Today provided the opportunity for three friends of mine to leave the safe and hit the range. My first friend has been with me since 2006, my Kimber Custom Target. The other two are fairly new to me, my XD Mod.2 Tactical and my “yet to be shot by me” FNP-45. While the main purpose of today’s trip was to see how the FNP-45 would perform on its initial voyage to the range, I had a lot of fun with the others as well.
First, the FNP-45. This pistol handles nicely and I will say the lightweight polymer frame does translate into a little more felt recoil than with my 1911s, although it’s not objectionable. I shot both factory Sellier & Bellot 230 gr FMJ and some of my own 200 gr SWC loads. The S&B loads had a lot more “punch”, which resulted in the FNP felling a little more jumpy in my hands. It ate all the S&B ammo without a hitch, although it hiccuped and jammed on about every other SWC load. I’m 99.9% positive the main culprit was not enough “oomph” in my handloads. I used 5.0 gr of Unique, and it doesn’t appear that was enough as almost all the malfunctions were stovepipe jams. This, in itself, leads me to believe the SWC loads didn’t have enough power to fully cycle the slide and eject the spent brass. Needless to say, I’ll be working these up a little hotter for the next outing. Anyway, it was pretty distracting to clear a jams every shot or two so I don’t think my results today are indicative of what I could do with this as a whole. In general, I like this pistol. The SA pull is nice and crisp, although not nearly to 1911 standards. But, not much else is and the FNP is a heck of a lot nicer than many DA/SA pistols on the market. It also breaks right at 4 lbs, which is pretty light for a duty pistol. I really like this handgun and am anxious to see what it can do as I become more familiar with its handling characteristics. Here’s a few targets from today:
First off, from 7 yards. Not anything I’d brag about by any means, but you can see four of the 5 shots are clustered pretty well. Keep in mind this is with the SWCs, so I probably cleared 2 – 3 jams in the process of shooting this group.
Next, here’s a couple groups at 10 yards. You can easily tell which were the SWC loads and which were the FMJ (if you can’t tell, SWC loads punch a nice clean hole in a target). By the way, all of my shooting was conducted with a two-hand grip, standing unsupported.
As previously stated, my Kimber came along for the ride as well. It doesn’t get much range time these days, as its over-shadowed by my other 1911s that cost much more. The Kimber will not deliver the accuracy of my S&W Performance Center 1911 or my Dan Wessons, but it also cost 1/2 as much. However, it can turn in some decent groups as evidenced by this showing at 10 yards:
Finally, I’m still getting acquainted with my XD Mod-2 Tactical in 9mm. I replaced the stock sear and trigger springs with Powder River Precision units, which took the pull down to around 4 lbs. This XD is showing some signs of being able to run with my Beretta 92fs, and could even turn in some results pretty darn close to my Dan Wesson PM-9. I will say, shooting accurately with this is not nearly as easy or consistent as with the DW PM-9, but keep in my the XD is a service pistol and the PM-9 is more of a target pistol. And, I could buy around three XDs for the price of one Dan Wesson so even mentioning it in the same sentence is something. The first target below is from 7 yards, and the second is from 10 yards. The 7 yard target was almost a game-changer, as all five shots would have been placed neatly in one hole if not for the flier out to the left (I’m referring to the target on the left, of course). The second target, at 10 yards, isn’t bad, but doing this with the XD takes alot more concentration than with the Dan Wesson.
Well, there you have a it. A synopsis of my day at the range. In summary, the FNP-45 is a very nice pistol that I intend to take to the range more often. The XD Tactical is borderline amazing, especially given its price. The Kimber is a very nice, well made 1911 that will remain in my stable but will never be my “go to” for supreme accuracy.
Happy and safe shooting!
Midwestern Ramblings 
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