Gallow Tech Boot SHOT Show 2014

So over the past 10+ months I have talked with Brent from Gallow Tech a few times via email, and he did a great job of leaking the smallest amounts of information as possible. When I stopped by the booth I had a very vague idea as to what he was releasing.

When I stepped into his booth and saw the panels and mounts I was truly impressed with craftsmanship and quality. While a storage idea is nothing new, the way the Gallow Tech system makes it work and look is quite different than many of the other options I have seen out there.

The panels are powder coated tan, and are made of 16 gauge steel which feels extremely sturdy and and should stand up very well to long term use. When it comes to choosing a setup for your guns, mags, and other gear the options seem to be limitless. There are vertical and horizontal rifle options, handgun racks, and magazine shelves, as I said before the options seem to be limitless.





There will be much more to come on the Gallow Tech storage system after I pick out my setup and get it mounted on the wall. I will be doing a pre installation, during installation, and after installation video so you can all see how the system works all together. So make sure sign up for our email listing to stay up to date on all of the reviews we will be doing over the next few months.

Adams Arms Booth at SHOT Show 2014

One of the first booths that we stopped at was Adams Arms, where we had the opportunity to talk shop with Kat. She is extremely knowledgeable and she can shoot too, as has been proven by some of the Instagram videos I have seen.

We also had the opportunity to check out the Kryptek patterned rifles that they brought with them, drooled a bit over them, and were impressed at just how clean the pattern was done on the rifles.

This is one company that I am hoping to work with this year to get up some reviews and information about their products for you all to see.

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Also make sure to follow @shiplane and @spartan_tc on Instagram for pictures and info of new gear we have coming in.

Quick Look: Kaw Valley Precision Linear Comp

Since we here at SpartanTC Reviews have been checking out so many different compensators over the past couple months we figured we would get our hands on a couple more to try out. Recently we contacted Kaw Valley Precision about their Linear Compensator, it was one that a few of you had asked about it, and I had actually seen it a few times while browsing around the internet. KVP was awesomely quick to get back with us and help get our hands on one to test out.

(The new SpartanTC Reviews AR outfitted with the Kaw Valley Precision Linear Comp)

For those who do not know what a linear compensator is here is an answer taken directly from KVP's website.

What is a Linear Compensator? 

A linear compensator is a muzzle device designed to collect and direct all the muzzle gases forward, away from the shooter.  Unlike other types of muzzle devices, KVP linear comps actually lower the decibel the shooter experiences while shooting the rifle. This lowered perceived decibel is especially noticeable in shorter barreled rifles while shooting high power rounds. 

When you first pick up the KVP Linear Comp you can tell right away that it is a solid piece of work, and won't be damaged easily. The machining is really clean on it, and the finish is really well done and seems like it will stand up to quite a bit of abuse.

If you take a close look at the KVP Linear Comp you will notice that the only holes that it has are pointing forward. While this gives it a very different look I am really looking forward to taking it out to the range and seeing how much "quieter" it is over the other comps we have used.

We are hoping to get the new SpartanTC Reviews Test AR out to the range very soon and get some video, along with our initial thoughts on shooting with this comp. Make sure to stay to keep checking back as there are lots of reviews in the works!

Strike Industries J-Comp

I recently had the opportunity to take the Strike Industries J-Comp out to the range and get some shooting in with it. I decided I would write down some of my initial thoughts on it before we head out to the range to do some more shooting with it.

 (Left to Right- 556 Tactical Stryker Comp, Strike Industries J-Comp, 556 Tactical StrykeHyde)

As you can see in the picture above the overall length of the SI J-Comp is slightly longer than the other two muzzle devices, however when it's installed it doesn't look awkward like some other comps I have used before.

One of the first things that you notice about it is the interesting design. It was designed after the Japanese Type 89 Assault Rifle muzzle device, so it is a unique comp to say the least.

The rear two ports are meant to reduce recoil and redirect the concussive force you get from a typical compensator, and the front ports are meant to reduce muzzle flash. This means that it should be the best of both worlds when it comes to reducing recoil while still aiding with hiding the flash. 

