High Power II? THe FN 509?

[CXM]

Recently guys overseas have reported FN has been hawking their new FN509 pistol to military and police users of their superb but now discontinued High Power pistol as a replacement for the High Power... a High Power II. Probably a good marketing tactic...

Like older High Powers, the FN509 comes with a nylon zipper pouch rather than a plastic box. The gun and pouch come in a brown cardboard box.

As a collector of High Powers this fascinated me... so I thought I needed to have one to compare them side by side... Happily I was able to locate one and took delivery this morning.

Now that I have both the High Power and the 509 on hand I think a review is in order... that of course will take a couple of days to get done... but I thought I'd share initial impressions.

First impression is the gun is well made. The gripping surfaces are well textured and make for a firm grip... The back strap offers three interchangeable straps to allow a degree of customization for various size shooter's hands. One very positive feature is the absence of the much hated 'French device' the magazine interlock.

The locking block looks a lot like the SIG locking blocks and looks to be held in place by the take down lever like a SIG. The slide stop/release is ambi and mag release appears reversable. The frame sports three pins... like Glocks prior to the Gen5 guns, plus a pin to retain the interchangeable back strap.

The slide is blackened stainless steel, which is well applied and will hopefully give good service. The gun is striker fired, and the striker mechanism in the slide looks a lot like the Glock system.

Field stripping is a combination of SIG's system and Glock's... it is very easy to use.

As a nice touch, the gun comes with three rather than the more usual two mags... nice considering I just discovered everyone is out of stock on extra magazines. The mags are a bit pricey ($42 to $46) but that isn't bad when compared to most SIG mags.

The length overall is 7.4" with a height of 5.56" (223?) The pistol is 1.35" wide. Sight radius is 5.9" with a 4" barrel. The weight empty is 26.9oz. Trigger pull is right at 6lb but smooth and breaks cleanly.

I'll compare the two side by side shortly.

V/r

CHuck

[HRFunk]

Thanks for the run down. The 509 has interested me since it came out. I’ve handled a couple of them and come away favorably impressed. I have yet to shoot one, however, so I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts once you do.

Howard

[Mister Coffee]

Just read a review of the 509 somewhere. If memory serves, the reviewer like the gun but found the trigger to be mushy. Look forward to your review, CXM.

[CXM]

Photos to follow tomorrow... if the rain ever stops...

Well... was able to go to the range yesterday between rain storms... I got to wring out the FN 509 (High Power II?) and compare it with a 1994 built High Power Mk III. Let me say I came into this comparison wanting to like the 509... just so you will know.

Before I go much farther, I need to note one thing... this is a plastic striker fired gun... it isn't a real HP and never will be... so I don't expect the 509's feel to be like a HP nor do I think the trigger will feel the same either. The trigger on the 509 IS good for a striker fired gun... though I'd say it is about six pounds... is is smooth, breaks cleanly and has a very audible reset as well.

So, first things first... side by side visual comparison...

The first thing you see is there is no comparison in terms aesthetics... visually, (at least in my opinion) there is no contest here... The HP is like a beautiful woman and the 509 has the beauty... of... well the beauty of a hemorrhoid... Just not in the same league... Ok... got that out of the way and we can get on with the other data.

The HP is very well finished with a lot of hand fitting making a real old world style finish... a work of art in steel and wood... The 509... well it's plastic and steel... well finished and has good fit... but beautiful it 'taint... sort of like an ugly sister... you appreciate the good points... but you know it isn't pretty...

Ok... now to the range... I fired 200 rounds through the 509 and 100 through the HP. As expected, the High Power shoot flawlessly... the HPs are known for extreme reliability... I also fired a box of Remington 115gr JHP ammo(el cheapo tyep), through the 509... I already know what the HP will work fine with pretty much any ammo. Once again, the 509 worked just fine...

Now as to accuracy... I compared the 509 to the HP. Both were shot from a sand bag rest at the max distance on the range...15 yards. This was not a particularly scientific test... and the 509 really needs to fire some ammo to allow it to settle in before judging accuracy. When I measure the targets the HP seems to hold tighter groups. The HP would put shots into about a 3" circle (the black area on an old Midway two side target) with little trouble... I managed to throw a few shots, but they were called flyers.

