Perhaps the best words to describe the new FNX-40 from FNH USA are modern, diversified and versatile—not unlike today’s LE officers, who would be well-served by such a sidearm. Seen here with an Insight WX150 Tactical Weapon-Mounted Light.
The law enforcement profession is ever-changing. At one time cops were big burly guys carrying stainless steel .357 Mag revolvers. They talked to everyone with a cigar hanging out one side of their mouth and a growl coming out the other. In the eighties, the semi-auto pistol started to find its way into holsters and smaller men and more women worked their way into uniform. With the arrival of the new century, the revolver was almost a forgotten icon while a cop was liable to be of either gender and any size.
The new millennium made manufacturers realize that if they were going to make a semi-auto pistol for law enforcement use, it had better fit the hand of a five-foot tall female or a seven-foot tall bodybuilder. Not only would modern police handguns have to fit a wide variety of hands, they would need to be just as user-friendly for a lefty as a righty. Diversity awareness does not just exist in the corporate workplace.
Gun Details
By virtue of its interchangeable backstrap system, the FNX-40 can be modified to comfortably fit a wide array of hands.
The FNX-40 from FNH USA is a representation of what service-style autopistols have become. It will fit almost any size hand, is totally ambidextrous and has a low bore axis for less felt recoil and improved control. The pistol is the creation of Fabrique Nationale Herstal, a Belgian-owned company, but all FNX-40 pistols are manufactured in Columbia, South Carolina at FNH USA’s facility—which also currently produces M16 rifles, M249 light machine guns and M240 medium machine guns for the U.S. Military.
Three different loads were tested for accuracy in the FNX-40. All delivered exceptional accuracy at 25 yards from a sandbag rest and the pistol functioned with flawless reliability.
The FNX-40 is a polymer-framed, semi-automatic, hammer-fired pistol that operates on the cam-lock system similar to the Glock and Browning Hi-Power. The front of the grip has raised horizontal lines molded into the polymer frame and each side of the grip frame has a pattern of raised dots at 12 dots per inch. The backstrap of the FNX-40 is removable, with each pistol coming with four backstraps. Each size is available with either the raised horizontal lines or the dots molded in the same pattern as the sides of the grip frame. I wear a large-sized glove, and the FNX-40 fit my hand with either backstrap. With the flat backstrap, the pistol fit my five-foot, two-inch tall wife’s hands comfortably as well.
