Seeing as how this is a fairly new pistol, and fresh on the Canadian market with a price that's hard to beat, I figure I should do a bit of a lengthy review.
So, to start off let me say that I had completely forgotten that I ordered this pistol. When I got the package I stared at it in confusion for a few minutes before giving up trying to guess what it is and decided that presents are presents and should be opened. Then I opened it up and squealed like a little girl, I think I even jumped up and down a little.
I have to say, this is a cool case. The top is flat and has raised edges so you can easily use it as a parts tray, and it has a list of the rights that we, as citizens of the glorious country of Canada do not get because they are American rights.
Click for higher quality.
The contents of the box are 1 pistol, 2 magazines, a manual/propaganda book, a limited 2 year warranty card for Vault Distribution, 5 additional rear sights with various windage adjustments, 2 additional front sights with various height adjustments. Yay, I love Lego.
Click for higher quality.
For some reason there's a great big space on the left side of the case that has nothing in it. I like it, it could be handy for ammo or cleaning supplies. It's nice to see a company putting more than the minimum into their factory cases. That's irony for you there, a case from a "cheap" company giving you a feature(storage compartment) that more expensive manufacturers leave out.
The pistol says "PROUDLY AMERICAN" on the the right side of the slide. The frame says "Thank You; U.S. SOLDIERS", "PAT#8028454 MADE IN USA" on the right side, and "FMK" and "FMK FIREARMS INC. PLACENTIA, CA" on the left side. The latter is hidden under the slide hold lever, I wonder if that' intentional. The serial number is on the bottom of the frame on the pseudo-rail segment. The rear of the pistol says "FREEDOM LIBERTY" on the slide end stop, and "LOADED IF OUT" on the slide, with an arrow pointing at the bright red loaded chamber indicator. If I ever get an office, I'll put a sign on the door saying "LOADED IF OUT" so that if I'm out of the office people will know I'm getting loaded on cheap Russian vodka.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
Now the fun and games begin, I test out the mag release and "slide hold" lever. Initial impression is that the mag release requires quite a bit of movement before the mag can be removed. Understandable as this is marketed as a carry pistol, you don't want your magazine falling out because of a touchy mag release. The slide hold lever is plain and bare, I think it could really be improved by the addition of serrations or something to give you some grip. Again it is understandable as part of the streamlined low profile design that has minimal snag points for carry. The trigger is...unrefined. To make it go click, you need to really mean it. It's not heavy, to me anyways, but it has a lot of travel. Once again, makes sense as a carry pistol, you don't want it blowing a hole in the side of your man purse because a pen found it's way into the trigger guard. Another thing that immediately catches my attention is that the trigger stays back once dry fired. It does not return to it's forward position when released. What's up with that, yo?
Click for higher quality.
After browsing through the manual I try my hand at disassembling the pistol for inspection and cleaning. After about fifteen attempts I finally make something happen, the slide moves forward and the recoil spring falls onto the ground. In FMK's defense, the only other pistol I've disassembled is my Walther PPQ...which didn't drop it's recoil spring like it's out of style. Okay, moving on.
Slide is minimalistic. Barrel is dirty, got chunks of something in there. Par for the course.
There is a screw under the front sight. It's not a black screw, I should probably send it to Arma-Coat so they can make it black to match the rest of the gun.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
My trusty mechanical pencil, which can remove the striker assembly of my PPQ, fails me here. It fits inside, but as the ladies say it is not long enough to get the job done. Excuse me while I get my punches. The manual says to use a 1/16" punch, but my Stanley punch is too fat. Someone's specs are off here. Huh, turns out that FMK is right, and Stanley's punch is larger than it should be. A bit of love with a file and the punch is ready to go. Perhaps my love is a bit too firm, because my now slightly tapered punch is lodged in the slide end cap, and there's a small bit of the orange striker assembly stuck to the tip. Sounds kinda kinky when I say it like that. There's a dangly bit of something orange on the striker assembly. It appears that there is no real method to keep your punch from punching the striker assembly, so have a care before you ram it in there. The slide end stop is a slight bit deeper than 1/4", and that seems to be the required distance necessary to gouge a chunk out of the striker assembly and be able to fully field strip the pistol. Am I doing something wrong? The striker assembly seems to be made of orange polymer, and if this gouging happens every time I field strip the pistol then sooner or later either it's not going to engage the slide end cap or striker channel properly, or I'm going to have to keep stabbing deeper in order to remove the slide end cap. I think I shall be sending FMK an email about it, to see if I'm the only one experiencing this. Who knows, they might alter future generations to have a spot for your punch to press against other than the lip of the striker assembly.
Click for higher quality.
Field stripped.
Click for higher quality.
My concluding thoughts are that it feels like a decent pistol, points like a decent pistol, but luxury model this is not. To be fair this is my second pistol, my first pistol is a Walther PPQ which retails for double the price. I'll post up a range review when I get a chance to go out shooting after my "I promise to not do bad things with my scary gun" papers arrive. Until then, I clean this thing and hope I can get it put back together.
Ttl;dr You get what you pay for, this could be the Glock of the future, or it could be a useless heap of junk, but for $524.94 shipped to my door there aren't many other options for new pistols. Time and some trips to the range will tell. When I look at this pistol I immediately see the areas where it could be improved, but such is the sacrifice necessary for low costs.
