Just Arrived: Diamondback DB FS Nine

1. It looks a lot like a Glock to me.

   • The price tag doesn’t. Which is a major advantage if this weapon has some build quality to it. Not everyone can afford to plunk down $600 for a Glock or similar product plus holster and range time.

     • It only comes with one mag. I wonder how much those will cost?

       • I should know the MSRP for extra magazines before the review goes up and will include that.

       • I wonder if using anything other than standard pressure 115gr loads will void the warranty like it does with the Diamondback DB9.

   • Yep. Glock clone plus the Springfield-like cocked striker indicator sticking out the back.

   • i didnt think it was possible to make a pistol thats uglier than a glock.

     ill give glock its due, they work….not a fan though.

     • I know this pistol is ugly – but somehow I’m extremely attracted to it, and if it turns out to be the right stuff, I definitely want one.

       • this one is kind of lack luster….its a less glocky glock like glockclone.
         now the Strike-One is kind of interesting.

2. I had a DB380 and my brother had a DB9. Operative word being HAD. I’ll pass.

   • That’s why I intend to put at least 500 rounds through it in a single day. I’d do 2,000 if I didn’t have to buy ammo, but I do. You know, a good $135 in ammo to feel this thing out just to come up with an initial opinion on it (assuming it doesn’t fail after 100 rnds or something). Not complaining! It’s good fun. But there are budgetary limits.

     The main reason I’d say you should stay tuned despite your negative experiences with the DB9 and DB380 is because this is a full-sized gun. LOTS of companies have issues with micro guns that are never exhibited in their full-size offerings. There are compromises and complications on little pocket pistols that don’t have to exist in a bigger gun, so this thing could be a totally different beast.

     …and click the dang advertisement on the ensuing YouTube video so I can eventually make that $135 plus gas and targets and such back haha 😉 …

     • Good points, Jeremy. I will stay tuned for your full evaluation.

     • Does it have double strike ?

       • No. The fact that it has a “cocked” indicator pretty much rules that out.

         Meaning (in my world) it is not a true double action as the trigger alone does not fully cock the mechanism and then release it, which is necessary to have “double strike,” which is just marketing jargon for the ability to pull the trigger over and over and have the hammer or striker “fire” over and over. On this DB, the slide must cycle in order to partially or fully (haven’t really looked yet) cock the striker. Then the trigger pull either just releases it or cocks it a little further before releasing it. I think it’s probably the latter, like a Glock, as DB does refer to it as double-action (meaning, to them, that the trigger does two things).

         There’s all sorts of marketing language crap for different trigger functionality. In my mind it’s simple and a trigger is one of two things:

         * Double Action — Pulling the trigger fully cocks the mechanism and then releases the striker/hammer. It will do that over and over again without anything else happening (no action cycling, no manually cocking the hammer, etc).
         * Single Action — Pulling the trigger releases the striker/hammer. It cannot be fired again unless the striker/hammer is cocked by the action cycling or by manually cocking it by hand (e.g. single action revolver).

         People will argue it to death, but I don’t care about the length or weight of the trigger pull or what functions it’s doing. If something other than pulling the trigger needs to happen for the gun to ‘fire’ subsequent times, it’s single action in my mind.

3. very rugged and jagged looking. i like it. may actually buy and keep this one, despite not being a hammer gun. glad db put a lot of thought into this thing looks wise. hopefully it won’t have problems like the first run of db9 pistols

   • I also like the look of it and it feels pretty good in the hand.

4. Looks like a S&W M&P got busy with a Walther P99 then added a Springfield XD trigger but kept Diamondbacks weird grip.

   • My exact thought! Weird.

5. Curious how it compares to the Xd, XdM.

6. Each time ive saved a couple hundred and not gotten exactly what I wanted, ive regretted it later. this looks like a box of regret, but ill be interested to see the review.

7. Looks like a Lone Wolf custom Glock…almost identical.

8. my first though was look like the bastard offspring of a Glock & an FNS.

9. Well…nothing to hate right off the bat other than DB’s pretty shitty Internet cred. And I don’t like the way the top of the beavertail looks, how it has that downward angle instead of the upward curve. Look forward to the review! I could use a new full size 9.

10. Something something glock copy.

    Or at least, someone apparently has to say that about every new polymer gun ever released ever.

    Looks like a fine pistol, but does the market need more of these for some reason?

    • You know, the “need” argument when it comes to firearms isn’t something we really like to engage in. Kind of sounds like Bloomberg territory there 😉 . Seriously though, this pistol can be purchased for $365. If it runs well then I’m fairly sure it’s going to sell very well. The market may have a lot of polymer framed, striker fired pistols but it doesn’t have a whole lot at this price point. I don’t think Americans ever complain about having choices, though, whether it’s mid-sized sedans or polymer 9’s.

      • Who said anything about whether the gun was needed by people?

        😉
        😉
        😉

        Etc.

        Point being: What, aside from price (which may be enough if it proves to be reliable and durable) differentiates this particular unit?

        • Honestly I think price is a huge factor, but I also think that aesthetics are a major player in peoples’ buying decisions. Even if every polymer-framed, striker-fired pistol on the market were equally reliable and accurate and priced exactly the same, if they all looked different you’d still have a serious decision to make. At least half of the comments on this post are related only to how it looks.

