The FN 509 Tactical – A Game Changer For Optics-Ready 9mm Pistols

By Eric R. Poole

FN’s 509 Tactical – Born for the military, made for us.

Evolution happens fast in the gun industry. Take for instance the speed of development of the FN 509. In little over three years, the gun has transitioned from its origins in the U.S. Military’s Modular Handgun System (MHS) solicitation, to a market-entry gun in 2017, to the new 509 Tactical coming soon to gun shops.

New-In-Case

On opening the soft gun case, besides seeing the flat-dark-earth (FDE) colored pistol, you’re greeted by two 24­round magazines. Think for a moment, two magazines will hold almost an entire 50-round box of 9mm ammunition — 48 to be exact (plus one in the chamber)! If you think it’s too heavy to carry, you can always fall back on the 17­round mag. If carried together, that’s 65+1 rounds of 9mm firepower. Wow!

FN includes an extra recoil spring with several coils that are painted yellow for low-powered ammunition like fragible or lower-powered target loads. The silver-colored, factory-installed, recoil spring is optimized for duty, self-defense, standard­velocity ammo and low-velocity ammunition commonly used to make suppressors more effective.