I was checking out GearScout and saw this article about a review on GunsAmerica’s blog. Here are some interesting quotes from the GA review:
“The drop safety itself is a revelation of sorts and should make a lot of people jump up and down screaming YES! FINALLY! Few companies have dared put a manual safety on their striker pistols and this is the first in a gun that can compete with the big boys.”
“The FNS is the first gun from a high end manufacturer that breaks this mold and boldly admits that many of us would rather have a manual safety on our double action guns.”
This is a bit puzzling. Not only are drop safeties standard on practically all modern handguns, but the safety which the author means to refer to has actually been available on other striker fired pistols including the Springfield XD (ym”sh) and the Smith & Wesson M&P. They’re also available without manual safeties, which is how I prefer my striker fired handguns.
“In a duty situation, your gun may be drawn and pointed several times a week, you may be tackled or have things thrown at you, all while pointing your loaded firearm at someone, there is nothing like the confidence of a manual safety to protect you from shooting someone unintentionally.”
Every time I have been trained to draw a pistol with a manual safety, I have been taught to remove the safety before bringing the firearm on target. This training worked well for me in real life. I would question the competence and quality of training of anyone who absolutely needed a manual safety in order to not negligently shoot someone.
“If until now, you have stayed away from striker pistols for duty use due to the risk of accidental discharge, the manual safety on the FNS truly gives you the best of both worlds. There are other guns out there that have this feature, but they are not in the same class as the FNS.”
Apparently the author feels that the XD and M&P aren’t in the same class as the FNS, although in his (exceptionally polite) comments on the GearScout blog, he said that the XDM is “probably the most accurate handgun on the market.” I am having difficulty reconciling these two statements. What makes the FNS “not in the same class” as the XD or M&P? The author fails to support his rather bold statement.
I am not a fan of the XD in any major way. I do not like Smith & Wesson as a company. I do like FN handguns, and I have had a significant amount of trigger time with the FNP/FNX/FNS platforms. However, I fail to see how shooting 250 rounds through an FNS in an afternoon, as the author did, gives him the authority to say that it is in a higher class than something like the M&P. The Smith & Wesson product is not a newcomer to the market and has been poked and prodded from many angles since its introduction, to include at least four or five people shooting 250 rounds through it.
Nothing in the review indicated to me that the FNS is in a different class than competing striker fired handguns. And, frankly, nothing in the review indicated to me that the author knows how to properly use a handgun in a “duty situation,” or that he is familiar with proper firearms terminology. His only response to the GearScout article was to write incredibly insightful things like “why don’t you pull your head out of your ass” and “you are just a parrot repeating marketing materials and misinformation.” Well, if by “marketing materials,” the author means “proper terminology for firearm components,” then he would be correct. For once.
GearScout’s initial conclusion about this review was solid.
The comments to the GearScout post by Paul Helinski were typical. He was the one who wailed about the untermensch of the gun blogging community ruining things at the SHOT Show and its Media Day.
http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2012/01/paul-helinski-of-gunsamerica-fails-at-the-internet.html
“there is nothing like the confidence of a manual safety to protect you from shooting someone unintentionally.”
..how about not pulling the trigger? I mean, what the fuck.
Exactly what I tought.
I guess the European style of Law Enforcement affects me on this, but I was also puzzled in reading that a police agent can unholster a gun many times a week without willing or necessity to shoot. I would expect him/her to unholster only when shooting is needed/expected, otherwise keep it in the pants please.
GunsAmerica is a silly website. They hardly ever have any negative reviews for any products, and praise substandard products on a regular basis. An example of this is as follows:
“Iâd put these Leapers scopes against any Nikon, Leupold, or any of the other usual suspects, at twice the price! Donât condemn without investigation. UTG/Leapers products are great affordable tools for police officers who have to buy their own equipment and canât afford a Trijicon, Eotech, Aimpoint, Surefire, etc. Take your nose out of the air and investigate for a change. We are intentionally featuring a bunch of stuff from Leapers because it is just that good.”
http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/colt-ar-15-m4-patrol-rifles-new-gun-review/
Not only that, they verbally insult any commentators who question their perceived wisdom, and refuse to enter into any kind of debate.
“there is nothing like the confidence of a manual safety to protect you from shooting someone unintentionally.” Why in the holy mother of hell would you point a GUN at someone without intending on shooting them? Especially in a situation where if you where tackled, you fired the gun (not the gun went off, the gun went off because you pulled the trigger), and the round hit the person you where aiming at. That seems like the perfect time for your gun to have hit the person, because if *I* am pointing a gun at someone, and I get tackled, it’s likely because that person or their friend was tackling me, and I’d like to NOT be on the ground with an attacker that is alive, if at all possible.
Reading the review on GunsAmerica was simply painful to the eyes. Then it made my brain hurt, and gave me indigestion for the weekend. Later I thought, who am I to question Mr. Helsinki? Yes my brain sees his name that way for some reason.
Surely he has studied for years at the feet of The Master, and lowly me is incapable of the level of understanding and expertise as is The Master and His Most Revered Pupil, Paul Helsinki. And we all know and are familiar with The Master.
The Master of Mr. Helsinki and his like has been to every gun blog, board & forum since time immemorial. The Master shoots thousands of rounds a day, every year through the latest & greatest tractical wonders – even some even He cannot divulge until the “official” gun press can speak of them. It was The Master who told us that the XM-8 was the latest & greatest, and The Master likewise wisely changed his flexible, infinite mind before anyone else could. It was The Master who gave us the phrase “it sh**s where it eats” before pistons ever took off, and lets us know that no matter the wonderfulness of which new pistol it is not and never will be a 19-by God-11. It is The Master who rights all internet gun board wrongs, gracing us with His velvet tongue flowing through His righteous keyboard.
The Master pals around with DEVGRU & Delta guys – who all come to see Him, not the other way around, and while we may ridicule His time with Ralph Severe, question his days with Front Site and Tactical Response, we can also yearn to share those thousands of hours with Larry Vickers, and at Gun Site, and in Jeff Cooper’s living room. The Master knew Skeeter in person, shared drinks with Bill Jordan, and was a pall bearer for Col. Applegate. He has been to all of these places, shook hands with all of these people, and yes, we do know it in our hearts to be true.
You may not know of him in person, or so you think; he is that wily. Once your eyes are openned you will know that you knew him all along. The Master is The One Who Shall Not Be Named, and yet you do know him everywhere as “Anonymous”.
Mr. Paul Helsinki, how dare I to question your mightyness. I stand humbled, sir.
I think that the first mistake made, was believing that a “Gun review” on GunsAmerica was anything other than an advertisement. Really, GA is a Retail store. They sell stuff. It follows that anything posted on their site is geared towards selling stuff.
Advertisements make all kinds of silly claims in the name of self-promotion. (Ye old Glock slogan “Glock Perfection” comes to mind).
That’s why I disregard any “review” that comes from company sponsored press days. Even manufacturer provided guns make the review loose almost all credibility.