[Jutt77]

I was in the market for a higher capacity 45 and after owning and immediately selling a HK45c (I didn't like the trigger or "feel") I just picked up a FNX 45 T and immediately ran 150 rounds of various ammo through it. My current other 45 is a well used, ultra-reliable Les Baer TRS that I love and was the baseline that I tested the FNX against. No pressure FNX.

Things that I like so far:

• ACCURACY: I read numerous reviews about how accurate this gun is and was still surprised at the accuracy. I was not left wanting even in light of a high quality 1911. Most accurate ammo I had was some reman Freedom Munitions 200 grn X-treme HPs but the PMC and UMC 230 grn ball I had did well also. I would love to shoot some match grade stuff.

• TRIGGER: I think the SA trigger feels great. Short reset. Feels about like 4.5lbs. Certainly not as crisp as my 1911 but that's expected. Much more crisp than my Glock trigger but that's expected too. Infinitely better than the HK45c (LEM trigger) that I had. DA felt pretty much like any other DA trigger I've used: long and heavy as expected.

• ERGOS: Pistol feels great. I have rather large hands but used the flat, prickly back strap as its similar to my 1911. Point of aim also feels very similar to a 1911.

• SIGHTS: I don't have a suppressor yet but I like the stock sights. Point of impact seems to be spot on. Plenty bright at night like all other tritium sights I've used. I'm not planning on carrying this concealed so the extreme height and "snagability" of the suppressor friendly sights is irrelevant. I have not used a red dot, yet, but I like that I have that option.

• MAG WELL: The built in oversized magwell stood out for me. Leagues betterthan my 1911 with no aftermarket mag well. Better than my Glock 19 IMO. After some practice, it facilitates some very fast mag changes

• VALUE: Inherently accurate, threaded barrel, 3 mags, suppressor ready sights, milled for a red dot sight with retail coming at around a grand. I think that's a lot of value for the money.

• DEAD SEXY: This is a great looking gun and dressed up with suppressor, light, and red dot, it would easily win 1st place every time at a tactical handgun beauty pageant.

Well that's the good. Here's the not so good:

• FTEs: Specifically some stovepipes and even more specifically, two stovepipes out of the 150 rounds. Happened only with the 200 grn stuff that my 1911 has no problems with. After looking into this it appears the recoil spring might be a bit too manly for the 200 grn rounds. Also might just need some more breaking in. Regardless, not something I was expecting. I shoot a lot and thus prefer inexpensive 200-230 grain range fodder 99.9% of the time and not +p+ cool guy rounds so I'll be swapping out that heavy spring hopefully asap if one is available.

• LAST ROUND EJECTION: Regardless of ammo, the last round ejects weaker than previous rounds and straight back into my head/face. Pretty annoying and probably related to the heavy spring.

• SLIDE STOP SIZE: The slide stop release is quite small and hard to engage consistently like my 1911 or Glock and I wasn't even using gloves. I use weak hand thumb method for releasing the slide which works like a champ for both other aforementioned platforms. Will hopefully swap that out ASAP for something more substantial.

• MAG RELEASE BUTTON: I found I have to slightly adjust my grip to press the rather overly flush mag button. Not a problem except the left handed side of the button is somewhat blocked by the middle finger of my right hand causing the mag to not release during some sessions. I would prefer I slightly longer RH side button and/or the option to delete the LH side.

All in all I really like this gun and I'm looking forward to putting a lot more lead down range. Hopefully most of the problems will either work themselves out via break-in or can be easily resolved with some after market parts. Additional reviews and pics will follow.

 

[Funkybassplayer]

Enjoy your new FNX. I sure love mine. It's a great gun!! I too like the double stack capacity, the raised sights, and the threaded barrel. The SA trigger is quite nice like you said and once you get a can your gonna have a blast with this pistol!!!

