We have a new contender in the 4-inch-barrel, 17+1 9mm market. It’s called the KOR FX-9 RP.
Why, you may ask, do we need (yet another) 9mm that imitates the Glock 45? To answer that in two words, they sell. This is the current hot combination: a shorter barrel (less than 5 inches) coupled with a capacity of at least 17 rounds. They sell.
Before us, we have one of the newer versions, the KOR FX-9 RP. Again, I can almost hear a collective “Huh? KOR?” coming from Readerland. I said the same thing when my son, who is always tuned in to what’s new in the 9mm world, mentioned it to me as something I might want to review. Never one to turn down a review, I checked into it, and here it is.
KOR – The Company
I did some checking and found, here, the following about the company called KOR…
“Our company, which was founded in 2011 to manufacture parts for the arms sub-industry, has been producing Sports Air Pistols and Air Rifles during the period and supporting other manufacturers in the sector with the standard parts it produces, has been continuing its activities by focusing on the light weapons sector since 2016. In 2017, our company, which designed and produced two shotguns, the R-5 and AR 12 models, which are an original design, received a NATIONAL/NATO SECRET Facility Security Certificate from the Ministry of National Defense in order to produce rifled pistols and to organize our company to work as a main/subcontractor in defense industry projects. In this context, we have started the production of rifled pistols. Our basic principle has been quality production and its continuity since the day we were founded. Our professional business approach is based on respect for people, society, and the environment, honesty, efficiency, and customer-oriented working consciousness, which are the principles and values that our managers and employees never compromise. “
The company is located in Istanbul, as far as I can find out, and its American importer is Mid-America Imports of Oklahoma City.
I know some shooters who balk at buying imported guns. I used to be one of them, but I’ve opened up a bit in recent years. Putting politics aside, some of the best guns for the money that I have reviewed in recent years have come from Turkey. Many guns or parts are imported. One of the more popular examples of imported guns is the Springfield Armory pistol, which is mostly made in Croatia. I have never had an issue with any pistol or long gun I’ve reviewed (or owned) that has come from Turkey. Most of their factories are ultra-modern, and they make a lot of weapons for NATO use.
OK, I’m done. Let’s look at the gun.
First, a quick note. I shot this thing in my backyard range when I actually had some time to relax and have some fun with it. I had put a red dot on it, a Burris FastFire C, which helped the sight situation.
I really like this pistol.
Why? Because it did what it was supposed to, with no glitches. Additionally, with the three backstraps that come with it, I found a way to make it fit my hand perfectly. The trigger was not bad at all… There is the usual take-up, then you hit the wall. There is just a tiny amount of creep, then at 4 pounds, 0.9 ounces, it breaks. Reset is very short. A decent, four-pound trigger in a pistol with a full list price of $389.99… nice.
Let’s look at some specifications, since we’re heading that way…
Specifications
- Caliber: 9x19mm
- Action: Single-action, striker-fired
- Optic Ready: RMSc footprint with anti-walk tension spring
- Safety: Ambidextrous thumb safety, trigger safety, and firing pin/striker block, drop safety
- Magazine Capacity: Includes three 17+1 (CZ-75 Pattern) magazines
- Magazine Release: Reversible (left/right)
- Sights: Glock sight pattern with front and rear adjustability
- Picatinny Accessory Rail: For any tactical light attachments
- Overall Length: 7.52 in.
- Weight: 29.45 oz. unloaded
- Height: 5.59 in.
- Width: 1.38 in.
- Trigger: Light, quick reset — “trigger quick to learn”
- Finish: NM oxidation/nitride-treated slide and barrel
- Includes: Custom hard case, polymer holster, interchangeable backstraps (S-M-L), and cleaning tools
- MSRP: $389.99
Where To Buy
A word about the interchangeable backstraps. It says a lot that a company thinks of the little things, like marking each backstrap so you can tell them apart without holding them up and guessing. I’ve reviewed $600 pistols that didn’t mark the backstraps. Each of the ones here has a letter on the top tab, S-M-L. That’s a nice touch.
Photos
First, the case. This is a nice case, with room for all the stuff that comes with the gun:
The holster is right-handed, which I am not, but that’s to be expected. You have three CZ-75-pattern mags with a loader, cleaning tools, optics plate, a punch to remove the backstrap pin, and that holster. Not bad.
I like the fact that the gun has a takedown lever, not the Glock-style tabs. I’m not a fan of those. Also, there is a slide release lever that actually works properly, and ambidextrous safety levers that are not in the way if you decide not to use them. Somebody thought this out pretty well. Also, the mag release is reversible… something I may look into.
Right side markings.
The slide has cuts at the 3-12-9 o’clock positions, 9 in all. That removes a bit of metal that helps reduce rearward slide velocity, which means a bit less felt recoil. It did fine when I shot it. You also see front serrations, which help with press checks, and a 3-slot dust cover rail.
Speaking of the slide, here is its underside. It looks like they’ve used new tooling to cut it, as smooth as everything looks. You can also see the drop safety.
We have a dual-wound recoil spring and barrel matched to this slide – note the serial number on it.
The feed ramp.
Moving to the frame, we see longer rails. The slide has no side play, another good thing.
Grip texturing is fine. The gun stays put when you shoot it. To swap backstraps, push that pin out from the other side. I swapped the one that came on the gun for the Large one… it fit my hand better. A tool is included that will help you do that. They couldn’t fit the hammer in the case, so you’re on your own about that!
Shooting Time
I mentioned above that I installed a Burris FastFire C red dot on the pistol – that is one quality optic. I used a Real Avid Viz-Max Bore Sighter to get the dot’s zero close. Many shooters think that bore sighters are only good when used with long guns, but as the old song so eloquently said, it ain’t necessarily so.
I use the Real Avid bore sighter on everything. It is different… There are no bore-sized inserts to stick in your barrel. Instead, you have a strong magnet placed at the end of it, with concentric rings to line it up with your bore. It works very well and saves me a lot of time and ammo.
I am blessed to have ammo provided for my reviews by Black Hills. They make some quality stuff. So, I grabbed a box of their 115-grain FMJ and one of their supersonic 100-grain HoneyBadger load. (No, there’s no typo – that’s how they spell it). Lastly, I took a box of Winchester White Box with me, just for kicks. I set some targets up at 20 yards… here are a few representative ones:
One of the WWB targets, with another one:
Good enough for practice.
The Black Hills 115-grain would make another good practice load.
And, for concealed carry:
The HoneyBadger load. I clocked this load out of a 4-inch 9mm for a review I did at close to 1270 fps, with energy approaching 400 ft./lbs. As you can see, accuracy is not an issue here. I’ll take a group like this any day!
Summing Up
To cut to the chase, for a $390 pistol with three 17-round mags, three backstraps, an optics cut, and a lifetime warranty (with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t like it), I think this pistol is hard to beat. If you are open to looking at imported pistols and are in the market, you might want to check this out. It also comes in a slightly plainer version for $350.
I look at a lot of different pistols as part of my job, and sometimes I’ll find one that I really like. This is such a gun. It had zero malfunctions, it was pleasant to shoot, and it was accurate. In my book, that trifecta is hard to beat. Add in the red dot capability, all the extras you get with it, and that warranty, and I think we have a winner. Let’s hear from you below if you have experience with one of these pistols.
Links To Items Used In This Review
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