Girsan MC 14T X Solution: Tip-up Problem Solver

Girsan of Turkey has been producing some very desirable guns of late. Its Browning Hi-Power clones have earned high praise—certainly from me, since I recently bought one I’d tested. The company’s 1911 pistols offer high quality at a reasonable price as well. But of all Girsan’s offerings, perhaps the most interesting is the MC 14 line of tip-up barrel pistols. And its newest version—the MC 14T X Solution in .380—offers features never before available on a tilt-barrel handgun.

Firearms enthusiasts will immediately recognize the profile of the MC 14 as similar to Beretta’s popular tip-up pistols. While it wasn’t the first tip-up, the first such gun to gain mainstream acceptance and market success was the Beretta 950 Jetfire from 1952.

It was a compact semiauto carry pistol that had a novel design in which the slide did not need to be retracted to chamber a round. The current Beretta Cheetah, Bobcat and Tomcat models all share this trait, and of these, the new MC 14T X Solution most closely mirrors the Beretta Cheetah 86 tip-barrel .380.

The Cheetah was produced from 1991 to 2004. It commanded a high price—today used ones sell for around $1,200—and you could argue that the $569 Girsan MC 14T X Solution, which is imported stateside by EAA Corp., is better suited for personal defense than the 86.

What It Is

The MC 14T X is a blowback-operated semiauto chambered in .380 ACP. It has an open-top slide design reminiscent of the Beretta 92/M9 pistol, which for years was the official U.S. military sidearm. The Girsan borrows design cues from the M9 and will feel very familiar for anyone who went afield with that gun. The MC 14T X Solution pistol looks and feels very much like a 3/4-scale M9 but with the advantage of the tip-up barrel.

The MC 14T X is a double-action/single-action gun with an ambidextrous manual safety. It’s a firing pin block safety, and the hammer cannot be cocked from a lowered position with the safety engaged; the hammer stops at the half-cock position. Nor can the hammer be lowered with the safety engaged. It can, however, be lowered with the barrel tipped up, which is the safest way to lower the hammer.

In addition to the ambi thumb safety, controls include a slide stop on the left side of the forged aluminum frame and a barrel release lever on the right side of the frame.

The barrel tip-up lever is machined so it widens at the base, and it’s very easy to actuate. Doing so releases the C-shape lug on the bottom of the barrel, which allows the barrel and chamber to rotate upward on the transverse pin located on the frame just below the front sight.

Design and Finishes

Girsan added spiral fluting and a Cerakote Tungsten finish to the pistol’s barrel, barrel lug, front sight and frame. The steel slide has a black Cerakote finish, and the controls are also black, giving the gun a cool two-tone look.

Other MC 14 models sport 4.5-inch steel barrels, but the X version features a 4.9-inch extended barrel with 1/2x28 threads and a thread protector. The 1:16 twist rate should stabilize popular .380 ACP self-defense and target bullets weighing between 85 and 102 grains.

I mentioned earlier that I purchased Girsan’s Hi-Power clone, and while I liked the gun, I was disappointed by its cheap synthetic grips. The grips on the MC 14T X Solution are certainly much better. EAA and Girsan call the composite grips “G-10 style,” which essentially means they mimic G-10.

That’s certainly not a bad thing since G-10 grips are quite popular, and the angled lines on the grips provide a secure and comfortable hold. There’s a gold “G” medallion in the center of the grip panels that doesn’t look garish but rather adds a touch of color to the dark two-tone pistol. The frontstrap and backstrap feature vertical lines machined into the metal.

Sights and Accessories

Sights include a dovetail rear sight with two white dots, and a white dot post front. The rear sight is relieved to cut down on glare. Unlike most modern semiautos, the MC 14T X Solution’s slide is not cut to accept optics. However, you could mount a laser or light/laser combo on the included Picatinny rail as an alternate sighting system.

Two 13-round metal Mec-Gar magazines are included. One features a finger extension while the other comes with what EAA refers to as a “loading base plate tool.” In profile this tool looks very much like a rounded magazine extension, but the base plate features a groove that holds a single .380 case via the rim.

The tool allows you to store the firearm unloaded and then rapidly tip up the barrel and insert the single round, which slides off the base plate tool when the round is chambered and the magazine is pulled upward. It certainly beats scrambling to find a round in case you need to load the gun in a hurry.

