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

The FN 509 Tactical was Spec’d for Uncle Sam. Now it’s made for us.

The FN 509 Tactical was Spec’d for Uncle Sam.
Now it’s 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.

The crowned barrel is threaded 1/2-­inch by 28, making it suppressor ready. Two recoil springs are included to ensure all types of configurations will function with all varieties of 9mm ammunition.

The crowned barrel is threaded 1/2-­inch by 28, making it suppressor ready. Two recoil springs are included to ensure all types of configurations will function with all varieties of 9mm ammunition.

As part of the MHS competition, all contenders were required to use suppressors. The new 509 Tactical meets that requirement with a cold-hammer-forged barrel threaded ½-inch by 28 and with an O-ring to prevent thread cap loosening.

Game Changer

Adapting a mini red dot sight to the 509 Tactical is quick and easy. Remove the factory installed slide plate and insert by unscrewing two Torx screws. Install the selected red dot on top of the slide using the appropriate combination of adapter plate, insert and screws referenced in the owner’s manual. Besides the red dot sight, everything is provided. FN recommends against adding threadlocker to the screws.

Adapting a mini red dot sight to the 509 Tactical is quick and easy. Remove the factory installed slide plate and

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