Jacob Grey Nox 9

Jacob Grey builds its pistols in Prosperity, South Carolina, and the Nox 9 sits at the top of its handgun line. It's a 9mm double-stack pistol in the 2011 style, built for people who want a gun that shoots fast and stays flat.

The heart of the design is the barrel. The 5-inch barrel is ported and works with an integrated compensator to hold the muzzle down between shots. The slide is machined from 416 stainless steel and gets an ArmorLube treatment, as does the frame. That finish makes the surfaces hard and slick, and it gives the slide-to-frame fit a very smooth feel.

Construction is billet throughout. The frame is 4140 steel and the grip module is 7075 aluminum with hex-pattern relief cuts. The critical controls are machined from billet tool steel, not cast or made by metal injection molding, and they're coated in the company's Copper Canyon PVD finish. That copper color against the dark slide is the Nox 9's most recognizable detail.

It's ready for a red dot out of the box. An RMR-footprint adapter plate comes installed from the factory, so you only need to add a compatible optic. At 39 ounces unloaded, the Nox 9 has enough weight to soak up recoil without feeling like a brick.

Jacob Grey makes these in small batches, and each one is hand-fitted, inspected and tested before it ships. The pistol arrives in a deluxe Savior Equipment case with two 18-round Mec-Gar magazines. If you're after a 2011 that feels hand-built and looks different from the usual all-black gun, the Nox 9 is worth a close look.