The funny thing about innovation is that innovation sometimes comes across as amazing… and sometimes it comes across as just weird.
And, frankly, you can’t always tell whether it’s amazing or weird at first look. And, sometimes, it’s both amazing and weird.
The firearm that we’re going to talk about today is, I think, one of those that is both amazing and weird.
Amazing because the practical concealability of making a carbine look like an old style brick phone (remember those?) when folded up coupled with quick access to using it as a carbine from concealment is pretty cool.
But the looks of the gun are kind of weird. After all, it looks like a brick phone (how common are those anymore?) and unfolded, it looks like a plain long black rectangle with a pistol grip and a handle on top (along with any optics, etc. that you attach to it). It doesn’t have any kind of “cool” factor in the looks department.
The firearm? The ZEV/Magpul FDP.
Now, this gun comes in two variations, the FDP Pistol and the FDP Carbine. Because I prefer the idea of carrying a pistol on my person, the FDP Pistol doesn’t appeal to me so much.
The FDP Carbine, though? That’s an interesting twist to a gun. Mitchell Graf writes,
The $1,699 ZEV/Magpul FDP folds into a compact package, ran without a single malfunction in my testing, and delivered a surprising 0.96-inch group at 25 yards. But a heavy trigger, awkward pistol ergonomics, and occasionally stubborn folding components keep this futuristic 9mm from being perfect.
The ZEV/Magpul FDP is a folding 9mm defensive platform that combines Magpul’s compact folding design with familiar ZEV pistol controls. After a couple hundred rounds, I found a reliable and genuinely unique firearm with a few ergonomic compromises. The FDP has been teased for a long time, but it is finally shipping. At $1,699, it is an interesting option for shooters who have niche roles to fill, or just want something different.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that Graf says that the FDP Carbine is more comfortable to shoot than the FDP pistol. You can see the gun in action in the Magpul promo video below.
And make no mistake, this gun is a specialty firearm for a specific niche: people who want something that, when folded up, doesn’t look like a firearm and that can quickly be deployed as a carbine (Graf says the foldout is consistently two seconds).
So, if you’re looking for something different or if you’re looking for a way to have a carbine without it taking up as much space, then, the ZEV/Magpul FDP may be a gun to consider.
