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Preview – FNS-9C



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Photography by Kenda Lenseigne

A Belgian G19?

Historically, FNH has focused its efforts on creating firearms for militaries of the free world. While they sometimes adapted a few of their designs to be legally used by civilians, it wasn’t until recent times that they started producing firearms specifically for the U.S. civilian market. Not since the time when mustaches, rather than beards, were all the rage has FNH offered a pistol designed specifically for concealed carry. We aren’t talking about creepy Freddie Mercury versions either — we’re talking about bare-knuckle, factory worker handlebar ’staches. Their compact pocket pistols manufactured around the turn of the last century were meant to be carried in the pocket you didn’t have a watch in. Now FNH presents us with the FNS-9C, a fun-sized treat with a more modern outlook toward personal protection.

Back in simpler times, firearms usually had simple names like M1900 — or, if you really wanted to shake things up, M1903. Now we prefer acronyms that are much more exciting! So let’s break this one down. The pistol is made by FNH, so in case you didn’t see the logo or name on the slide, they started it with “FN.” The “S,” along with the lack of a hammer denotes that this pistol is striker fired, and the “9,” of course, is the caliber. We’re particularly excited about the “C” part, because now we have a compact FNH pistol, younger than our grandfather’s, that we can easily carry concealed.

FNS-9C-01FNS-9C-02

Without going into ass-bleeding detail, it’s clear that the FNS-9C has many features similar to other pistols on the market. This is not surprising, because the FNS-9C is clearly aimed at the market now dominated by Glocks, M&Ps, XDs, and the like. If you’re familiar with them, you’ll be right at home with the FNS-9C. However many of the features of the FNS-9C are adapted ever so slightly to favor the concealed carry function. The three dot sights lack sharp edges, so as to not snag on clothing. The front sight dot is concave, perfect to fill with the glow-in-the-dark neon nail polish of your choosing. The dot is also huge — not so great for driving tacks, but perfect for finding in a hurry when being attacked by three guys intent on hitting you with pipes. The size of the dot, combined with the slant of the front sight and depth of the concave cut, allows a shooter to easily pick up the front sight, even at the extreme edges of their peripheral vision. The sights are dovetailed in, so they can be easily adjusted or replaced by aftermarket ones if they do not suit one’s needs.

The concealed carry theme is evident all over the FNS-9C, but most prevalent in the design of the magazine. The FNS-9C ships with two 12-round magazines with a tapered base plate that allows the shooter to get a full grip with the pinky finger, while not “printing” under your shirt. While it’s the rear of the grip that always shows under a cover garment, if the user wanted to further reduce the size of the pistol, the “pinky shelf” could easily be ground off. Round count holes are provided on the back of the magazine to keep track of capacity. For those shooters who are a bit larger, or have giant gorilla hands, the FNS-9C also ships with a full-sized FNS-9 magazine with a clever polymer piece that slides over it to provide a full-sized grip, along with 17 rounds of 9mm.

FNS-9C-03

For the rest of this article, click here to purchase: CONCEALMENT

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