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I got my 45 yesterday, gave it a quick cleaning and inspection, and off to the range. I took my 9mm with to do a comparison.
Both are DA/SA decockers. In general, the guns are quite similar. Fit and finish are the same, controls and function are slightly different in layout but operation is the same. The decocker is larger and made of plastic on the 45 and functioned easily. The one negative about the 45 is the slide release, it is small and hard to work with the thumb. The decocker is in the way of the thumb, making it even harder to operate the small control. The teardrop shaped mag release is positioned nicely and the mags dropped free without any resistance.
Field stripping is identical and as easy as the 9mm. I was pleased to see the guide rod was made of steel, not that the plastic one ever gave me trouble in the 9mm. The back straps require a 1/16” punch to be inserted into a tiny hole in order to swap them out. It works alright and there is no screw to loose. After a few tries I settled on the flat one, as I did a couple years ago with the 9mm.
In the hand, they feel about the same, the 45 is slightly larger but not as much as expected. The width of the grip is nearly identical, the 45's grip is almost an inch longer, but that's more of a carry issue than a shooting one. The most notable difference is the weight, the 45 is much heavier when fully loaded compared to the 9mm.
For my first outing I kept it simple, using 230gr. FMJ in WWB and S&B. For comparison, I used WWB 115gr. FMJ in the 9mm. The recoil on the 45 was surprisingly tame, probably due the the extra weight. It actually felt better in the hand as it didn't have the snappiness of the 9mm. Accuracy was excellent, far surpassing my ability. Function was flawless, as I have come to expect with my FNP9. I had an acquaintance give it a try, he was more accurate than I was and gave the gun a good looking over, kind of like he was shopping. We may have another FN'er in our midst.
All in all, I am VERY happy with my purchase.
Some pics............
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Both are DA/SA decockers. In general, the guns are quite similar. Fit and finish are the same, controls and function are slightly different in layout but operation is the same. The decocker is larger and made of plastic on the 45 and functioned easily. The one negative about the 45 is the slide release, it is small and hard to work with the thumb. The decocker is in the way of the thumb, making it even harder to operate the small control. The teardrop shaped mag release is positioned nicely and the mags dropped free without any resistance.
Field stripping is identical and as easy as the 9mm. I was pleased to see the guide rod was made of steel, not that the plastic one ever gave me trouble in the 9mm. The back straps require a 1/16” punch to be inserted into a tiny hole in order to swap them out. It works alright and there is no screw to loose. After a few tries I settled on the flat one, as I did a couple years ago with the 9mm.
In the hand, they feel about the same, the 45 is slightly larger but not as much as expected. The width of the grip is nearly identical, the 45's grip is almost an inch longer, but that's more of a carry issue than a shooting one. The most notable difference is the weight, the 45 is much heavier when fully loaded compared to the 9mm.
For my first outing I kept it simple, using 230gr. FMJ in WWB and S&B. For comparison, I used WWB 115gr. FMJ in the 9mm. The recoil on the 45 was surprisingly tame, probably due the the extra weight. It actually felt better in the hand as it didn't have the snappiness of the 9mm. Accuracy was excellent, far surpassing my ability. Function was flawless, as I have come to expect with my FNP9. I had an acquaintance give it a try, he was more accurate than I was and gave the gun a good looking over, kind of like he was shopping. We may have another FN'er in our midst.
All in all, I am VERY happy with my purchase.
Some pics............
