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Surplus fm 90 review after restoration

7.2K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  samuse  
#1 · (Edited)
For those of you considering buying a used fm 90 from j&g or sog . I would highly advise to stay away from them.

First of all buying one will cost you about $375-$400 depending what taxes and dealer fees you get hit up with.

You can easily find a browning or a fn hi power used for $450-$500.

Problems you will find on these fm 90 pistols are.
1. Deformed or damages sights ( can not get replacements).
2. Grips are all dry rotted falling apart.
3. Alot of the metal surfaces are really dinged up or show signs of the pistols being dropped, on muzzle , frame and slide. You really need to look at one in your own hands before you buy one.
4. After thouroughly taking it apart and inspecting it i wasn't inpressed with the fit and finish of the parts, feg pistols are finished and have better fitment of the parts.
5. Poor quality metal used in some parts- upon removing the spring from the hammer strut, 2 times to replace with a lighter spring, the threads became worn and would no longer allow the nut to engage. I had to replace it with a browning hammer strut and nut.

Note ! I took apart a fn israel hp 20 times that did not strip or fail to engage the threads.

6. After removing mag safety feature, the trigger is very sloppy and has excessive clearance or side play in the frame. A browning or fn won't have this.

7. Recoil spring guide was also damaged and had to be replaced with a old browning one.

8. Overall most of these guns have been shot to hell , dropped, and made with inferior parts in comparison to brownings or fn's.
These guns are really over priced if they were fn manufacture or browning then they would be worth $300-$400. But since they are fm manufacture and new ones only sold for $300 when they were on market. These current shot up surplus ones are only worth $150.

9. The fm pistols also have no resale, if you pay $375 for one , you will only be able to trade it for $150 or sell it to a private party for $257-$300.

10. The one positive this is that after we replaced alot of the internal parts with browning hi power parts and installed the sights and thouroughly went thru the gun it was reliable and shot good groups. But note we spent alot more on this gun then it was worth and we could have bought a used browning hi power that would have out of the box surpassed the fm 90 in quality and accuracy and resale value for what we put into the fm pistol.

So summing things up, if you have money to throw away buy the fm 90 and tinker with it, if not don't waste your money and spend another $100 and buy a browning.
 
#3 ·
Norton850,
Thank you for taking the time to submit your review of the FM90. Based on your assumptions, your conclusion would appear correct, but I think those assumptions are off the mark. First, at J&G one can purchase a brand new FM90 for $340(yes they are new at that price-not beat-up like you describe, you bought the cheaper used one). Add 15 for shipping and let's say 35 for FFL, that brings the total to $390 for a new HP. Second, used BHP's are very hard to find for $450, those type of deals are rare and sell so fast that the likelyhood of accually getting one is like hitting the lotto. One must be glued to the computer, and even then it's pure luck. More than likely for the average person they will never get a chance to buy a BHP for those kind of prices. One will probably pay $550 to $700 and then you add shipping and FFL bringing to cost from $600 to $750. Therefore there is about a $200 or more difference between them and for alot of people nowadays that is enough of a difference to make a difference. To say to stay away from the FM's I think is misleading. For the money, they are a good handgun. They should be compared to other handguns in the price range not just BHP's.
 
#4 ·
the j&g ones are not new they are all military argentine surplus and are used. A few ppl might luck out and get a low round count one, but most that I had seen on gun broker and other websites are all really beat up ones.

The one I restored was the best sog said they had and we paid extra money for the special select grade, and this is what you get.
 
#7 ·
I have to agree with Worthit on this one, Mr. Norton. You've written some good reports in the past in this forum, and this one is no exception, but I think you got a real dog in this particular gun. It certainly isn't typical of the four I've seen or any I've seen gun forum reports on.

I and a friend bought two of the ones in excellent condition from J&G and they were unissued and unfired. Two other friends bought two in very good condition from SOG and they were very nice guns as advertised, with not a large round count on either one. None of the four sets of grips were dried out or cracked. A gunsmith buddy has been through two of the four of these guns and although the frames have tool marks in them, which I expect in a gun made strictly for military issue, their fit and finish is entirely competent for their intended purpose.