The reduction in the concussive force from my experience is not as good as some of the more expensive comps (such as the Lantac Dragon) but at the price point of $39.99 it does a decent job. It does create a dust signature to the sides of the muzzle when shooting prone but the amount of dust created isn't all that bad.

As far as reducing muzzle rise goes the J-Comp does a fair job, while I haven't tried shooting rapidly with it yet the comp does a pretty good job of controlling muzzle rise and allows you to get back on target quickly.

So far with the limited time I have spent with it I am not completely sold on it to the point that I would install it on all of my rifles. It is however well priced and a very well machined compensator, which does what it is advertised to do. Hopefully I will get the opportunity soon to take it out for some night shooting and we can see how well it hides the flash.

Make sure to check back for updates in the near future.

ThinkFast Holsters IWB and Mag Pouch

Around a month ago I received my IWB holster and Double Mag Pouch from ThinkFast Holsters. With as often as I go through guns I had decided to hold off on ordering one for the Glock 19 until I was sure it was going to stick around. I have dealt with several different Kydex holster makers over the past year and a half, so I know what I like and what I don't like. 

The IWB holster and the Double Mag Pouch from ThinkFast are both great quality works of Kydex and there is a great deal of pride that is put into making them.

The IWB holster is comfortable in the appendix position for an extended period of time, even during the 16 hours I wore it during Combat Focus Shooting last weekend. With the sweat guard being a lower cut than some of the other in waistband holsters I have had, I've noticed that it doesn't poke me in the spare tire and make me wish I had worn on OWB holster instead. At the same time the sweat guard is still tall enough to help keep my undershirt from being caught between the gun and the holster (not 100% of the time though).

As you can see in the top 2 pictures the mounting hardware for the loops has been set back and away to keep from doing any damage to your gun while drawing or holstering. This is a feature that I appreciate since my Glock is "fancy".

The soft loops are now my favorite type of loops for an IWB holster, j-hooks are nice but I like the way the soft loops completely lock around the belt versus just sitting behind and under like j-hooks.

.

ThinkFast does a great job of making sure that all edges that come in contact with your body have been smoothed and rounded. When carrying appendix style I don't feel the holster jabbing me in my leg, which is a big plus

The double mag pouch is also very well made, it sits closely to the body making it easy to conceal. Having the center screw for adjusting the amount of retention is a nice touch, I have other mag pouches that do not have this and the mags tend to stick in them since they are a bit of a tight fit.

The loops on the mag pouch are awesome! They are injection molded and are solid. I've snagged the holster a couple times on doorways and such and felt the holster give a good tug on my belt, where other pouches with Kydex formed into loops possibly would have broken.

One thing I have noticed however is that the screws have loosened up a couple times, it's not a big issue as I expected there would always be some small maintenance that would need to be done to any holster that uses screws for mounting.

Overall the mag pouch and IWB holsters are great, I'm sure they will both give me a long life of service. Also an added plus is that the customer service with ThinkFast Holsters is great, and they are quick to answer any questions you may have.

I highly suggest if your looking for a great holster to take a look at what ThinkFast has to offer.

Lantac Dragon Compensator

Lantac USA recently announced the release of their Dragon Compensator for 5.56/.223 with plans to release a 30Cal version in the near future. They have done a great deal of hyping for the release of the 5.56 Dragon comp, so the question in my mind was "does it meet all of the hype?", and of course the only way to find out was to get my hands on one and take it out for some range time.

SPECIFICATION:

Caliber: 5.56X45mm / .223

Material: Super Hard Milspec Steel

Finish: Nitride QPQ

Dimensions: L: 2.570'', DIA: .870''

Weight: 3.2oz

Thread: 1/2-28 UNEF R/H

Serial Numbered for Quality Control

Made in the USA.

When you first catch sight of this compensator you immediately see a resemblance to the muzzle device of an AK-74, with the 4 top ports and the 3 sleek open ports on either side of it. It is one extremely nice looking compensator that just seems to scream that not only does it look good but it will perform just as nicely as it looks.

As soon as it was installed on the S&W M&P AR-15 the range began to call out to it, and once it was out on the range it answered that call.

