The Guns and Ammo Thread

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

Typically before you buy it you'd want to field strip it right there in the store and check for excessive wear on the the internals, and then thoroughly functions check and dry fire it until you're satisfied that you aren't buying someone else's problem gun; but you can't be completely sure of that until you take it to the range. You also want to make sure there aren't any cracks or splits in the frame/chamber/slide and you won't need to worry about it blowing up on you.


Since you've already bought it; field strip it, clean it, and put a drop of gun oil (I prefer Slip2000EWL, shit stays on forever and doesn't get cooked off) where metal contacts metal.


$450 seems expensive for a used FNP, but that could very well be the normal price in commiefornia for all I know. Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the club.

 

[Kyuu]

You also want to make sure there aren't any cracks or splits in the frame/chamber/slide and you won't need to worry about it blowing up on you.

The blowing up thing was a bit of hyperbole. I'm pretty sure I would've caught anything that bad even with my inexperienced once-over. At least I certainly hope so.

Since you've already bought it; field strip it, clean it, and put a drop of gun oil (I prefer Slip2000EWL, shit stays on forever and doesn't get cooked off) where metal contacts metal.

Any good online guides with pictures for that? And you're talking about this stuff?

$450 seems expensive for a used FNP, but that could very well be the normal price in commiefornia for all I know. Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the club.

What would one normally go for? Guns definitely seem to run a bit higher here in general.[/url]

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

Any good online guides with pictures for that? And you're talking about this stuff?

That's 30, which is a much thicker variant. I use this which is the standard version.

Hoppe's Lubricating Oil is what you'll see on the shelves of every gun store. Stay away from that shit. It has terrible corrosion protection, dries extremely fast, and has a flashpoint of 378°F vs 1200°F for Slip2kEWL which results in it being immediately cooked off during any type of rapid/extended shooting session.

Here's the owners manual for the FNP-45. They don't have one for the 9, but takedown/cleaning/lubrication guide is going to be the same.

What would one normally go for? Guns definitely seem to run a bit higher here in general.

A year ago they were going for ~$400 new. I haven't seen any in stock recently. Just lots of FNS/FNX.

 

[Kyuu]

That's 30, which is a much thicker variant. I use this which is the standard version.

Ah, thanks. I'll order some; gotta love Amazon Prime.

What about a gun cleaning kit? Do I need to buy one of the more expensive ones or will one of the cheapie ~$20 kits do the trick?

A year ago they were going for ~$400 new. I haven't seen any in stock recently. Just lots of FNS/FNX.

I heard that the FNP was discontinued, which would make sense since the FNX is mostly the same gun with some refinements. Might be why prices on it have gone up. Plus the California thing.

Thanks for all the help, btw.

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

For handguns I prefer a boresnake. It's a lot faster than running separate brushes/patches down the barrel and doesn't create extra waste (not having to fuck around with cleaning patches is nice too). A boresnake (One of the few products Hoppe's gets right) and a good brush set will serve you better than most pre-packaged cleaning kits, and will take up significantly less space. For your solvent, M-Pro 7 is a personal favorite, but most are fine to use. You could also mix your own.

There's one more item I'd suggest getting, and that is one of these bad boys. That thing is the most useful $30 chunk of plastic/metal you'll ever buy.

 

[Kyuu]

There's one more item I'd suggest getting, and that is one of these bad boys. That thing is the most useful $30 chunk of plastic/metal you'll ever buy.

That is absolutely freaking brilliant. Thanks for that and the other recommendations.

Only other thing left is ammo. I think I'm going to try Walmart, actually. Heard good things about Federal Champion which supposedly go for $10 for a box of 50. For plinking only, of course.

 

[SuAside]

The earliest FNP-9s had a fault in the hammerpack. It was prone to cracking.
So you better check which generation you have and if it potentially has that issue.

No worries if it does, FN-H will replaced the faulty part for free.

Otherwise, pretty much all FNP owners I know are very happy with their purchase.

 

[Kyuu]

Picked up my FNP-9 yesterday.

[spoiler:b9c9607894]



[/spoiler:b9c9607894]
The third image shows the part that cracked with the defective FNPs. Mine looks good, and also the little envelope that contains the casing from the first test round fired from the gun (at least I'm assuming that's what it is) is dated February of 2011. I'm pretty sure that means it was produced well after the defective batches, so I don't think I should have that issue.

I found it was pretty dirty when I started cleaning it. You'd think cleaning a gun before you sell it would be common courtesy, but I guess not.

 

[TheWesDude]

it might be a way to check for idiots.

if you request/ask for them to clean it before you give them your money, they know you arent an idiot. if you do not ask or field strip it to check it there, then you probably dont know what you are doing

 

[Kyuu]

it might be a way to check for idiots.

Well, I'd like to think I'm just a newb, not an idiot. >.>

 

[TheWesDude]

i was not calling you an idiot directly.

just used to calling "basic" things idiot checks.

like setting a default gateway, check for data manipulation involving zeros or null values, making sure you dispose of arrays and such.

if you are not comfortable doing it, then you should be able to ask them to field strip it for you.

