The concept of a "field pistol"?

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A “field pistol” is a pistol in search of criteria to make it useful. Small enough to be realistic as a true sidearm. Fast and flat enough to shoot at medium range or longer. I see a few options that have jumped all over it already. There are plenty bottlenecked pistols that traded in mass for speed. 357sig is probably the most well known in recent times, but others come to mind, and not all in autoloaders. I would not necessarily call a straight wall cartridge a field cartridge just like I would not call a heavy bottleneck a brush buster, they are built differently to accomplish different things to get to the same point. My favorite iterations of a field pistol would be single shots like my Contender or a Ruger Hawkeye .256winmag, or XP-100 pistol though the XP is pushing the limits of being a practical pistol. For repeaters it comes down to the bottlenecks, and for those the revolvers don’t work well and the “magazine pistols” are typically built around a magazine too short to be very effective at range. The most successful variations I can recall in recent times would be the FN5.7 and 22tcm pistols.
 
Thats an amazing looking pistol! Sorta has a CZ-75-long slide-meets-Hudson look to me; really unique and definitely classy :thumbup:.

Like most of the guys I’ve never seen one, nor will I probably ever hold or shoot one... but it is nice to hear from those who can and do, thanks for sharing :).

As for the field pistol, if I’m inclined to carry a semi auto I’d strap on my SA V-16 .45 Super and load it with Buffalo Bore 255 gr Outdoorsman ammo.

Stay safe.
 
tarosean said:
One of the strangest phenomenons in the gun business.. High-end Rifles can cost tens of thousands of dollars and up into the 6 figures. High-end Shotguns can reach 6 figures and beyond. Yet high-end pistols are almost expected to be cheap no matter what. Boggles the mind.
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Well, you're getting more material with a rifle. It's the price per pound paradox ;)
 
I've followed the 7.5 fk brno for a long time, always said it would be awesome to own one.

As far as the price...

Some people pay $20,000 for a Harley and put another $5,000 in chrome, pipes, leather, etc., only to ride it 6 months out of the year. Choices people make with their discretionary income...

@bc1023 glad you can afford it, and I hope you can buy another to keep unfired. Sweet firearm, it pushes the button I've always been intrigued by hydrostatic shock out of a handgun.
 
To me, “field” can mean two quite different things. It can be a “go to war” type pistol, in which case I want something that is lightweight and holds a decent payload of ammo. Exact gun would differ greatly depending on whether I was an officer or a truck driver, facing uniformed (and armored) enemies or third world insurgents, serving in an army (who would issue me what they chose, end of story), or fighting as part of an irregular force or insurgency myself, etc etc etc. Basically that definition is too broad except to say “yes I’d like a pistol, preferably a semi-auto.”

The second definition of “field” to me, and the more common one, is a pistol you wear, probably open-carried, when you’re out in the wilderness. In almost all cases, I’d make this a revolver. I’d also be deeply torn whether to pack a .22, a .32, a .38spl, or a .44 mag. And it’d all depend on exactly where I was and what I was doing. “Out in the field” in an area requiring grizzly defense is a lot different from “out in the field” where it just so happens that it’s also deer season with an unfilled tag, which is a lot different from “out in A field” checking some fence, where the biggest use of my revolver is likely to be blasting an old coffee can, but I still want to carry one anyway because.
 
In days past a "field gun" was a handy, accurate, gun used for small game, predator protection, and plinking. In modern days self defense is a mandated addition. Choices range from. K-22 to a SuperBlackhawk!
A Glock in.357 Sig, 10mm, or 9mm is hard to beat. I bring my M 28-2 .357. Any .32, .38 , .44 spl you can shoot accurately would work too.
 
tactikel said:
IMHO a field pistol is a handgun carried in a nonurban area to eliminate pests, ward off predators, and to offer SD protection. It must be light and handy and pack enough punch.
I've carried a: .22 lr revolver, .357 mag "4 revolver, and a .45 acp Tupperware auto. That said , I believe the ultimate is a 9mm auto, slim, light, with at least 8 round capacity. Next would be a .38 spl, 3" barrel revolver.
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It's more pest control than anything else. for me. The FN 5.7 is nice and light, but my S&W 629 does occasional duty. If there's a lot of snakes, it's S&W Governor time.
 