Out of the handful of different compensators I have shot with over the past couple of years my biggest complaint was that each one of them when being used under the range cover rattled my brains and made my sinuses hurt. However this was not the case with the Lantac Dragon, instead of forcing the majority of the concussive force upwards in an effort to keep the muzzle down the majority of the concussive force was pushed foward and away from the shooter. This resulted in a much more pleasant shooting experience when under the range cover. 

Now even though the majority of the force is pushed out the sides and forward, it doesn't mean that the compensator was not effective at doing its job of keeping the muzzle from rising. Instead this was one of the flattest shooting compensators I have used, there was literally no muzzle rise after each shot; and to top it off the amount of felt recoil was also reduced. Pair the lack of muzzle rise with the reduced feel of recoil and you have the ability to quickly aquire your target.

At 100 yards using a Lucid Red Dot I was able to continually smack the 10" metal gong, and double taps were amazingly easy to control and still ring the gong. It brought a sense of controllability I have been looking for when it comes to using an AR and firing quickly.

Overall I was extremely impressed with the performance of the Dragon Compensator and cannot wait to get my hands on one for each of the AR builds that I am currently working on. 

If you have been looking for a great compensator to slap onto your AR, this is one that I highly suggest you look into.

You can preorder one through Harris Tactical using the following link.

http://www.harristacticalonline.com/Lantac-Dragon-556-Muzzle-Brake-LAN-DGN556B.htm

Iron Hammer Armory .300 Blackout Upper Review

A couple months back I started talking with Iron Hammer Armory about the AK's that they have been producing and also the line of AR's that they have been working on putting out. There have been a lot of conversations between Martin and myself and I have come to really appreciate the information that I get from him whenever I ask questions. So when I was asked if I would be up for testing and reviewing the IHA .300BLK complete upper I told them heck yes, I would love to get my hands on any AR upper to take out and test anytime I can.

When I picked up the upper from a friend's shop I was really impressed with the way that it looked, with the Stainless Steel Barrel coming out from under a black hand guard it has such a cool look to it. What I thought was really awesome was that the Hand Guard was from ODIN Works which is another company whose products I have heard great things about and had hoped at some point I would get to check out in person.

While I personally prefer a longer hand guard on my AR uppers the 9.5" that the IHA is outfitted with does give it a very clean look since it allows the SS barrel to really stand out. I took some time to field strip the upper and give it a good cleaning and applied FIREClean to it like I do with all of my other firearms (yes even when I do testing for companies I still give it a good clean before and after shooting), this gave me the chance to check out the workmanship that has gone into the building of this upper.

First thing that I noticed was that there was not a single blemish to be found inside and out, and the BCG was staked correctly and everything fit together really well. It was very noticeable that there was great pride taken in assembling the upper. The laser etching on the receiver and the charging handle is a very nice touch and adds some character to the overall build also.

The ODIN Works hand guard is very sleek and very comfortable to hold since it is smooth on the sides with one small section of rail on the bottom side at the front. The rail matches up perfectly with the receiver and gives it a nice continuous look. The overall construction of the ODIN Works hand guard is really good, while being lightweight it did not feel cheap or flimsy like it could break at any second. Just from the short amount of time that I have had with it I have decided I will be using one of their longer hand guards on one of my future builds.

When I was able to take the upper out to the range it was both too windy and too busy for me to be able to setup the cameras to capture any good videos of me firing it, there was also the issue of the wind blowing down the target stand that I was trying to use to zero it in. So finally I gave up and just aimed for the steel plate that we had setup down range. Even though the scope I was using was garbage I was able to figure out where to place the reticle to ring the steel, and once that was figured out I can tell you the steel just kept ringing. 

Every shot that I was sending down range was hitting it's intended spot, and even though I did not have a paper target to measure exactly how accurate this upper is, the side by side and stacked marks on the steel were enough for me to consider this an accurate barrel and with a properly sighted scope and a worked up hand load it should be hitting Sub MOA (I am not an expert marksman but I have shot both well made and crappy made barrels and this is well made). 

