FNH ALBATROSS

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ramey

Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
64
Hi all. I'm close to ordering an FNS 9mm Compact as my new carry gun. Finding one around here has been a bit of a challenge so I'm going the internet route. Does anyone have some range time with this gun?
 
the duck of death

I too would be a little reluctant about cutting any coils off the firing pin spring. Would like to think the factory knew what they were doing when they designed and built the gun in the first place.
 
Why people insist on messing with carry weapons is beyond belief. NOT a good idea. I think there are better, more available options out there than FN for a carry pistol.
 
Why people insist on messing with carry weapons is beyond belief. NOT a good idea. I think there are better, more available options out there than FN for a carry pistol.
It's a handgun, not a holy relic.

While I'm not sure there aren't better options for THAT gun than cutting a spring, anything that makes the firearm easier to use more accurately, that doesn't make it less safe or reliable is to the good.

The ONLY carry gun I have that hasn't had a trigger job is my Citadel 3.5 CS, and only because it has the finest out of the box trigger pull of any 1911 I've ever owned.

I don't have qualified immunity, a union lawyer or a bottomless pot of other people's money. In Ohio, if it's a good shoot, you can sue me all day long. You just won't collect a PENNY. That's by statute.

If on the other hand, I have something as foolish as the "NY trigger" and I miss my target and hit a toddler instead of you when you're trying to rob me, that toddler's family OWNS me.
 
I have an FNS-40 that I bought from Palmetto, back in April, for $400 out the door. Its a really nice gun, really like it. After 500 rounds, the factory trigger has smoothed out quite a bit, I think its good to go.

I actually sold my XD-40 after I bought the FNS, because the XD trigger sucks.
 
It's a handgun, not a holy relic.

While I'm not sure there aren't better options for THAT gun than cutting a spring, anything that makes the firearm easier to use more accurately, that doesn't make it less safe or reliable is to the good.

The ONLY carry gun I have that hasn't had a trigger job is my Citadel 3.5 CS, and only because it has the finest out of the box trigger pull of any 1911 I've ever owned.

I don't have qualified immunity, a union lawyer or a bottomless pot of other people's money. In Ohio, if it's a good shoot, you can sue me all day long. You just won't collect a PENNY. That's by statute.

If on the other hand, I have something as foolish as the "NY trigger" and I miss my target and hit a toddler instead of you when you're trying to rob me, that toddler's family OWNS me.

Its not about lawsuits, it is about reliability. But you obviously don't get that.

Are you a gunsmith? Did you design that weapon to function with those springs cut?
 
HKGuns said:
Its not about lawsuits, it is about reliability. But you obviously don't get that.

Maybe he DOES get that.

As others here have noted, many of us make modifications to our weapons. And, while we're not gunsmiths (at least some of us aren't), we're also not auto or computer technicians or engineers, even though many of us also work on our cars and computers. Cars, nowadays, can be more technically difficult than guns -- with equally negative consequences. Computers tend to just be aggravating.

A basic point: just because a gun comes to you in a particular configuration, that doesn't mean THAT configuration is the best for you or causes the gun to work best for how you'll be using it. Glock after-market parts, widely used by hundreds of thousands of users, prove THAT point; Glock has created a whole industry because their perfect guns could still be improved upon.

I'm not a fan of cutting coils off of coil springs, but finding lighter hammer and striker springs for some guns can be very difficult. (I had that problem recently with a new Lionheart LH9 -- a great gun but with a very heavy trigger. I found some S&W hammer springs that seem to work and lighten the trigger while still igniting the primers. LH didn't offer any options or show any interest in alternatives. Sphinx, when faced with the same problem, told me where I could find non-factory springs that would improve things for me.) Coil springs will take a set when new, and any problems caused by cutting coils will generally show up pretty quickly.

I'd certainly put a lot of rounds through a gun I've modified like that before I'd use it for carry. Periodic use at the range, which is a good idea for a CARRY gun, anyway, will point to possible problems before they become actual problems.

That said, there are other things you can do to lighten and smooth the FNS-9 or FNS-40 triggers, and tips with photos are available on YouTube and on the FN Forum.
 
Last edited:
Its not about lawsuits, it is about reliability. But you obviously don't get that.

Are you a gunsmith? Did you design that weapon to function with those springs cut?
I said that there might be a better solution than cutting the springs, but you obviously didn't get that.

I didn't cut any springs on my Glock 22, but I certainly ditched the pathetic "New York trigger" at the first opportunity. I later installed a Ghost 3.5lb. connector and did the "$0.25 trigger job" on it and on my Glock 19. I didn't need to be a gunsmith to do ANY of that. They're both completely reliable.

The joke "New York trigger" didn't make my Glock 22 any more reliable. It just made it ridiculously difficult to shoot accurately with a normal level of effort.
 
Cutting coils off a striker spring in a gun used for defense is not a good idea and nobody can convince me otherwise. For target practice or competition when %100 reliability isn't a life or death issue, sure. The striker pistol design has only one disadvantage to hammer fired, and that is light primer strikes. I'm not saying it's a major problem or epidemic but if you search "light strikes" more than likely you will see a striker fired pistol being the culprit. Those striker springs were designed to be a certain strength and have a certain service life, cutting coils changes both of those. Changing parts to your liking is totally different than altering key factory parts that directly effect reliability like striker springs. I'm sure a fnh rep will tell you cutting that spring in particular isn't a good idea
 
The striker pistol design has only one disadvantage to hammer fired, and that is light primer strikes. I'm not saying it's a major problem or epidemic but if you search "light strikes" more than likely you will see a striker fired pistol being the culprit.