I do agree entirely that one should not expect to get the same quality of fit and finish from these guns as he would get from an FN or Browning. That's just not smart at all. But I think these guns are good buys as long as you don't stumble into a beat-to-pieces training gun.

And having paid $850 OTD for a used BHP nine months ago, I would love to find one in the price range you mentioned. WOW!!

Best wishes,

JayPee
 
#8 ·
You know jp, I started following gun broker based on some allegations of deals there at prices way below market. I checked out some type 73s with beer can sights somebody posted. I checked for them in improperly spelled listings sombody posted. Any browning or fn I have seen in the price range alleged in the above and foregoing has not aroused my interest and most of them did not stay in that price range very long. Not long ago somebody posted that they really did not know about the fm but that products from south tend to be expletive deleted. Now we arrive at all fm 90s are bad based on one sog example. Thanks for telling us of your experience with your j and g fm. It provided balance.
 
#9 ·
Well, I don't mean any offense to Mr Norton, Chuntaro, because all of the Browning Hi Power clones seem to have some horror stories associated with them sooner or later if they've seen military service. But buying a surplus military gun can be a real crapshoot and Mr. Norton makes a very sound point that one should look hard and ask lots of questions befory buying one if he cannot personally inspect it beforehand.

I called J&G personally and talked to them about the guns' condition before buying our guns and received an assurance that they were mostly new, unissued guns in the "excellent" category I was interested in. CDNN, SOG, and AIM have also been very good about discussing condition with potential buyers. I just think the one evaluated in this particular thread was a beat to death training gun I warned about in my previous post, and I don't blame Mr. Norton for being upset about it.

JP
 
#10 ·
On the rare occasion I actually do see a used (Browning/FN) Hi-Power in my area, they are about $600-$700.

If I found one for $450-$500 I would buy it (assuming nothing was obviously wrong with it) and run out of the store like I had just commited a robbery.

I am not a fan of J&G to begin with, they have a practice of taking away a magazine from a gun that comes with two and then offering it to sell it to you as an additional accessory.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I got one at J&Gsales ($339 + $15 S&H + $20 FFL for a total of $374) and yes, they did take away the 2nd mag and offered as $19 accessory. It sucks. But the pistol was good - full strip did not show any issues, springs are fine, everything tight. I decided to drop another $30 and refinish the slide (was not needed, I just wanted 2 tone).On the range, I had a few FTFs, replaced mag spring and since then put about ~600 rds thru her with no issues whatsoever. Tight groups, HP trigger (though a bit heavier that my 1966 FN).

Here is the result (total cost is $410 out of pocket). Maybe I just got lucky...

Image
 
#13 ·
the gun doesn't look bad , but you still only have a gun that you would have trouble getting $250-$300 for resale. Also what finish did you use the spray on black and silver.

Alot of ppl are refinishing guns with these spray on finishes, the aren't bad for old betters, but you should blue the gun to give it its best value.
 
#15 ·
@ rt cell:

I would not worry about it too much. You could have done worse. There is a refinished fm on gun broker marketed as stainless a fellow has bid 450 dollars on. There is also a fm detective upper unit conversion kit that started at next to nothing and is up to 330 dollars.
 
#18 · (Edited)
For those of you considering buying a used fm 90 from j&g or sog . I would highly advise to stay away from them.
I picked up a SOG FM90, and other than a worn finish the pistol is in Very good condition, the sights are sound after more than 100 rnds fired over the weekend and I would think about buying another after my first experience with them.

My total costs $324.00 with shipping from SOG to my FFL + $25.00 for the transfer = $349.00
 
#19 ·
I bought 2 fm-90's a couple of weeks ago in excellent condition from j&g. One appeared to have been shot a few times but looked excellent and the other one appeared to have never been shot. My guns both looked excellent and fired perfectly out of the box. Sad to hear you got such a lemon. I like mine alot and have even thought of buying another two to tinker with. I guess buyer beware.
 
#20 ·
Are the M90s really military surplus?

Hello all. Why do we believe/perceive that the used FMs are military surplus? Argentina imported Hi Powers from Belgium during the 20th Century, under license made a Hi Power clone (with the narrowed slide), and for several years has made the commercial Hi Power clone (with the slab sides).

I wonder if the M90 slab side is really surplus.