The Lionheart LH9 I have has been put through hell in my hands. It has endured more than 15,000 rounds in a period of under 2 months. It was not cleaned for 8,000 rounds and saw no spring changes except the one spring that failed right around the 15,000 round mark. That is not too bad. It lasted longer and was pushed harder than any other gun in my collection. I have alot of respect for this pistol. But it was time to get the springs replaced finally and get it checked out.
I keep in contact with Lionheart Industries on a regular basis and I have been privileged to have their support for pretty much anything I needed during the testing phase. According to the armorers, my pistol is the most worn and heavily used pistol they had seen. For this reason, they have had a special interest in seeing what their new products do when they are dropped into my pistol. It is a good test to see how well their new parts function with worn and used pistols that are of the older generations.
Lately, I had the privilege to test the new barrels in my pistol. In the time I tested the barrels, I found that my pistol was not staying consistently accurate. The LH9 uses a bushing that is secured to the slide like the 1911, and if it becomes loose or too worn, your accuracy can suffer. Once I noticed greatly diminished accuracy, I decided it was time to send the pistol in for a full tune up and look over. I figured that I had beat the hell out of this pistol enough and have reached a limit after forcing this pistol through an unrealistic test in such a short period, with little maintenance to speak of.
After sending the pistol back, i got a call to notify me that the pistol was ready to come back and for us to arrange shipment plans. I asked if the armorer had any notes or comments about my pistol. Who wouldn't be curious about what they have to say? Basically, the comment the armorer had was that my pistol was severely beat to hell. My pistol was incredibly worn and that kind of use and wear was not something they had seen before.
Now, don't get it wrong. I put the Lionheart LH9 through a rough course of fire. The gun got hot, was not cleaned regularly for thousands of rounds, saw little maintenance, and it saw alot of use off the range as well. I regularly worked the action and dry fired it without snap caps. I would estimate that I dry fired the pistol more than 10 times for every one shot I actually fired. It saw alot of holster time and was in a few steel matches. Basically, all I did was seriously use the pistol full time. The pistol was not "TORTURED" as in thrown in the dirt or smacked around a bunch. It was simply used alot in a little time. I have had many other pistols fail with a third of the rounds through it and with alot less usage. This pistol actually has performed better than any other pistol I have ever used. The funny thing is that this pistol has been incredibly reliable with every type of ammo out there.
I am glad to have this pistol back in my possession. I am going to do some testing and evaluations of the new barrels that Lionheart is offering. But overall, the heavy usage and extreme testing for this pistol is all but over. It has proven itself to me and I wish more people knew about it and respected the design. I have posted several videos on it in hopes of educating people. The problem everyone has is that there are not many of these pistols in stores for prospective buyers to fondle. But I can say that I am so glad I took the plunge on this pistol. I would absolutely say that this pistol is worth the $650 you would spend on it. I have yet to run into someone who regrets investing in this pistol as I have.
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