-BTO-

 

[thecatch83]

No surprise on the FTE and issues early on because of the break in period......stick with 230 grainers and leave the slide open for a week. The FNX requires (similar to 1911's) at least a 500 round break in. I must have gotten a fluke because I have run PMC, PPU, Federal, and WWB for roughly 300 rounds and not one issue and all my magazines drop freely (test fire date march 2015). Reading the manual always helps as well:


The empty case jams in the chamber or at the ejection port.
The ammunition gives insufficient recoil force.

 

[djv38]

I never had any failures with mine using 230 gr ammo. That said, I never tried 200 gr ammo. My 45 loads for it now are fairly light, but it cycles them fine now (I didn't shoot reloads till 600 rounds or so through the gun)

 

[tlxiong82]

The only issue I've had with mine was the slide not locking on the last round. This has done this a couple of times while shooting Freedom Munitions 230g Reman rounds. Never had any other issues with any other types of ammo. Can't say it was the pistol, rather the ammo.

 

[marshal kane]

Other than the slide stop size, my FNX .45 T is just IMO about perfect! Trying to work the slide stop with my strong hand thumb gets old fast so I've switched to using my other thumb. One of the features I really like is that FN was able to fit a high capacity magazine into a decent sized grip. The only suggestion I would make is to run 300-400 break-in rounds through your pistol before thinking about making any modifications, you might find after the break-in that mods are unnecessary. Best wishes with your new FNX!

 

[thecatch83]

Other than the slide stop size, my FNX .45 T is just IMO about perfect! Trying to work the slide stop with my strong hand thumb gets old fast so I've switched to using my other thumb. One of the features I really like is that FN was able to fit a high capacity magazine into a decent sized grip. The only suggestion I would make is to run 300-400 break-in rounds through your pistol before thinking about making any modifications, you might find after the break-in that mods are unnecessary. Best wishes with your new FNX!

What modifications are you referring to?

 

[Jutt77]

No surprise on the FTE and issues early on because of the break in period......stick with 230 grainers and leave the slide open for a week. The FNX requires (similar to 1911's) at least a 500 round break in. I must have gotten a fluke because I have run PMC, PPU, Federal, and WWB for roughly 300 rounds and not one issue and all my magazines drop freely (test fire date march 2015). Reading the manual always helps as well:


The empty case jams in the chamber or at the ejection port.
The ammunition gives insufficient recoil force.

Thanks, yeah that's what I suspected. All of the 230 gr ammo I've shot (PMC and UMC) has ran fine aside from the last round ejecting weak and straight back. I really like shooting those 200 grn rounds though but if the gun is designed around 230 grn full power and +p rounds then its no fault of the weapon although I would gladly switch to a lighter spring if/when they become available as I don't plan on ever shooting +p rounds.

I'll leave the slide open as well.

 

[Jutt77]

What modifications are you referring to?

If the parts were available, I would order these asap:

- Lighter recoil spring
- Extended slide stop like the vickers tactical version I have on my Glock: Vickers Tactical Slide Stop for Glock
- Extended mag release button

 

[marshal kane]

What modifications are you referring to?

From previous posts, some owners usually new ones, find things they don't like about the pistol and their immediate thought is to replace parts, file or polish, etc. I have no specific modifications in mind but only suggest owners break-in their pistols first as sometimes that cures their problems.

 

[CPTdaz]

Thanks for the review. I must be the only one who thinks the trigger sucks. It doesn't break clean and feels kinda spongy. Sure it's better (only slightly) than HK45 but that's not saying much.

Easy solution for any slide release lever size issue is just getting in the habit of power racking the slide instead. Just think of it as a slide stop not a slide release.

 

[marshal kane]

Jutt, you're correct that "the gun is designed around 230 grn full power and +p rounds". I used 230 gr. military surplus ball ammunition to break-in mine. It was Western Cartridge (WCC) made in 1963 and my pistol functioned flawlessly using that old ammunition. I also tried some 185 and 200 gr. cast SWC lead bullets loaded to 850 fps reloads but encountered failures to feed and stove-piping. I'm currently sticking with Winchester white box as it is reliable in MY gun. You may have to try other brands to get the same results with YOURS. "I don't plan on ever shooting +p rounds." Ditto that!

