FEG P9R

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.

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&Wand 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. Take down is relatively straight forward but reassembly has a certain degree of difficulty.

A competent gunsmith with ingenuity and a good knowledge of how these guns work should have very little difficulty in taking down this pistol and putting it back together again. The best way to learn howa gun works is to disassemble it completely while studying each part you take out and determining its function. I’ll repeat here what an old time gunsmith told me when I was starting out in this business in the 1960s: If you can’t put it back together the right way, then you have no business taking it apart!

Good advice. Field Stripping This gun is easily field stripped. Remove the magazine and pull the slide back to clear any cartridge in the chamber. Place the safety/decocker in the down position and draw the slide back until the back of the slide lock is even with the small cutout in the slide and push up on it to lock the slide back. While holding the gun in your left hand, push in on the protruding end of the lock on the right side of the slide. It should start the slide lock out toward you.

Pull out on the slide lock while holding the slide and frame steady

against the recoil spring pressure. Some of these will be tight if not removed very much and a small, non-marring tool may be necessary to pry the lock out completely. Once out, hold the frame in your right hand and slowly release the slide assembly forward and off the frame. The recoil spring guide is locked back into the barrel cam. Slide it out slowly toward the front and control it and the recoil spring as you remove it from the slide. The barrel is now easily removed from the slide.

The pistol is now field stripped for inspection and routine cleaning and oiling. Simply reverse the directions to reassemble it. Be sure to put the safety/decocker in the down position before installing the slide. Detail Stripping We’ll start with complete slide disassembly. After field stripping, remove the safety lever by pressing in on the firing pin with a small punch and rotating the lever downward while pushing in on the reverse end of the safety. It’s a two-handed job.

Note, the safety plunger and its spring face outward at an angle in their slot and will launch into orbit if you don’t cover the lever hole completely with your finger while pushing the lever out. This is a very stout little spring with a lot of force. Once the lever clears the plunger and spring, it will stop. Remove the plunger and spring and then push in again on the firing pin with the small punch to clear the safety lever so it can be removed completely.

Restrain the firing pin and spring as you remove the lever. The firing pin spring is basically a shorter version of the 1911 spring and not very stout. To remove the extractor and its spring, drive the retaining pin out the top from the bottom of the slide with a small pin punch. Restrain the extractor and its spring when removing the punch. The rear sight can be driven out either left or right. The front sight is fixed to the slide by soldering. Reassembly of the slide is in the reverse.

When replacing the safety/decocker lever, it’s necessary to hold the plunger and spring down in their slot with a tool that will not allow them to escape while pushing the lever by them. A tricky maneuver but certainly not impossible. I’ll repeat some advice here that comes through the school of hard knocks. Unless you’re a professional wanting to know how this gun works and comes apart, leave well enough alone.

The more parts are removed from guns, the looser they get, and the more likely of malfunctions occurring. Do not attempt to take the recoil spring guide apart or you will be buying anew one if you can find one. It is a sealed unit with ball bearings on each end with a spring in the middle. For complete frame disassembly, remove the two metric (3 x 0.5) grip screws and the grips will slide off. Tap out the rear grip insert pin with the appropriate punch, either way.

Pull out on the bottom of the rear grip insert while restraining the hammer spring and cap, then remove them from the hammer strut. Push out the hammer axle pin from right to left, remove the ejector, hammer, and sear trip up and out of the frame. Note the orientation of the sear and spring for later assembly. Push the sear pin out right to left and remove the sear and spring downward out of the frame. Push the disconnector down out of its slot in the frame.

It may have to be slightly oriented as it has a hardened pin that sticks out the right side at the top. Incidentally, this pin limits the travel of the sear trip in function. Drive out the trigger pin right to left. Remove the trigger drawbar and trigger drawbar plunger and spring back out of the frame. The trigger can then be taken out the top. On the right side of the frame in the trigger pin hole resides a small plunger and spring. It locks into

a groove in the trigger pin to prevent movement of the trigger pin in function. Remove this plunger and spring. The magazine catch works on the same principal as the 1911 mag catch. Press in on the screw with a small screw driver and turn left to lock the catch spring and retainer and remove the assembly out the right side of the frame. I didn’t mention the sear spring retainer pin as it is usually in tight and usually doesn’t need to be removed. If it is loose in the frame, remove it so you don’t lose it.

It captures the legs of the sear spring to give the spring tension against the sear. Reassemble the frame in reverse with details noted. To assemble the trigger assembly, fit the tabs on the drawbar into the trigger slots and drop the assembly into position from the rear of the frame. Leave enough room to slide the trigger drawbar plunger and spring into its access hole in front of the trigger. The front of the drawbar pushes in on the spring loaded plunger.

Push this unit forward with your right index finger while holding the frame with your right hand. Line up the frame hole with the left side trigger hole and start the small end of the trigger pin into the assembly. It should push in easily until it hits the trigger pin locking plunger. Turn the frame over to access the plunger hole and use a small pin punch to force the plunger and spring up into their access hole while pushing the trigger pin all the way in.

