FNX-45 High Power Caliber Conversions - Woods Defense Gun

18922 Views 54 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Tagger13, Jan 31, 2022

treillw

Discussion Starter · Jun 13, 2018

I am interested in the FNX platform for a woods defense gun. I have heard a lot of good things about the gun. I intend on using it for woods defense for 4 legged and 2 legged critters (Sasquatch).

I would like a round with more power than the 45 ACP. The 460 Rowland and the 40 Super conversions have caught my eye and I think it would be awesome if everything worked properly with this platform. I was really excited about everything until I made a phone call to EFK Fire Dragon today about one of their 40 Super Barrels.

The lady I spoke with on the phone told me that they don't have any 40 Super barrels in stock and that they rarely produce them because there is a very low demand for them and they end up sitting on the shelf for a year before they sell. They don't have any plans on making them anytime soon. She is keeping a list of people who are interested, so if you are interested give them a shout so we can get some made up.

I then started asking her about other options and asked if they ever made any 460 Rowland barrels and she said that they used to but they stopped. Why, I asked. She said because the round was really hard on their test guns and test shooters. It would crack the polymer frames and the shooters complained about the recoil.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't really see the gun kicking so bad that the recoil is unbearable. It's less power than a 44 mag with a comp - I would think it would be kinda mild; somewhere around a standard 45 acp maybe? Maybe they didn't have them setup with comps or buffers? Nevertheless this report scares me pretty badly that I would crack the FNX frame or cause some other damage. I was thinking about a conversion kit from 460 Rowland.com

I am also considering the Glock 20 in 10mm and the Glock 21 converted to 460 Rowland or 40 Super. There are a few cons with the Glock IMO though which make me like the FNX more: The glock has a worse trigger, lower capacity with the G21, and a huge grip.

Questions:
I was wondering if anybody had any positive or negative experiences with such conversions?
Any other suggestions on conversions or other platforms which may be good for what I'm after?
Anybody know where I may be able to find a 40 Super barrel for sale?
If you do have this conversion, was it hard to get it to function reliably? What did you have to modify/do to get it to work properly? What ammo were you using?
Are the EFK barrels quality?

Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!

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FN47

· #13 · Mar 29, 2019

gsyoung54 said:
Not to be a sarcastic ass but my daughter has a German Shepard that weighs just a bit less than the 130lb Whitetail.

Somewhat interesting data point but neither sarcastic or assy.

If you really want to test your plastic gun out

Plenty of polymer stock high powered weapons out there

(I own a FNX 45 Tactical) come up to Alaska

Jealous x2

and see how you feel with an underpowered round in your hand while you are ****ting yourself because you just disturbed a mother black bear's cubs. While Brown bears are bigger they will usually bite and swipe you until they think you are dead.... a female black bear will disembowel you and feed your still living body to herself and her cubs. You might be surprised how different it is in big woods rather than shooting through your chronograph from a bench, and the much vaunted concept of extra rounds in a Rowland conversion or the various 10mm semiautos out there don't matter at all when she bursts from the woods at a full speed charge only 17 yards away. The two times it happened to my hunting partner and I we were both glad that we carry our rifles with a round in the chamber, cocked and off safe.... you can not afford to lose even a part of a second.

What is your suggestion? Is there any pistol caliber you find acceptable for your own purposes? And if not, what rifle calibers? Would you take a .270 rifle over a .460 in a FNX? 5.56, 308, 30-06 ... not sure what you're trying to say here sir

GCMCG thank you very much for sharing and very cool weapon!

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FN47

· #18 · Jul 2, 2020

Please do keep us informed Northfolk! I picked up a light weight 30-06 bolt gun (chickened out on the 375H&H) with 220gr for hiking but still can't stop thinking about a 10mm/41mag/460 sidearm. For now it's 45acp with buffalo bore 255gr +P. I still want the FNX but it doesn't make sense to me in 45 since I have that caliber pretty well covered from a collection standpoint.

