My Folly or the Rex Alpha 9

[farscott]

Yet another update (YAU): The smith got the grip screw out. It needed the EZ Out as expected. The cause of the issue appears to be an abundance of thread locker on that screw. By abundance, I mean there was threading locking compound on the back of the grip panel. The aluminum grips went on just fine with the new screws and the proper amount of thread locking compound.

I have not fired the gun with the new grips since the weather has been a cold rain, too much wind for comfort, and temps more associated with late fall than spring. I have dry fired it, and the new grips seem to be an upgrade. They certainly add a little weight and a bit more bite.

[farscott]

Holster arrived the day after I had a procedure to deal with arthritis in my left foot. So it will be a bit until I can shoot it in a match. Dry firing continues with no issues.

Picture with new grips.

[Trukinjp13]

Holster arrived the day after I had a procedure to deal with arthritis in my left foot. So it will be a bit until I can shoot it in a match. Dry firing continues with no issues.

Picture with new grips.

Any updates on this?


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[farscott]

Any updates on this?


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Thanks for the reminder on this. There are a few updates.

One, I remember why I do not like metal grips. Too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. With gloves, the grips are awesome. Without, especially in winter, the grips seem to suck the heat from my fingers, making them feel sluggish. Some grip tape helped.That is the immaterial stuff.

Second, and more important, is this pistol is great for precision shooting at speed. It is easy to make fifty yard hits with the sights and trigger. I have had a few failures, one of which was due to ammo and the others which may have been due to the wrong lube in the cold. Both were experienced with 115-grain WWB, not exactly the strongest stuff. Other than that, no issues.

[Trukinjp13]

Thanks for the reminder on this. There are a few updates.

One, I remember why I do not like metal grips. Too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. With gloves, the grips are awesome. Without, especially in winter, the grips seem to suck the heat from my fingers, making them feel sluggish. Some grip tape helped.That is the immaterial stuff.

Second, and more important, is this pistol is great for precision shooting at speed. It is easy to make fifty yard hits with the sights and trigger. I have had a few failures, one of which was due to ammo and the others which may have been due to the wrong lube in the cold. Both were experienced with 115-grain WWB, not exactly the strongest stuff. Other than that, no issues.

Thank you, and yes I remember having the aluminum grips on a sao p220 compact and they were exactly as you described. I have been poking around the double stack sao 9mm world and the Rex can be found for pretty solid prices.


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[farscott]

Thank you, and yes I remember having the aluminum grips on a sao p220 compact and they were exactly as you described. I have been poking around the double stack sao 9mm world and the Rex can be found for pretty solid prices.


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The Alpha 9 is a good pistol if you are looking for a range/competition pistol but not your only pistol as parts and service are weeks, not hours or days. I have had no part issues yet, but I am not shooting this pistol every week. If you are looking for a pair of pistols, it may be a good deal. That being said, I am the only person I know with one. While I am bit of a gun hipster, I am cognizant of what TLG wrote about unusual guns; they are unusual for reasons.

It is not an SAO pistol as it has a usable DA, but the SA is as good as any 9x19 1911 I have tried. It is much better than the parent Zastava SIG-inspired design. The positioning of the safety and the rear cocking serrations are an issue for me as I cannot consistently get a solid grip on the slide with the safety engaged. I either smack my thumb into the safety or wipe the safety off with my fingers when trying to retract the slide. As such, I use the safety like a 1911, flipping it off to manipulate the slide.

I also would not extrapolate the Alpha 9 performance to any other Arex Zero 1 variant. I had a CP (compact) that I got for a song as the dealer could not sell it; it went down the road as it did nothing better enough than more common designs do to justify keeping it. It was not going to be a carry gun due to the unicorn nature of support here in the USA. That version had the combo decocking/slide release lever whereas on the Alpha the lever is just the slide release.

[Trukinjp13]

The Alpha 9 is a good pistol if you are looking for a range/competition pistol but not your only pistol as parts and service are weeks, not hours or days. I have had no part issues yet, but I am not shooting this pistol every week. If you are looking for a pair of pistols, it may be a good deal. That being said, I am the only person I know with one. While I am bit of a gun hipster, I am cognizant of what TLG wrote about unusual guns; they are unusual for reasons.

It is not an SAO pistol as it has a usable DA, but the SA is as good as any 9x19 1911 I have tried. It is much better than the parent Zastava SIG-inspired design. The positioning of the safety and the rear cocking serrations are an issue for me as I cannot consistently get a solid grip on the slide with the safety engaged. I either smack my thumb into the safety or wipe the safety off with my fingers when trying to retract the slide. As such, I use the safety like a 1911, flipping it off to manipulate the slide.

I also would not extrapolate the Alpha 9 performance to any other Arex Zero 1 variant. I had a CP (compact) that I got for a song as the dealer could not sell it; it went down the road as it did nothing better enough than more common designs do to justify keeping it. It was not going to be a carry gun due to the unicorn nature of support here in the USA. That version had the combo decocking/slide release lever whereas on the Alpha the lever is just the slide release.

Fine write up! This would mainly be a range gun/dog walks. I also like the fact that it’s a da/sa gun at heart

And my “go to” is a g45 mos [emoji1787]


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[farscott]

Fine write up! This would mainly be a range gun/dog walks. I also like the fact that it’s a da/sa gun at heart

And my “go to” is a g45 mos [emoji1787]


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The above inspired me to try my Alpha 9 as a gun walking pistol. For me, used to the weight of a G17.3 primary and Seecamp LWS 32 secondary, the Alpha 9 is a heavy gun. I love the steel frame for shooting, but the long slide and steel frame stuffed with seventeen rounds of 135-grain 9x19 does not make for comfortable carry when managing a cocker spaniel on a leash and harness. The gun is heavy empty at 40 ounces with the aluminum grips, heavier when full of 135-grain Hornday, and the gun is not comfortable right now. The G17.3 is easier to carry while the Alpha 9 is much easier to make shots at distance. The sights and trigger make accurate fast shooting easy. That being said, I just had foot surgery (yet again for arthritis) and my gait is not what it was. So the comfort stuff will change as my recovery progresses.

The Alpha 9 really shines when shooting. If it was available in 1985, it likely would be much more common and popular than it is today. But it was late entrant to a crowded field whose users have voted for polymer lowers. I like mine and am keeping it, but I am not likely to ever carry it