Explore the Steyr AUG as True Shot Academy compares old and new AUGs. Discover the appeal of the AUG and how it has stood the test of time.
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The Grand Power Stribog SP9A is the latest in the Stribog lineup. This has proven a worthy competitor to the CZ Scorpion Evo and CZ Scorpion 3 with a more attractive price point when you do not factor in a pistol brace. This pistol, chambered in 9mm comes with a 5″ barrel with a 1/2 x 28 threads which make it easy to direct thread a suppressor of you choosing. If you wish to add a pistol brace, you will need to purchase a Stribog brace adaptor. The Stribog is also a more affordable alternative to the H&K SP5 and Century Arms AP5. Checkout our video review below for more detail.
If you are comparing it to the CZ Scorpion, the value is there and the styling looks a little better, and their price point is similar. If you’ve got the money, you’ll want to spring for the HK SP5 (the semi-auto version of the HK MP5), the Century Arms AP5 or the B&T SP9C. But there is a lot of bang for the buck with the Stribog lineup and has that Eastern European cool feel to it.
JOHN FARHNER
Hey, guys. John and Kurt with True Shot Ammo. And today we’ll be talking about the Stribog SP9A3S. So, this Stribog SP9A3S model is brand new for this year and they put some really cool features in it. The ones I really like is the non-reciprocating charging handle. They’ve tuned that roller delay operation, adding a little bit of robustness inside this polymer frame with an aluminum insert.
So, it’s like they take this gun and took it to a whole new level.
CURT STAUBACH
All right. Before we go any further, let’s see what comes in the box. So, it obviously comes with this great hard case. And inside we’ve got the firearm itself. Our version comes with the gear head works, PDW Brace. We’ve also got the Swamp Fox kraken optic on it that does not come with the firearm. Additionally, we’ve got 3 30 round mags, we’ve got the backplate, we’ve got another set of replacement flip up sights and a trigger lock.
JOHN FARHNER
So, Curt, I really love this gun. I think this is one of the coolest guns we shot so far.
CURT STAUBACH
It really is. I think it’s stands out. It obviously is like with a lot of the Grand Powers and other models in the Stribog line, it obviously takes a lot of design cues from that Eastern European styling. So when we open up the case, I mean, clearly this thing looks really, really cool. Shooting impressions of it? All the ammo that we threw at it, I don’t think we had any malfunctions or any issues with it at all.
That also included some… well, we shot it suppressed and unsuppressed. We actually shot it with some underpowered ammo as well, and this thing just kept running. So, in terms of that, I think it’s great. For me personally, I was honestly a little bit surprised. It required a little bit more than I thought.
You know, it does have that raw delayed action. It feels to me a little bit more just like a direct blowback. That’s not a bad thing. But it did recoil a little bit more than I was kind of expecting.
JOHN FARHNER
You know, in my shooting experience, it was a little bit different than yours. I didn’t notice the recoil as much. What I did notice is the gun was easy to get back on target, and like you said, everything we ran through, it ran great. Even stuff that we’ve put in other guns and those guns wouldn’t run. So that just tells me that they’ve got this tuned just right to like run any load.
And this thing is a joy to shoot with a suppressor on it. It just gets back on target. Now, the main thing that I like this for is because it’s so compact, and especially with this and this collapsible brace from gearhead works, this thing so compact can fit in a backpack.
CURT STAUBACH
Oh, absolutely. I mean, this this thing makes a great backpack and truck gun. I mean, obviously, it’s 9mm. So, there’s that whole conversation as well. But if you want to go that route, seriously, look at this thing.
JOHN FARHNER
Oh, yeah. And, you know, throwing this into a vertex bag, which is super easy. We threw it in the back pocket of it, pulled it out, went out and shot it, put it in with and without the suppressor. You know, we tried it with a couple of different optics to see what we liked. The one thing I do like is that it does come with these fold up sights, but not only are they fold up, but they have a rear and front sight post in a rear sight notch and they kind of just go through.
So, you have the ability to co-witness even trying… Now, the biggest issue I’ve got with this gun is the mags. Now, you can’t tell from here. We’ll show you some B-roll shots. This mag broke like almost instantaneously.
CURT STAUBACH
Yeah, I got it. Got dropped on concrete and she just kind of grenaded.
JOHN FARHNER
So, and that’s been the biggest complaint I’ve heard about the Stribog’s is that the mags are cheap and they break easy. Now, this one was dropped on concrete. This one was dropped on dirt and sand and other stuff.
It was fine. Had no issue.
CURT STAUBACH
I think the other thing to kind of stress out, it does come with three mags, which is nice.
Two out of three. I don’t know man. It is that, that, that’s a strike against it, I think. But again, you can get additional mags. They’re not that expensive.
JOHN FARHNER
Well, and again, like you said, they’re not expensive, but this shouldn’t be happening. And that’s my only negative about the gun, if it’s the mag, then yeah, hopefully there’s an aftermarket fix for this. But we haven’t been able to find it. Now, this is a really crowded market. You’re looking at some of its competitors being either an AR in 9mm.
But if we’re talking about this stuff down you’re talking like an AP5, a scorpion, a BMT product line, you know that market’s crowded. Now where it falls in price point, it’s very competitive.
CURT STAUBACH
So, there’s a number of different configurations available and price point, you’re looking at anywhere between $999 up to about $1200, and that’s either with or without a brace. Again, they have the collapsible, but they also have the folding if you want to go that route as well.
JOHN FARHNER
Yeah. And you’re looking at like so Stribog’s about $999 to $1200, you’ve got the AP5, which is $1700 bucks, maybe $1600 bucks. You’ve got the scorpion, like we said, that’s like $900 without the brace, $1000. BMT’s are the same price, about $1700 dollars.
CURT STAUBACH
Obviously, it is. It’s crowded field. So, burning question are you a buyer?
JOHN FARHNER
I would say yes. I really do love the Stribog design. I like how compact it is. I love how it can fit into a vertex bag. It runs everything and it did not hiccup once. The trigger on it is amazing, that flat face trigger, we were able to get really quick fast follow up shots.
CURT STAUBACH
I really do appreciate the flat face trigger is nice and the other thing I do I really want to stress the fact that, you know, the question is, am I a buyer? Right. It has nothing to do with the actual firearm itself. I really like this thing a lot. It’s just that I think that, you know, if I’m looking at sort of the list of things that I’m going to buy, is it on there?
Yeah. Is it all the way at the top in this field? Maybe. Maybe not.
JOHN FARHNER
But, you know, overall, this gun is really great. I want to thank Global Ordnance for sending us this gun.
JOHN FARHNER
And again, we want to thank the folks over at Vertex and Global Ordnance for making this all possible. So, thank you, guys. Make sure to like share and subscribe and have a great rest of your day.
