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All right ya all! I normally don't do reviews on things here at Northwest Firearms but I had to on this little guy!
I was excited when I heard that there was a handgun that could be smaller than the Glock 43, come with night sights from the factory, have 10+1 on board, and have a 12 round mag option? NO WAY! But alas, the unicorn has arrived! I met the little guy at a local gun shop here in Eugene, handled it, carressed it, and gave it back to the nice salesman. Being a Glock fan boy, and having a few in the safe, I first thought that I should not jump ship and stray from the block dark side. Two days later, after reading all of the positives and negatives on the inter-web, I took a trip back to the store. Again, I had an uneasy feeling as I picked up the little guy. Had all of the kinks been ironed out of the thing in the short time it has been out? Can an old Glock dog learn a new platform? I did it. It came home with me.
Range time with uneasiness...
As I stood up to the firing line at one of the local ranges, I racked the slide, raised the little guy, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger. It went boom! Not once, not twice, but 200 times that day! 200 rounds is not alot of ammo for a carry gun, but enough to feel more comfortable knowing that it does go boom. It shot like a dream! I was worried that being that small, it might be more recoil than my old stand by Glock 26. But it felt like it didn't. It was managable and easy to get double taps on the target. I shot around 100 rounds through it strong hand supported, weak hand supported, strong hand unsupported and weak hand unsupported. Recoil was waaaayyyy lighter than I thought and I could keep the sights on the target quickly.
Then I forced it to malfunction. Most (if not all handguns) will malfunction if you limp wrist your grip. I did that. My grip on it was so loose, I almost lost it over my head on one round. The next 30 rounds were shot with limp noodles for arms, and a wrist that could wave down a sailor. It would NOT malfunction! Drat, I am liking this thing better all the time!
Complaints: Magazines are a Bi&Ch to load when new! Take a speed loader for the first 100 rounds until the springs have set. It took every thing that I had to cram the 10th round in the mag. On both of them. After 100 rounds, it turned easier, but still a challenge. Oh yeah, another gripe, due to the shortness of the 10 round mags, it is hard to get them out of my thigh pocket of my 5:11 pants!
In closing, 200 rounds is not a lot of ammo for an EDC handgun, but it worked, every pull of the trigger! I will keep you posted on my future outings to consume more ammo through this hungry monster. It seems to eat up all of the Horniday critical defense, good old ball ammo and some HOT hand loads that I threw at it.
Cheers and safe shooting!
I was excited when I heard that there was a handgun that could be smaller than the Glock 43, come with night sights from the factory, have 10+1 on board, and have a 12 round mag option? NO WAY! But alas, the unicorn has arrived! I met the little guy at a local gun shop here in Eugene, handled it, carressed it, and gave it back to the nice salesman. Being a Glock fan boy, and having a few in the safe, I first thought that I should not jump ship and stray from the block dark side. Two days later, after reading all of the positives and negatives on the inter-web, I took a trip back to the store. Again, I had an uneasy feeling as I picked up the little guy. Had all of the kinks been ironed out of the thing in the short time it has been out? Can an old Glock dog learn a new platform? I did it. It came home with me.
Range time with uneasiness...
As I stood up to the firing line at one of the local ranges, I racked the slide, raised the little guy, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger. It went boom! Not once, not twice, but 200 times that day! 200 rounds is not alot of ammo for a carry gun, but enough to feel more comfortable knowing that it does go boom. It shot like a dream! I was worried that being that small, it might be more recoil than my old stand by Glock 26. But it felt like it didn't. It was managable and easy to get double taps on the target. I shot around 100 rounds through it strong hand supported, weak hand supported, strong hand unsupported and weak hand unsupported. Recoil was waaaayyyy lighter than I thought and I could keep the sights on the target quickly.
Then I forced it to malfunction. Most (if not all handguns) will malfunction if you limp wrist your grip. I did that. My grip on it was so loose, I almost lost it over my head on one round. The next 30 rounds were shot with limp noodles for arms, and a wrist that could wave down a sailor. It would NOT malfunction! Drat, I am liking this thing better all the time!
Complaints: Magazines are a Bi&Ch to load when new! Take a speed loader for the first 100 rounds until the springs have set. It took every thing that I had to cram the 10th round in the mag. On both of them. After 100 rounds, it turned easier, but still a challenge. Oh yeah, another gripe, due to the shortness of the 10 round mags, it is hard to get them out of my thigh pocket of my 5:11 pants!
In closing, 200 rounds is not a lot of ammo for an EDC handgun, but it worked, every pull of the trigger! I will keep you posted on my future outings to consume more ammo through this hungry monster. It seems to eat up all of the Horniday critical defense, good old ball ammo and some HOT hand loads that I threw at it.
Cheers and safe shooting!