FN47

· #20 · Jul 18, 2020

The 460 Rowland guys were able to send me a picture of the FNX45-T in FDE done as a conversion earlier this week. And I was sold. But then a buddy I convinced to buy a Springfield TRP in 10mm earlier this year told me he doesn't use it anymore and asked if I would ... so I got the 10mm

no 460 Rowland to be sure though. Maybe yet some day

FN47

· #25 · Aug 21, 2020

Northfolk said:
The TRP is a beautiful gun.
Another few weeks or so will have some updates on the 460 conversion.

I may break down tomorrow and buy the FNX45-T from 460 tomorrow... I shouldn't but ... I feel like I Have to. I have an infection ... large bore autoloading pistol fever

FN47

· #26 · Aug 21, 2020

Welp, it's official. I ordered the FNX45 Tactical in FDE strait from 460Rowland. They say it'll ship in around 2-3 weeks, so a month from now I should be shooting the 255gr hard cast lead cartridges I bought for it. Finally ready to protect my family while hiking out west!!

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FN47

· #29 · Aug 23, 2020

Northfolk said:
Being 45 super is similar to 45 auto +p i don't see the point of any 45 auto conversion unless going to 460 rowland.
45 auto +p 230g 1000fps 520 energy
45 super 230g 1100fps 600 energy
460R 230g 1400fps 1000 energy

I'd add too the value of being able to change up the old line: I shoot a .45 because they don't make a .46

I asked every gun store I walked into (every couple weeks) for a year if they had any 41 magnums and all I found were a couple abused wheel guns. My understanding is that, in the way of muzzle energy/FPE, stout factory loadings (e.g. Underwood) of 10mm are more powerful than those of 45 super. And the same goes for both 460 Rowland as well as 41 magnum with the cartridges loaded to their capability are more powerful in FPE than those of 10mm. 460 vs 41mag is an interesting comparison. It seems without +p the 41 mag on FPE does not claim a title.

But I don't think it's as simple as FPE. The FPE has to transfer to the target and in the right places. I would think the 45 caliber of 460R over 41mag's ~43 caliber or 10mms 40cal would transfer that FPE into the target more quickly, with less chance to over penetrate and the bullet leave with energy still left not transferred. But, bears hearts beat very slow and they might not be deterred by flesh wounds/pain. I think the bear central nervous system as a target would be the closest to a reliable way to survive. To penetrate into the bear, would the .45" be the best choice or would it lose energy too quickly? I understand this is where sectional density comes in - the bullet may have to displace more tissue to penetrate but if it has a higher relative weight to the more narrow projectile it's momentum can penetrate. 10mm seems to top at 200gr. 460 can use 45acp bullets and plenty of 255gr hard cast around.

I got some of the 460 ammo already Here is a poor photo of Underwood 460Rowland 255gr flat nose hard cast next to their 45acp +P offering with the same bullet. You can see the 460 has a longer case (1.4mm) and also Underwood apparently doesn't have access to nickel plated 460R brass

Anyway I feel like I have an autoloading 41 magnum coming in the mail, and it happens to be inside the FN FNX45 Tac that I've always wanted. God Bless America!

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FN47

· #32 · Aug 25, 2020

Gray_Ghost said:
So the rule of thumb that I've come to learn is, for bear/hog/etc, you want FMJ rounds, preferably in a +p loading. You need the velocity to penetrate. The vitals on hogs in particular are pretty deep in, and that's some very hard tissue to go through. 45 vs 10mm, I'll take 10mm every day of the week. You have a better chance of getting the penetration that you need.

To be more clear: 45 in the context of this thread is the caliber with the cartridge being 460 Rowland. The Rowland has more FPE than 10mm. In the case of the Underwood hard cast flat nose I pictured above that's 255gr projectile at 1300fps (957 fpe). The 10mm underwood hard cast flat nose I shoot is 200gr projectile at 1250fps (694fpe). Were these the cartridges you are thinking about when you say 10mm over 45 every day of the week?

Was talking to a friend at the range yesterday and he said to always use flat nose bullets over ball for hogs - that he emptied a 1911 (45 auto) of service ammo into the head of a charging hog and they bounced off its skull.

