ninjarealist
New member
Hey folks, long time TFL lurker and first-time poster here. I posted this range report on another forum (not a gun forum) and then I had the thought that maybe TFL would have some opinions about an edited version of the range report.
Full disclosure. I'm a relatively inexperienced gun owner. But perhaps my thoughts might still have some value to you.
Summary: So far I think this is a really nice shooter and all around great gun for the low price of $300, although I have encountered some minor reliability issues.
The Good: First and foremost, this gun is a very sweet shooter. As small as this pistol is, I'm shooting it more accurately and instinctively than any of the duty or compact sized pistols I've owned or shot, which is admittedly a lot less than most of you probably. Part of this is attributable to the trigger, which IMO is very nice. Not sure anything more needs to be said about the trigger in this gun. I'm sure you've heard it all.
Also, the ergos are excellent. The extension on the magazine gives you just enough grip to put all your fingers on the handle (unless you have especially large hands) and the handle is a great width. I'm not sure if others will have the same experience but the gun points very naturally for me. The sights seem to come into alignment almost immediately when I bring the gun up. The safety is also very easy to dis-engage and comparably quite difficult to re-engage, which IMO, is exactly what you would want in a safety if you choose to carry with manual safety on.
The Bad: While the gun itself has good ergonomics, the magazine assembly leaves a lot to be desired. The magazine disconnect seems to interfere with the magazine release. I'm a fan of magazine disconnects when they work well, but this one not so much, although I still think the safety value doesn't quite justify removing it. The magazine is relatively difficult to load and has to be tapped a lot to reseat the rounds. I appreciate the loose fit of the magazine, because I understand how this can be conducive to reliability, but I don't appreciate how easily the magazine extension can slide forward, although this shouldn't be an issue if you're handling the gun properly. One other minor gripe with the ergonomics is that serrations on the slide are too aggressive and cause minor abrasions after long range sessions. However, they do their job.
The Ugly: Even after 1000 rounds, this gun does not feed hollow points well. Maybe after I break it in more, this will change. I still haven't messed around with some of the expensive upper-tier hollow points but I might give that a try. Also, this gun must be wiped down extremely well, which is not easy due to the way it's designed. The spring is a pain to clean properly as is the slide and the frame. If there is any visible lubricant whatsoever on the gun, it will have reliability issues. That has been my experience. Otherwise, the gun has preformed flawlessly and I would absolutely trust my life to it if it was properly wiped down and loaded with FMJ, but these are serious concerns that need to be mentioned.
Overall: This gun has some minor reliability hiccups and the problems with hollow points might be a big issue for people who swear by hollow points. I'm not one such person, but if I was, and I was more mechanically-inclined, I might try polishing the feed ramp. But I have no problems sticking with FMJ which has been 100% reliable minus the wipe down issue mentioned above.
I'm inclined to over look these issues because I can't say enough about how well this gun shoots. Aimed shooting, point shooting, single shots, successive shots, this little gun can do almost everything you want a pistol to do. I'm far from a competition shooter, or even an especially experienced handgun shooter and I had no problems putting my targets center of mass in both aimed and point shooting.
(point shooting in two-round and three-round successions at 20 feet. this is nothing to write home about but I think it shows that this gun is easy for a novice gun owner to shoot well despite being such a small 9mm)
Full disclosure. I'm a relatively inexperienced gun owner. But perhaps my thoughts might still have some value to you.
Summary: So far I think this is a really nice shooter and all around great gun for the low price of $300, although I have encountered some minor reliability issues.
The Good: First and foremost, this gun is a very sweet shooter. As small as this pistol is, I'm shooting it more accurately and instinctively than any of the duty or compact sized pistols I've owned or shot, which is admittedly a lot less than most of you probably. Part of this is attributable to the trigger, which IMO is very nice. Not sure anything more needs to be said about the trigger in this gun. I'm sure you've heard it all.
Also, the ergos are excellent. The extension on the magazine gives you just enough grip to put all your fingers on the handle (unless you have especially large hands) and the handle is a great width. I'm not sure if others will have the same experience but the gun points very naturally for me. The sights seem to come into alignment almost immediately when I bring the gun up. The safety is also very easy to dis-engage and comparably quite difficult to re-engage, which IMO, is exactly what you would want in a safety if you choose to carry with manual safety on.
The Bad: While the gun itself has good ergonomics, the magazine assembly leaves a lot to be desired. The magazine disconnect seems to interfere with the magazine release. I'm a fan of magazine disconnects when they work well, but this one not so much, although I still think the safety value doesn't quite justify removing it. The magazine is relatively difficult to load and has to be tapped a lot to reseat the rounds. I appreciate the loose fit of the magazine, because I understand how this can be conducive to reliability, but I don't appreciate how easily the magazine extension can slide forward, although this shouldn't be an issue if you're handling the gun properly. One other minor gripe with the ergonomics is that serrations on the slide are too aggressive and cause minor abrasions after long range sessions. However, they do their job.
The Ugly: Even after 1000 rounds, this gun does not feed hollow points well. Maybe after I break it in more, this will change. I still haven't messed around with some of the expensive upper-tier hollow points but I might give that a try. Also, this gun must be wiped down extremely well, which is not easy due to the way it's designed. The spring is a pain to clean properly as is the slide and the frame. If there is any visible lubricant whatsoever on the gun, it will have reliability issues. That has been my experience. Otherwise, the gun has preformed flawlessly and I would absolutely trust my life to it if it was properly wiped down and loaded with FMJ, but these are serious concerns that need to be mentioned.
Overall: This gun has some minor reliability hiccups and the problems with hollow points might be a big issue for people who swear by hollow points. I'm not one such person, but if I was, and I was more mechanically-inclined, I might try polishing the feed ramp. But I have no problems sticking with FMJ which has been 100% reliable minus the wipe down issue mentioned above.
I'm inclined to over look these issues because I can't say enough about how well this gun shoots. Aimed shooting, point shooting, single shots, successive shots, this little gun can do almost everything you want a pistol to do. I'm far from a competition shooter, or even an especially experienced handgun shooter and I had no problems putting my targets center of mass in both aimed and point shooting.
(point shooting in two-round and three-round successions at 20 feet. this is nothing to write home about but I think it shows that this gun is easy for a novice gun owner to shoot well despite being such a small 9mm)
