This is a long time coming. I’ve wanted to Armchair Quarterback FNH for a good long time – but have always put it off because I knew this was going to be a massive AQB Session. Because I’ve got a lot of notes to go through here. Buckle Up.
The only question here is how do we go about this one? Let’s make it easy for you guys to follow along. Go grab a 2015 FNH Catalog from your stack/file of manufacturer’s catalogs… or stop by your local dealer to get one. Let’s just go through this page by page.
Page 13… Notice that it takes you 13 pages in their product catalog to get to their catalog. The prior 12 pages establish that, yes, FNH is awesome. They’ve take the Banner of the Builders of Badass away from Colt and away from HK. Impressive feat. You should change your logo now. Gloss Black background with gold lettering. Where was I? Ah – Page 13. We see a great photo of an FNS-9C. That’s an outstanding pistol. Recently there came the addition of the .40 caliber version – which is outstanding. But where is the FNS-45C? That’s a hole right in the middle of the lineup. There are a lot of shooters that still like .45 Auto. I myself would rather a .45 than a 9mm.
Another hole in this line up of Compacts – is a compact FNX. A hammer fired version. I know Strikers are all the Rage, and coming out with a Striker compact first was a good move, yes. However I’m waiting on the X version. I want a hammer. Not only that, I want that compact hammer-fired pistol in .45. I’m a traditionalist… I have gray in my beard… I’ve earned my opinion.
Now let’s talk about the FNS-C pistols specifically. Making them a straight up chopped version of the full sized guns is good – but you kind of missed the point on this. Compacts like these are meant for covert carry. Concealed carry. Under Cover, close to the body, under the shirt and inside the waistband carry. The problem is that the FNS-C’s have some bloody sharp edges on it where there shouldn’t be.
Give the “Little C” pistols a melt job. Just have a guy hit them with a belt sander a little bit before sending the slide to get finished. Hit some of that grip frame as well. In fact, if you could… Take that grip frame and just sand that frame rail right off the bottom. No rails.
The idea here is to keep the FNS-9C as small as possible and as comfortable as possible for concealed carry. Don’t think that would work? Look at the SIG M-11, it has no rails and SIG is selling the hell out of them. Oh, would you look at that – it also has a hammer. Just sayin.
Pages 15-17. The FNS and FNX series as shown. Solid guns. I really like them. But turn real quick to page 18. What do you see? The FNX-45 Tactical.
Are you following me here? Yeah… I’m going to say it. Where are the FNX-9 Tacticals? And the FNX-40 Tacticals? With the extended threaded barrels, suppressor sights, and slides cut for Micro-Red Dots? S&W has this with the CORE pistols – hugely popular. In fact, when I was with a certain tactical holster company – that was one of the #1 questions about the M&P holsters – would they fit the CORE. Glock has the MOS series of pistols out now – all pre-cut for RMR sights. What – does FNH think only guys wanting that are shooting .45 Autos?
While we are talking Tactical editions… Where is an FNS Tactical? Because the CORE and the MOS pistols just happen to be strikers. FNH, you need to bring balance to these forces.
Let’s talk colors. Page 18 and page 19, I’m seeing Tan frames. Where are the Tan frames on the other pistols? I mean, obviously, you guys have the capability to do tan frames… but you’ve chosen not to. Let me tell ya something. Glock pistols in the alternate Tan color – always sell out before the regular black pistols do. And a Tan gun in the Compact lines actually make a lot more sense as they will be less noticeable than a black gun. That and folks just like different color options. I’m not saying pull out a rainbow… But FDE and ODG would not go amiss here.
Speaking of a miss here… The long slide guns… Some factory installed adjustable sights with a high-vis front sight post would be ideal.
Know what would also be idea? An FNX Tactical in 10mm. Yes, I’m suggesting that. Interest in 10mm is on the upswing and more options in 10mm would really help. Working with dealers who sell FNH – I have heard many many times “If this was in 10mm…”
Come on – just a special edition run of them at least. That would be legendary.
Page 19. The Five-Seven. You know what else I’ve heard a lot of wishes about? A Compact version of the Five-Seven for concealed carry. Guys that are into it wish they could pack these concealed.
Shorter mags down to 20 rounds – chop the barrel a 3/4 an inch, melt job, and no rails. The 57C. Seriously… that would be awesome. Also, it needs the Tactical Treatment as well. Extended threaded, RMR cut. Do it. People ask for it.
FNH FN57C. Compact package with a 15 round magazine. Threaded Barrel Available.
I’m not even all that much of a Five-Seven Fan – but that’s hot. I’d buy that. A 15 round Compact? Hell yeah I would. That’s awesome.
One last thing on the FN Handguns:
PLEASE BRING BACK THE HI-POWER.
Do so with modern sights, contoured controls, and without the magazine disconnect safety. Thank you.
To Be Continued.
So basically you’d just like every pistol to be available in every size, every moderately popular caliber, and every color combination?