The 509 put most rounds into the same black area... but not so tightly and a few wandered outside the black... Not enough dispersion that an E.D. would have anything to complain about... but not so good as the HP.

Things I like about the 509: With the small grip installed, it is easy to access the controls... and the mag release can be worked easily from either side. The texture of the griping surfaces is very nice and has different degrees of surface roughness in different areas... a nice touch IMHO. While I have not shot the gun in real darkness the tritium sights are bright enough they show up in the semi dark indoor range. The 509, for me at least points very naturally with the small grip adapter installed. The three size grip adapters (included with the pistol) should make the pistol usable by just about anyone.

The pistol I got had the sand colored frame with black slide. The slide is stainless steel with some sort of black finish... hopefully it will be as good as the finish S&W uses on their M&P pistols... which seems to be bullet proof...(My M&P Shield has that finish and after being carried nearly every day for more than six years it shows zero finish wear.) Anyway, I think the 509 will prove a boon to people with small hands... and probably those with very large hands as well.

The Magazines as they come out of the box are hard to load... very hard to load... I imagine they will loosen with wear, but I had to use a Lula mag loader (which btw, works like a charm) to load them mags... and I have never had to use a loader in the past. Other mags may be different... Speaking of mags, the 509 came with three mags... I'm not sure why... the others I have seen come with two mags... maybe there was some sort of promotions at some point... but it seemed to be a nice touch.



Photos tomorrow I hope...

V/r

Chuck

Hoist On High The Bonnie Blue Flag That Bears The Single Star!


Fear God and Dreadnought!!

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. ~Samuel Adams~

[craig]

I would not enter a contest for a free one - so somebody who likes fat plastic frame ugly pistols would have a better chance to win.
Every thing I dislike in a pistol, at a premium price. I'm not falling for the HP II moniker.
Hope there's a sell-off of HPs cheap - to replace with these.

[Bob Reed]

Aug 4, 2018 10:26:06 GMT -5 craig said:

I would not enter a contest for a free one - so somebody who likes fat plastic frame ugly pistols would have a better chance to win.
Every thing I dislike in a pistol, at a premium price. I'm not falling for the HP II moniker.
Hope there's a sell-off of HPs cheap - to replace with these.

I agree. In fact, I'd rather tape a steak knife on the end of a stick and carry it.

[CXM]

Of course the 509 can't replace the High Power in terms of old fashion craftsmanship and plain old beauty... BUT for the market the HP used to have the 509 can compete quite well... The 509 has a lot of qualities customers want to day... including not only low price, but also 'modern' features like ambi controls, sizeable grip inserts, high capacity and gradations of texturing on the frame... oh and did I mention a price that allows quantity buyers to buy more than two 509s for the price of an HP?

I really didn't want to like the 509... and I didn't when I first got mine... but I have to say I have come to like it... it is very accurate and very reliable... as is the HP... though I think the HP is somewhat less accurate based on my very limited comparison shooting...

I suspect FN will have some success marketing the 509 to the organizational users of the 509... to HP fans rather less... but that is unfortunate... for a self defense weapon the 509 is very good indeed... FN has had just about zero success in marketing their pistols to the U.S. military/police market (easily the biggest in the world) in a market place where they have had great success selling their rifles and Machine guns. Comparing my 509 to my SIG 320 I am a bit confused as to why the Army selected the 320 over the 509 except for price (which is of course key to government contracts.)

The success of the 509 will depend to a large extent on how FN advertises the pistol... in a time when police customers are getting rid of their 40cal pistols the market is ripe for FN to sell a lot of pistols in 9x19mm... the question is will they have the smarts to take advantage of the opportunities out there.

Anyway it will be interesting to see how the 509 does in the market place.

FWIW

Chuck

[ruber]

Thanks for the reviews and comments Chuck! I hope the 509 works for FN.

I have liked shooting the FNP/X pistols but have been disappointed with aftermarket support and a few other really minimal issues. But they have been very accurate and easy to use and to get others using well. But I pretty much gave up on them because of the pain to get parts/accessories.

I did see some 509’s in a local training exercise with simunitions, which I don’t recall with the fnp or fns pistols. So I do think marketing and aftermarket support must be a bit better. I’ll probably keep an eye out for them at ranges, see if I can try one out.

Chris