The Loadout Blog

Firearms|First Shots

By Drew Bryant
February 23rd, 2023, theloadoutblog.com

Ever since the original release of the Flux Defense MP17 over four years ago, I have been a massive fan of their chassis. Since its release over four years ago, I have been trying to get my hands on this one-of-a-kind platform. In 2020, the company upgraded MP17 and released the new Flux Raider. The Raider took feedback from the Special Forces community to make a more well-rounded chassis for the end user. Now, the only thing holding back that chassis from greatness is its spotty availability and price gouging by resellers. Getting your hands on a Raider is a difficult task. I have chased this great white Buffalo for some time, believing I would never get my hands on this elusive prize. Finally, at Shot Show’s Range Day, I got on the elusive Flux Raider.

Before we get into my initial assessments and first shots, a few disclaimers, first, I only had limited time with the gun. I only shot 30-40 rounds out of the Flux Raider. On range day, I was given a rundown on the Raider and its features by Ben, the owner of Flux Defense. Second, I have no video footage of me shooting this. I wasn’t concerned about getting a video of me shooting the platform. I just wanted to make that point clear. Third, I am a fanboy of this platform. I think it brings a wonderful dose of innovation to a market that needs it. I will try to be as impartial as possible, but I understand this article might be biased in one direction, aka positive. Now, on to my impressions and first shots.

Flux Raider

Build & Design

The Flux Raider is a compact and versatile chassis that allows you to convert your ordinary P320 pistol into a capable Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC). It’s as simple as dropping your fire control group (FCU) into the Raider chassis. Mount the slide to the chassis, and you’re ready to go. The Raider is lighter and stronger than its predecessor. Features a new injection-molded polymer, chrome-moly steel, and a black nitride finish for maritime operations, and the chassis weighs in at a merger 18oz.

Manual of Arms

The Raider design is compact yet intuitive. The manual of arms is taken straight from an AR platform. If you can run an AR effectively, you can run a Raider effectively. The brace feels sturdy when in your shoulder. The arms of the brace don’t feel like they will collapse in on you at any time. The system used to lock them in place is very robust. The brace that is up against your shoulder is of solid build quality as well.

The only thing I would want is for the brace to be adjustable. Maybe three length settings collapsed, partially collapsed, and fully extended. This might not be possible due to how the slide reciprocates on the chassis. I might be setting up a PM-63 situation. (If you don’t know what I mean, go look it up real quick)

The Raider also features an ambidextrous safety to accommodate both left and right-handed shooters, a flared magwell for easier reloads, and a dual magazine release. The secondary magwell upfront that can hold a loaded magazine is angled in such a way as to act as an angled foregrip, which allows you to use your non-dominated hand to bring that system firmly into your shoulder. Overall the manual of arms for the Raider is intuitive, with a slight learning curve. Once you understand the chassis and its setup, you can be effective and accurate on target with this chassis.

First Shots

I only had 30-40 rounds with the Raider. In those 30-40 rounds, I was able to get a good impression of how this system shoots. I will be honest with you; it’s fun as hell. The Raider is a fun setup to shoot. The recoil impulse was smooth. Easy to conduct hammer pairs and maintain sights on target. The Raider chassis gives you a good heads-up posture when shooting. It will provide you with the red dot riser height in the ballpark of 2-2.26”; that’s a rough estimate. This would give you the height of a Unity Fast Mount., allowing you to keep your head and eyes up to analyze your target and environment.

I also shot a suppressed variant of the Raider. Again it was a pleasure to shoot. Recoil impulse was essentially nonexistent. It was a silky-smooth shooting experience. You didn’t experience much gas blowback from the suppressor, which is a nice bonus. When shooting suppressed, it was ridiculously quiet at the ear. I removed my ear protection to hear the difference, which was crazy. Running the Raider would be my preferred way to shoot it.

Final Thoughts

The Flux Raider is a fun system to shoot and features an intuitive chassis that is quick to pick up and learn, allowing the end user to become proficient quickly, as all things in life will take time to master. The Raider morphs your P320 from a one-dimensional firearm into a system that can be an end user’s bag gun, truck gun, or the gun they use for home defense. While also increasing their effectiveness and lethality by giving them a more stable platform than the pistol. The Raider is an excellent chassis that turns your one-dimensional gun into the Jack of all trades, and I like that.