FN debuted the 10mm variant of the popular 509 series pistols in early 2023 and I have been testing the 510 Tactical variant for the past year. I mean, what’s not to like about a 22+1 shot suppressor optics-ready 10mm made by one of the biggest names in the firearms industry?
The FN 510 Tactical has a 4.71-inch barrel, which gives the pistol an 8.3-inch overall length, making it very M1911-sized. It is shown with its flush-fit 15+1 capacity magazine inserted.
Announced just before this year’s SHOT Show alongside the new FN 510 in 10mm Auto, the FN 545 Tactical is essentially an upsized FN 509 Tactical chambered in .45 ACP. A round that will not die and today is seemingly even more popular than ever, the .45 ACP has been around for well over a century and the FN 545 Tactical stands ready to carry it deep, shipping complete with two magazines, including a flush 15+1 rounder and an extended 18+1 round mag.
The FN 545 Tactical scratches a lot of itches for a lot of folks. Those who love FN’s 509 series but wanted something in a .45 are in luck. Those who were interested in the hammer-fired FNX-45 Tactical but would prefer it in a striker-fired action are in luck. Those who want a suppressor/optic-ready .45 ACP with lots of extra capacity right out of the box are in luck.
Compared to guns like the Glock G21 Gen 5, it has better ergos, features, and capacity.
In what is a logical next step from the company that brought the world the FNX-45 and FN 509, the FN 545 Tactical is loaded with extras– and is chambered in “God’s caliber.”
Debuted just prior to this year’s SHOT Show alongside the new FN 510 in 10mm Auto, the 545 is essentially an enlarged FN 509 Tactical chambered in .45 ACP. While John Browning’s venerable 118-year-old chunky monkey of a caliber is best known in single-stack 1911s, the popular round keeps on ticking with a new generation of double-stack 2011s and guns like the Gen 5 Glock 21.
At first look, the FN 545 Tactical gets its name honestly, being optics ready, with an extended threaded barrel, and shipping complete with two magazines including a flush 15+1 rounder and an extended 18+1 round mag.
The overall length of the FN 545 Tactical is 8.3 inches, which is about as long as a Government profile 1911, while the weight is a lighter 31 ounces.
The 4.71-inch cold hammer-forged, target-crowned barrel on the FN 545 is threaded .578x28TPI to mount compensators and suppressors. Seen here with a SilencerCo Omega installed. A great thing about the .45 ACP round is that it is inherently subsonic in velocity, which makes it natural for use with suppressors.
I was on hand in 2017 when FN debuted the new FN 509 pistol, the product of more than 1 million rounds of testing and an offshoot of the gunmaker’s submission to the Army’s Modular Handgun System competition.
Based on its much-liked FNS Compact platform, that 9mm 17+1 capacity handgun was significantly beefed up to meet rigorous military requirements. Note the 24+1 round extendo
Then a year later came the announcement of the FN 509 Tactical, which was both suppressor and optics-ready with suppressor-height iron sights that co-witness with several MRDs on the market and was augmented with an extended 24-round magazine, as seen above.
Now, FN 509 Tactical has essentially grown to a full centimeter, so to speak, and has hit the market in the form of the 10mm FN 510, with all the same features but in the more commanding caliber.
Besides being suppressor and optics-ready, when it comes to the mags themselves, the FN 510 Tactical ships to most states with a standard flush-fit 15+1 round magazine and an extended 22+1 round mag. Those living in restricted areas have to make do with 10+1 round compliant capacity mags until they can repeal local prohibitions.
Stretching the FN 509 Tactical series from its standard 9mm format to something bigger bore, FN is now offering red-dot and suppressor-ready 10mm Auto and .45 ACP models.
With a commanding 22+1 magazine capacity, the FN 510 in 10mm and its companion 18+1 shot FN 545 in .45 ACP still have all the standard features of the FN 509 Tactical. These include the company’s bomb-proof Low-Profile Optics Mounting System that fits just about any micro red-dot footprint on the market, fully ambidextrous controls, suppressor-height three-dot night sights with tritium inserts, and a 4.71-inch extended threaded barrel that accepts most comps and suppressors.
Looks like I am going to have to be spending some time on the range in the next few months!
So FN was one of the many companies that courted the Army for years over the Modular Handgun System contract– which of course Sig won with their P320 variant which has now been adopted by everyone across DOD (and the USCG, which is part of DHS) as the M17/M18 series pistol.
To recoup losses in their failed bid, manufacturers who lost out introduced tweaked versions of their MHS submissions (see the Beretta APX, Glock 19X and the FN 509 among others) which are proving to be surprisingly popular. Now, FN has come closer to the original MHS styling to offer a more “combat ready” version of said 509.
I feel like this is what the Glock 19X should have been…
Just my two cents here: I really like the suppressor-height sights and the fact that it is optics-ready, shown in the below video with a Trijicon RMR Type II, Leupold Deltapoint Pro, Burris Fastfire III, and a Vortex Venom, all with no milling needed and the ability to co-witness with the factory sights intact.
Also, the 24-round mag is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, although the mag seems really long for just an extra 7 rounds.
That 24-rounder, tho…
On the downside, the $1K+ MSRP, sans optics, is kind of a buzzkill, especially for trigger snobs who will want to do an immediate swap out for something with a flat face.
Via FN:
(McLean, VA – July 19, 2018) FN America, LLC announces today the expansion of the FN 509® Series of striker-fired pistols with the release of the FN 509 Tactical, an optics- and suppressor-ready 9mm pistol. The pistol features the company’s patent-pending Low-Profile Optics Mounting System™ that enables the platform to accept more than ten commercially-available miniature red dot (MRD) optics and remain adaptable to future optics releases with no requirement of direct milling of the slide.
“The FN 509 Tactical and the FN Low-Profile Optics Mounting System are another leap forward in the optics-ready pistol market,” said John Keppeler, vice president of sales and marketing for FN America, LLC. “FN set the trend for factory optics-ready pistols with the release of the FNP-45 Tactical nearly a decade ago and we’re set to do it again with this release. From barrel to base plate, the FN 509 Tactical really is the ultimate tactical pistol.”
The FN 509 Tactical, an extension of the FN 509 family, is based on FN’s submission pistol that the U.S. Army tested for its Modular Handgun Trials, but includes the significant improvements to the design that were implemented in the FN 509. Like the optics mounting system, FN’s team of engineers set out to develop the ultimate tactical pistol by addressing the market’s existing limitations.
As a result, the FN 509 Tactical features an FN-signature 4.5-inch, cold hammer-forged, stainless-steel barrel with target crown, ½” x 28 threads that accept the bulk of 9mm suppressors available and thread cap with integrated O-ring to prevent loosening during use. Lastly, the 24-round magazines, nearly identical in length to the pistol’s slide, maximize ammunition capacity without impacting carry convenience.
The optics mount accepts the majority of MRD’s on the market with no need to direct mill the slide, allowing for a low-profile mount and co-witness with the suppressor-height iron sights. The slide cap, for use when not shooting with an optic, has raised sight wings that protect iron sight alignment if the pistol is dropped or jostled, and provides a textured ramp for racking the slide against a belt loop, pant pocket or boot.
With the gun new to the market, Patrick with the Firearm Rack spends some time with the 509 Tactical with a concentration on the milled slide optics mount system, which he dubs, “amazingly cool.”
The Mechanix of Auto, Aviation, Military...pert near anything I feel relates to mechanical things, places, events or whatever I happen to like. Even non-mechanical artsy-fartsy stuff.
laststandonzombieisland 