Freedom Ordnance FX-9

[matteekay]

Can't help you there, sorry. I have to imagine that a PCC is more forgiving than, say, a Glock, though...?

 

Update on the mag situation: I found what works best for me is a Glock brand 33-rounder with stock guts and a Henning basepad. This lets me load up 35 without too much swelling so everything feeds fine (though I do have to pull the mag out as it doesn't always drop free). I'm carrying two MagPul 21-rounders for reloads, and I start with one of those in the gun if I know that I'll need to reload around the middle of the stage as they do drop free. I also have a pair of Glock 17-rounders with generic aluminum G42 basepads (they're huge) just for Classifier use.

 

One other question: are the barrels on these proprietary? I assume other brands of 9mm AR barrel would work since they take other handguards but figured I'd ask...

[phoenixsomd]

Proprietary barrels

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[NPDriver]

I looked at them when I first started looking into getting a PCC. I quickly ruled them out after discovering that they weren't standardized to the AR platform or anywhere near mil-spec. I liked the price point, I didn't like the idea that I couldn't just swap out uppers. Say I wanted to build a 16" upper to fit to a pistol lower or swap out anything other than the trigger or furniture.

 

I went with a Foxtrot Mike's build instead. Bought their build kit (upper, lower & 8.5" M-lok handguard) from Primary Arms for $200 on sale. They also have complete side-charging pistols for around $500(sale price)-$550 (regular price) if that's what you're into. Then I bought a CMMG Guard 8" barrel & bolt for around $300 on sale from Optics Planet. SBA3 pistol brace was bought locally and comes with a buffer tube. All of the other pieces were stolen from my M&P-15 (trigger, charging handle, buffer & spring) and I'm slowly replacing them as I see something I like go on sale.

 

So, I built a superior shooting and lightweight 9mm AR pistol for roughly the same price of an FX-9 and almost everything can be replaced with standard AR hardware. I just signed up for daily email alerts and gathered my parts over the course of a few weeks. When something dropped in price, I snagged it up. I'm not seeing the Foxtrot Mike's build kit listed anymore as a package deal but all of those same parts are still out there between Brownell's, Optics Planet and Primary Arms. Those are their main distributors as FM products doesn't sell their parts directly to the public. 

 

Look around, there are better options at a better price point. Foxtrot Mike's also has probably the best customer service of any company I've ever dealt with. 

[Schott]

So I’m having, really bad feed issues with mine. Seems strange that there is about a 1 centimeter gap that each round has to jump from the feed ramp to the chamber.

 

I’m getting misdeeds about a third of the time. I’ve tried various different brands and loads of ammo, which does not seem to make any difference.

[compshootfl]

The ammo I have had the best results with is Freedom Munitions NEW 147 G. Round nose 9mm, very accurate, soft shooting and no feeding issues. It's worth a try, your mileage may vary.

 

https://www.freedommunitions.com/ammunition/pistol/9mm/9mm-luger-147-gr-rn-new.html

 

[N3WWN]

I use round nose 9mm ammo in my FX9 with no feeding issues, too.

Acme 145gr RN coated bullets, to be exact.

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[MrRick]

Mine was never picky on ammo. The only issues I had was with empty magazines having a tight fit. That was solved with a bit of filing (cleaning of magwell) and sanding some of the plastic coating off the Glock magazines. The other issues I had was using stepped brass like the one used by ammoland. They would split right at the step. 

[Kilrb]

Never had any ammo problems with mine

[Schott]

The barrel extension on my fx-9 is only 12 millimeters. Which leaves a 10 millimeter gap between the feed ramp and the chamber. Is that normal?

[Schott]

So, I polished up the surfaces around the opening to the chamber on the back of the barrel, all the surfaces on the front of the bolt that contact the round, and the feed ramp. Then I swapped out the buffer for a standard 9mm 5.4oz buffer to slow things down a bit and this thing is humming along great now. Even with short stubby hollow points.

[cityofthesouth]

On 1/26/2019 at 12:14 PM, Schott said:

So, I polished up the surfaces around the opening to the chamber on the back of the barrel, all the surfaces on the front of the bolt that contact the round, and the feed ramp. Then I swapped out the buffer for a standard 9mm 5.4oz buffer to slow things down a bit and this thing is humming along great now. Even with short stubby hollow points.

 

Do you by chance know what weight buffer came in it?

[Schott]

On 2/3/2019 at 9:54 PM, cityofthesouth said:

 

Do you by chance know what weight buffer came in it?

 

It came with a standard H buffer.

