SHOT 2016 Range Day: Honor Defense’s American-made 9mm Carry Gun
Jon Stokes 01.18.16
Sometimes you shoot a pistol that just fits your hand, and you’re able to keep ringing the steel like a pro. If you’re unlucky, like I was at Range Day today, then you have that magic experience with the first new pistol you shoot, so that the rest of the day is kind of a let-down.
This was the case for me and the new 9mm from Georgia-based Honor Defense, a brand new company that so far makes just one product: the Honor Guard, a subcompact, single-stack 9mm that’s made entirely in the USA.
The gun sports a 3.2″ barrel, ambi safety, and a very short trigger reset that makes for fast followup shots.
Before shooting the new gun, I talked to one of Honor’s designers, who formerly made guns for Beretta. He demonstrated breaking down the gun and putting it back together, and he also showed us the FIST frame version of the pistol.
FIST stands for Firearm with Integrated STandoff, and it’s small protrusion in the front of the gun that prevents it from going out of battery if it’s pressed directly up against an attacker in a close-quarters battle situation.
The Honor Guard’s profile is very slim at under an inch thick, but I didn’t have any problems handling the gun despite my large hands. The pistol’s weight is only 22oz, which should make for comfortable carry.
Overall, this was a very comfortable, very nice-shooting subcompact, and the only pistol I shot today that I enjoyed as much was the Sphinx subcompact, which costs twice as much.
The Honor Guard’s MSRP will be $499, and we’ll try to get one in for a full review.
Update: TFB’s Tom Rader also shot the Honor Guard and really liked it. Go check out his take.
