First Contact: The Laugo Alien Pistol Has Landed, and Its out of This World

The Laugo Alien Pistol is anything but ho-hum, yada-yada, same old same old. I think the two-year wait to get my hands on the Alien definitely added to my excitement when I found out I was finally going to get one. I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened it. All the wait and anticipation were definitely worth it when I saw the out-of-this-world pistol, which I can really only describe as the Bugatti of guns sitting in the case in my office. The excitement grew as I uncased it and got to finally handle it.

Alien Invasion: The Laugo Alien Pistol

The Alien is like nothing else we have seen in a pistol. It is a gas piston blowback pistol. It features a 4.8-inch fixed barrel with the lowest bore axis on any pistol in this universe. The Alien’s slide has reciprocating sides while the top part of the slide stays stationary and can be fitted with either iron sights or topped with a red-dot. The pistol was designed by Jan Lucansky, founder of Laugo Arms.

Scorpion Lineage

Most have no idea who Jan is, and neither did I until I did some research. Jan has designed one other gun as well. A subgun that was so unique it caught the eye of firearms manufacturer CZ, who bought the rights to it and deemed it the Scorpion. Yes, you read that correctly. If you put the Alien next to a Scorpion you will immediately notice the similarities in design. I know I did right away! This is probably why I love the Alien pistol so much. My CZ Scorpion is my favorite gun in my collection.

Jan started designing the Alien and Scorpion at the same time pretty much as a hobby. Incredibly, he had never designed a firearm before these two projects. The M8A or Scorpion as we know it was his first design, and he had no intention of selling it or mass producing it at all. The whole super-low bore axis and slide that only the sides move was just an idea that he came up with while designing the Scorpion. I found it remarkably interesting that without the Scorpion, we would probably never have the Alien. The Alien is ready for competition shooting but was, in fact, designed with military use in mind.

What A Specimen!

I do not even know where to start on this one, so let me just start from the ground up. The frame is made of machined aluminum and is attached to the upper portion of the frame, which is made from steel at the dove tail. You get interchangeable grip panels, which I am sure we will start to see options in the future as well as a nice mag well that can also be removed.

I filmed a few videos with this gun outdoors in 95-degree weather with about 100-percent humidity, and one thing I really loved was the grip panels and frame angle on this pistol. Sweaty hands did not slip around on the grip at all, and the gun just pointed perfectly and quickly every time I pulled it up on target. The frame also houses some nice, oversized controls that are all made of aluminum with a reversible magazine button and a Mil Standard 1913 rail up front.

Set back in the triggerguard is an extremely thin trigger that almost seems too good to be true. The only way to describe the trigger is absolutely out of this world. The thing is phenomenal. The trigger boasts an extremely short pull with a crisp break. Reset is almost not even noticeable because it is so damn short. The bottom half of the gun is really nice but pretty standard as far as pistols go. Where things start really getting weird is the top end of the Alien.

Aggressive Styling

The slide, made of steel, features some simple but aggressive serrations front and back. However, the slide’s sides are the only part of the gun that moves. When taken apart, the slide has a good amount of steel that drops into the frame that helps keep the weight of the gun forward and levels out the weight of a full magazine. Even though only the sides of the slide reciprocate, the design allows you to still be able to utilize the serrations for press checks and slide manipulation.

With the red-dot slide mounted atop the slide does get a bit harder to manipulate because you will naturally want to use the red dot to rack the slide, but you will quickly discover the red-dot does not move with the slide. It does create a bit of a learning curve, but it is easy to get past. The top rail stays stationary, which keeps your sights on target from the first shot to the seventeenth shot. The “Full Package” comes with both a fiber-optic, iron-sight top rail and a red-dot rail with a Laugo Arms proprietary red-dot that can be quickly changed out, so you can go from iron sights to red dot in seconds without ever loosing zero on either.

Disassembly

Taking apart the gun uses one of the simplest designs I have ever seen. You literally push a small pin out, give the top rail a little tap backwards and the top rail comes right off. You can stop there if you are just changing out your rail or just pull up on the slide to take it off, which reveals the pistol and recoil spring and the polished fixed barrel that is set super low in the frame—lower than any other pistol’s barrel on the market. The Alien houses the hammer in the top rail, and when you pull the trigger, you are actually pushing a small plunger upward into a lever that releases the hammer. It is extremely unique but makes perfect sense. The piston system is very similar to the HK P7 but is turned upside down. The recoil spring is on top of the barrel.

Range Report

I know what you are all asking yourself by now. How does the thing shoot? Simply put, perfectly. The recoil is unlike any 9mm pistol I have ever squeezed the trigger on. There is extraordinarily little muzzle flip. The gun shoots crazy flat, and once you acquire your sight picture you really don’t lose it when shooting. It is a bit different feel when firing than anything else I have ever shot. The only gun I can compare it too is the Chiappa Rhino in the sense that everything comes straight back into your hands and arms instead of the upward pull of a normal pistol’s recoil. I personally love that push because it does not disturb your sight picture like muzzle flip on a traditional pistol.