Still wrestling with the concept of "field pistol". But, I imagine that, just like "woods gun", that every "field" is different, and so what works in one environment may not be optimum in another
 
Gordon said:
Well this is kind of a field pistol then :
View attachment 954374
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This is the first gun I thought of when opening this thread, but for a different reason: it's another solution looking for a problem. H&K designed this crazy overbuilt pistol, then weren't sure what to do with a 45 ACP handgun that ended up being the size of a 44 Mag Desert Eagle. So they marketed it as an "offensive pistol"! What's an offensive pistol? If you know you're going on the offensive, shouldn't you just bring a rifle? These are all great questions!

Same thing with this Brno. A Glock 20 already fills the need for a lightweight, indestructible, high-capacity 10mm and does it for around 6 bills.

A field gun is kind of a Rorschach blot that different people can all see their own way, but the one I use is a 4" GP100. To me, it's a gun with enough umph to drive off wild animals, while being shootable enough to deal with any 2 legged predators that may target you when no one else is around for miles. To me, that's a lot bigger threat than a bear.
 
Mosin Bubba said:
This is the first gun I thought of when opening this thread, but for a different reason: it's another solution looking for a problem. H&K designed this crazy overbuilt pistol, then weren't sure what to do with a 45 ACP handgun that ended up being the size of a 44 Mag Desert Eagle. So they marketed it as an "offensive pistol"! What's an offensive pistol? If you know you're going on the offensive, shouldn't you just bring a rifle? These are all great questions!

Same thing with this Brno. A Glock 20 already fills the need for a lightweight, indestructible, high-capacity 10mm and does it for around 6 bills.

A field gun is kind of a Rorschach blot that different people can all see their own way, but the one I use is a 4" GP100. To me, it's a gun with enough umph to drive off wild animals, while being shootable enough to deal with any 2 legged predators that may target you when no one else is around for miles. To me, that's a lot bigger threat than a bear.
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My understanding was that the MK23 was designed for specific military usage, rather than general or civilian use. I still want one of those, but can't afford one. Same deal with the Brno pistol.

I also agree that the term "field" pistol lends itself to being interpreted differently by different people.

For me a "field" pistol would be a side arm capable of delivering energy, accuracy, and ease of use to the edge of a decent shooters ability. I see them as generally being larger, or carrying a longer slide and barrel than a service size gun.

Mine would probably be my 6" 2011 in 10mm. Any number of other guns would fit the bill as well, and if including revolvers I'd be hard pressed not to opt for my 7.5" SBH.
 
BreechFace said:
I've followed the 7.5 fk brno for a long time, always said it would be awesome to own one.

As far as the price...

Some people pay $20,000 for a Harley and put another $5,000 in chrome, pipes, leather, etc., only to ride it 6 months out of the year. Choices people make with their discretionary income...

@bc1023 glad you can afford it, and I hope you can buy another to keep unfired. Sweet firearm, it pushes the button I've always been intrigued by hydrostatic shock out of a handgun.
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Well, now that they've got a polymer-framed version for $1650 MSRP (and it even comes with your choice of conversion barrel so you can practice with 10mm/.40/9mm), I'm very interested to see what people think of the round once a bunch of people who wouldn't have bought an $8000 pistol get to try it out...

https://fkbrnous.com/psd/

Edit: Yeah, I'm just imagining the range conversation... "Oh yeah, it's got a conversion so I can practice with a cheaper caliber... my practice rounds are 10mm..."
 
@kemikos $1650 poly version you say...:thumbup: this has me interested. I think I’ll wait and see how this lower version plays out with the pricing on the steel version. If there’s some significant downward pressure out on the steel version I may pop on one of those. If not, I’ll look into a poly one.

I would pay $300-400 more for a steel version but that’s about it if the poly version is equal in design other than the material change on the frame.
 
FM kind of advertises their 5.7 as a "warrior". With a projectile that can reach out to 150 yards and a gun that can hold up to 30 rounds it is an assault rifle in a holster.... A rugged and well constructed gun as well.
 
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Hokkmike said:
HK kind of advertises their 5.7 as a "warrior". With a projectile that can reach out to 150 yards and a gun that can hold up to 30 rounds it is an assault rifle in a holster.... A rugged and well constructed gun as well.
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You had me looking for a 5.7x28 H&K pistol. I don't think they exist , I was interested !
 
An H&K VP 9 in 5.7 with a 6" threaded barrel would be nice. They could put a rear facing pict. attachment point on upper rear of grip for a brace too . :)
 
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