Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1150145
One of contenders in US Armed Forces Modular Handgun System program was Belgian Fabrique Nationale from Herstal (with their FN USA, now FN America as front). The FN submission remained unrevealed even the pistol made it to the finals. Whispers and rumors said that it could be even FN Five-seveN since the MHS program didn't specify rounds or caliber. In the April 2017 FN America finally unveiled and officially announced new FN 509 handgun. FN 509 Tactical is, as name suggests, „more tactical" version of FN 509 in fancy Flat Dark Earth color, with extended and threaded suppressor-compatible barrel, hi- gher iron sights (for shooting with suppres- sor attached) and MRDS compatible slide for quicker aiming. The cut out in the slide was carved deep into slide, so the MRDS is lower on the aiming line (surely that is why they call it Low-Profile Optics Mounting System). FN 509 is modern semiautomatic striker-fire pi- stol with polymer frame and double-ac- tion trigger chambered for probably the most popular round in the world, the 9 mm NATO. Basically, FN 509 is an evolution of earlier FN striker-firer, the FNS Compact. Engineers decided to improve internal mechanisms so they would meet strict requirements of the MHS program. In 2018, today's article hero, the FN 509 Tactical was released. FIREARMS