In 2019 one of the hottest guns to hit the market was the Grand Power Stribog. This pistol caliber carbine seemingly came out of nowhere was a significant hit in the American market. Their reasonable price to incredible performance found a niche in the market dominated by AR9s, MP5s, and B&T’s contract-winning firearms.
At TMGN, we stock the Stribog and have one for rent so that customers can try it before they buy. Conversations usually center around the price to performance ratio and how similar it looks to our B&T APC9 rental, although we’ve attempted to mitigate this through accessories and suppressor mounting. Our Stribog is set up with an Eotech 512, a folding SB Tactical brace, and a Yankee Hill Machine 9mm Suppressor. It’s a popular rental with thousands of rounds through it with no issues to speak of.
The gun itself has an interesting background. It’s produced by Grand Power of Slovakia, which I had never heard of until releasing the Stribog. They have an extensive line of pistols. Some notable ones are the fully automatic K102 and the interesting X-Calibur, which features a 90-degree rotating barrel locking system similar to the Beretta PX4 Storm. Investigating Grand Power’s website had me reading the text with a heavy Eastern European accent.
The name refers to Stribog, the Slavic God of the wind and distribution of wealth. Not much information about the early Slavic gods is known, as those who worshiped them were engaged in constant battles with the Roman and Byzantine empires over time while practicing these secretive shamanistic beliefs. However, what is known is that Slavic people had a cosmology like the Nordic peoples, with a world tree and seven primary deities. One of those being Stribog. Stribog is the grandfather of the wind and is often portrayed as an old man. Side note: I’m writing this while listening to the Age of Empires 2 soundtrack, and I think it fits well with this paragraph. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtrvTntcBUE)
Many other interpretations of the name could also mean “father god” or God of the Bright Sky. A third interpretation by Dmitry Zelenin, a Russian linguist, surmised that Stribog was: “an annihilating, destroying god, the god of war.” This view was also supported by contemporary Russian historian Alexander Orlov. This is supported by the Hindu equivalent of Stribog, Vayu, who is also worshipped as the God of war.
Pretty cool name for a sleek little sub-gun.
As far as the nitty-gritty buyers review details go, the Stribog has an 8-inch, threaded barrel. This is honestly great for 9mm as you’re really achieving the maximum velocity of the bullet with that barrel length. Any longer is kind of pointless.
Its handguard features M-Lok slots for those looking to mount accessories, like a weapon light. (A great choice would be a modlite OKW in the short configuration.)
The charging handle is non-reciprocating and can be switched to either side of the firearm. This is great for not completely destroying your non-dominant hand while shooting.
The magazine well is flared and accepts Stribog’s proprietary magazines, which are decently cheap, but also kind of flimsy. However, this has been remedied recently with Grand Power listening to its consumers (a rare trait for large firearms manufacturers) and producing newer curved 30 round magazines.
On the top of the firearm is a Picatinny rail running the length of the gun. Pretty standard stuff, great for running an optic of your choice. Like I mentioned earlier, we went with an Eotech for our range rental. What is interesting, though, about the top rail is that it has built-in iron sights, which, when folded down, give you a handgun style iron, but when flipped up, give you a nice peep sight, similar to the plastic iron sights that B&T includes with their guns.
The grip is unremarkable; it works, it didn’t bother me while shooting. Isn’t that about as much as you can ask for?
The Safety selector should feel familiar to those who shoot AR-style rifles, and it’s just as easy to use.
As far as purpose goes, using a Stribog as a home defense weapon wouldn’t be a bad option. It’s also a great gun to have for bringing new shooters with you to the range. It’s become pretty apparent from my time at the range that newer shooters perform demonstrably better with pistol caliber carbines than just about any other type of firearm.
If you’re looking to put your hands on a Stribog, whether you’re just curious or are looking to take one home with you, we have you covered at The Machine Gun Nest.