[Geronimobyblood]

I have a hiperfire 24 in my FX-9. It runs great. Never had a bump fire issue. I did buy some reloaded ammo from US cartridge and those stuck in the barrel. Lesson learned. Never had an issue with any wolf steel case or any other ammo I ran through it. I personally feel great running pmc 124 grain and it seems to love that ammo. Not sure how much I like the proprietary parts as we tend to want to upgrade and change parts when we have that itch. I have put over 1000 rounds and no issues...

[GSonnen]

On 12/31/2017 at 4:43 PM, shotgunone said:

I pulled the factory trigger out of mine and noticed what appeared to be an additional disconnector spring drilled and placed in the front of the trigger.  This applies lots of extra pull weight to over come all the springs.   It had about a 9 lb pull.  I replace the springs with JP spring kit and removed the extra spring.  Seemed to do ok and didn't have an issue.  Trigger was still a little creepy.  I finally put a POF drop in Trigger in mine and haven't had any problems so far, and have about 500 rounds thru the gun. 

 

My son's FX-9 Carbine has about 2500 rounds through it with a CMC 3.5# single stage (not the new "PCC" trigger).  He runs it monthly in UML and various steel matches.  It has run great till this past weekend.  It began doubling, then let a 5 round burst.  I pulled the trigger out and I see some wear at the disconnector, but no other obvious issues.  

 

I'm going to a new trigger.  I'm thinking about POF 4#.  Anyone have experience with the POF as far as longevity?  Another friend recommended Hiperfire 24c.  

 

Experienced input is appreciated.

Edited March 12, 2019 by GSonnen
spelling

[JonSummon]

Has anyone had any issues with the pistol version not extracting??
Ive tried every type of mag that i have and it seems i still get the same thing. the bolt over 1st shot doesnt slam home hard enough to pick up the next round for the firing pin to hit it. It's like the buffer spring is too lite?
Thanks

[Cedric]

On 4/6/2019 at 10:31 AM, JonSummon said:

Has anyone had any issues with the pistol version not extracting??
Ive tried every type of mag that i have and it seems i still get the same thing. the bolt over 1st shot doesnt slam home hard enough to pick up the next round for the firing pin to hit it. It's like the buffer spring is too lite?
Thanks

 

I bought one last year, and it fired about 4 rounds before it started having issues feeding and extracting.  It fired another 3 shots with me manually cycling the gun, then never fired another round.  It was mangling the rounds into the chamber, and wouldn't go bang.  I returned it to Classic Firearms for a refund.  I might try again at some point, but for me to fire 7 total rounds before the thing turned itself into a paper weight was disturbing

[Elliott]

Just purchased the 8" but it only has a rail on the top for an optic.  Where can I find the handguard with with bottom rail as well?  Thanks!!

[BobboJama]

Just found this forum so I figured I'd post up my experiences with my FX9 carbine. I bought it in April of 2018. It came with 1, 33 round SGM mag and 2 no name 33 round mags from Korea. I also have 2 Glock 33 round and 17 round mags. The SGM and Glock mags are perfect. They work as designed and drop free. The no names feed well but are not drop free. I replaced my trigger with a Rise Armament RA240 drop in which has worked great for the last 600+ rounds.  I have had only 1 issue with the gun which occurred within the first 100 rounds. Freedom Ordnance had it back to me in a week, all on their dime. It has never failed to go bang, feed or extract/eject a round since coming back from the factory. I am now at 3000+ rounds down the tube without issue. I run the gun wet using Lubriplate SPL grease on the sliding parts and Amsoil FPL on everything else. The gun shows very little wear. I am very satisfied with the gun.

[cmaddox]

I have one of these rifles that I bought from a friend for use in USPSA.  I primarily use Glock 33 round magazines and I have a Glock 17 rounder I use for classifiers.  I have had the bump fire issue like others have had.  I have found that if I don't hold it tight against my shoulder that is what causes the bump fires.  

Recently, I have been having issues with the rifle not extracting the spent casing and trying to load a new round with the spent casing still partially in the chamber.  After some investigation, my buddy and I found out the stock extractor spring was compressed so much that it was not holding the cartridge securely in the bolt and it was losing it's grip during extraction.  My buddy found a new spring and installed it and the bolt will now hold cartridges securely.  I plan on taking the rifle to the range this weekend for a test.  

 

My next endeavor is to replace the trigger with a CMC trigger group.  I am hoping this will help with the horrendous trigger pull weight so I can get my follow-up shots off a bit quicker.

[Greggo]

Has anyone swapped out the grip? I've looked at Magpul, but I can't get a solid response on fitment. MAG438 looks to be the closest. Thanks.

