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.

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.

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.

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

• FN 509 vs CZ P10c
• FN 509 vs VP9
• CZ P10c Review
• FN 509 Review
• FN 509 Tactical Holster

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

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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.