[spschroeder]

Hello all,

I had been looking at FNP9's for several months. I liked what I was reading online (including this site) and it fit great in my hand, so I bought one. Just got around to shooting it on Sunday. As first impressions are everything, I'm not very pleased.

I went through 170 rounds of Remington 115gr UMC. The first couple of magazines were plagued with feeding jams. I had to clear almost every other shot because it was getting stuck (seemed like it was feeding too vertically and jamming into the top of the chamber). Also, of the 10 magazines I went through, I only had two lock-backs after the final shot. And, the ejection was completely sporatic. Some would go to the right, some to the left, some in between my shooting arms, and some on the top of my head.

I've read on this forum that some FNP9's take a break-in period while others don't. Admittedly, the shooting was getting better towards the end of my session. I was getting less feeding jams (still some, though) and the two lock-backs I got were the last two magazines. I will be shooting this pistol again next week. If the problems don't clear up completely after another 100rds, I will be contacting FN for sure. I'm still thinking about contacting them now to see what they're doing during manufacture to break in these seemingly too-stiff recoil springs. It's completely unacceptable to have the customer go through the break-in. Like I said, first impressions are everything. Before I even shot the thing, I was telling everyone about FNP9s and how much I like them. Now it's going to take a lot of performance out of my FNP9 to make me go back to thinking that way.

-Steve

 

[ShipWreck]

Try locking the slide back and leaving it locked back until your next trip. The recoil spring on some FNPs seems to be a bit too strong.

 

[Madhouse]

Get through 500 rounds or so, make a new first impression then. Good luck with it, I love my FNP-9.

 

[spschroeder]

Are everyone elses recoil springs slightly reddish in color. Mine is...almost the color of surface rust, but it doesn't seem to wipe off with bore cleaner or oil.

 

[djv38]

Mine looks like it was painted orange to some extent, but that has mostly worn off. I also haven't had any of the issues you've had, but so far, I've only used winchester white box. Later this week, I'll be trying Sellier and Bellot brass cased ammo. Hopefully it works fine.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Rem. UMC is notorious for being underpowered. Numerous people have had complaints about it not working in otherwise perfectly functioning HK P30's.

Try some different ammo next time. :?

 

[Bullseye509]

Get through 500 rounds or so, make a new first impression then.

+1
Your experiance sounds a lot like mine, it took about 300 rounds for mine to consistently lock back and after 200-250, I encountered no more jams of any sort.

 

[DanFla]

weird. my fnp 9m shot perfect right out of the box.700 rounds and not one problem. on point every time :?

 

[spschroeder]

Happy to report the following after my second outing:

Taking the advise from those on the board, I left the slide locked back for about 4 days and shot the gun on Friday evening. I started with a box of 50 Winchesters. The gun worked flawlessly with these rounds and I was very pleased with the performance and accuracy. Once I finished with the 50 Winchesters, I went to a partial box (~30) of Remington UMCs. I again had feeding problems and erratic ejection. Finished up those 30 and went to another box of Remington UMCs and went through 50 with very few problems.

I'm very confident this gun will perform reliably for me after another hundred rounds or so. Without a doubt, it prefers the Winchester loads to the Remington UMCs. I will likely only feed it Winchesters once I get through my remaining 50 UMCs...the price for both is very comparable.

Thanks again for the advise and words of encouragement, all. I stand by my original opinion that it should not be the job of the customer to 'break in' any gun. Especially with the price of ammo these days. On top of that, the possibility for an accident is far greater when one has to clear a jam of any kind. Anyway, like I said above, looks like the gun will perform well for me with the Winchester ammo. The gun shoots very precisely!

Happy Hunting/Shooting,
-Steve