The MC 14T X Solution boasts a lanyard loop on the base of the magazine well, an homage to service M9 pistols. The gun, magazines and a wire cleaning brush ship in a small hard plastic case. It’s also backed with a limited lifetime warranty.

Weight and Recoil Absorbtion

The MC 14T X Solution weighs 26.1 ounces unloaded. At least that’s the weight I got on my digital scale, as opposed to the 1.4 pounds (22.4 ounces) listed on the EAA website. That’s nearly 2.5 times as much as the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 2.0. Additionally, this pistol measures eight inches long and 1.3 inches wide, making it larger than most subcompact 9mms. So if you’re looking for the absolute lightest .380 pistol to carry in a fanny pack or pocket, this probably isn’t the best choice.

What the gun does really well, though, is absorb recoil. Stubby, lightweight .380s can be snappy and even unpleasant, so they aren’t always the best choice for new or recoil-sensitive shooters. However, a .380 that weighs as much as the Girsan is a pussycat on the firing line. The gun is fun and easy to shoot fast, and if recoil mitigation is more important than maximum concealability, the MC 14T X Solution might work for you.

Operating the pistol will likely feel slightly awkward to experienced shooters accustomed to slapping a magazine in place, then racking or dropping the slide. It took time for me to get accustomed to the Girsan’s order of operations, especially hitting the barrel tip-up lever on the right side of the frame.

You can pull the slide rearward to operate the Solution in the traditional manner, but it’s not preferable. The slide is heavy, and its serrations don’t offer a lot of purchase.

Tip-up Barrel

It’s much simpler to chamber a round via the tip-up barrel, and after a few hundred rounds the operation starts to feel completely natural. I think new gun owners will catch on to the operation of this pistol very quickly—perhaps even faster than those who’ve sent several thousand rounds downrange through other semiautos.

The double-action trigger pull is about 9.5 pounds, which is probably a bit better than average for DA/SA pistols. The single-action trigger pull is quite long, and required 5.5 pounds of force to fire the gun, which is a bit heavier than average.

My primary peeve with the Girsan is the trigger guard. The sloping design looks cool, but it reduces the space within the guard. It’s a layout I could have lived without, but other shooters may not take issue with it.

The beefy, G-10-style grips won me over, though. Between the gun and its frame size, this pistol is large enough that even shooters with really big hands will find it comfortable, yet it won’t overwhelm those with small hands. I do think the beavertail would be more comfortable if it were a bit longer, though.

Accuracy

Accuracy was pretty good, with some groups under two inches at 25 yards, and a single five-shot cluster of Speer Gold Dot bullets that measured 1.4 inches. The average, however, was closer to 2.5 inches.

The gun was also mostly reliable, malfunctioning just twice. Both times the problem was the same: A bullet nosed into the feed ramp and jammed the action open, which makes the gun appear empty. The culprit is a short feed ramp that probably deserves a good hand polishing before you shoot the gun. That was the only issue with reliability during testing.

Perhaps you’ve eyed the Girsan MC 14 family of pistols only with passing interest because you don’t have compromised hand strength. That changes, however. If we live long enough and continue spending time at the range, there’s a good chance that most of us will, at some point, find it difficult to rack the slide of a pistol.

The MC 14T X Solution has you covered. The low recoil makes it a great training pistol, and the prodigious 13+1 capacity makes it a suitable self-defense firearm. Whether you need the tip-up feature or not, this is a solid .380 ACP that’s innovative and fun to shoot.

Girsan MC 14T X Solution Specs

• Type: DA/SA tip-up semiauto
• Caliber: .380 ACP
• Capacity: 13
• Barrel: 5 in., spiral fluted, 1:16 twist; threaded 1/2x28
• OAL/Height/Width: 8.0/5.0/1.3 in.
• Weight: 26.1 oz.
• Construction: Tungsten Cerakote aluminum frame, black Cerakote steel slide
• Grips: composite G-10-style
• Trigger: DA pull, 9.5 lb.; SA pull, 5.5 lb. (measured)
• Sights: 3-dot, drift-adjustable rear
• Price: $569
• Manufacturer: Girsan Importer: EAA, EAAcorp.com

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