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FN47

· #35 · Sep 4, 2020

@Northfolk looks like we caught the same disease!

Got a little more 460 ammo in yesterday, And 460Rowland.com issued my tracking slip for shipping my converted FNX! Hoping to see the package arrive on the tracking site today fingers crossed but didnt expect to get that email so soon.

We will be defending our families from bears shortly

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FN47

· #36 · Sep 8, 2020

FDE FNX45 from 460 Rowland arrived today at the FFL! Pretty awesome turn around time. Looking forward to visiting her tomorrow before she starts her time in waiting period jail. Exciting times. I will post pics if there's an appropriate time to take any. Otherwise it might not be until range report this weekend (!!)

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FN47

· #38 · Sep 9, 2020

Saw her today at the FFL! Picking her up to shoot this weekend

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FN47

· #43 · Oct 3, 2020 (Edited)

I've done a very poor job reporting how pleased I am with my FNX460 because I've been having far too much fun Shooting It! Zero failures of any kind so far and it hits my arthritic wrist no harder than hot Underwoods in my steel frame 10mm 1911

Bumper Vehicle door Finger Hand Trigger

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FN47

· #45 · Nov 8, 2020

Northfolk said:
Question. Does your breach face have any visible marks of sanding? How many 460 rounds have you put it through it so far?

This is hard for me to answer, since I don't have a FNX that hasn't come from 460R to compare to.

That said ... it looks Lightly sanded. I would guess it's been worked by 1000 directly (and lightly), not stepped to or heavily sanded to that point. Definitely not mirror finish but very smooth and easy to clean.

As of today mine has eaten over 3 50rd boxes of Johnny's carry round from 460R and some Underwood 255gr hardcast lead.

The 460R Johnny's carry (~1040 FPE) shows pretty extreme primer flattening as well as flowing. A couple primers look punctured. A real testament to the strength of the 460R starline case, which looks unphased. The Underwoods (~960FPE) show light signs of primer flow but not the expansion into the full primer pocket and breech face like Johnny's carry.

I am in LOVE!!!! I've blown up a 45 before. The spent Johnny's carry should blow the heck up according to the primers and destroy the FNX but these 460R Starline cases are invincible. I haven't loaded my own yet but have 500 new manufacture starline cases and saved Almost all my fired cases. It's tricky to capture them as they like to fly almost strait upward and land 20 feet to the right and 7 to the back - tough to find in the grass or in a pile of 7.62!

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FN47

· #47 · Jan 31, 2021

Congrats @Gray_Ghost ! I would do it again every time. Midway had some Underwood with Lehigh extreme penetrators up a day or two ago. ~$3.50 each trigger squeeze

Fortunately I have plenty of brass

FN47

· #49 · Feb 7, 2021

Beauty!

I had Tucker make one of these for mine:

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HF2 Belt Holster

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Going to shoot some 460s this afternoon

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FN47

· #50 · Feb 7, 2021

Things that make me go BOOM!! I love this gun. That's with "Johnny's load" ~1040 ft lbs of muzzle energy and melted primers

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FN47

· #53 · Feb 19, 2021

Speedy6 said:
I think the woods in the lower 48 have smaller critters than in your neck of the woods. I would much rather have a 454 Casull Ruger, 12ga slug semi auto, or a 45/70 lever up there. Down here I think a 44mag w/Buffalo Bore for Montana, Idaho or Wyoming would be the minimum or maybe 450 SMC/ 45 Super with hard cast Bullets and a12ga slug semi or 45/70. Pepper spray is also mandatory.
Given choices down here, I don’t think I’d be undergunmed with the 44 mag, 450 SMC or 45 Super.

Keep in mind this 460 Rowland has a considerable increase in energy over 45 super. Internal case pressure limits:
45 auto, 21,000 psi
45 super, 28,000 psi
460 rowland, 39,000 psi

As you suggest, I have "hard casts" for my 460 Rowland.

460 S&W would make sense as a next step. It turns up the dial. Modern 454 Casull. But the gun is quite large, heavy ... may not be on your hip or present as quick when you need it?

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