Someone should try that search and see what they get -- most of the discussions probably have to do with competitors going for much lighter trigger pulls using spring and parts kits intended to do JUST THAT. You'll probably see far fewer comments from hammer-fired gun owners because they seem to be on the decline in the competition world. Glocks and S&W M&P now seem to be the most common semi-autos in the Production and Stock Service Pistol venues.

Hammer springs, like striker springs, are also designed to be a certain strength and have a certain service life, but people have been cutting coils off semi-auto hammer springs for decades, and have substituted lighter (uncut) ones for heavier ones with great abandon. Either action can lead to light strikes, but that generally happens almost immediately, and when it does, you just put a different spring in the gun.

The springs used in guns generally aren't THAT fine-tuned; the gun designers typically specify springs that will accomodate a range of performance requirements, and they often use hammer or striker springs that are much stouter than many shooters like or need. (Light triggers are apparently a gun maker's nightmare.) I'll bet that if any of those gun's designers shoot competitively, they're running similar kits in their guns!

But as noted above, you CAN buy competition spring kits for a variety of hammer and striker-fired guns that include different, lighter, hammer or striker springs, lighter trigger springs, and other parts that greatly reduce trigger pull weight and improve the crispness of the trigger. The folks who designed these kits typically don't cut coils -- they have new springs fabricated to different specs -- but they do make changes to the gun that weren't intended by the gun's designers -- and the guns no only run, they run better!

The poster who talked about cutting coils in his FNS striker spring might've been better served by going a different route, but what he did isn't all that unusual. I would only use a gun with a cut ("shortened") striker or hammer spring after I was absolutely sure that the gun still functions properly after a lot of rounds have been fired. With hammer springs, I generally just go for a lighter-rated springs that fits the same gun, and they're often available from Wolff Springs; striker springs present a different problem, and lighter striker springs are generally only found for Glocks.
 
Getting a bit worked up on this one and it isn't even your pistol there Walt. Give it a rest and let the OP respond for himself.
 
im always amazed at those who constantly work on tinkering to make triggers pulls. i havent met a trigger yet that made me shoot worse. maybe cause ive own and shot so many and for so long...
plus i was never a super shot anyways and no trigger was gonna improve that.:) my wife's uncle has always told me no gun is the problem with bad shooting. its always the shooter. people get angry hearing that, a few here as well...... but it's the truth.

i own a fns 9 full size, the trigger is good. tinkering with it would be silly. just good old fashioned practice is time and money far better spent. too each their own though.
 
I've got the fns40c. had I not picked up a Glock 19 as my compact 9mm, I would have gotten the fns9c to go with it.

Accurate, comfortable, durable, reliable. I love the fns line.
 
I went ahead and ordered one from tombstone tactical. I think it'll be a good gun for me. Thanks for the input all. I think we can close this one out Mods.
 
HKguns said:
Getting a bit worked up on this one and it isn't even your pistol there Walt. Give it a rest and let the OP respond for himself.

The pistol in question wasn't your pistol, either, but you showed no reluctance in making judgements about what that gun's designers intended; you also offered no explanation of what could go wrong when the critical coil springs were clipped. l'll agree that clipping hammer or striker springs isn't the path of choice if there are better options (and said as much).

But, I can tell you why I think it's a bad practice. It has nothing to do with what the designers intended, but a lot to do with the nature of coil springs and how they can degrade over time. You didn't explain WHY clipping springs (a striker spring in this case) was a bad practice.

A comment of warning and concern from you would have been appropriate and useful, especially if it included a reason for your concern. As it was, you seemed to be arguing from authority (implicitly using the designer's intent as your source of authority) and nothing else. "Arguing from authority" is considered a logical fallacy because in doing it, you don't present the basis or source of your "authority."

You then go on to make the claim that there are better carry options than an FN pistol, but offer no evidence to support your claim -- and without supporting evidence or arguments, it's just an empty assertion.

Given all that, my contrary arguments that include at least some evidence (such as the existence of after-market spring and parts kits (the use of which have NOT led to a multitude of negligent discharges or lawsuits when used in carry weapons) should be of value in this part of the discussion. You haven't addressed those contrary arguments, even though the parts in question are clearly not what the designers intended for the guns so modified.

Many folks who have trigger jobs done on their carry weapons have trigger pull weights that are lower than the stock trigger pull (3 lbs. or 4 lbs) but heavier than competition triggers (which can be much lighter). Are such modifications verboten in your shooting world, too? They clearly aren't what the designers intended!

If you must use the trigger as it came from the factory before the gun is where it should be in terms of shootability, shooting with some of those stock triggers won't necessarily make you shoot more accurately, nor help you live a bit longer in a critical self-defense situation. If it's your only weapon, you may be forced to follow the Monty Python standard and rely on a pointed stick or a banana...

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top