[matteekay]

Any AR-15 grip fits. The main thing is that the rear of the lower receiver is further forward than it is on an AR, so grips with a beavertail will fit but might look a little goofy. I got around that by using a QD-style end plate that filled in the void above the grip. Still a little gap, but way more comfortable for me.  

 

 

 

[Greggo]

I found a Hogue grip that fit perfect! Rubberized, fits my hand way better than stock.

[PCC_GUY]

I own one of these and have shot USPSA matches with it for about 3 months now, so I figured I could offer some insights for those who may be interested as a first post from a new forum member. 

 

Ammo has not been a problem as I have run thousands of rounds of PMC 115gr with no malfunctions on stage. Have also run federal and several other brands and weights with no issue. I cannot speak to the +P question as I have not tried any home defense type ammo as this is exclusively a competition gun.

 

The Hogue grip as others have mentioned is a great choice and what I have been using on mine. As far as other grip options any MILSPEC offering that does not have the beaver tail should work fine.

 

As far a triggers go I have been using the CMC PCC trigger which was a direct drop in and has worked flawlessly without any bump fires or issues. The stock trigger is very heavy and clunky like most stock AR triggers. I have run across a few others with Hiperfire offerings used in this platform which reportedly worked well. As others have also mentioned in this thread, bump fires seem to be the result of weak shouldering and I have not encountered this issue.

 

The FX9 uses a proprietary lower which inhibits the use of AR charging handles, bolt catches, extbsed mag releases, or safeties. The charging handle that comes with it is pretty weak sauce (just being honest). I am awaiting the shipment of the Freedom Ordinance enhanced version, but it is costly at nearly $80 with shipping - what you would expect to pay for a high end AR version. That is the only upgrade you can really get other than a grip and/or magwell.

 

Magazine fitment is a problem without some modification as several others have noted. I had to do some magwell trimming and polishing to get the mags to drop free. Genuine Glock magazines seem to work fine in the 17rd and 33rd configurations once the polishing is complete. After polishing everything seems to drop free without further issue.

 

However, there are some mag seating issues that must also be addressed. The carbine is designed to be loaded with the bolt locked open which poses obvious issues for classifier stages and those with mandatory reloads. To remedy this, you must strip off at least 4-5 rounds from the larger extended mags to get them to seat properly while the bolt is forward. Similarly removing 1-2 rounds out of the 17rd mags is also advisable for easier seating. I am still trying to sort this issue out, but short filling the mags and slapping them in with some "authority" seems to work for reloading during the classifiers or mandatory loading scenarios.

 

Also as others have mentioned, the FX9 benefits greatly from some internal polishing work. While I was doing the work on the inside of the magwell, I also took some time to polish the feed ramp and internal components which seemed to help with some of the minor feeding issues during the "make ready" process. Stripping a few rounds off the mags also helped to prevent some of the double feed issues that others have raised. 

 

When in battery the carbine performs very well; however, the mag change issues really hold this PCC back in a competition setting and I personnaly wouldn't trust it in a home defense scenario as you have to do too much fiddling with the magazines to get it in battery unless you keep it loaded.

 

Once you do the required tinkering and trial and error work, it really shoots well for an entry model PCC and I have achieved a few top 10 finishes with it despite being relatively new to USPSA. I have added some things like a Techwell flared magwell to speed things up some, but the mag retention issues during a match with a closed bolt are a problem. In 90% of PCC stages you load from the start and don't really need to reload during the stage so this issue is manageable, but annoying nonetheless. Again it is really not a bad platform it is just not a competition ready gun out of the box; however, with some light work it can do pretty well. Hopefully this will prove helpful for anyone looking at the FX9.

[Gotemoutdoors]

On 4/6/2019 at 11:31 AM, JonSummon said:

Has anyone had any issues with the pistol version not extracting??
Ive tried every type of mag that i have and it seems i still get the same thing. the bolt over 1st shot doesnt slam home hard enough to pick up the next round for the firing pin to hit it. It's like the buffer spring is too lite?
Thanks

I’m having the same issue if you find out anything on a fix please email me jdyson5327@gmail.com 

[fyr4efect]

I have a FX-9 8". It has become my most fun gun. I shoot my own reloads. PD 124gr JHP. 1200 fps. Put a CMC flat trigger 3.5 lb drop in. Big difference in shooting. Shoots as fast I pull the trigger. No malfunctions. It doesn't like the SMG 33rd mag that came with it. Jamed. Freedom Ordinance no longer uses SMG and is replacing my SMG mag with an ETS. I have been using Glock 17rd mags with 0 issues.