TAKE CHARGE CARRY WITH CONFIDENCE
FN 509 vs Glock 19
Comparing the FN 509 vs the Glock 19 is much more than capacity and size.
There are multiple variations of each gun that we’ll cover in this comparison. There are three generations of the Glock 19 currently being manufactured as well as multiple FN 509 variants such as the FN 509 Compact, FN 509 MRD, FN 509 and FN 509 Tactical.
FN also has the Sub Compact variants, but we’ll not cover those in this review.
Table of Contents
Size
Metrics | FN 509/Tactical | FN 509 MRD/Compact | Glock 19 |
Weight No Mag (Oz) | 23.8 | 23.5 | 21.4 |
Weight Empty Mag (Oz) | 26.8 | 26.5 | 23.9 |
Weight With A Full Mag (Oz) | 33.3 | 32 | 29.4 |
Height (top of Slide to bottom of Magazine Baseplate) (Inches) | 5.30 | 4.89 | 4.89 |
Length (Inches) | 7.1/7.6 | 7.1 | 6.99 |
Width of Grip (Inches) | 1.23 | 1.23 | 1.18 |
Width of Slide (Inches) | 1.06 | 1.06 | 1.00 |
Width Across Controls (Inches) | 1.32 | 1.32 | 1.33 |
FN 509 vs Glock 19 Concealed Carry
Comparing the Tactical and regular FN 509 vs Glock 19 for concealed carry might not be the best comparison as it’s much closer in size to the Glock 17, Glock 45, or Glock 19x.
The FN 509 MRD and Compact are identical in capacity and near-identical in size to the Glock 19. The weight is 2-3 ounces heavier for the FN 509, which is a disadvantage. Also, there is no grip length difference between the 509 MRD vs Glock.
Grip width is a very important factor when concealing your firearm, and the FN 509 grip is 1/20th of an inch wider than the Glock 19. But that difference isn’t going to be enough to matter for most people.
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If you’re looking at the standard FN 509 or the FN 509 Tactical, then the grip is going to be 3/8ths of an inch longer than the Grip on the Glock 19, and that does make a difference when concealing the firearm.
Ergonomics Overall
Frame
If you like a well-rounded good feeling Grip, then you’ll prefer the FN 509 vs Glock 19.
It’s a more ergonomic design, but an argument can be made in favor of the blocky Glock 19. Glock users make a valid argument that the blocky features make it very easy to get leverage and control over the firearm. This is an age-old argument, and I don’t think there will ever be a clear consensus on who wins.
Both guns have the ability to add different backstraps to change the size of the Grip, but only the Glock 19 Gen 4 and 5 offer the ability to adjust the trigger reach.
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Also, there are no finger grooves on the FN 509 vs the G19 Gen 3 and 4 models that feature finger grooves.
Glock took the finger grooves away on the Glock Gen 5 models, so there are plenty of options to choose from in the Glock lineup. When in doubt, choosing a model without finger grooves tends to be the better option for most people.
Texture/Grip
Texturing is consistent across all the FN 509 models while the Glocks vary from generation to generation.
FN 509
Texturing on the front strap and the back strap are very well done and aggressive.
It keeps your hand locked in place, and I can’t see a reason to have the FN 509 stippled. There is checkering on the side panels that work well, too. My favorite texturing on the FN 509 series is the texturing between the slide stock and the magazine release that makes a great place to rest your palm.
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Glock 19 Texturing by Generations
There are slight differences among generations, and it’s good to keep in mind that some limited edition and low production number Glocks feature different texturing. However, we’ll cover the main ones below.
Glock 19 Gen 3
Unless you get the RTF2 texturing, which is somewhat rare and hard to find, the texturing on the G19 Gen 3 is quite slick.
Gen 4 Glock 19
Texturing is right between the slick Gen 3 and more aggressive Gen 5 texturing.
Generation 5 Glock
This is arguably the best Glock 19 texturing. It’s really aggressive on both the front strap and the back strap while the sides are less aggressive, so you don’t have to worry about the texturing being uncomfortable when carrying concealed.
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Slide
There is no doubt that the clear winner is the FN 509 vs 19, which has a slick finish on the slide and nonaggressive slide serrations. The slide finish on the FN 509 series is slick as well, but the serrations are excellent. Plus, the slide is drafted on each side making it easy for your hand to contour to the slide.
Sights
Stock
Fabrique Nationale(FN) 509/Compact
The sights on the FN 509 and 509 compact are standard 3 dot metal sights. They’re pretty good for stock sights, but they aren’t anything to write home about.
509 MRD
This 509 variant comes with suppressor height blacked-out sights. Considering this gun is set up with a factory optics mount, it’s nice not to have to replace the sights to get sights that will co-witness with your optic.
FN 509 Tactical
Your 509 Tactical comes with 3 dot tritium suppressor height night sights. This model is also set up to accept slide-mounted optics, and these sights will co-witness when running a red dot.
