We have some great news for the unicorn ranchers. The BRNO Field Pistol received ATF approval and will soon be available in the United States. The Field Pistol is chambered for the 7.5mm FK cartridge that shoots a roughly .30-caliber bullet at .44 Magnum power levels.
“Earlier today I received an email from the executive manager of FK BRNO,” writes the Firearm Blog’s Phil White. “Mr. Slabke informed me that the ATF had just approved the immediate importation of their 7.5 Field Pistol into the USA. We should see these pistols on store shelves when enough arrive at the distributor.”
The BRNO Field pistol excels at target shooting even at long ranges and handgun hunting for small and some medium game. The 7.5mm FK is a bottleneck cartridge that necks a 10.8mm case down to 7.5mm. It is a completely new cartridge designed for use with the BRNO Field Pistol and the BRNO Field Pistol only — at least for now.
The 7.5mm FK cartridge is 10.8mm at the case head and has an overall length of 35mm. (Photo: FK BRNO)
When fired from the Field Pistol’s 6-inch barrel, the 7.5mm FK cartridge makes 885 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. BRNO holds that the bullets still make well over 500 foot-pounds more than 100 yards out.
Designers had specific goals in mind developing the 7.5mm FK cartridge. At 150 meters the projectile was required to remain supersonic, penetrate a minimum of 300mm (11.8 inches) of ballistics gel and create a minimum permanent cavity diameter of 35mm (1.4 inches). All this with no more felt recoil than .45 ACP +P by power factor.
The 7.5mm FK BRNO Field Pistol has a 14+1-round capacity — with each shot making 885 foot-pounds at the muzzle. (Photo: FK BRNO)
Preliminary testing indicates that these handguns will be capable of shooting sub-MOA groups at more than 100 yards — 25mm groups at 100 meters when fired from a rest. Few handguns have ever boasted that kind of accuracy; this is custom revolver territory, only with a semi-auto handgun with a 14+1-round capacity.
The BRNO Field Pistol shares a striking similarity with CZ’s timeless and often-copied 75 series. That’s probably not a coincidence as the company is headquartered in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. The similarities are somewhat skin-deep as the Field Pistol uses a special recoil-attenuating tilting barrel recoil operating system. It would be surprising if any CZ or similar pistol shares any components with the BRNO pistol.
“This is not a modified design of another product or pistol model,” explains FK BRNO. “This is a completely new and unique concept and design. The design is very ergonomic and even though the magazine holds 14 35mm-long rounds, the smallest hands will be able to fully wrap around the optimally angled grip of the pistol. The frame and slide are very slender and streamlined for such a size cartridge and caliber.”
See Also: The Return of the Auto Mag on the Horizon
The Butterfly sight. (Photo: FK BRNO)
FK BRNO lists the Field Pistol’s frame width at just 1 inch wide. It’s not a small gun by any stretch of the imagination. It measures over 10 inches long, 5 inches tall and weighs 46 ounces unloaded — just shy of 3 pounds. But between the flush grips, narrow cartridge and short single-action trigger the Field Pistol should be manageable to anyone who can lift it. It also has extended right-handed controls including the slide release, magazine catches and manual thumb safety.
The company has two models in development, the Standard and Combat models. The Combat model slightly differs from the Standard model. It is a dehorned version for a smooth, snag-free draw from a holster.
FK BRNO has several sight systems in the works from fiber optic iron sights, red dot reflex sights and their in-house “Butterfly Sight” system. The Butterfly sights use an open rear and fiber optic front sight designed for precision shooting at extreme pistol ranges.
Prices and a solid timeline are still a ways out. We’ll let you know more as soon as we find out.