From our August 10th issue, we’ve been engaged with an examination of the FN509 Tactical, the more-or-less analog of the Modular Handgun Project submission from FN to the US military.
Since then, we’ve compared it to the G19X, another contestant equivalent, shot comparative courses of fire with and without optics on the FN.
What was left? The trigger.
Announced in September and shipped within a few weeks, there was the Apex Tactical Specialties Action Enhancement Kits for the FN 509, as well as FNS and FNS Compact pistols. This is a “drop in kit,” with caveats.
There are step-by-step installation videos on disassembly and reassembly that are available on the Apex YouTube channel. It’s not duck soup. Part of the delay in this report is that I wasn’t going to do the installation; I can tell when something’s just beyond my potential skill level. Compadre Mike Rafferty, an old time gun crank, retired LE armorer and all-around-good guy agreed to try it on as soon as he fabricated a short ‘starter’ pin punch for the front receiver pin.
Life intruded for both of us and issues prevented us from getting it together – until now.
His take? The installation process was ‘unique.’ He felt the original trigger from FN was “fine;” this from a self-confessed trigger snob. I’m the one that usually doesn’t worry about the trigger much.
It’s there. Make it work.
This time, he said he couldn’t really tell there was much going on. Part of his apathy was the flat faced trigger. I’d had some experience with those in other Apex builds and found that I didn’t notice the flat trigger when I was shooting – only when it was dry practice.
The Apex kit was made to reduce trigger pull weight to about 5.5 pounds, deliver a crisp trigger break, reduce trigger travel – and to do this with a “(c)enter mounted pivoting safety (to maintain) factory safety values.” They were aiming for an MSRP of $149.95 to $159.95. They accomplish this by replacing factory parts with the Apex Flat-Faced Trigger mounted on an Apex designed proprietary Trigger Bar, paired with an Apex Sear.
So how did they do?
I immediately felt both the trigger reduction and trigger travel reduction, dry. That’s some feat for an old-timer with age-numbed mitts. To determine the difference, I used the Wheeler Engineering Professional Digital Trigger Gauge and took measurements using Wheeler’s “bladed trigger adapter,” meant to give a good reading on triggers with the drop-safety paddle feature. To say I was surprised is an understatement.
The original, pre-installation test was five presses with an average of 5 pounds, 3.6 ounces – not at all bad as far as I was concerned. The trigger snapped back into firing battery with authority. The curved trigger face was, to an old revolver shooter, not an issue. Post-Apex, I went for 10 presses. This yielded an average of four pounds, 4.6 ounces.
The Apex unit noticeably reduced trigger travel, was lighter and very crisp.
I ran the revised gun out to the range for some trigger control drills. I set a B-8 target at five yards, worked the ‘demand drill’ for five rounds to get a feel for the trigger. This is “on target, on sights, on trigger, slack out,” followed by pressing the shot off during the timer’s tone. To do this without moving the muzzle makes it a ‘trigger-centric’ drill, designed to make you feel the process going on inside the gun. This was followed by a cadence drill: one-second splits, half-second splits, quarter second splits.
The one-second and half-second iterations made a mess of the middle of the target, just a bit low – the top of the sights is high over the bore and five yards is close. Going to quarter-second, I ended with three just a bit high in the “X” and “10”, with low-left (trigger-jerking) pair in the “8” and one in the “7” ring.
As to the FN509T, I shot this course with Federal “Aluminum” 115 grain FMJ ammo from the old “big box” place. It’s not service-grade ammo and I still haven’t used the “softball” spring that FN provides with the FN 509 Tactical – and the gun still hasn’t noticed. It ran like a sewing machine. The Apex kit is a definite upgrade in terms of trigger feel.
Don’t want to change triggers? You can get the FN 509 Tactical without changing a thing and it works just fine. Want the upgrade from Apex – and don’t want to install it? You can check with the Apex Tactical folks in Arizona about shipping your gun to them.
Either way, it’s a great time for defense/service handgun users.
- - Rich Grassi