 

[SuAside]

The third image shows the part that cracked with the defective FNPs. Mine looks good, and also the little envelope that contains the casing from the first test round fired from the gun (at least I'm assuming that's what it is) is dated February of 2011. I'm pretty sure that means it was produced well after the defective batches, so I don't think I should have that issue.

I found it was pretty dirty when I started cleaning it. You'd think cleaning a gun before you sell it would be common courtesy, but I guess not.

1) The hammer pack looks fine. And indeed, it was probably manufactured well after they first identified the issue. I seem to notice the polymer used in your hammer pack has another color than the affected ones?
2) The test casing is a legal requirement in some american states.
3) Large gunstores in the US get as many as 50 trade in guns per day. This means you'd almost need 3 full time workers to clean the guns going in & out. Obviously, this is not possible at the prices they're selling. The fact your gun is dirty doesn't mean much.

 

[Kyuu]

3) Large gunstores in the US get as many as 50 trade in guns per day. This means you'd almost need 3 full time workers to clean the guns going in & out. Obviously, this is not possible at the prices they're selling. The fact your gun is dirty doesn't mean much.

Yeah, I know that it'd be a lot of manpower to clean all the guns going in and out (not to mention all the rentals), and I don't really expect the gun shop to be cleaning all the guns they take in. I was more talking about the person trading the gun in in the first place. Not a big deal, but still, if I was going to trade in a gun I think I'd do the courtesy of giving it a fair cleaning first.

 

[TheWesDude]

seeing as there is a waiting period, what they can do is once the background check clears, and while waiting for the waiting period to finish to clean them.

 

[Kyuu]

1) The hammer pack looks fine. And indeed, it was probably manufactured well after they first identified the issue. I seem to notice the polymer used in your hammer pack has another color than the affected ones?

I don't think the material should be any different. From what I've been able to find out they redesigned the hammer pack but I didn't see anything about them changing the material. The color is probably just from the lighting and/or the dirtiness (that picture was taken before I cleaned it).

 

[SuAside]

seeing as there is a waiting period, what they can do is once the background check clears, and while waiting for the waiting period to finish to clean them.

That doesn't change the issue, Wes...

The majority of the guns they take in trade are being sold again. This means the "outgoing" volume of dirty guns is still significant and would still require several employees full time in some cases.

As for the person trading it in cleaning it first? hah.
People tend to know that for this type of gun, it's not going to affect the price they get if it's dirty or not.

 

[Kyuu]

Alright, so I finally got to stop by the range and put some rounds through my FNP-9. 100 rounds and no failures of any kind, which is great.

Well, the slide did fail to lock back after the last round a few times. I didn't keep careful enough track to be 100% sure, but it did seem like it always happened with the same mag. That suspect mag does seem to have less spring tension than the other two. Is it possible for the mag to be involved in that?

Anyway, my second to last magazine at 5 yards (aiming for the head area):
[spoiler:c22bed7449]

[/spoiler:c22bed7449]

Pretty happy with that grouping, asides from the two outliers.

My last magazine at a little over 10 yards (aiming for center mass):
[spoiler:c22bed7449]

[/spoiler:c22bed7449]

My grouping at 10 yards could use a little work.

 

[SuAside]

Well, the slide did fail to lock back after the last round a few times. I didn't keep careful enough track to be 100% sure, but it did seem like it always happened with the same mag. That suspect mag does seem to have less spring tension than the other two. Is it possible for the mag to be involved in that?

The magazine spring is what needs to push up the slide lock. If it is too weak, it can fail to push up the slide lock fast enough.

Another common thing that can cause this issue, is the shooter inconciously "riding" the slide release with his finger. This prevents it from pushing up. This obviously depends on your grip, but it's a quite common mistake.

My grouping at 10 yards could use a little work.

Well, without knowing at what speed you were shooting, it's not easy to comment on the grouping.

That said, since we eurotards don't really buy guns for self-defense, we tend to shoot pistols at 10, 12.5 & 25 meters.

 

[Kyuu]

Well, without knowing at what speed you were shooting, it's not easy to comment on the grouping.

I would say I'm shooting one round every 1 or 2 seconds. So not rapid fire, but not really super deliberate either.

One other thing is that I'm shooting with one eye closed. I've heard varying opinions on this but is it better to shoot with both eyes open? I attempted this at one point but I found it difficult to figure out how to focus so I could line my shot up.

 

[SuAside]

I would say I'm shooting one round every 1 or 2 seconds. So not rapid fire, but not really super deliberate either.

That's about as slow as you should allow yourself to shoot (unless shooting olympic style matches, that is).

Do not stare at your sights/target for too long, because that actually deteriorates your shooting ability. Waiting for too long makes your aim unstable and makes you more prone to errors.

Obviously, shooting too fast isn't good either.

One other thing is that I'm shooting with one eye closed. I've heard varying opinions on this but is it better to shoot with both eyes open? I attempted this at one point but I found it difficult to figure out how to focus so I could line my shot up.

If you want to shoot for self-defense, or for law-enforcement/military, then yes, you should probably learn to shoot with both eyes open. It increases your situational awareness.

But for recreational or sportshooting? Hardly a necessity... Do whatever you prefer.
With iron sights & scopes, I shoot with one eye open because for me personally that's just better, and with red dots etc I obviously shoot with both open.