 

[marshal kane]

CPTdaz, "Easy solution for any slide release lever size issue is just getting in the habit of power racking the slide instead. Just think of it as a slide stop not a slide release." Makes sense, my SIG P220 has the same feature so I just "slingshot" that slide. I'll give it a try with my FNX.

 

[Jutt77]

Thanks for the review. I must be the only one who thinks the trigger sucks. It doesn't break clean and feels kinda spongy. Sure it's better (only slightly) than HK45 but that's not saying much.

Easy solution for any slide release lever size issue is just getting in the habit of power racking the slide instead. Just think of it as a slide stop not a slide release.

I hear ya about HK triggers. Have you weighed your FN trigger? Do you think it could have an issue? Mine feels great and not nearly as spongy as my Glock if that helps (do you have a Glock to compare with). I even broke out my old Sig 229 and compared those as well and the FN feels better (lighter and more crisp) even with a plastic trigger. Light years better than the Sig's mile long reset.

I thought about the power rack and could probably adjust to that but my personal manual of arms and one I'd like to stick with is weak hand thumb slide release. At any rate, I ran through around 100 insert empty mag on locked open weapon>release slide with weak side thumb>dry fire>drop mag> repeat drills until I broke a sweat and I feel pretty comfortable with this now. Although I would still prefer a bit more "shelf" on the slide stop like the vickers tactical design.

One other thing I failed to mention initially that I really appreciate, especially after reload drills, it is the magazine base plate design. For me, coming from Glocks, 1911s, Sigs, etc, it really facilitates solid insertion of the magazine from almost any angle whereas reloading those other platforms requires a more of a deliberate technique if that makes sense. Even if I'm a bit too fast and sloppy during the process I had no issues firmly slamming them home. At first I was thinking the bulbous design of the base plate was kind of cumbersome, now it makes sense. Good stuff.

I did notice my mags stick if I hold the mag release button down but I'm used to flipping my wrist during 1911 mag releases so no big deal.

I shoot a bowling pin match on most Monday nights with my 1911 but will be running the FNX45 this Monday. Excited!

Here's a pic from my first session.

 

[thecatch83]

I think the FNX trigger is perfectly capable, especially SA.............and if you think I don't know what a good trigger feels like, look at my signature. I own two pistols with the best stock triggers on the market (PPQ/VP9).

 

[CPTdaz]

CPTdaz, "Easy solution for any slide release lever size issue is just getting in the habit of power racking the slide instead. Just think of it as a slide stop not a slide release." Makes sense, my SIG P220 has the same feature so I just "slingshot" that slide. I'll give it a try with my FNX.

Power stroke that sh1t

 

[CPTdaz]

I hear ya about HK triggers. Have you weighed your FN trigger? Do you think it could have an issue? Mine feels great and not nearly as spongy as my Glock if that helps (do you have a Glock to compare with). I even broke out my old Sig 229 and compared those as well and the FN feels better (lighter and more crisp) even with a plastic trigger. Light years better than the Sig's mile long reset.

I disagree. My glock 17 breaks cleaner than the 45tac by a long shot. Heavy trigger pull weight doesn't contribute to spongy feel IMO. I don't know if it's the polymer but seems like everything about the 45tac is flex-y; the mag wall is so thin that I can easily bend it out of shape.

 

[thecatch83]

Not sure why you are comparing a Glock factory trigger to a SA/DA trigger with de-cock mechanism as they are both completely different trigger groups mechanically speaking. The FNX T is a duty pistol, not a race gun. The only factory poly pistol that has a crappier trigger than M&P's are Glocks, and it's not even close.

 

[CPTdaz]

Not sure why you are comparing a Glock factory trigger to a SA/DA trigger with de-cock mechanism as they are both completely different trigger groups mechanically speaking. The FNX T is a duty pistol, not a race gun. The only factory poly pistol that has a crappier trigger than M&P's are Glocks, and it's not even close.

I didn't? Another poster asked and I answered. Learn to read in context.

 

[thecatch83]

I did read it.....Glock fanboy?