With a barrel measuring 3.1 inches, the 503’s overall length is 5.9 inches. First Look: Springfield Armory Model 2020 Waypoint Bolt-Action Rifle, Leupold DeltaPoint Micro Red Dot Sight — First Look, Trijicon RMRcc Reflex Sight Review – Perfect for Concealed Carry, Springfield Armory SAINT Edge Pistol Review, Savage Arms 110 Elite Precision Review: Excellent All-Around Rifle, Browning Citori 725 Trap Max Shotgun Review, Ed Brown Fueled Series M&P Pistols Review, Guns & Ammo TV: Cameras Don't Lie: 9mm vs .45 ACP, Surefire XSC Micro-Compact Pistol Light: First Look. There is a slide-­stop lever serrated at both the top and bottom for use as a slide release, also. At its widest point across the slide-­lock lever, it measures 1.04 inches. Measuring just under an inch across the controls, the 503 is the slimmest semiauto FN has ever built and one of the narrowest single stack pistols in the marketplace. When you consider just the global sales of the general-purpose machine guns for which the company is most famous, its commercial sales probably amount to a rounding error on the balance sheet. Shallow channels along the top of the grip offer a landing place for the shooting finger and thumb. Weight: 21 oz. With the slide locked back, you can inspect the chamber where you’ll see the feed ramp is polished. From sights to grip texture, to the angle and position of slide serrations. The FN 503 is about as flat as you can make a 9 mm pistol, and still have it operate normally—the 503 is a decimal point greater than one inch thick. FN 509® Tactical. Sights are of the standard three-white-dot variety, but are dovetailed should the user desire to replace them with an aftermarket option. With water dripping off the frame and muzzle, the 503 just kept running and grouping holes on paper. The slide, which is slightly beveled and features a raised rib running along the top between the sights, has six wide, shallow cocking serrations at the rear on each side. A departure from FN’s standard hinged trigger, the 503’s has a familiar bladed-trigger safety • A small cutout on the barrel hood allows quick confirmation of loaded status • Nested recoil springs work to help reduce felt recoil, but make the diminutive pistol harder to charge. The Glock 43 has a 3.41 -­inch barrel and measures .4-­inch longer than the 503. FN even includes directions for removing and reinstalling the magazine release in the owner’s manual, and in the shipping box there is a little plastic bag with what is clearly a mirror-image, left-handed release button. FN hypes this trigger in the ad copy as being a class leader on subcompact nines. The slide stop itself is extremely low profile and shaped with an eye toward preventing it from snagging on anything or abrading the shooter’s hands. The FN 503, roughly the size of your hand, conceals quickly and discreetly without compromising on features or performance. FN 503 The 503 is FN’s entry into the single-stack micro-compact market. Even she couldn’t get a full grip on the gun with the six-­round magazine in place. It is then possible to pull the slide stop free and release the striker by pulling the trigger. Sure, the gun’s accurate, but more importantly it’s built well and functions predictably. Its slightly chunky-looking profile belies its actual tiny dimensions. While you may not notice a few extra ounces while carrying, you will notice the weight when firing hot defensive rounds. While the extractor protrudes slightly when there’s a round under its claw—offering a visual and tactile indication that the pistol is hot—there’s also a semi-circular “witness hole” in the chamber hood, allowing one to confirm the glint of a cartridge in the chamber as well. FN has just announced the release of the FN 503 – a sub six inch pistol chambered in 9mm and designed for everyday carry. The 509 didn’t win, but it proved itself as a formidable sidearm that was extremely accurate and reliable. That is a feature that you can determine whether you like or dislike for yourself. It is not the first single-stack subcompact carry pistol to market, but it’s positioned to challenge the slim 9mm market. FN 509 in Blackpoint Tactical OWB Kydex & Leather- Leather Wing Holster Criteria and Considerations for this FN 509 Compact 9mm Review. Not only does the added capacity reduce the frequency of reloads, but it also offers more real estate to grip. Empty magazines eject with enough vigor that I was tempted to chronograph them. Fabrique Nationale’s bread, both here and at the parent company in Belgium, is definitely buttered by military and LE sales. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the FN 503 is $549.00. With so many shooters remarking that striker-­fired pistols only have spongy, heavy draws, I encourage you to try the 503’s the next time you're in a gun store. I toted the 503 in a belly-­band holster, as well as a generic nylon IWB holster, for weeks. Because the FN 503 is a pistol that is obviously a clean-sheet-of-paper design, domestically produced right here in South Carolina, and aimed right at the U.S. concealed-carry market. The FN 503, inspired by FN’s legendary heritage, is the company’s first entry into the slim 9mm pistol market. View All . The FN 503 ships with one 6-round magazine with pinky extender and one 8-round magazine with grip sleeve in FN’s standard soft-sided zippered case. In my opinion, it’s a better approach than the short and stubby levers that appear on many other competing models