Austrian BUBIX BRO Subcompact Pistol -The Firearm Blog

Bubix GmbH is an Austrian firearms manufacturer whose first product, a subcompact pistol called Bubix Bro, was launched at the end of the past year. While having a lot of features common for a modern pistol such as a short barrel recoil action with a tilting barrel lockup, the Bubix Bro also features some rather unusual design solutions like the grip safety on the front strap of the grip or the takedown button inside the trigger guard. Let’s take a closer look.

Subcompact Pistols @ TFB:

Bubix Bro is a striker-fired polymer-framed semi-auto pistol chambered in 9x19mm Luger, 9x21mm IMI or 9x18mm Makarov. It is fed from double-stack single-feed magazines of 12-round capacity and has an ambidextrous magazine release button. The barrel length is 3.54″ for all caliber options. The pistol weighs 19.75 – 20.81 oz (depending on the caliber) and has the following dimensions.

The grip safety of the Bubix Bro pistol is an L-shaped spring-loaded lever with one arm protruding from the front strap of the grip and the other arm extending into the trigger guard, behind the trigger, thus physically blocking the latter. When the pistol is gripped, the shooter’s middle finger presses the grip safety in and the trigger blocking lever retracts as shown in the animated image below.

Besides the grip safety, the Bubix Bro pistol also has a drop safety and a firing pin block safety. Optionally, a magazine safety can be installed and the grip safety can be replaced with an ambidextrous manual safety with levers on either side of the trigger guard.

The DLC-coated slide has a closed-top design with an ejection port on the right side. The pistol has a loaded chamber indicator that protrudes from the top of the slide when there is a round in the chamber. The slide release lever is ambidextrous. As seen in the exploded view diagram below (from the user manual of the pistol), the breech (A02) is apparently a separate part installed into the slide.

The sights of the Bubix Bro pistol are made of polymer with white inserts. Although the pistol currently has no red dot sight mounting provision, looks like the company is working on designing a QD red dot attachment system as teased in the following video from their Facebook page.

The polymer frame of the Bubix Bro pistol has a standard 1913 accessory rail and the rear of the magazine well can be equipped with an extension. The frame is available in one of the following color options.

To take the Bubix Bro pistol apart, one must press the takedown button located inside the trigger guard, then slightly push the slide/barrel/recoil spring assembly forward and lift it up off the frame. The barrel and captive recoil spring can then be removed from the slide. The reassembly is in reverse order.