The full-size FNP 9, top; the compact FNP 9M, bottom. All the controls--takedown lever, slide stop and ambidextrous decocker--are recessed into the frame.

For this report, I received two FNP pistols, the full size and the compact, in 9mm caliber. While the FNP is not actually new, in as much as it was introduced in 2003, the FNP has not received much attention from the gun press. I think this is because, kindly put, the FNP does not have the sizzle of other handguns introduced in the same time period. It's an instance of a plain Jane being overlooked in favor of others seen to be more tactical or cutting edge.

The FNP does have a lot going for it if some thought is given to its intended use and ability to fulfill this need. Let's do just that here, as well as note that the same gun is also being sold by Browning Arms as the PRO-9.

The FNP is an amalgam of time-tested features and quite suitable for self-defense or as a mili-tary/police sidearm. The well-proven and now-traditional SIG- Sauer locking system is in place, as is a SIG-type double-action-to-single-action trigger setup supporting an exposed-round hammer. The FNP gets modern in that it has a polymer frame on which the lower portion of the backstrap is able to be altered with an additional and smaller backstrap insert, which is supplied.

Internally, the FNP has the almost obligatory passive firing-pin safety and external ambidextrous, easy-to-operate, spring-loaded de-cocking levers. The fire control system is contained in a unit that is then pinned into the polymer frame, removable for service and in-depth cleaning. This should be done only by someone who is a trained FN armorer, of course.

The FNP, disassembled. Arched and flat backstrap inserts are secured via dovetail and a screw.

SPECIFICATIONS Fabrique National FNP 9 and FNP 9M
MANUFACTURER:	FNH USA
CALIBERS:	9x19mm
BARREL LENGTH:	Four inches (FNP 9), 3.79 (FNP 9M)
OVERALL LENGTH:	7.09 inches
WEIGHT:	25.2 ounces (FNP 9), 24.8 ounces (FNP 9M)
CAPACITY:	16+1 (FNP 9), 24.8 ounces (FNP 9m)
TRIGGER PULL:	DA: 12 pounds; SA: four to six pounds
WIDTH:
GRIPS:	Checkered walnut
ACTION TYPE:	Recoil-operated with DA/SA trigger and decocking lever
SIGHTS:	Fixed three white dot
PRICE:	$575

Forward of this is, using Glock armorer terms, the locking block. Unfortunately, FN does not supply a schematic in its instruction book, so let's call this a "module." Also, there's a half-circle metal ring, apparently removable, inside the frame in front of this module that appears to support or cradle the barrel. The trigger return spring on these samples has a yellow coating, leading me to believe that trigger-pull weights are changeable by using other springs, whose strength would be indicated by a different color.

When picking them up from my FFL dealer, King Shooters Supply in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the owner Roger Burris and I both thought I had been sent two of the same model. With a quick glance at them in their cases, we were both puzzled as to why one had a 16-round magazine and the other a 15-round mag. (Two are supplied with each pistol. They have a metal body with a removable polymer baseplate. The rear of the body has numbered cartridge witness holes.)

Well, it turns out that one is the FNP 9M (according to the FNH USA website), which is the compact model. The other is the FNP 9, the full-size gun, but examination shows the distinction between them to be slight. The FNP 9 measures 7.09 inches in overall length with a four-inch barrel, while the FNP 9M is also 7.09 inches long but has a 3.791-inch barrel and one less round in its magazine.

What we see here then is, in effect, two full-size duty guns with the one being slightly reduced in size. Now, if we add to this the fact that both have the feature of a changeable backstrap, both pistols can now be utilized to fit a much wider range of hand sizes and body dimensions.