While the price for the upper is still up in the air until IHA is able to get the production of them moving I will say that it is a very nice upper with some very nice features, I am sure that the price will contend with many of the other companies that are building uppers, and even if it is a little higher the quality and craftsmanship that is put into it shows. Below you will find a graphic that has the breakdown of the parts used for this upper, all of the parts are nice quality parts that should give you a long happy service life from it.

I would like to thank Martin at Iron Hammer Armory for allowing me the opportunity to take this upper out to the range and check it out, this was the first time that I have been able to test a new product for a company before it's release and I am hoping that I will get the opportunity to do that more often.

Kies Adjustable Gas Block

There were quite a few different gas blocks that I had looked at when I started ordering parts for the Spartan build. I had decided that this build I wanted to do an adjustable gas block so I could really fine tune the rifle, and if sometime in the future I picked up a suppressor I would be able to adjust the settings to make the rifle function properly.

The Kies Firearms Adjustable Gas Block caught my eye when I was browsing through the parts section on Joe Bob Outfitters, it was in the price range that I was looking to spend and it had some pretty decent reviews on it. Oh and for those of you who have done gas rails before and hate the roll pin as much as I do, the Kies gas block uses an allen screw in it's place.

Being that I was using the the Midwest Industries Gen-2 SS hand guard I knew that the inner diameter was smaller than the normal hand guards that are out there and I was a little concerned that the two pieces wouldn't work together. So I contacted Joe Bob Outfitters and asked if they knew if the two would be compatible, and as always I received a quick response with a for sure answer that they would and I was good to go with my order.

When the package arrived 2 days later (I have always appreciated Joe Bob's quick shipping!) I pulled out all of the individual parts that I had ordered and checked them over to make sure that everything was there and nothing was damaged. When I came to the Kies gas block I checked it over really well and was very impressed with the quality and finish of it, especially for the lower end price tag that it had on it.

Installing it onto to my Rainier barrel was really easy, unlike some other blocks I have used in the past this one did not require any tapping with the brass hammer to get it into place. Another thing that I really liked about it was the allen set screw that was included to be used in place of the roll pin, let me tell you all this now, it is one of the smallest set screws I have ever messed with so be careful not to lose it if you get this gas block. Running the set screw in was probably one of the easiest things I did on this entire build, and once it's in it is not coming out. My Rainier barrel has a divot for where the set screw should set for the gas block, which made it very easy to get it into position and properly secured.

The first time I took the rifle out to the range I had to make the initial adjustment to the gas block, and the only problem I had was that the set screw for adjustments was behind my hand guard and there is no way to adjust it without removing the hand guard. Not really that big of a deal with as easy as the hand guard is to remove.

The first shot that I took the set screw was all the way in, the rifle fired but did not cycle which was expected. I backed the set screw out a turn and fired, the bolt cycled but only part of the way and did not lock back on the empty magazine. Again I made an adjustment but this time I took it out 3 turns, which was too much and slapped the bolt forward. At this point I was trying to figure out exactly how many turns I needed to go in, so I bottomed it out again and took it out 2 and a quarter turn, this was the ticket, everything functioned as advertised except for the ejector (which I discussed in the RGuns BCG post).

Since the first trip out I have run somewhere around 400 rounds down range with the rifle and have not had a single hiccup out of it. All of the set screws for the Kies Gas Block are still tight and in position, and I am looking forward to seeing how much abuse I can actually put this block through once ammo becomes available and affordable again.

If you are looking for a budget adjustable gas block make sure to add the Kies gas block to your list, I am happy with it so far and I will definitely use one on the .300 Blackout build I plan to do in the future.

15" Midwest Gen-2 SS Free Float Hand Guard

When I started searching around and looking for that "perfect" hand guard to put on my first ground up build I had a few things in mind. First I knew that I was going to be putting a 14.5" barrel onto the build, and I knew that I would want to cover as much of that barrel as I possibly could with the hand guard. There were plenty of companies out there with 15" hand guards, and quite a few caught my eye, but not nearly as much as the Midwest Industries Gen-2 SS Series Free Float Hand Guard. When I first saw it I was immediately drawn to the fact that it is very sleek and simple, there isn't all the mess that you get with the typical railed hand guards. I knew as soon as I saw this one it was what I wanted to put on the build.

