Posted: 3/3/2012 2:15:49 PM EDT
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Which beer is the best beer – free beer! Which gun is the best gun – a free gun!
I won this FNS at SHOT by shooting in the FNH “Smoke and Hope” Challenge, 5 rounds on 5 separate steel plates. I shot 5.58 seconds, not blazing by any means, but fast enough to win in my group! Anyways, this beauty showed up last week and I finally got a chance to take her out for a test spin at the indoor range with crappy lighting combined with old eyes. I have to say like this pistol (my first FN), it is solid and tight and the workmanship is top notch. However, I did not fully test it by trying the safety while drawing, mag dumps, rapid mag changes, etc., but the pistol was very good out of the box. The contestants: FNH USA FNS 9mm. Interesting that I live in Stafford, VA, which is right up the road from Fredericksburg, but this pistol was actually shipped out of Missouri (born on date in January 2012): 
The FNS and PPS: 
Walther PPS 9mm – my CCW: 
S&W M&P 40 – also newly acquired. 
I stripped and cleaned each pistol and used the SLIP 2000 as lube. The ammo: 
I shot 5-shot groups using the Winchester target, Federal target and Blazer 9mm so as to see the feeding with the different ammo. I haven’t shot for some time, so you can see I have issues in these groups that more trigger time would resolve. Each was shot at 7 yards and about 1 shot a second or faster. The target shows a “control” group of two 5-shot strings in center mass using the M&P and the Winchester 40cal target. The top targets were shot with the FNS. The bottom targets with the PPS. The top and bottom left targets were the Winchester target loads. The center top and bottom targets were the Federal target loads and the right top and bottom were using the Blazer ammo. My impression of the groups has more to do with my lack of practice than the actual weapons. I also had trouble with acquiring the front sight with consistency due to low light and crappy old eyes. I guess it’s time for glasses…. There are differences in the triggers of the PPS and the FNS. Each is very smooth, but the PPS has a shorter pull than the FNS. I didn’t measure it, but it could be as much as ¼ inch. Each pistol resets well and provides a crisp second and follow on shots. I did not use the FNS safety and only put 100rds through the pistol, but all were flawless. I had no issues with the grip or texturing since the PPS is almost as aggressive. 
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