Thanks to Arma-Coat.
So, to start off let me say that I had completely forgotten that I ordered this pistol. When I got the package I stared at it in confusion for a few minutes before giving up trying to guess what it is and decided that presents are presents and should be opened. Then I opened it up and squealed like a little girl, I think I even jumped up and down a little.
I have to say, this is a cool case. The top is flat and has raised edges so you can easily use it as a parts tray, and it has a list of the rights that we, as citizens of the glorious country of Canada do not get because they are American rights.
Click for higher quality.
The contents of the box are 1 pistol, 2 magazines, a manual/propaganda book, a limited 2 year warranty card for Vault Distribution, 5 additional rear sights with various windage adjustments, 2 additional front sights with various height adjustments. Yay, I love Lego.
Click for higher quality.
For some reason there's a great big space on the left side of the case that has nothing in it. I like it, it could be handy for ammo or cleaning supplies. It's nice to see a company putting more than the minimum into their factory cases. That's irony for you there, a case from a "cheap" company giving you a feature(storage compartment) that more expensive manufacturers leave out.
The pistol says "PROUDLY AMERICAN" on the the right side of the slide. The frame says "Thank You; U.S. SOLDIERS", "PAT#8028454 MADE IN USA" on the right side, and "FMK" and "FMK FIREARMS INC. PLACENTIA, CA" on the left side. The latter is hidden under the slide hold lever, I wonder if that' intentional. The serial number is on the bottom of the frame on the pseudo-rail segment. The rear of the pistol says "FREEDOM LIBERTY" on the slide end stop, and "LOADED IF OUT" on the slide, with an arrow pointing at the bright red loaded chamber indicator. If I ever get an office, I'll put a sign on the door saying "LOADED IF OUT" so that if I'm out of the office people will know I'm getting loaded on cheap Russian vodka.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
Now the fun and games begin, I test out the mag release and "slide hold" lever. Initial impression is that the mag release requires quite a bit of movement before the mag can be removed. Understandable as this is marketed as a carry pistol, you don't want your magazine falling out because of a touchy mag release. The slide hold lever is plain and bare, I think it could really be improved by the addition of serrations or something to give you some grip. Again it is understandable as part of the streamlined low profile design that has minimal snag points for carry. The trigger is...unrefined. To make it go click, you need to really mean it. It's not heavy, to me anyways, but it has a lot of travel. Once again, makes sense as a carry pistol, you don't want it blowing a hole in the side of your man purse because a pen found it's way into the trigger guard. Another thing that immediately catches my attention is that the trigger stays back once dry fired. It does not return to it's forward position when released. What's up with that, yo?
Click for higher quality.
After browsing through the manual I try my hand at disassembling the pistol for inspection and cleaning. After about fifteen attempts I finally make something happen, the slide moves forward and the recoil spring falls onto the ground. In FMK's defense, the only other pistol I've disassembled is my Walther PPQ...which didn't drop it's recoil spring like it's out of style. Okay, moving on.
Slide is minimalistic. Barrel is dirty, got chunks of something in there. Par for the course.
There is a screw under the front sight. It's not a black screw, I should probably send it to Arma-Coat so they can make it black to match the rest of the gun.
Click for higher quality.
Click for higher quality.
My trusty mechanical pencil, which can remove the striker assembly of my PPQ, fails me here. It fits inside, but as the ladies say it is not long enough to get the job done. Excuse me while I get my punches. The manual says to use a 1/16" punch, but my Stanley punch is too fat. Someone's specs are off here. Huh, turns out that FMK is right, and Stanley's punch is larger than it should be. A bit of love with a file and the punch is ready to go. Perhaps my love is a bit too firm, because my now slightly tapered punch is lodged in the slide end cap, and there's a small bit of the orange striker assembly stuck to the tip. Sounds kinda kinky when I say it like that. There's a dangly bit of something orange on the striker assembly. It appears that there is no real method to keep your punch from punching the striker assembly, so have a care before you ram it in there. The slide end stop is a slight bit deeper than 1/4", and that seems to be the required distance necessary to gouge a chunk out of the striker assembly and be able to fully field strip the pistol. Am I doing something wrong? The striker assembly seems to be made of orange polymer, and if this gouging happens every time I field strip the pistol then sooner or later either it's not going to engage the slide end cap or striker channel properly, or I'm going to have to keep stabbing deeper in order to remove the slide end cap. I think I shall be sending FMK an email about it, to see if I'm the only one experiencing this. Who knows, they might alter future generations to have a spot for your punch to press against other than the lip of the striker assembly.
Click for higher quality.
Field stripped.
Click for higher quality.
My concluding thoughts are that it feels like a decent pistol, points like a decent pistol, but luxury model this is not. To be fair this is my second pistol, my first pistol is a Walther PPQ which retails for double the price. I'll post up a range review when I get a chance to go out shooting after my "I promise to not do bad things with my scary gun" papers arrive. Until then, I clean this thing and hope I can get it put back together.
Ttl;dr You get what you pay for, this could be the Glock of the future, or it could be a useless heap of junk, but for $524.94 shipped to my door there aren't many other options for new pistols. Time and some trips to the range will tell. When I look at this pistol I immediately see the areas where it could be improved, but such is the sacrifice necessary for low costs.
Thanks to Arma-Coat.
