Recently picked up an Extar EP9 9mm pistol. They are only available online at their website. https://www.extarusa.com/ep9.htm Cost is $419 plus $20 shipping. Picked it up at McDonald's Gun Shop and was very happy with the first impression out of the box. Takes Glock mags, has last round bolt hold-open, and is very light weight at 4 pounds. With the SB Brace, it is 22 inches long and has a 6.5 inch barrel. The upper and lower are both glass reinforced plastic.
Took it home and installed a red dot sight along with a pair of back-up iron sights and an angled fore grip with hand-stop. Laser bore sighted it, and went off to the range with 250 rounds of assorted 9mm. After getting it roughly sighted in at 25 yards, it was grouping at 3-4 inches. I was with a buddy, and we were doing more drills than we were target style shooting. We were both able to consistently hit a tennis ball and several golf balls, and make them dance around the backstop.
My buddy had his Beretta CX4 carbine. In comparing the two, we both noticed that the EP9 had a much softer recoil impulse. That was remarkable for it only weighing 4 pounds. Recoil is smooth, more like a gentle push rater than a hard smack. The factory comp keeps the muzzle down and on target.
The factory manual said to only lube it with dry lube. Only one failure to feed out of 250 rounds. It was the first round in a fully loaded new Glock 33 round funstick. After that, it never had another issue. Used Glock, Magpul and ETS mags in it, and all fed reliably. The one issue with Glock 33 round mags, is that they do not drop free when the mag release is hit. The Magpul and ETS both dropped free, along with Glock 17 round mags.
Took it home and disassembled it for cleaning and inspection. The fire control group is standard AR components, but are made out of plastic. Hammer has a steel insert where it contacts the firing pin. The firing pin is spring loaded to prevent slam-fires. Reviews online talk abound users have put 5000-6000 rounds through theirs without any problems.
Overall, it is a fun firearm to shoot. Having owned a CX4, Sub2000 and AR9 in the past, this one is by far my favorite 9mm.
Took it home and installed a red dot sight along with a pair of back-up iron sights and an angled fore grip with hand-stop. Laser bore sighted it, and went off to the range with 250 rounds of assorted 9mm. After getting it roughly sighted in at 25 yards, it was grouping at 3-4 inches. I was with a buddy, and we were doing more drills than we were target style shooting. We were both able to consistently hit a tennis ball and several golf balls, and make them dance around the backstop.
My buddy had his Beretta CX4 carbine. In comparing the two, we both noticed that the EP9 had a much softer recoil impulse. That was remarkable for it only weighing 4 pounds. Recoil is smooth, more like a gentle push rater than a hard smack. The factory comp keeps the muzzle down and on target.
The factory manual said to only lube it with dry lube. Only one failure to feed out of 250 rounds. It was the first round in a fully loaded new Glock 33 round funstick. After that, it never had another issue. Used Glock, Magpul and ETS mags in it, and all fed reliably. The one issue with Glock 33 round mags, is that they do not drop free when the mag release is hit. The Magpul and ETS both dropped free, along with Glock 17 round mags.
Took it home and disassembled it for cleaning and inspection. The fire control group is standard AR components, but are made out of plastic. Hammer has a steel insert where it contacts the firing pin. The firing pin is spring loaded to prevent slam-fires. Reviews online talk abound users have put 5000-6000 rounds through theirs without any problems.
Overall, it is a fun firearm to shoot. Having owned a CX4, Sub2000 and AR9 in the past, this one is by far my favorite 9mm.
