Honor Guard Review

OK, so here is the fire control group (FCG) I've been talking about:



Here's a shot looking down at it:



An interesting thing is that my firearms doesn't have a manual safety. But, if you go back and look at the first picture you'll notice that there is a spot for one if you wanted one. In these next two pictures you can see the tabs that can be removed if you want to install a manual safety. You'll even notice that in the second picture you can see the "F" which I'm guessing means "FIRE".

The removable tabs are on the left of the FCG


Notice the "F"?


The FCG seems to well finished. Meaning, I didn't see or feel any ruff areas or any types of burrs in the metal. As you can see my FCG is black in color. I'm not sure what the finish is but it does appear to be applied well. I didn't take the FCG appart but I did see a video of someone doing that and thought I'd pass on doing it myself.

Let's move on to the slide.

I know some people don't like the billboard logo but I kind of like it. Why? Well as some mentioned in my other threads this gun looks kind of like a Smith & Wesson Shield, but with this logo and large serrations on the slide it does make it a bit easier to tell them apart. And, I like that it's like me a little bit different.




So, here is something interesting that I haven't seen anyone else talk about. In this next picture you are looking at the underside of the slide. That torx screw at the top of the slide holds on the front sight post. This could be good and bad. If you want to swap out the front sight it's as simple as removing the screw and replacing the sight. The bad part is if you don't get it tight enough or use some blue Loctite on it I can see you having problems with it backing it self out.



Here are the barrel, guide rod, recoil spring and take down lever. Nothing exciting here. Only thing to really note is that the guide rod has an internal (?) recoil spring and an external (?) recoil spring. The external recoil spring would be easy to replace. Though I'm not quit sure I can say the same about the internal one. It does look like you might be able to remove the recoil plug (?) from the smaller guide rod to replace the internal spring though I think it would just be easier to replace the whole thing when time comes.

Well you've seen it in peices and you're probably wondering how it worked and if I liked it?

Well the quick answers are it worked great and I did like it!

So let's expand on that just a bit.

I didn't run any hollow points through it but it ate the 3 different brands of FMJ's weighing 115gr and 124gr. I put about 75 rounds through it with no problems. No FTF and no FTE, no stopages of any kind other than having an empty magazine. And, let's talk about fixing that empty magazine problem. Again if you go back to the first picture you will notice that the slide stop is pretty flush with the grip frame. This is buy design for the purpose of concealed carry and not having stuff that could snag on your clothes when you're drawing from concealment. I get that. The problem is that there is
no way I could get the slide to release without pulling it back. Which isn't completely bad. I train that way with all my CCW guns anyways. I would just like a little more to push down on.

I liked the trigger a lot on this little pistol. I like that it is a one piece trigger. I like that there isn't a center trigger safety. I like that the grey matter between your ears is the trigger safety. The trigger has about an 1/4" take up and then about another 1/4" of about a 6 pound trigger pull to fire the gun. The reset is long; almost all the way out, but positive. You get a good positive feel when it resets and you here a little "click" on reset.

I was a little surprised with the felt recoil. It's not bad and is very manageable. While I don't have it's look a like gun; the Smith & Wesson Shield, I do have a Smith & Wesson 908. And, they are close to the same saze. The 908 has a 3.5" barrel, is 6.8" long, is .98" wide and weighs 26oz. The Honor Guard has a 3.2" barrel, is 6.2" long, is .96" wide and weighs 22oz. Yet the Honor Guard seems to have more felt recoil. Is it the .3" longer barrel? Is it the 4 extra ounces? Is it both? Or is it just me letting my imagination get the better of me? I don't know and I don't care. It's not going to stop me from shooting it. And, if I get better with it I may just use it to replace my Smith 908 on my CCW.

Get better with it you ask? You're probably wondering how I did shoot with it? Well let's just say that the target I was shooting at won't be going for a walk anytime soon. Below is my first target ever shooting with this guns. Two magazines; 15 shots, at 7 yards. I did get better with it as I got more familiar with it. I will be taking to the range more often.



I hope you enjoyed my review and thank you for reading it.

Jesse

Thanks! The Honorguard has been on my watch list for a long time. I like everything about it. And it is obviously going to be compared to the S&W Shield, if for no other reason than it's so similar in looks and size.

Two of the 5 gun shops I frequent have them in stock, and have had them for a while. Just not able to sell them. Neither have accessories for them, although fitted holsters for the Shield seem to fit them just fine. I very much like the handgun, I just did not want to be the beta tester.

Reviews I have watched or read, and they are few, seemed to be positive, except for one, where there were problems that Honor Defense took care of quickly. In the follow up review it was admitted that it was fixed satisfactorily but still the reviewer could not warm to the firearm. It's probably what kept me from making the purchase.

I do like the fact that it's a Veteran owned company, and that they are made in the south, Georgia I believe. Your review has gotten me jonesing for one again. I still have no single stack nine, haven't had one since I traded off my PT709 Slim. And while the Honor Defense Honorguard is not really a single stack, it's close enough. I keep threating to buy a Kahr CT9 or CW9, I am going to have to look at the Honorguard again.

youngandfree said:

You should send it to Sig to fix the drop fire problem like the 320.

Click to expand...

OR IF you are in no real hurry, send it to Taurus!!!--------