You should hear the plunger lock into the groove in the pin. Make sure the trigger pin is locked in. Do this procedure exactly as I have outlined and it’s a 30 second job! Drop the disconnector into its slot from the bottom of the frame and then place a short slave pin through the sear and sear spring, remembering the correct orientation of the spring. The horseshoeshaped portion of the spring should lie against the bottom tab of the sear.

Place the slaved unit in line with its access hole and put the small end of the sear pin in from the left, driving out the slave pin and securing the sear and spring. If you have removed the sear spring retainer pin, drive the pin back through its access hole making sure to capture the legs of the sear spring under it. If you did not remove it prior, put the legs of the sear spring under it first before installing the sear pin and assembly. Installing the sear trip, hammer, and ejector is a tricky maneuver.

I like to use a pin punch of the right size, just slightly smaller in diameter than the hammer pin to accomplish this task. You can also use a slave pin. Regardless, it will have to be long enough to protrude through the entire frame. Install the sear trip in its slot first and line up its hole with the right side frame hole. Install your pin punch through the frame sear trip holes to just capture the two together.

While holding the frame in your left hand, fully depress the trigger and place the hammer and strut into its slot as far as it will go when laid completely back. Releasing the trigger slightly, wiggle the hammer until it settles down fully. Look in the left frame hole with a small light to see if the hammer hole is lined up with the pin punch and slide the punch in to just capture the hammer. Now place the ejector in its slot and line up the pin punch with its hole.

This maneuver usually calls for wiggling the pin punch slightly to go through the ejector and out of the frame hole. The difficult part is over. Push the hammer axle pin in from the left side smoothly and without hesitation while holding the pin punch with slight pressure. Don’t dislodge any of the three components. All three parts should now be lined up and installed properly. Pulling the trigger should move the hammer back normally against thumb pressure. Don’t get discouraged if this

1 Frame 2 Trigger Drawbar Plunger 3 Trigger Drawbar Plunger Spring 4 Trigger 5 Trigger Drawbar 6 Trigger Pin 7 Trigger Pin Retainer 8 Trigger Pin Retainer Spring 9 Disconnector 10 Sear 11 Sear Spring 12 Sear Spring Retainer Pin 13 Sear Pin 14 Hammer 15 Hammer Strut 16 Hammer Strut Pin maneuver takes you several tries. It usually takes me two or three tries unless I get lucky the first time! It’s now time to install the hammer spring, cap and rear grip insert.

The cap has a protrusion on the bottom that goes into a recessed hole at the bottom of the grip insert. This is a stout hammer spring but the engineering of the grip frame makes this about a 30 second maneuver.

Slide the spring and cap into the hammer 17 Sear Trip 18 Ejector 19 Hammer Axle Pin 20 Hammer Spring 21 Hammer Spring Cap 22 Rear Grip Insert 23 Rear Grip Insert Pin 24 Magazine Catch 25 Magazine Catch Spring 26 Magazine Retainer Catch 27 Right Grip 28 Left Grip 29 Grip Screws 30 Slide 31 Extractor 32 Extractor Spring strut and place the cap protrusion into the grip insert recess.

Push upward on the whole assembly until the sides of the insert clear the bottom of the frame and the assembly can be captured in the frame bottom. Make sure the top of the grip insert goes into its slot at the frame top. Drive in the rear grip insert pin to secure the assembly.

This pin is grooved in the center to capture the cap protrusion to prevent movement FEG P9R (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 33 Extractor Pin 34 Firing Pin 35 Firing Pin Spring 36 Safety Plunger 37 Safety Plunger Spring 38 Safety/Decocker 39 Rear Sight 40 Barrel 41 Recoil Spring Guide 42 Recoil Spring 43 Slide Stop 44 Magazine Body 45 Magazine Follower 46 Magazine Spring 47 Magazine Spring Plate 48 Magazine Floorplate of the hammer spring assembly during function.

The pistol frame is now reassembled. Reinstall the grips and grip screws, snugging them lightly. The grips are thin and easily cracked or broken. Check the function of the pistol while buffeting the hammer blow with a waded up shop rag. Simply reverse the field strip instructions to assemble the slide to the frame. To disassemble the magazine, unload it and depress the button in the center of the floorplate with a pin punch and draw the floorplate off the magazine body.

Be sure to restrain the spring and spring plate as you do this. Remove the spring plate, spring, and follower. Reassembly is in the reverse direction. Malfunctions Most problems occur because of improper modification. Dirt, debris, and powder residue contribute to a sluggish pistol. Many can be directly attributed to the magazine. New, factory-original magazines usually work well in the P9R. When the magazine is locked in the pistol, there should only be slight movement upward of the magazine.

Any sloppy movement of the magazine will lead to misfeeding. It’s a good practice to keep a couple of known-good magazines on hand for troubleshooting purposes. Some parts for the P9R are available from Numrich Gun Parts Corporation and Jack First, Inc. These are the first two sources I go to for parts. These instructions for disassembly and reassembly have worked well for me over the years, however, knowing the ingenuity of gunsmiths and guncranks, your particular methods may work better for you.

Be my guest to do it whatever way gets the job done safely and successfully. I welcome feedback from readers on my articles. I have been at this game for 48 years and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t learn something new. It’s what makes this field of endeavor so great! AG