FK BRNO PSD... Pulled the Trigger

[dakota.potts]

https://fkbrnous.com/psd/

Been a minute since I posted around the forums. Haven't been shooting a ton, some due to health issues and a lot due to ammo availability this year.

Shootability of guns has become very important to me as I deal with effects of some chronic illnesses, can't shoot as much of the tiny pocket pistols or big bore rifles/shotguns as I used to.

Like many of us I recently came into possession of some money meant to stimulate the economy, and figured it might be a good time to invest in something nice that I'll get some use out of and hopefully last a long time, haven't made a "nice" gun purchase in some time. I was almost certain I was going to get a PCC or PDW like a Stribog or DBX 5.7, but then I came across something I didn't even know was available yet and talked myself into it.

Big Daddy Unlimited had a very good price on the PSD, probably one of the only firearms that's not inflated right now because it's just released at retail price. Since they have a store less than an hour from me (the importer, FK BRNO US, does too) I decided to go in on that one and have it sent to the store for local pickup to save shipping/transfer. Should be able to pick it up some time this week, and of course pictures and likely video will be following.

For those unaware, the PSD is the polymer framed "working" model of the FK BRNO Field Pistol. That one is absolutely beautiful but at nearly $8,000 is out of reach of many. The PSD is roughly 1/5th the cost. Still pretty pricey, but less than a lot of high end factory guns of the 1911/CZ type.

What it comes with for the money ($1650 sticker price) is actually really cool too. The pistol is chambered in 7.5 FK, which will shoot a 95 grain bullet at 2000 FPS. Sights are set to point of aim/point of impact at 100 yards and the round at 100 yards is still roughly the power of a 7.62 Tokarev at the muzzle. Capable of defeating IIIA body armor and taking small to medium game (will definitely be worn as a hog/coyote gun out on the property).

Comes with two styles of sight to attach, as well as a slide cut for RMR/Delta point profile sights. I got the model that also comes with a 9mm barrel and lighter recoil spring/assembly, which is reputed to make it one of the softest shooting 9mm pistols on the market. Gives me an option when I don't want to burn the expensive proprietary ammo or carry a small rifle caliber on my hip lol

I'm equally excited about the 9mm setup because I've done some work to make my Glock 19 shoot more softly so I can shoot longer. They also have a barrel that will shoot both 10mm and .40 using the 7.5 FK mags so I'd love to get that for completeness sake. I need to rebuild my coffers but eventually I'll be putting an optic on it and then they're supposed to release a stabilizing brace (comes with a stock in Europe) that I'll probably want to add too.

This PSD is a real beast of a gun... But I can't wait to get it in my hands. Updates to come. Any other users feel free to chime in with experience or things I should know. I've heard many people say "this gun is destined to be on Forgotten Weapons one day" and honestly I wouldn't mind. Seen plenty of guns pass through that show that I wish I could have bought when available, so if it ends up discontinued due to lack of a market here I don't think my opinion or the value will be diminished one bit. On the other hand, with this cartridge pushing energy the way it does from a semi auto it might force innovation in the market. Time will tell.

 

[HighValleyRanch]

Pretty neat video of that weapon!

 

[dakota.potts]

Yes, as I understand it, Rob Pincus is not just the face of the video but was also involved in the development of the PSD variant of the gun and the decision to bring a 9mm conversion kit.

I forgot there was a video buried on that page, here it is for convenience so you don't have to scan the whole website.

https://youtu.be/omUbwHERvrs

 

[jr24]

Very cool! I've got that modeled earmarked as a "to check out in a bit" option, I'm very interested in both the gun and round.

 

[dakota.potts]

Shipping taking a little longer than expected but according to the update from BDU I should hopefully be able to expect it by the end of this week.

Also ordered a few 50 round boxes of ammo, they're not cheap at $1.20 a round (up to $1.50 for their most expensive) but the sting is a little less when you consider that they're solid copper hollow points and most other HP ammo you can buy right now is going for the same amount or more online

Still, one can hope that somebody takes up the mantle making affordable target ammo for this round at some point. If not, guess it will have to be 9mm and .40 for the plinking

 

[wild cat mccane]

Borrowed heavily from the Witness Polymer/MAPP/B6P in looks.

They claim their round is rifle level, but 2000FPS is still 300 short of rifle level hydrostatic shock according to lots of threads on here...certainly hotter than anything else though.

Let us know how it goes

 

[dakota.potts]

Borrowed heavily from the Witness Polymer/MAPP/B6P in looks

I think that's a natural consequence of being a CZ-derived platform with polymer frame.

They claim their round is rifle level, but 2000FPS is still 300 short of rifle level hydrostatic shock according to lots of threads on here...certainly hotter than anything else though.

They seem to be indicating the fine print that they're comparing to a shorter barreled AK. 122 grain out of a 10" AK barrel is doing right around 2000. Also very close to M1 Carbine performance. Seems to be they're claiming that a larger meplat reduces the velocity threshold necessary.

Let us know how it goes

I will for sure

 

[dakota.potts]

Finally got to pick it up today. Pictures to come. Still waiting on 7.5 FK ammo, on order. Obviously none to be found on store shelves.

Put about 50 rounds of 9mm through the conversion kit today.

The good: Amazing trigger with crisp break and short reset. 25 yard shots on an 8" bull are like nothing, the sights really work for fine shooting. The gun really settles into the sight picture super fast so follow up shots are fast.

The bad: using 115 grain ammo from Monarch and Aguila (brass), several malfunctions. Slide did not lock back on any empty magazine. One stovepipe. Most worrying was several instances where the gun stopped short of going into battery and locked up hard. Difficult to remedy each time. Slightly pushing it into battery turned out to be much easier at these points than withdrawing the slide but had one that really needed a forceful tap to go into battery.

