I know this isn't a highly thought of gun but I suspect much of the malignment comes from mistaken association with it's pot metal framed cousin or weaker .25 caliber relatives.
This critter is all steel and no mistake. I was looking for a cheap relatively decent .380 I could plink with and coax the wife to shoot with. I have a couple of nice .32s I enjoy shooting but you can't just waltz into Walmart and pick up .32 acp ammo. That's why I considered the .380 and a lot easier for wife to handle than my .40S&W G23. The Maks are nice but I don't know how hard it might be to keep 9x18 on hand and, like the Walthers are a little long in reach to the trigger. My wife has small hands and just about has to wrap her hand a little to the side of the grip to shoot my PP. A Mak would be the same thing. There was much in the way of used guns to choose from but then I went on Sunday. Saw this little FIE marked down to $169 but looked all over. (For the record, I had a Keltec and my wife had to use the index fingers of both hands to pull the trigger! I just couldn't stand the little thing either so quickly got rid of it.)
I liked the heft and feel of this FIE so went ahead and picked it up. Cost me $184 out the door. I can see some of the machine work is a little rough but the barrel is locked solidly to the frame so it should be plenty accurate. The wear indicates it was carried a lot but shot little. Looking at the safety arrangement, I don't know that I would be inclined to tote this around even did I care to trust myself to a .380. You can get .9mms in the same weight range. Since saving money on ammo was one thing I had in mind, I may have erred. It looks like 9mm is even cheaper than .380. I may have to pick up one of those. But, for now, I have a few hundreds of rounds left over from a .380 I had previously.
Anyway, here the little thing is. I really like the thumb rest grip, it fits well on me. But, since the wife is a lefty, I may put some flat grips on it for her.
This critter is all steel and no mistake. I was looking for a cheap relatively decent .380 I could plink with and coax the wife to shoot with. I have a couple of nice .32s I enjoy shooting but you can't just waltz into Walmart and pick up .32 acp ammo. That's why I considered the .380 and a lot easier for wife to handle than my .40S&W G23. The Maks are nice but I don't know how hard it might be to keep 9x18 on hand and, like the Walthers are a little long in reach to the trigger. My wife has small hands and just about has to wrap her hand a little to the side of the grip to shoot my PP. A Mak would be the same thing. There was much in the way of used guns to choose from but then I went on Sunday. Saw this little FIE marked down to $169 but looked all over. (For the record, I had a Keltec and my wife had to use the index fingers of both hands to pull the trigger! I just couldn't stand the little thing either so quickly got rid of it.)
I liked the heft and feel of this FIE so went ahead and picked it up. Cost me $184 out the door. I can see some of the machine work is a little rough but the barrel is locked solidly to the frame so it should be plenty accurate. The wear indicates it was carried a lot but shot little. Looking at the safety arrangement, I don't know that I would be inclined to tote this around even did I care to trust myself to a .380. You can get .9mms in the same weight range. Since saving money on ammo was one thing I had in mind, I may have erred. It looks like 9mm is even cheaper than .380. I may have to pick up one of those. But, for now, I have a few hundreds of rounds left over from a .380 I had previously.
Anyway, here the little thing is. I really like the thumb rest grip, it fits well on me. But, since the wife is a lefty, I may put some flat grips on it for her.
