by mikld » 15 Jun 2020 14
After the "virus delays" (five days extra shipping and an extra 3 days backup for an NICS check), I finally picked it up. Masada M90RP17 9mm. I have always been excited when unboxing a new gun but I was really impressed with the new Masada. The box is a heavy cardboard (meh) but the packing is excellent. The heavy foam inserts fit the gun, magazines and accessories perfectly. The gun comes with 2 extra 17 shot mags., two extra backstraps, a cable lock (meh!) and literature including an excellent owner's manual. First I fingered it for about 3 minutes then disassembled it. Controls stiff but not terribly hard to use. Slide removal took 3 seconds; lock slide back, push disassembly lever down, release slide, pull trigger, remove slide. While not necessary for normal maintenance/cleaning I removed the firing assembly (this is the "gun" as it is serial numbered). Very easy, just remove the lever and slide the assy. forward and up. Cleaned all parts and was impressed with the very good machining and finish. No machining marks, had good sharp corners, good finish and clean. Reassembly is straight forward striker fired pistol method, but reinstalling the firing assy. I could have used a couple extra hands as the trigger must be held back, a small spring (3/16"x1/2") must be aligned and the assy. inserted in a rearward and downward motion. Excellent trigger, for me, as my crude trigger pull gauge read a bit over 5 lbs for 5 tries and the reset looked like approx 1/4". Not a lot of take up and crisp break with very little over travel. Overall a good quality gun that feels good in my hand, looks good and so far without shooting, functions well. I have 2 boxes of factory 124 FMJ, about 1 1/2 box Hornady 124 XTP and mebbe 50-60 124 Gold Dot handloads. When it stops raining here and things quieten down (still virus fears) I'll run a bunch through it and give a range report.
I'm not an "expert" gun writer nor do I do gun reviews, just my impressions from a life long machinist/mechanic and long time shooter (58 years)...