I agree that choice is nice, but beyond a certain point it must only serve to dilute sales and cause production and marketing costs to skyrocket…
Not when the lack of choice is letting potential FN sales walk to other makers that offer that choice.
Color choice of poly is not impactful on fn production costs. Its nothing, literally nothing.
Now maching costs, and set up for different production runs actually costs something that would be reflected in price for niche models, like a compact 10mm. That might end up costing 75-100 bucks more.
Stocking additional models adds cost. They may do a run of a thousand of one particular frame, all at once. Then those are stored, and used to build pistols as-needed. They have to estimate how many they will need before the machines are doing another run of that frame; if they over-estimate, then they have the sunk costs (material, machine time, warehousing) sitting there unused until they do need them, and if they under-estimate, they have folks yelling at them that they promised a product was available and are not delivering it (and may not be able to for months).
So, companies have to try and over-estimate, but by the smallest possible amount (ideally, they would run out of pre-made parts, the same day that the next run’s production becomes available).
Those costs raise the production price, which raises the purchase price. Companies offering such options have to charge more for their products. At one end, you have the choice of offering every possible combination of options, and at the other you have the choice of offering one product, only, and the customer can take it or leave it. Staying afloat requires finding the right balance between those two extremes. It’s a very complex choice, and it’s not as simple as “extra colors cost literally nothing” – they do, and convincing a company to add options requires showing them why that particular option will bring in enough extra revenue to exceed the extra cost.
I vote for the updated Hi-power!
Eh. Nothing FNH makes right now really interests me, at least not enough to actually put cold hard cash down for it. Two thinks I’d be interested in if FNH made them:
1: A Hi-Power Mark IV. Upgrade the sights to Novaks or Heinies (or better yet, Trijicon HDs). Lighten the trigger to 4-5lbs. Change the hammer to a ring or skeletonized Commander style, shaped to reduce hammer bite, and extend the beavertail as well. Either modify the magazine disconnect to allow magazines to drop free, or else remove it entirely (preferably the latter) Reshape the thumb safety to a profile similar to Wilson’s Tactical-style 1911 safety. Replace the plastic grips with the thumb rest/palm swell with a set of VZ 320s or Pro Slims. Undercut the trigger guard slightly. Contract with Mec-Gar to make their 15 round mags OEM standard.
Second: upgrade the SCAR series. Improve the material of the buttstocks so they look, feel, and sound less like a NERF gun and more like a real gun. Lower the MSRP by $1000-$1500. And reconfigure the -17’s lower receiver to accept SR-25 pattern magazines. And maybe offer SCAR-47s and -74s in 7.62×39 and 5.45×39, respectively, that feed from AK mags. And make sure they work with ALL AK mags, not just PMAGs or US Palm mags. That includes the steel 75-round drums.
Lower price by 1500, how could that ever work ?
I’d like to see double action guns make a resurgence. Some form of double action is objectively the most advantageous system (benefits to safety, training, fighting, etc.), yet everyone seems to be going striker fired. I’d love a pocket sized single stack 9mm in DA with decocker, but nobody makes one.
The 5.7mm has a lot of underutilized potential. I think some other reputable manufacturer needs to take advantage of it. The Five seveN is upwards of $1000 and people are apparently willing to pay it, if only to have a companion to a PS90 or AR57. If someone made a quality 5.7mm pistol for about $550 retail (and a cheaper PS90 equivalent, please), it would completely steal FN’s market share. Make the grip smaller and provide factory mags in 30 and even 40 round capacities, that would definitely be a winner.
Great suggestion, I need to suggest a high power like the FM argentina m-95 decective . It is a 3.75 inch barrel.
Make it black melonite, stainless, and also poly frames.
Offer 15-17 rd mags from the factory.
I will pay any price. Make it !
I’ll take one!
“PLEASE BRING BACK THE HI-POWER.”
With a stock ambi safety.
AMEN!
gfa
I’d also like to see them take another crack at an updated BDM, or my preference, the BPM-D. AFAIK, it’s the slimmest double stack 9mm ever made. Change the design of the sights and hammer, ditch some of the extraneous checkering, and maybe give it an unobtrusive single slot rail, I think it would sell a lot better today than it did during the AWB.
Correct me if I am wrong but the 5.7 in a short barrel is not going to be much of a much with civilian legal ammo. More like the flash and blast of a .22 mag in a derringer…?
Yeah – but it’s a hell of a lot more fun and you can use the same mags as a full size Five-Seven and the same ammo as it and the PS-90.
Makes sense if you already own the other guns.
Your input is what the gun industry has been lacking. With the modern age in full swing why is there no Fast track channel available to inject the ideas of the masses of the gun buying public directly to the powers that be of gun manufacturing. It would get excitement of a hands on input of what “we” really want. A We built that mentality. Excitement of new products that we really want, not settling for what they have. Imagine, a nationwide contest available to every smart phone. Help us design your gun!