This gun was built to fire high pressure cartridges and the 9mm conversion was a later addition. It does include a lighter recoil spring for 9mm. It's proofed to handle +P and basically designed to shoot the hottest 9mm you can get, so 115 grain bulk stuff is very marginal at cycling the slide.

Still, I would like it to work with basic 9mm ammo. The gun seemed well oiled from the factory so I didn't do anything to it before shooting. Before the next shooting trip I'll strip and clean it, oil it with some Slip 2000, and see if I have any 124 grain ammo laying around.

Based on the behavior of the gun, I'm also speculating that it may have tight dimensions in the chamber, locking lugs, and/or barrel link cam since the times it got stuck it would seem to hit a wall and then as soon as it overcame that it was smoothly back into place. So I'll check these areas for contact points too and basically work it in a little before I get too worried. I'm not much a fan of guns being built intentionally tight to wear in but we'll see if that's the case here and function improves with time.

Can't wait to get the 7.5mm ammo, I anticipate zero issue with that.

 

[wbbh]

Glad to know about the 9mm conversion. I have the same pistol but I've only fired 7.5 Bruno rounds so far. It does indeed control the recoil too.

The ammo is spendy, though not so much compared to current ammo prices.

I also went for extra 9mm barrel and magazines, but plan to order the 10mm barrel when they offer them.

 

[bac1023]

I've got both their models.

I clocked the 95 grain round at an average of 2119 fps out of my Field Pistol. The round is incredible and causes a ton of damage on target.

 

[dakota.potts]

Was going to do a longer post today but ran out of time.

Took the PSD, field stripped it, cleaned it up and gave it a nice thorough lubing. Could definitely see a few wear points on the locking components. Gave it mostly oil with a few dabs of grease where I thought it would help.

It slicked the action up even more immediately. If I thought it was smooth before it's butter now. Did about 100 rounds of dry fire.

Then I took it out and put 125 ish rounds through it. 115 grain FMJ from Monarch and Aguila and 10 rounds of Speer Gold For (can't spare too many of those right now). Today the gun did everything exactly as it was designed to with no complaints. Not a single feed issue or stove pipe. Slide locked open on every empty magazine. Just a sheer joy to shoot. I've got to say in 9mm it recoils about like my Beretta 81 - which is a fairly hefty .32 ACP. The factory front sight is real fine, but even so the recoil is so smooth you can watch the slide cycle and the front sight settle between shots. So smooth to shoot. Would love to take it to an action pistol match of some kind when ammo prices settle.

 

[dakota.potts]

Been waiting a minute for my 7.5 ammo (two separate orders). Finally called the importer yesterday, seems like they ship everything out manually and they've been totally swamped on orders. Guy who answered was friendly and helpful, got my tickets printed while on the phone with me and refunded my shipping costs for the wait.

Should have 250 rounds and a holster here by this weekend, can't wait to try it out. Been carrying it with 9mm +P Gold Dots and I know it's a very capable shooter with them, but the 7.5 is where the real attraction is at.

Saving up for a red dot, pretty sure I decided on the Holosun Hs507 but the Leupold Delta Point Pro is a contender as well.

Last I heard they had the stabilizing braces in country and were having them examined by ATF. They said they were having them etched with very specific language about how to use it as a brace and that included refinishing. Hope the new ATF action doesn't screw that up, or that they at least will sell it as a stock. I think this gun would be worth a Form 1 for the extra capability.

Maybe the aftermarket will come along and offer brace or stock solutions too.

 

[TOU]

I clocked the 95 grain round at an average of 2119 fps out of my Field Pistol. The round is incredible and causes a ton of damage on target.

That is amazing speed for that heavy of a round. My 22 TCM round is near the same out of a 5" barrel...but that is only a 40g JHP. I have a custom rifle that shoots the TCM near 3,000 fps out of a 24" barrel. I am really curious about the potential of this one out of a rifle with a fast twist.

 

[dgludwig]

Regarding the op's concern about the continued legal status of "stabilizing braces in the country", just today, Biden has put banning them on his anti-gun agenda; to be imposed by "executive action", not subject to any Congressional approval requirement. And so, the Biden administration's road to confiscation starts.

 

[wild cat mccane]

Not everyone feels bad for the brace. Sorry. Recall, the gun industry used "disabled veterans" as the justification for the brace.

What a load of crap that was.

On the BRNO, not great if a gun smith owner sees room for work on it right out of the box...

 

[dgludwig]

It's too bad anyone or anybody in America has to go to any length or to find any reason to justify something that's as innocuous as stabilizing braces for pistols to be legal. If one has to "stoop so low" as to argue disabled veterans might have a use for them, that's fine with me; in fact, I applaud the "strategy" (assuming it's even true).

 

[wbbh]

A pistol brace is perfectly fine, the idea of paying $200 to get permission from the government to have an SBR that pretty much does the same thing as the FK Bruno pistol is total BS.

Anything more than minimum compliance is self regulation.

 

[dgludwig]

You're exactly right, wbbh.

 

[dakota.potts]

On the BRNO, not great if a gun smith owner sees room for work on it right out of the box...

Not sure what you're referring to. The only work I have done, or want to do, was cleaning the factory shipping grease and lubing it. Would have been extra good marks if it functioned flawlessly right out of the box but if the worst I can say about it is it needed a simple clean and lube job before running I'm happy with that.

Unless you're talking about wanting to install the brace and reflex sight? Those are features of the guns, not bugs. The only other work I want is replacement barrels in more calibers and maybe threaded.

 

[wild cat mccane]

The majority of Americans are for regulation of firearm sells and types. Always have too. Recall, you are participating in a group that is most like you. Everywhere else is less of your opinion.

As much as this is off topic, it just can’t go unchallenged.