Glock Factory Sights
There are tons of sight options offered on Glocks from the factory on all the different Generations. Glock is famous for their plastic slot fillers that they call sights, but they also ship their guns with 3 dot Glock night sights made by Meprolight and Ameriglo.
Unfortunately, the MOS variants do not come with suppressor height sights, so you’ll have to buy a set that’ll co-witness with an optic.
Red Dot Sights
Both the FN 509 and Glock 19 have optics-ready models. If you read online, you’ll see there are some issues with the Glock MOS system, but I’ve personally never seen those issues myself or in my circle of friends.
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To be sure you’ll avoid most of those issues, you’ll want to run an aftermarket plate-like one manufactured by CHPW, which will add some cost to the system.
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FN, on the other hand, has a really solid optics mounting system that is well-engineered. It comes with multiple mounts, so you can mount almost any dot on the market. I’m going to give the win to the FN 509 vs the Glock 19 when it comes to a factory optics mounting solution.
Aftermarket Sight
There is a larger aftermarket for the Glock 19, but the FN 509 uses a standard sig cut. This simply means most of the sight options available for the Glock 19 are also available for the FN 509.
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Controls
Trigger
As with other features, the trigger changes with each generation of Glock and the FN 509 trigger is consistent throughout the lineup.
FN 509 Trigger
The FN 509 uses a hinged trigger, which many do not like. It’s similar to the Smith and Wesson M&P system. In my opinion, it’s a much better design. It’s probably as good as a hinged trigger can get. However, the feel of the trigger is another story.
Trigger Feel
Pulling the trigger on the FN 509 feels like what you expect from pulling the trigger of a staple gun. It feels cheap and plastic-like. You have the normal light takeup before you hit a wall, and then feel a slight bit of creep before it breaks.
This trigger just doesn’t perform well at the gun store counter, but I’m able to run this trigger really well at the range. So if it feels good or bad in the store, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to perform that way in live fire.
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Glock 19 Trigger
All of the Glock 19 triggers have a fairly short reset and a similar amount of takeup. Where the difference occurs is the break, which we’ll cover below.
G19 Gen 3
If you like a hard heavy wall, you’ll love this trigger. If you don’t, then you’ll hate it.
Gen 4
This trigger is a mix of the Gen 3 hard wall and the Glock 19 Gen 5 rolling break. It sits right in the middle.
Glock 19 Gen 5
In my opinion, this is the best trigger of all the Glocks and the FN 509 as well. It has a really nice consistent rolling break, and it’s the first trigger most Glock owners don’t want to go out and replace right away (at least the ones I know).
Slide Stop
You can get two different slide stops on the FN 509–a standard and an extended. The standard slide stop isn’t as good as the extended one. Both of the slide stops don’t seem “extended,” and they sit fairly close to the frame.
Glock slide releases are all pretty similar in shape. The Glock Gen 3 and 4 are not ambidextrous, but the Gen 5 Glock 19s are. I personally find it a little easier to use the slide stop on the Glock 19 vs FN 509.
Magazine Release
A unique feature of the FN 509 is that it has a truly ambidextrous magazine release. Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of being hard to use. The upside of the design is you don’t have to worry about accidentally dropping your magazine.
You’ll have to break your grip to drop the magazine even with the extended release on the FN 509 Tactical. I personally don’t find an issue with as it can be trained around but others might.
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Magazine Well
The Gen 3 and 4 Glocks, as well as the FN 509s, don’t have wide magazine wells on the stock frame while the Glock Gen 5 has an excellent magazine well. If this a feature you’re looking for, the winner is going to be the Gen 5 Glock 19 vs FN 509.
Quality
The quality of the slide on the FN 509 feels excellent, and it makes the Glock slide feel cheap. In addition, the frames are both polymer frames.
From a distance, the FN 509 beats the Glock, but up close, the Glock Gen 5 frame feels higher quality. Not to mention, the Gen 3 and 4 frames feel similar to the FN 509. Overall, the quality on the FN seems higher than the quality on the Glock.
Aftermarket
Apex and Agency Arms both make triggers for the 509, but there aren’t a lot of other aftermarket options for the gun besides triggers and compensators. Most of the aftermarket for the FN 509 comes from three companies, Parker Mountain Machine, Apex Tactical Innovations, and Agency Arms.
The clear winner for aftermarket is going to be the Glock 19 vs FN 509 because Glock has every aftermarket option you can imagine.
Aesthetics
This is all about personal preference and what you’re looking for when deciding what is the better-looking gun.
A stock Glock 19 is the cute girl next door who looks pretty even with a fresh face, while the FN 509 is the hottie that will never let you see her without her makeup. Both are attractive but in completely different ways.
Shooting
Both of these guns are shooters. I personally shoot just a tad faster with the 509, which says a lot considering I’ve shot a lot of rounds through Glock 19s. Both guns shoot flat and track well.
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Price/Value
MSRP on the FN 509 series range from $649 to $1049 while the MSRP on the Glock 19s ranges from $599 to $745.