Now finding it was actually a lot easier at the time, we hadn't come into this crazy period of everything being sold out with unknown times of when we will ever see them again. It just so happened that a friend of mine who has his own business, came across one that a supplier had and he let me know what his price on it was and if I wanted it I could get it. Needless to say I quickly jumped on the opportunity and had him pick it up. When I met with him to pick up the hand guard I was surprised at how light weight it actually was, weighing in at 10.9 ounces it is very light for such a long hand guard.

Once I finally had all of the parts to build the upper I did a quick browse around the forums, google, and youtube to see if anyone had any issues with putting this on their builds. Quickly I found out that this was a very simple and straight forward design to install (much easier than most free floats out there), I needed to use supplied barrel nut and get the holes lined up for the gas tube, then simply just slide the hand guard into place and tighten the two set screws, it was as simple as that and I loved it.

Functionality:

This is a great hand guard, as I have said before it is a super simple design and if you want to keep you rifle on the light side this is a great way to do it. Even though there are not rails on the sides or bottom of the hand guard there are pre drilled holes where you can put "floating" rail sections on (3 with screws are included in the original box). Having the ability to move and remove the rail sections is really convenient, because it gives you the ability to add accessories to your rifle, without the excess weight that you would have with a full rail system.

With the hand guard being as slim as it is, I have found it very easy to wrap my hand around and get thumb over bore positioning without feeling uncomfortable.

Looks:

What can I say, I really like the way that it looks, I think it is very sleek looking. It has a very small profile when installed, actually slim enough that I have been asked if the Rainier barrel is a bull barrel because the hand guard doesn't have all of the typical bulk. 

Finish:

As with every other part that I have used from Midwest Industries the finish on the hand guard is top notch. When I took it out of the packaging I looked it over really well to see if there were any imperfections in the material or finish and I was unable to find any. Any edges that could have possibly been sharp have been smoothed out.

Overall I am completely happy with this hand guard, it truly fit the bill of what I was looking for, and the more that I use the rifle with it installed the more I like it. As I said earlier everything I have bought from Midwest Industries has been awesome quality and the attention to detail that they give their products is evident. 

I will fully recommend the Midwest Gen-2 SS Free Float Hand Guard series to anyone who is looking for a nice lightweight hand guard, but it still wanting the ability to add rails for accessories. 

RGuns Nickel Boron BCG

I must admit that the idea of the Nickel Boron coating on a BCG is pretty cool to me, I had seen many people posting about them on different forums and Youtube videos. Needless to say I was intrigued and wanted to get one for the Spartan build, but when I started looking around for parts the market had already become sparse with parts. I had searched through all of my reliable websites looking for a good deal on a BCG, but I kept coming up empty handed, that was until one day I happened to check Aim Surplus and there was a RGuns Nickel Boron BCG and the price was well within my budget.  Without doing any research I quickly ordered it before they ran out of them (apparently I bought one of the last few because the next day they were sold out and haven't had any since), I was quite happy with the price I was able to get it at. That was until I began to research the RGuns BCG, during my research I had found out that the extractor springs that come in them are extremely weak and almost always needed to be replaced, and apparently some other people have run into issues with the coating peeling off within a few hundred rounds. Of course with all reviews they need to be taken with "a grain of salt" because some people are naturally complainers, and some people really just complain about stuff because they want to. With that said I still ordered an extractor spring replacement kit from BCM, just in case the spring that came stock in the BCG was actually weak.

When I received the BCG from Aim Surplus I was happy to see that the coating was smooth as could be (I even handed it to my wife and she asked if there was any oil on it because it felt slick), there were no major flaws to be found in it and everything looked to be within spec (to the naked eye). Needless to say I was impressed with the product received and was excited to get out to the range with it and run a few hundred rounds down range with it. But sadly it had to sit with all of the other parts waiting for the Spartan lower to come in from 2 Vets Arms.

