic two latch case that we're all used to. Inside is a "soft" plastic liner in the bottom and top. The bottom is cut out for the real goodies (pistol, mags, extra backstrap), while the top has a slot that holds the owners manual, registration card, fired casing, and various other paperwork. Of course, there was also a lock included (I think I may have to load the back of the truck up with all those I have on hand and make some money selling them f or scrap weight )

One little cool thing that really means nothing, but is just nice is that what I thought was an FNH sticker on the slide, is instead, a refrigerator magnet. Like I said, means nothing really, but it's a nice touch.
All three magazines that are included are the 15 round mags (I'm in Kansas, I'm sure it's 10 rounders in Commifornia). That's right THREE 15 round mags are included - I love it! That saves anywhere from $45 up to ?? in cost and the hassle of getting another one to make the three many like to carry. The magazines are STIFF! I had heard that some people had trouble inserting a fully loaded mag in the pistol, but now I know why none of the YouTube videos showed these things being loaded - it's a chore! I don't use the aftermarket loaders, and prefer my thumbs, but I have to admit, early on in the shooting I gave up on putting more than 10 rounds in any of the mags. My thumbs were worn out. The mags are currently loaded and sitting, which I'm sure will loosen them up a little bit. I've run into that problem many times on the 8 round 1911 mags, and this always works.
The pistol itself
In looking the pistol over prior to shooting, I noticed NO imperfections in the finish tone or smoothness, or any grittiness in the slide as I worked it back and forth. Also something worth mentioning as I saw/heard this repeatedly in my information search on the pistol - the lower frame on mine is NOT all mushy and bendable without undue pressure. Numerous reviews showed or mentioned that the lower frame (grip portion) could easily be squeezed/manipulated in a fashion that caused the magazines to hang up upon release. Again, my frame is solid, and while I could get it to bend a little when torquing it and applying a LOT of pressure, it does not move under normal or even above normal shooting pressures, and all three magazines dropped free and clear easily even when empty. The sights on mine are not the night sights, just regular white dot sights. The front dot is bigger than the rear two, but when looking down them, they appear the same. I may put some luminescent green or orange on the front dot, but it's not needed, just maybe a slight improvement.
All controls on this pistol are ambidextrous. Mag release, slide release, safety/decocker - all on both sides. I can shoot with either hand, but usually will pick up a pistol with my left all things being even, so I've learned over my 51 years, to deal with right handed pistols being a die hard 1911 guy. The first slide release prior to shooting I caught myself and smiled that I didn't have to use my forefinger on my shooting (left) hand to do as I normally would - I just reached up with my left thumb and hit the slide release to get it done. Nice touch! The slide release is fairly small, but it is adequate and easy to reach for me. It is protected by being inset to the frame so that is doesn't snag anything, but is available for use.
The safety/decocker is large enough to be comfortably engaged/disengaged with either hand. There are three positions. Pushing the lever all the way up covers the red dot on each side of the frame and makes the weapon safe with the trigger totally disengaged. Pushing the safety lever down one stop to expose the red dot puts the weapon into double action mode with the long trigger pull available to fire the round in the chamber - more on this later. When the hammer is cocked, you can push the safety lever down one more time and it will drop the hammer to a "quarter cock" position, not all the way down. The lever returns to the middle position on its own, putting the weapon back into the double action mode. In this manner the hammer is held away from the firing pin, so it won't fire if dropped etc.
The magazine releases are also ambi and are easy to reach for me, without adjusting my grip. They are somewhat oversized and pushing on any portion of the release with intent will easily and quickly drop the magazine.
The hammer is a skeleton round with serrations on the top and back portion which give good solid purchase for thumb cocking it if needed.
Now the trigger. It is plastic, but well placed in an oversized trigger guard. It is nice and wide and rounded as well, overall very comfortable for that long, heavy double action pull. Here's where 1911's have spoiled me, the trigger pull has quite a bit of uptake (even on single action it's almost a full 1/4" from engaging it with your finger to breaking) and there's that "vibration" that most if not all polymer frame pistols have after it breaks. Of course, when firing you don't notice it, it's just weird when dry firing though. Neither here nor there in practicality though, so lets move on. The double action pull is about 3/4" long and smooth, but somewhat heavy. I saw a video review saying that the double action was so light it worried him - not sure where he got his pistol, but mine is heavy at a guesstimated 11 pounds plus the whole way back. In a situation, just what you want and you won't notice anyway. At the range, it's stiff enough you'll want to pull that hammer back for a single action shot or you'll probably pull your shot right or left over the distance of travel WITH the weight of the pull. Single action pull is nice, once you take up that first 1/4" of dead space. There is a solid stop after that deadspace and I'd guesstimate the single action trigger pull at 4 pounds - just about right so it's not heavy, but not light enough to surprise you in a bad way. In finishing out the rear of the pistol, you have a removable straight back strap on the pistol as it comes from the factory. It is supplied with an arched back strap also that you can swap out if you want to. Both have lanyard holes integrated into them. The front of the frame has an incorporated picatinny rail if you're of a mind to mount a light (or one of those weird Glock pistol bayonets). Overall, the frame is well thought out. The take down lever and other controls are "built in" to the frame and protected well. Controls that have to stick out a little more (safety/decocking lever, mag releases) are textured but also rounded so they don't snag easily. As I said before the trigger guard is overszed enough that my finger will still fit in there with THIN gloves on.
The grip portion of the frame is quite rough with 15 lpi checkering on the back straps and sides. The front strap is not checkered, but has horizontal ridges over the entire gripping portion. The texture can be a bit of a "cheesegrater" for your skin if you have softer hands, but can be rounded easily with a little sanding I would think. If your hands are calloused like mine, you notice it, but it's not a hindrance. I'm not going to go over the take down procedures as there are plenty of videos etc out there if you have questions on it. I will say, it's ridiculously easy to do. If anyone has questions on it, just let me know and I'll put some pics up of how it's done.
How does it shoot?
Let's get to the fun stuff!
I loaded the mags with 10 rounds each and went over to the 10 yard range. I did apply a drop of lube to both the front and back rails prior to shotting, but that's all I did. Here is a pic of the first ten shot string through the pistol - just normal standing, unsupported two hand hold shooting.

