GUN TESTS GRADE: A (BEST BUY)

$425

This was a recent price at ClassicFirearms.com. When you look at the extra $85 for the Arex Delta over the Stoeger, you have to look at the advantage, if any, the extra dollars contribute to the pistol. Before we begin the technical description, we note one advantage between the Arex and Stoeger is in size. The Arex Delta is smaller, lighter, and thinner than the Stoeger 9mm. The Arex is slightly longer than a Glock 19, while the Stoeger pistol is slightly shorter than a Glock 17. The Arex Delta also recoils harder than the heavier Stoeger as a result of the former’s lighter weight, but then that is physics. If the Stoeger featured 17-round magazines like the Arex the line would be more blurred, but it doesn’t. We could load more than 14 rounds in the Stoeger only with great effort. With the extended-bumper-pad magazine in place, the Arex Delta is the same height as the Stoeger. But the Arex Delta holds 17 rounds in the larger magazine. And the Arex magazines are not difficult to manage at all. They are easily loaded, and they drop free when the magazine release is pressed. We confirmed this before even beginning firing. The 15-round magazine holds more than the actual number of cartridges we were able to stuff into the Stoeger magazines.

The Arex features dual slide-lock levers, which we consider a plus. There are a total of three grip inserts. The raters were in general agreement on these panels; the panels were beneficial, but one rater felt one was too raspy. That is easily changed. Another rater was equally certain the fit and texture was a reason he fired the Arex Delta well. There are dips in the grip frame above the main grip that offer a viable finger rest.

Disassembly is a bit easier than the Stoeger or the Glock as the frame pulls up and out and reassembles the same way. Ergonomics cannot be faulted. Cocking force to rack the slide, however, was the heaviest of the tested pistols.

The Arex action is similar to, but not identical to, a Glock pistol. The Arex trigger action features a definite two-stage feel that makes certain the shooter is in charge of the handgun during firing. The break is considerably lighter than the Stoeger, about 6.0 pounds even, and crisp. During the combat stage, the Arex exhibited excellent results. While the Arex Delta is a Glock 19-size pistol, it performed better than the Glock 17-size Stoeger STR-9. Because the magazine release is ambidextrous, the pistol exhibited excellent speed in reloading, left or right hand. The rear sight allows racking on the belt, although we did not practice this very much. Combat groups were good to excellent. While the pistol developed more recoil than the Stoeger STR-9, the pistol is comfortable to fire. In absolute accuracy, the pistol gave good results. Average groups were consistent at 1.9 to 3.0 inches.

The Arex pistol is clearly in the league with the Glock Generation 5, as far as accuracy potential is concerned. We took a hard look at the Rex Delta and saw that the Rex costs a bit more than the STR-9, but we feel the Delta’s superior trigger and accuracy make it the better choice.

Written and photographed by Gun Tests Staff, using evaluations from Gun Tests team testers.