I couldn't wait until the Spartan lower was in my hands to take my completed upper out to the range and put some rounds through it. Luckily I have a coworker who likes firearms nearly as much as I do, and I had just completed a build for him. So we headed out to the range to test out his build and make sure that everything was functioning properly for the build, and of course allow me the opportunity to make sure that everything on my upper build was working also. Once I had the adjustable gas block zeroed in I had hoped that everything was good to go, however I was having an FTE issue. I quickly figured out that it was the ejector spring, it was too weak to actually eject the brass and I didn't take the replacement spring with me to the range.

When I got home I pulled the old ejector spring out and saw that it was about a coil and a half shorter than the new one, and I knew that was exactly what the issue had been at the range. Getting the new spring in required a lot more force than was required to get the old one out so I knew that once this one was in everything would be good to go.

Once I had my build all completed I went back out to the range within a couple days and fired off around 120 rounds just to make sure that everything was functioning perfectly. I no longer had any failure to ejects and the brass/steel was being tossed in a nice pile a couple feet to my right. The BCM replacement spring was just the ticket to get this BCG working just like it should.

So far I have run around 350 rounds down range using this BCG and I have not run into any other hiccups after replacing the ejector spring. I just recently pulled it apart to give it a good cleaning so I could have some pictures to show what it looks like after that many rounds, and it cleaned up rather nice. There is some staining in the Nickel Boron coating but it is still slick to the touch despite the staining. I am confident that this BCG will give me thousands of rounds reliably out at the range, and I am glad that it is easy to clean up, even though I am sure that I could have easily run a thousand rounds through it without and issues.

(This picture was taken after cleaning it recently you can see some of the staining)

                              (These pictures were all taken prior to cleaning with 350 rounds fired)

The Spartan Build is Complete!

At the beginning of the year2 Vets Arms workshop and pick up the Spartan lowers I had preordered from them.  Yes, it was a long day of driving, but I feel that it was well worth making the 3+ hour trip to meet Dean and Amber face to face.  I am so glad that I found out about 2 Vets Arms when AR15News.com put up a picture of one of the builds that had been done for a customer.  It is really cool that they are from Oklahoma (my current home) and are both Veterans.  As I said in my Lock-N-Load Java review, I feel that it is important to support as many Veteran Owned Companies as we possibly can; they have offered their lives to this country - helping to grow their businesses is the least that we can do.
I had the opportunity to visit the

When we got down to the workshop, I was surprised to see just how small a business they actually are right now, but also immediately impressed by the number of rifles that they pump out despite their size.  If there is one thing I have learned lately, it is that the detail and care put forth by small companies that really makes for awesome quality products.  Dean and I talked shop while I was filling out the 4473.  It was great to talk with someone else who is just as excited as I am to show off and talk about guns.  After talking for a bit it was time for us to head out.  (I had taken my wife and 2 year old along for the drive, they both did amazing :) )  On the way out the door, Dean and Amber hooked us up with the a couple of t-shirts and stickers (which I appreciate more than most people would probably understand).

To say that I was excited to build one of the lowers when I got home would be an understatement.  I was literally grabbing tools and parts as I was unlocking the door to the house.  I had been waiting to get my hands on the lowers, and now that I had them in my possession I wanted to get one complete so I could scratch that lower building itch I had.  Everything went together smoothly and I could not be happier with the end result for the Spartan Build.

 Everything came together to make a fine firearm that I know will give me years of great range time.

Rainier Raptor Charging Handle

With the many different AR's that I have owned over the past 2 years there has always been a piece of the builds that seemed to be lacking to me, I know that the mil-spec charging handle has worked just fine since the creation of the AR-15 but for me it was one of the pieces I felt the least comfortable with. It was hard to pull the charging handle with gloves on, or if a scope was mounted to the AR's that I had, so this was something that I always wanted to go a different route with.  So with the Spartan build being my "dream" build I decided it was time to get a charging handle that was designed with the most versatility, in steps the Rainier Arms Raptor Charging Handle.

The first thing that I noticed when I received my Raptor was that it is a very sturdy charging handle, rigid enough to take years of abuse and keep on going. It also has a very nice anodized finish, if there are any defects in it I cannot see them with my naked eye. Overall my first impressions were that this was one of the better purchases I have made for the build, little did I know how much I would enjoy using this charging handle when I finally finished the build and got out to the range.

