honor_guard200
“The test gun I’m sending you has almost 10,000 rounds through it,” said Gary Ramey of Honor Defense. “But we have every confidence it’ll keep on firing.”
And the Honor Guard, a 100% American-made, subcompact, single-stack 9mm, has indeed.
Once it arrived I inspected it thoroughly, disassembled it fully, cleaned it meticulously, and tested all its functionality.
Actually I didn’t do any of that.
Rather, I headed to my buddy’s backyard range, loaded it up right out of the box, and ran the gun’s overall round count up by a few hundred more.
Just so you know: My 9mm ammunition storage container — two red Solo cups with “9mm” written with a Sharpie — contained a plethora of random rounds: FMJ’s and JHP’s of varying bullet weights and manufacturers. A real hodgepodge collection. Yes, I have factory new ammo for a more formal test. But that’s for another day.
So I ran the Honor Guard in the backyard, peppering armor silhouettes with ease right from the git-go. Every round fed, fired, and ejected properly. I fired with an accuracy that could be called “combat effective” due mainly to the all the gun’s great features working so well together. Credit goes to the grip angle, great trigger, bright sights, ambi mag release, ambi slide release, serrated slide, and well, overall superior fit and finish. Even with 10,000 rounds through it — and counting — the Honor Guard ran as well as any gun out there.
Two key features: The stocks, which feature a unique texture ensuring a very secure feel, and the trigger which pulls smoothly a short distance, breaks cleanly, and resets quickly. Both work in concert to eliminate the need to “get used to” shooting this gun. Seven and eight-round mags ship with the Honor Guard, along with a second backstrap if you want to customize the fit.
A few stats from the Honor Defense website:
- Total Length: 6.2”
- Barrel Length: 3.2”
- Weight: 22 oz.
- Width: .96”
- Height: 4.6”
All that adds up to small and light, easy to carry concealed but offering the right amount of girth to keep things more than manageable.
All in all, a great gun so far. At last count, it has over 10,000 rounds through it. I think a few hundred more are in order, plus a report on some time spent carrying it concealed.
— Mark Kakkuri