However, prices in stores tend to be a lot less with Glocks, ranging from $499 to $620, and the FN 509s range from $540 to $899. Magazines for the FN 509 are approximately twice the price of OEM Glock magazines. Plus, you can get a lot of cheaper aftermarket Glock magazines for $12-$15.
In conclusion, if you’re mounting an optic to a Glock 19 MOS and you aren’t the type of person who buys a lot of magazines for your gun, then the value is going to skew to the FN 509 vs Glock 19 as the 509s come with a good set of sights and a solid optic mount.
With iron sights, the prices and value tend to favor the Glock. If you’re like me and like to have a lot of magazines for your handguns, then the Glock is going to be a lot cheaper set up overall.
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If the magazines weren’t so expensive, and I was so well stocked on Glock magazine I might be carrying a FN 509 MRD instead of a Glock 19 with an RMR.
Related Articles
Pros/Cons
FN 509 Pros
- Slide
- Looks
- Optics Mounting System
Glock 19 Pros
- Aftermarket
- Gen 5 Trigger
- Magazine Cost
FN 509 Cons
- Trigger
- Magazine Cost
Glock 19 Cons
- Optics Mounting System
This is an opinion piece, but I always aim to eliminate bias. Look, we’ve all read them before. Gun reviews that claim to be helpful, but they’re really thinly veiled hit pieces trying to get you to buy something before you’ve even started your research. Or, even worse, a review put together by a content writer who has never even held a gun.
I’ve trained with some of the best in the business to learn various shooting styles and ideologies to better serve our customers. I’ve purchased guns of all price points, calibers, and action types to build the best products for the market. I want you to walk away knowing you have the information you need to make a sound purchasing decision.
21 Comments
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Thanks, I have been looking at both and this really helps, now I just have to get both in my hand and do some test firing. I have a feeling I know which one I will go with after this comparrison.
I have always wanted a Glock. I have been doing some research and I like many! So hard to choose??
I still have not made the jump and purchased a Glock of any kind as of yet. I am a Sig fan, and have stuck with those for the most part, but I keep being tempted. Thank you for the great comparison of these 2!
GO Glock added pros, 9mm Double stack mags work across their 9mm pistols PLUS many AR9 platforms as well
I like the fact you cover trigger pull. Always important to me in shooting.
Never was a glock guy but really want one now!
I’ve always been into Glocks. This is good info as I didn’t know much about FN.
Sometimes not Glock
Understand how many people love their Glocks and think it’s the best gun ever. But sometimes you just have to be a little different than the herd and the FN (or Sig) is a good “breakout” (breaking out from the Glock herd) is a good way to do it.
don’t own a gun but interested in getting one – lot off good material in the post – thanks
As many options & as versatile as the Glock has become, I personally still prefer many other makes over Glock.
But that’s just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions…
Great job with these two but the bottom line is always how it feels in your hand. I have seen firearms that on paper were far better than others but I have a small hand and when I held the gun it was bad news to me. Thanks for this info, it does give mw something to think about.
Glock is a great pistol. I shoot very well with my 19. The thing I dislike about my Glock is the slide release. I really dislike the slide release because it is very hard to get my big fingers on the little release tabs. You can buy a longer one. Why not just put one on from the factory.
I actually used this post to persuade a friend to get a G19.
I have been shooting a Glock 19 in competition for several years now and I despise Glock’s past business practices however, I really like their pistols as I have never had a malfunction and it always goes bang.
I’ve been a glock guy since the first came out, in fact I have the 555th glock 17 series one made. Anyway, I figured I would try something new and bought the FN 509M, I absolutely love this gun, trigger is actually really good, I am actually thinking about buing the 509 tactical with threaded barrel. The FN to me feels better in quality all around!!!
I love all firearms (retired military) but two handguns spoiled me for life: Glock 19 and Browning Buck Mark. I’ve owned and fired my Glock 19 for years without a single FTF. As a combat veteran that’s a really important factor. Also easy to field strip and clean. The Browning Buck Mark mated with SilencerCo .22 Sparrow suppressor is quiet. I could shoot in my backyard and not disturb my neighbors (not that I have ever done that).
The Buckmark is a great gun! Incredibly accurate. And the Glock 19 is my carry gun for half the year. I did get one to fail after around 3500 rounds and no lube. A little oil and it was running like a swiss clock.
The FN 509 Tactical’s trigger is just atrocious. Replacing the trigger is a real pain and also risks damaging the frame removing the pin. Great features, looks and ergonomics, but shooting is disappointing.
I’ve found dry fire with it not to feel great but never had an issue with it in live fire. The trigger shoots better than most would think in dry fire. If you want to switch the trigger out it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Took me 15 minutes just to drive the pin out without risking damage like you said.
Been confused on what to buy !!! Everybody is going to the clock 19. !!! FBI. Navy seal gave up the sig226 for a glock 19. Delta force going to the glock19 as well from articles I read !!! So I think I got my decision!!! Read article by FBI why the 9mm is best round
I read that the FBI are going to the Glock 19 so are the Navy Seals so is Delta Force!!! For Me those three groups given there thumbs up on the Glock good enough for me!