As you can see, under 3". I believe the pistol is more accurate than I am, but this group is very effective in a defense situation. Also as you can see, the sights are a little off to the right - a situation which can be easily corrected.
I moved to the 25 yard range and this time rested the pistol butt on the bench to shoot. Both offhand and this group were shot at about one shot per second as is my normal shooting cadence when not rushed. Enough time to get a good sight picture between shots, but no resting. Here are the results of the 25 yard string.

I was holding the top fo the front post splitting the orange dot on the target. Again, the pistol is more accurate than I am, but even with my inconsistencies, the group was about 5". AS you can see, the spread is due to my breathing as those upper rounds are obviously my fault. I could shoot the pistol through a ransom rest, but what's the point? The point it, this pistol is a fight ender if you are able to do your part. I used 230 gn WWB for all shooting.
After these groups, I went out and had fun. I put 200 rounds through it with out so much as a hiccup. I used it in my old favorites - moving, multiple target, timed strings that simulate multiple bad guys and put the pressure of a timer on you. In those 200 rounds, I really learned to appreciate the natural "pointability" of this pistol as I am an instincitive shooter in these drills and all rounds found their intended targets in a great combat effective manner. I have no doubt that in a stressed, real world situation, this pistol will end the fight in my hands, and that, at the end of the day is what it needs to do to be in the stable. Under the timer and movement, I didn't notice at all any of the "picky things" that I mentioned above like the checkering, the small slide release, trigger take up etc - all those things that we only have the luxury of noticing when we are at a range and taking our time. In the situations I ran, this pistol proved itself to be a keeper and was smooth, accurate and deadly effective. At the end of the day, what else do we want in a pistol?
The second part of the review will cover some of the inaccurate information that I found out there on this pistol, as well as a comparison to various other pistols like the SIG P229, the CZ P-01, the 1911, and others. The second part will include pics showing measurement comparisons etc to put to rest some of the wrong info out there along with weights etc. Might even cover concealment (or not) with this pistol, we'll see. If there is something you want to be addressed in the other part(s) of the review, let me know and I'll try to work it in to the write up.
Overall, this pistol is a keeper. It's not for people with small hands, but if you can comfortably handle a Glock, a full size SIG, even a 1911 with full thickness grips, I believe you can handle this with confidence. I'm glad I picked it up and it will be a great addition to the harem.
Thanks for reading this and again, let me know if you want anything special included in the next part, or any more pictures of the pistol to address questions etc.
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Wow. I guess this review was SO complete and informative, that the need for comments or questions is negated totally. Haha!
Sarge

[Jim Watson]

Pushing the lever all the way up covers the red dot on each side of the frame and makes the weapon safe with the trigger totally disengaged. Pushing the safety lever down one stop to expose the red dot puts the weapon into double action mode with the long trigger pull available to fire the round in the chamber - more on this later. When the hammer is cocked, you can push the safety lever down one more time and it will drop the hammer to a "quarter cock" position, not all the way down. The lever returns to the middle position on its own, putting the weapon back into the double action mode.

Does this all mean that you cannot get to a cocked and locked "condition 1?"

[Sarge43]

Jim,
You can have the hammer cocked and put the safety lever all the way up, covering the red dot and disengaging the trigger, but the hammer will still stay cocked (first pic below). Pushing the safety lever down one click will remover the safety and engage the trigger, giving you a single action first shot from that setup (second pic below).

[Jim Watson]

That's what I thought/hoped but the first version was not clear to me.

[Sarge43]

Glad that helped clear it up.
Sarge

[Bartholomew Roberts]

The FNX kind of feels like a poor-man's USP sized for normal human hands.

[Sarge43]

Missing my old USP was what got me started looking for something to replace it in the first place. The FNX-45 compared very well side-by-side to the USP so I couldn't justify the extra chunk of $$$ for the HK. In fact, for the money saved, I picked up a Beretta PX4 Storm compact in 9mm as well, so it was a literal two for one deal.
Sarge

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I liked the USP trigger better; but I thought the FNX (especially in .45) had dramatically better ergos and was easier to carry. I was pretty close to pulling the trigger on an FNX to replace my Hi-Power; but some of the owner reports left me concerned that durability was no better than the Hi-Power, which I already like a lot and is even easier to carry.

[Sarge43]

Part II coming soon - probably early next week. Comparisons to other pistols with pics and info setting some things straight on info for this pistol.
Sarge