including the 509 series. At the dawn of the 20th century, FN was a major player in the formative semi-automatic carry pistol market and was the European benefactor of John M. Browning’s design genius. The 509 was born out of FN’s multi-million dollar bid for the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System contract.FN is coy about the MHS testing protocols and the results generated by the new gun. One of the selling points of the FN 503 is its all-metal trigger, which is designed to provide consumers with one of the best striker-fired trigger designs available today. FN has wor… Weird. I’m also a fan of the black nitride finish for carry. Taking the pistol down is something of a chore for people without a lot of grip strength. Slim, subcompact 9 mm semi-automatics can take a lot of getting used to if you want to get best results from them, but I was barely two boxes of ammunition into my time with the 503 before I’d gotten the hang of it. However, the Glock is lighter. MSRP is $549, a price lower at retailers. The 503 comes with an eight-round magazine, should you need the larger size, or want eight rounds on your reload from the first six-plus-one. You can expect to pay around $500 for each, while the 503 is advertised at $549. FN 503 Review (Compact 9mm Pistol) Welcome to Firearms of America! Control of the pistol is improved when shooting with the extended eight-­round magazine inserted. Ultimately, the FN 503 is dimensionally on-­par with competing subcompact pistols, and odds are that you won’t notice an extra ounce or .1 inch in overall size. It’s semi-recessed in a cleverly shaped surround that allows the thumb to activate it with ease, but protects it from inadvertent actuation, even if the pistol is laid flat on its left side. There are three passive safeties including a striker block, a trigger-­safety lever, and a trigger disconnect. Now here comes the subject of this article, the new, slim, subcompact FN 503, and I have to apologize to FN for my lack of faith. A beefy external extractor sits below to the right side of the slide to ensure reliable extraction in all conditions. When carrying, the FN 503 is almost indistinguishable from the popular G43, P365 and XD-­S. If this gun served daily duty as my defense pistol, I’d swap out the utilitarian thee-­dot sights. It sure has some good points! I’d suggest build quality and material selection. Field stripping the 503 required removing the magazine from the unloaded gun, retracting the slide and aligning the slide-­stop lug and disassembly notch. The 509 began as an entry for the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System (MHS) solicitation in 2015. In the original 509 review, I joked about the number of different textures on the grip, which would be four if one counted the untextured areas as a texture. In the process of shrinking guns, some cut corners. It works equally well with the pad of the trigger finger or with the distal crease as though it were a DA revolver trigger. If you’re looking for maximum concealment, the FN 503 is a good choice. As is getting to be common these days, the FN 503 features a removable, steel chassis that holds the lockwork, forms the frame rails and comprises the actual serialized part. This arrives inside a cardboard outer box that contains a lock and a couple other items (more about this later). The metal magazines lock positively in place. |   In terms of cost, the G43, P365, Springfield Armory’s Hellcat, and the 503 are within $50 of each other. Good job, FN. The 503’s muzzle has beveled edges to assist in holstering • Two magazines are provided, an extended eight-round and flush six-round model. The first striker-­fired, subcompact single-­stack 9mm from FN is now shipping from FN America’s U.S.-­manufacturing operations in Columbia, South Carolina. The FN 503 is about as flat as you can make a 9 mm pistol, and still have it operate normally—the 503 is a decimal point greater than one inch thick. The 503 is a true subcompact. It is metal, has a predictable, smooth take-­up and it fires after 5½ pounds of pressure each time. Like the 509, the 503’s metalwork receives a salt-­bath, ferritic nitrocarburizing treatment that protects against metallic corrosion and scuffing. If one has covered the firearm industry here for any length of time, that’s an easy pitch about which to be cynical. Building subcompact guns is the ultimate compromise. Smith & Wesson’s M&P Shield and SIG Sauer’s P365 both have the same 3.1-­inch barrel length as the 503, but the P365 is .1-­inch shorter than the FN, while the S&W is .2-­inch longer. Start your 30 Day Test Drive today and see just how easy concealed carry can be on you. After safely removing the magazine and clearing the chamber, the slide must be held partially retracted so that the end of the slide stop aligns with a tiny takedown notch in the slide. Jeremy Stafford traveled to Gunsite Academy to compare the speed of stock sights against express, three-dot, suppressor-height and red dot sights. It measures 4.4 inches from the toe of the flush-­fit magazine to the top of the slide. Press the magazine release button, which is reversible, and even an empty one drops free of the gun. But the new 503 is much trimmer than its larger cousin. The price is $549. The age-old question, 9mm vs .45 ACP. Just released the new FN 503 pistol chambered in 9mm. There are a few design features that I would change about the 503, but those come down to personal taste.