While the P9R looks like a Hi-Power clone on the outside, this Hungarian-made pistol is anything but on the inside.

by Dick Maheu

The Hungarian P9R 9mm is a good quality DA/SA pistol manufactured by FEG (Fegyver es Gazkeszulekgyar), now known as FEGArmy, and was imported into the United States in large numbers from the middle 1980s to the late 1990s. There were three distinct models in the series. The P9R, a full-size model which is the subject of this article, the P9RK, a short model with a finger-style front grip, and the P9RA model, a lightweight, aluminum-framed version which was imported in relatively small numbers.

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The P9R is the most common model encountered and will have either a fully rounded trigger guard or a squared back front, as is the example used in this article. I purchased this pistol new in 1994. You’ll also see these listed as the R9 or the Mauser 90DA. A .45 auto version was made with a single stack eight round magazine and marketed as the FEG ACK or GKK-45. These instructions will generally apply to those models as well.

The P9R is a short recoil-operated pistol made with a strong and good quality frame, slide, and parts of alloyed steel. Its engineering was loosely based on the S&W Model 39 and 59. Contrary to what is spoken on the gun forums by the uninitiated, the parts of this gun are not interchangeable with the S&W guns! Unlike the S&W guns, this pistol does not have a barrel bushing. It’s a good design as proven by the similar S&W and very little goes wrong with it if not abused. For the professional gunsmiths, the ones you’ll see come through your shop usually have been tinkered with in some way as to make them inoperable. The grinding of feed ramps and extractors, cutting coils off springs, and the like are similar issues.

I have worked on these guns for nearly three decades and have never seen complete disassembly instructions in print. That’s why I decided to write this article.

Read more in the June 2016 issue.

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