You may remember Lionheart from almost a decade ago. The company started out importing Korean K5 Daewoo pistols, then began producing their own version of the design here. There were a range of opinions about the gun back then and the company faded from the scene.
Now Lionheart Industries back under new management and promoting their upgrade of that Daewoo K5 design, the Regulus 9mm pistol in both Alpha and Beta configurations. There’s also a Combat model that’s a fully tricked out Alpha with threaded barrel and suppressor-height sights.
The unique selling point of the Regulus — like the original Korean K5 — is its Double Action Plus trigger. It’s much like a standard DA/SA trigger, but with a third option.
Once cocked, you can manually move the hammer forward into the “plus” position which gives you a much lighter first round pull weight. It’s still a full-length pull as you’d get in double action on, say, a SIG P229, but with a pull weight that feels about half as heavy. That should make those first-round shots much more accurate.
Once you move the hammer forward into plus position, a couple of green lines appear at the rear of the pistol to let you know you’re working with a much lighter first pull weight.
Both the Alpha and Beta models feature 18-round magazines and have fiber optic front sights.
The Regulus pistols have 6061 aluminum frams with 4140 slides. You can upgrade either the full-size Alpha or the compact Beta from a standard Tru-Axis 416 stainless barrel to a threaded version for an extra $100 from its $999 base price. A tritium night sight upgrade will run you $150.
The Regulus pistols have excellent deeply textured G10 grip panels and a length of rail that the earlier models lacked. This is purely subjective, but the compact Beta model I played with at SHOT had a real feeling of quality to it.
We’ve asked for Regulus pistol for a full review.
thanks. i specifically asked for this info.
i’m a fan, not so much super double plus plus, but i don’t hate that like a “certain someone” did.
i’d like a k model rifle too.
Own an LH9N, love the pistol., wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I loved my K5. I thought the DA+ was innovative. While it’s nice to see these guys trying to modernize their old design, how you gonna pump out a top end pistol in today’s market without a removable plate for optics? Also, an ambi safety is pretty meaningless without an ambi slide stop and ambi mag release. Yes to rail, yes to threaded barrel, yes to suppressor height sights. But if you’re going to modernize, then actually commit.
optics on pistols r a joke unless the only place u plan to use it is at a range in your cool mall ninja gear takimg a shot every minute or two
Tell me you’ve never practiced with an RDS and seen the difference in splits times and accuracy without telling me you’ve never tried an RDS.
Sorry Igor, that’s a pretty poor take. A reflex optic allows you to focus solely on the target. Iron sights require much more work. I’m not any more or less accurate with a red dot sight vs iron sights, but I’m MUCH faster with one on top of my pistol. Believe it or not, that’s important to a lot of real world situations
Insulting what you imagine I wear to the range is probably cute in your head, but changes nothing in reality. Lacking an option for an optics mount shuts out shooters who would want an optic.
Too bulky. Super ugly. Hard pass.
very not pretty.
👍
Price/size/capacity put it square into WCombat 92G Brig Tac territory. A tough gun to compete with in that market segment.
I like the case though. I have that same case (with the Beretta logo) holding my WC 92G BT and 7 20rd M9-A1 mags (MecGar +2 bases).
Got to admit that first picture had me thinking this was some sort of monster sized pistol, competing with the HK Mk 23|
It’s 229-sized.
Looking forward to the review Dan.
For (roughly) $1,250 fully configured it should be a pretty special 9 mm pistol.
cz75 compact 32.8oz
cz75 pcr alloy 27.5
(this) beta 24.7 plus a few hundred samolians.
Glad to see Lionheart is still in the game. These are excellent pistols and a great value as well. I re-read my “take 2” TTAG review a few minutes ago I still stand behind everything I said. I own well over 100 pistols, and it is one that I hold in highest regard.
Hi Joe, thanks for the kind words! We truly did put in a lot of late nights and passion into this design. While I’m on to another project, I can’t wait for you to see what the amazing team in Winder, Georgia is developing at our new facility!
Touch of ugly that’s for sure. But, delivering effective bullets down range or to a bad guy is not trying to win a beauty contest and if it will send it when needed its just as good as any other that will send it when needed. No bad guys obituary ever read “he was shot by an ugly gun.”
I promise, if you have one and show up at the range with it I will not go “Ewwwww….”
Smith & Wesson model 59 and later models in the series will do just dandy thank you very much.
those are nice; slide safety and “up” for “off” deviate from my standard.
exactly why i find the csx so intriguing.
These take S&W 590X mags, or at least the original LH9 ad K5 models did.
It’s got some gattitude for sure.
I’ve got a DH40 that I acquired in the late ’90’s. Kind of hefty for carry purposes, but very enjoyable to shoot.
Looking forward to a full review on this.
Finally someone has put out a DA/SA hammer fired pistol instead of another striker fired piece of crap. I know many people like striker fired weapons but I like to be able to see at a glance if it’s cocked or not.