The 509 series of FN America handguns has become rather popular especially the tactical versions. Fans of the FNX-45 tactical have been clamoring for a 9mm version of their flagship handgun and the 509 Tactical delivered. Last November FN hosted a media event to unveil their new 509 pistol – the 509 LS Edge.

FN 509 LS Edge

One area that FN America has been somewhat lacking in their portfolio of firearms is a competition handgun. They have in the past made competition shotguns like their SLP Competition shotgun. They even made a one of a kind blue SCAR 16S for one of their employees to use in 3Gun matches. In the past, FN employees like Dave Sevigny would have to have an FN pistol modified for the purposes of competition. Well, now they have built a competition pistol from the ground up and Dave Sevigny was co-designer for the FN 509 LS Edge.

Last November FN American flew 8 writers out to Georgia for a media event to unveil the 509 LS Edge. There we got to talk to Dave Sevigny and the team of engineers who helped to develop the 509 LS Edge. They even had an outside consultant give his thoughts and ideas towards the 509 LS Edge project. Tim Kennedy is the other co-designer of the 509 LS Edge and he was there in Georgia to not only talk about some of the design elements he helps to implement into this new pistol but run us through a 1-day pistol course where we exclusively used the 509 LS Edge.

We ended up shooting around 700-800 rounds through each gun.

The FN 509 LS Edge has some striking features. Thomas Victa, Pistol Product Manager at FN America, compared the 509 LS Edge to a BMW M-Series. It is a performance-focused version of the 509 series handguns.

The first thing you will notice is that it is a long slide and features a 5″ barrel. The slide is coated in Graphite PVD and has angled slide cuts that are both aesthetic and functional. The cuts actually help reduce weight on the 509 LS Edge slide so it weighs the same as a regular 509 slide. They also function as front slide serrations.

The sights are a slight variant of their tactical iron sights. They are tall just like the tactical suppressor sights, however, these are slightly altered for competition use. The front sight has a green fiber optic dot that has a large channel to let in as much light as possible. Dave Sevigny and Tim Kennedy deliberately chose the front optic to be green so it contrasts against the red dot. During the pistol course, Tim had us mentally switch between the red dot and green fiber front sight between shot strings. To be honest, I have never tried that and was surprised how well it worked, and later I used that technique in a match.

The rear iron sight is an almost identical copy of the tactical rear sight only it lacks tritium vials. No night sights on the 509 LS Edge since it is mainly a competition pistol.

The reason for the tall sights on the LS Edge is so the irons can co-witness any red dot. At the media event, I ran an LS Edge with a Leupold Delta Point Pro.

One of the major differences of the LS Edge is the grip texture.

FN America ditched their “pyramid” grip texture and covered the sides with a very aggressive texture. At first glance, it looks similar to the higher section of texture on the 509 pistol, however, they are not remotely the same. The normal 509 stippling like texture still has a somewhat smoothness to it whereas the 509 LS Edge grip texture is extremely aggressive, like sandpaper. If you do not grip the LS Edge properly, it will rub your palm raw.

For the sake of competition, they deleted the ambidextrous side of the mag release. Dave Sevigny has seen inadvertent magazines released especially when your support hand grips high up on the gun sometimes your support fingers can hit the mag release. You can flip the mag release if you want it on the other side for those who shoot left-handed.

Here is the length difference between a full size 509 and the LS Edge.

The 509 LS Edge has a factory-made flat face trigger. According to Thomas Victa, they were able to lighten up the trigger pull while still maintaining duty gun safety. The trigger pull has been reduced by 1.5 lbs. My friend’s trigger pull scale measured it around 4.5-5 lbs trigger pull.

The grip is a little bit shorter than a full length 509 so FN could integrate a metal magwell. You will notice it is bolted at the front and in the rear behind the rear back strap plate. The reasoning for this is Tim Kennedy and Dave Sevigny have experienced many aftermarket magwells would only be attached at one point and after a period of time, they will need to be retightened. Here you have two points of contact for a more secure attachment method.

The 509 LS Edge comes with three 17-round magazines, all equipped with aluminum baseplates.

Since the LS Edge is part of the 509 families it is compatible with other 509 frames. Here I put the long slide on a compact frame.

Shooting the 509 LS Edge

It has been too long since I shot a handgun competitively. So my skills have diminished and I noticed it at the FN event in Georgia. The LS Edge I shot had a Delta Point Pro and I had to go back to basics so using the iron sights helped a lot and showed me the red dot was not zeroed properly. In mid-match I did a rough zero after the second stage and was able to make better hits with the red dot.

Final Thoughts On the FN 509 LS Edge

The 509 LS Edge will retail for $1,499.00. It comes in a black ballistic nylon case, similar to what the other 509 pistols come in. You get three 17rd mags with aluminum baseplates and a whole array of optic plates for all the popular micro red dots. Dave Sevigny plans on taking a stock 509 LS Edge out of the box and running in a national match. He has high hopes to do well. Even though my pistol skills have gone by the wayside, the LS Edge was easy to use and worked very well in a match. I love the flat face trigger. The mag well could be bigger, but that is only for competition reasons. It is perfectly practical and better than a stock 509. The green fiber stands out extremely well and worked just as Tim Kennedy instructed. When things didn’t go the way I wanted, I reverted to the irons and since I was focused on the fiber front, the red dot completely disappeared. The grip texture is something you need to feel in real life. It is stupendous. They should just use that texture on all of their 509 handguns. For more information check out FN America’s website.

Thanks to FN America for letting me come out and try this new pistol.

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