          …and on that note, I agree with all of the “it looks like XYZ and ZYX guns” comments but would like to say that all y’all forgot about the Arsenal Strike One. ‘cuz I see a lot of that here. But really, every new gun comes out to a storm of “it looks like a knockoff of ___” or “a combination of ___ and ___” comments. That’s usually true, of course, but really there are only so many ways to make a pistol that you hold in one hand with a mag in the grip and a slide that reciprocates and since we’ve been making those things for over a hundred years now, the chances of a new one having similarities to old ones is pretty freaking high 😉

        • “What, aside from price…”

          Nothing. But that’s precisely what has given me the impetus to take the bus trip to Turner’s Real Soon Now! 🙂 I remarked to a coworker how I’d been contemplating getting some kind of handgun (I’m currently gunless) and he said, “Yeah, me, too. Better get one while you still can.”

11. I think all these polymer guns pretty much look the same. I’m curious to see how the testing goes. I’d like to see more affordable American made guns. I’ve been to visit Cocoa to see some friends. Nice little town.

    • Cocoa is my home town born and raised there. Parents still live there. DB and Kel-Tec are both made there. Cocoa (not to be confused with Cocoa Beach) was originally a space town with most people living there employed by Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center) as either one of the people working in the space program or one of the supporting roles. The city took a big hit when those jobs dried up. Nice to see some companies employing local people coming out of it.

12. Hopefully someone will put out a good video to show us the inner working of one of these.

    • I’ll definitely be including quality photos of the inside. If, after the review goes up, there are comments requesting more detail on things like that I’m always happy to do it. But from an initial glance it looks pretty darn standard in there — like the vast majority of other striker-fired guns I’ve seen.

13. I’m somewhat impressed. Is this a Taurus FS designation? It DOES look very “glocky”. As do their little 9 & 380’s. Hey competition is good & they’re made in the USA. Look forward to the review.

14. 12.5 oz empty? That CAN”T be right for a full size gun. Maybe it has a polymer slide too….

    • Ah, that press release is wrong or has a typo. The product page lists 21.5 ounces and that’s exactly what I just measured on my kitchen scale. 24-7/8 oz with the magazine and 21-1/2 oz without.

15. Hey Glock…

    Oh hey, XD, what are you doing here?

    Oh… You know, just… Hanging out.

    XD! YOUR PANTS! WHAT ARE YOU DOI-

    Shhhhhh, I know what I’m doing.

    Oh XD, I had no idea you had such a…high bore axis.

    Narrator:
    And that, children, is how the DB9FS came to be.

    • What the . . . ?!

      • When Mommy Pistol and Daddy Pistol love each other very much…

    • I laughed.

16. How long before Glock sues them? I say 2 months. Any takers?

    • I’d be surprised if it took that long. First thing through my mind scrolling through the photos was “Glock lawsuit incoming”

17. A much better looking pistol than a Glock. Much more ergonomic and less 2x4ish. Gone is the raked grip angle with the “in the way” humpback backstrap. They should have dumped the butterfly trigger unsafety and gone with a thumb safety as well. And finally, they have to ruin it with that stupid as shit hook on the trigger guard. Sheesh…………………

    • “that stupid as shit hook on the trigger guard.”

      Yeah, what’s up with that anyway? What could the function possibly be, other than to snag on stuff?

      Admittedly, at $364.99, I think it’s not a deal-breaker.

      • @Rich Grise, yep…not necessarily a deal breaker. Nothing that a file can’t fix. But it does cause me to wonder, who thinks that a good idea?

        • A LOT of pistols have that. I think the front of the trigger guard is still a really popular place for a lot of shooters to put their support hand index finger, and that hook on the bottom helps with that technique.

18. First Kahr sues the pants off of them for copying their trigger design, and now they go and copy Glock trade dress? Will they ever learn?

    If Taurus is involved, you can guarantee that it’s full of Brazilian MIMed junk.

    • @nighttrain, Glock trade dress?

19. Can you test the DB9 FS with a Beretta 92FS mag? There was speculation about them being a direct fit… if so, I might pick one up as a range toy.

    • Yes, that’s something I can test. I’ll do it tomorrow when I can swing by my local surplus store that has a bunch of 92 FS mags. The full review will also be going up tomorrow or, more likely, Wednesday. The video is up as of a few minutes ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83OtNkahR74

      I tested with a Glock mag and a CZ 75 and CZ P-07 mags and none of those are compatible.

      • Hey SonnyRoofy, I actually drove down there today and tested some factory Beretta mags as well as a new Mec-Gar (factory are made by MG anyway but thought maybe there would be small differences) and they do NOT fit. Maybe with modification they would, as they are really freakin’ similar. The only difference I could see holding them side-to-side is that the notch for the slide lock is deeper in the Diamondback mag. However, I took the slide off the gun so the slide lock could move way up out of the way and it still wouldn’t accept the Beretta mags. Seems like they’re too tall in the back and it hits the ejector. Maybe… maybe if you were to Dremel that for clearance it would work. But that’s all I can say and I’m not going to test it further unless you want to PayPal me $20 for the magazine so I can buy it and break out the Dremel haha 😉

        • Just curious if you ever got the opportunity to do some work on the 92 mag? I just purchased a FS9 and might try to modify a 92 mag if it’s really that close.

20. I appreciate you testing the 92fs mags… I would have bought the DB9fs in a heartbeat if you could run 20 or 30 round sticks 😛

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