With it's large ambidextrous latch release I can easily charge my AR now, I have tried using every finger on both hands and the latch releases every time, and thanks to the width of the latch releases it is very easy to pull back with one or two fingers. It operates with extreme ease and locks back in place with a very sturdy click, and once in place it does not rattle or move until you release it and charge the rifle again.

I noticed with gloves on and the magnifier that I had installed that it was still very easy to get a positive grip on the Raptor, even when I could not get my fingers to fit in between because of the gloves I am still able to "blade" the latch with my palm and charge the rifle. So far the Raptor has proven to work in every situation I think I can possibly end up in, and I am sure that there are many more that it will be willing to stand up to.

So far I have run around 300 rounds through the Spartan AR, and the Raptor has been nothing but willing to work every single time I have needed to use it, it is showing very little wear so far and I believe it will be a good long while before it starts to really show any major use. If you have felt like your mil-spec charging handle is lacking something I highly recommend checking into the Rainier Arms Raptor, I am extremely happy that I did.

First Impressions of the FNH FNS-9

Out of the multiple handguns that I have owned since moving to Oklahoma in 2010 it has taken me awhile to find something that I like as much as the first gun I ever purchased, which was a Sig Sauer P226. It is like I have heard said many times, there is just something about a Sig.

In the long list of guns that I have owned since I sold the P226 there have been Glock's, M&P's, a Shield, Bodyguard, and a few others, all of which have either been traded or sold in pursuing something I like better. I still own my M&P9 that has the Apex Trigger upgrade done to it and I love using it at the range, but at the same time do not like using it as a concealed carry pistol because of the trigger upgrade.

I was at my usual gun shop one day and they had an FNH FNS-9 that someone had traded in, and I had heard a few things about the FNS but had not seen one in person yet, so I figured I would give it a closer look. When they handed it to me in the shop I was quite impressed with the way that it felt in my hands, I also felt like it pointed very naturally for me. Needless to say I found myself wanting one, but not wanting to buy someone else's problems I opted to have the shop order me one that was brand new.

After waiting a couple weeks for the gun to arrive at the shop I finally was able to pick it up, but because the gun shop that I use is in Oklahoma City which is an hour and a half away I had to wait a couple days to be able to take it out to the range. So I did like I do with every other firearm I bring home, I field stripped it and cleaned off all of the factory oil and got it ready to be warmed up and apply Frog Lube to it.

Tear down is very similar to the S&W M&P's, with just one little trick that took me a second to figure out, and that was when you move the slide forward you need to put your thumb on the back and give it just a little more push to get it over the detent for the safety. Which is actually nice if your hand accidentally slips in the process your slide won't jolt forward.

After I finished applying the Frog Lube paste and letting it dry to the point that I could rub off the excess it was ready to go to the range the next day. Having very little time to spend at the range I only took 50 rounds with me so I could get a feel for how the FNS shoots and what I was going to have to do to get used to using the european sighting (actually putting your front sight on what you want to hit).

Along with the FNS I took our M&P9 that has the Apex trigger kit installed so I could compare the two. I also took my wife with since she enjoys shooting and I also like to make sure that she is familiar with every weapon that is in our house.

I must admit that the stock trigger on a brand new FNS9 is a bit more stiff than one that is pre-owned but I know that over time the trigger will wear in and be closer to that of the pre owned one I had messed with at the store. Yet running through a quick session with it I did not feel that the trigger was bad at all, actually it was much better than the stock one that had been in the M&P, the reset is very pronounced and the pull is not super long.

I should also point out that the mags are very slick and drop freely with out any hang ups.

The night sights that are installed on the FNS are very nice quality, and are very easy to use in full light and low light environments. It does take a little getting used to using european sighting but for me I have always had an easier time with that style anyways.

Overall I really like the FNS9 so far, and I am sure as time goes on and I get more range time with it that I will like it even more. I am glad that even though it is a bigger handgun in size that I can still conceal it for everyday carry and it is still comfortable at the end of the day. I plan on giving updates as time goes on and more rounds have been run through it.