Even though ammo prices are out of control, I could not contain myself and ended up feeding around 1,500 rounds through the gun. I shot a wide variety of ammunition through the Alien with one malfunction out of the 1,500 rounds due to a bad primer in a box of 50 reloads I picked up due to ammo shortages. The malfunction was a bad primer. 115-grain Pinnacle TAC-XP, 125-grain Hornady steel match, 124-grain Black Hills JHP, 100-grain Black Hills Honey Badger, and 115-grain Fiocchi FMJ all ran perfectly. I mainly shot outside at steel but I did run some simple accuracy tests on some paper targets with the iron-sight rail and the red-dot rail to compare the two. I started off doing accuracy testing by shooting at 10 yards.

Rounds Downrange

My best groups came with the 100-grain Black Hills Honey Badger rounds, although everything I fed the Alien was accurate and achieved tight groupings. The best 10-yard group I shot was under 1 inch. Out at longer distances, those groups really did not open up very much at all. Even out at 50 yards, I was able to achieve around 3-inch groups with ease when I slowed it down a little. Those groups where achieved standing, unsupported. I had my favorite 15-inch gong steel plate out at 100 yards and figured why not try to reach out and touch that target also? I lined up the iron sights and squeezed the trigger, “TING,” first try at 100 yards with iron sights. Switching to the red-dot rail, my groups only got better once I figured out the dot.

I couldn’t believe how well this thing handled. I was extremely impressed with the performance. Actually, I never cleaned the Alien officially during testing either. I took it apart quite a bit and wiped down the components but never formally cleaned the thing. She just ran no matter what. I was shooting outdoors a lot in disgusting Michigan humidity and even light drizzle for one range session. The one thing with the Alien is it draws everyone around at the range to the gun. I welcome that attention when testing a gun because I feel it is important to get feedback from different shooters with different skill levels and shooting styles. It was really no surprise when even the pickiest shooters I knew pulled the trigger and immediately started smiling. I started calling it the extra-terrestrial grin.

This E.T. Is A Keeper

The gun just works. It shoots insanely flat and just stays on target. You can choose between the two packages Laugo offers through Lancer Systems—the U.S. distributor for the pistols. The Full Package retails for $5,000. It adds an extra magazine, holster and a red-dot rail with a proprietary red-dot mounted on top. It comes in a laser-cut hard case that looks as good as the gun itself. For a bit extra, you can now order the pistol with a threaded barrel for $199 more.

The Alien pistol screams quality and craftsmanship in every part of the package. The holster that comes with the Full Package boasts the same quality as the rest of the gun. Made of aluminum itself and designed to be fully adjustable, the holster makes a fantastic addition to the package because you probably are not going to find a holster anytime soon from most holster companies. The holster allows you to get right into competitions if you want to compete with it. The Alien is like nothing else I have ever shot and can truly be said to be out of this world. Find out more at laugoarms.com.

SPECIFACTIONS: Laugo Alien Full Package

• Caliber: 9mm
• Barrel: 4.8 inches
• OA Length: 8.2 inches
• Weight: 2.2 pounds (empty)
• Grips: Synthetic panels
• Sights: Interchangeable rail/irons or red-dot
• Action: Gas piston, delayed blowback
• Finish: Hardcoat anodized (multiple color options)
• Capacity: 17+1

Laugo Alien Performance

On July 23, 2021, Andy Grossman reported:

I get to handle a lot of different guns from pretty much every manufacturer that has ever made guns. It is a fantastic job; however, sometimes it gets a bit boring. You hear about a new gun coming to the market and get all excited but when you get your hands on it you realize it is really nothing more than another polymer pistol, 1911, or AR variant. This is not the case with the Laugo Alien Pistol.

Tested: Laugo Alien Pistol

I waited nearly two years to get my hands on the Alien. I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened it. All the wait and anticipation was definitely worth it when I saw the Bugatti of guns sitting in the case in my office.

The Alien is like nothing else we have seen in a pistol––designed by Jan Lucansky, founder of Laugo Arms. Most have no idea who Jan is, and neither did I until I did some research. Jan has designed one other gun as well, a submachine gun that caught the eye of CZ. It impressed CZ enough, they bought the rights to it and deemed it the Scorpion. This is probably why I love the Alien pistol so much. My CZ Scorpion remains my favorite gun in my collection.

The Alien comprises a gas-piston blowback pistol. It features a 4.8-inch fixed barrel with the lowest bore axis on any pistol in this universe. The Alien’s slide has reciprocating sides, while the top part of the slide stays stationary and can be fitted with either iron sights or a red dot top. The gun just works. It shoots insanely flat and just stays on target.

You can choose between two packages: the Performance package which has an MSRP of $4,000, and the Full package with an MSRP of $5,000. You get the pistol, iron sight top rail, two mags, and a tool kit with the Performance package. Meanwhile, the Full package adds an extra magazine, holster, and the addition of the red dot rail with a proprietary red dot mounted on top. Shooting the Alien is like nothing else I have ever shot and can truly be said to be out of this world.

The full article originally appeared in the April-May 2022 issue of Ballistic Magazine. Get your copy or digital subscription at OutdoorGroupStore.com.