One FN Centimeter: The FN 510 Tactical

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When it comes to modern, feature-rich 10mm pistols, the FN 510 Tactical is hard to beat.

Sometimes, you need a lot of firepower. When it comes to full-size handguns today, that usually means 17+1 rounds of 9mm Luger. That’s pretty good, but it’s not enough for every situation. When the job calls for 10mm, and a lot of it, the FN 510 Tactical with its 22+1-round capacity is hard to beat.

FN 510 Tactical Specs:

• Caliber: 10mm Auto
• Capacity: 22+1 or 15+1
• Sights: Tritium 3-dot night sights ; optics-ready slide
• Barrel Length: 4.71 Inches
• Overall Length: 8.3 Inches
• Weight: 32 Ounces
• MSRP: $1,139

FN 510 Tactical Features

Capacity and power are not the only aspects of the FN 510 Tactical that make it great for personal defense. If you don’t hit what you’re aiming at, all you’ve done is waste ammo. Thanks to the 510’s Low-profile Optics Mounting System, that won’t be a problem as long as you do your part.

The system allows for easy, quick installation of a wide variety of pistol red dots, as each gun ships with the necessary hardware to mount most common footprint patterns. And if you don’t want to use an optic, a slide cover plate with iron sight protector wings is included as well.

Fans of co-witnessing needn’t worry either, as not only does the rear sight stay put when an optic is installed, but they’re tall enough to co-witness with even some of the tallest red dots on the market. For any optics that aren’t tall enough to co-witness, FN also includes some polymer spacers in the box to remedy that. The cherry on top? The irons are tritium night sights.

As mentioned, installation is incredibly easy. Instead of traditional optics plates, the 510 Tactical uses MRD plate inserts that allow for direct mounting to the slide. That means fewer screws and fewer failure points. Plus, the whole system is self-locking, meaning that no thread locker is required.

Hitting your mark is also made easy thanks to the pistol’s excellent ergonomics. Every aspect of the 510 Tactical’s grip angle, texture and interchangeable backstraps (two included) have been designed around taming 10mm’s recoil. Combined with the target-grade trigger, there may not be a more shootable 10mm handgun out there. Lefties can also rejoice, as both the magazine release and slide stop are fully ambidextrous. When it comes to making good hits, the hammer-forged, target-crowned barrel doesn’t hurt either.

If you want to dampen 10mm’s kick even further, you should turn your attention to the 510’s muzzle. Each pistol comes standard with a threaded barrel (.578”x28) so you can easily install a compensator or a suppressor.

Of course, no gun would be truly tactical without a Picatinny rail, and the 510’s is big enough to mount any full-size light or laser.

What’s The FN 510 Tactical Good For?

Their reasons may vary, but a lot of shooters love the power of 10mm. Some live or hunt in bear country, some just think it’s cool and others have seen too many videos of 9mm failing to stop a threat to trust their life to it. Whether your attackers are furry, two-legged or made of cardboard and imagination, 10mm will put big holes in all of them without discriminating. If you want to poke those holes accurately, and maybe even quietly, the FN 510 Tactical is the right tool for the job.

While the pistol comes with a flush-fit 15-round magazine along with the 22-round mag, unless you’re a very big boy, you wouldn’t dream of carrying this pistol concealed. Open-carry, however, is a different story, and for backwoods defense, this polymer-framed pistol holds a lot of peace of mind in a relatively light package. It’s still heavy, of course, but even with a fully loaded extended magazine the package weighs a bit less than most .44 Magnum 6-shooters.

When it comes to home defense, thankfully size doesn’t matter in the nightstand, and a 510 Tactical fully decked out with an extended mag, red dot, suppressor and light would be an excellent retort to any bump in the night. It offers capacity, power, accuracy and the ability to be easily outfitted with smart home-defense accessories. What more could you want?

Why The FN 510 Tactical?

There’s an old saying about boots and money that boils down to “it’s worth spending more for quality that lasts.” With an MSRP of $1,139, the FN 510 Tactical is not cheap, but if you’re looking to buy the only home or woods defense pistol that you’ll ever need, that’s quite the deal.

A lot of shooters only look at budget options when shopping for a new type of gun before ultimately spending even more down the line to replace it with something better. Further, when it comes to guns, minute aspects of features like the optics mounting system can make or break a setup when trying to accessorize it.

With the 510 Tactical, those aren’t things you’ll have to worry about. From the get-go, you’ll have an extremely versatile handgun that packs a much bigger punch than what most people trust to defend themselves with. Don’t be intimidated by 10mm’s kick either, as the 510 softens its blow enough that most individuals who shoot one should find it extremely manageable. More than manageable, in fact, when running the right compensator or suppressor.  

Now, all you need to do is choose whether you want your 510 Tactical in FDE or black.

For more information, visit fnamerica.com.