Laugo Alien – A Firsthand Look
By Shane Oswald
The first thing you may notice about the Laugo Alien is the eye-catching gold accents of the Creator Series. For others, it’s the space-age contours and geometry—seemingly pulled straight from a sci-fi movie. But the unconventional shapes of this firearm are not just for show.
Without experiencing it firsthand, it’s impossible to fully describe how naturally this gun fits in your hand. Like stepping into a high-end sports car, the Alien makes nearly every other handgun feel clunky and unrefined. The moment you pick it up, you’ll realize there’s something different going on. The web of your hand settles surprisingly high on the backstrap, and only a small portion of the slide rests over your firing grip. With a high-index grip, the barrel aligns with your pointer finger—almost like an extension of your body.
With the Laugo Alien, low profile is an understatement, and muzzle flip becomes a thing of the past. Through incredible feats of engineering, this gun channels recoil straight back into your hand, helping you stay on target and enabling faster, more accurate follow-up shots. There’s no need to reacquire your sights after each round—because with the Alien, you never lose them.
What Makes It Different
You may be wondering what makes this gun unique under the hood and what truly sets it apart from the sea of modern handguns. Most pistols today rely on a short-recoil, tilting-barrel system—first introduced over a century ago by John Moses Browning. It’s simple, reliable, and accurate enough for most shooters.
But for the designers at Laugo, “good enough” wasn’t good enough.
To extract the maximum possible performance from the platform, they turned to a rare but effective system: gas-delayed blowback. Though only tried a handful of times in handguns, this system offers serious advantages. Most notably, the Laugo Alien’s barrel is fixed to the frame, unlike traditional short-recoil guns where the barrel tilts during cycling.
Short-recoil systems constantly strive for “tight lockup”—a consistent return of the barrel and slide to the exact same position. With a barrel that never moves, the Laugo Alien offers the most repeatable and precise lockup possible, resulting in truly outstanding mechanical accuracy.
Practical Accuracy for Every Shooter
Mechanical accuracy is important—but it’s the Alien’s thoughtful design that translates that potential into results for the shooter.
Hidden inside is a single-action hammer, mounted upside down on the top strap of the frame. While unconventional, it delivers a short, crisp 4-pound trigger pull that easily rivals or outperforms most striker-fired pistols. Combined with the Alien’s ultra-low bore axis and smooth, gas-delayed cycling, this makes it incredibly easy to shoot well—even for beginners.
Inside the Gas-Delayed System
At the heart of the Alien is its gas-delayed piston system, which redirects gas from in front of the chamber to delay the slide from moving rearward. Once the pressure drops to a safe level, the slide cycles backward and ejects the spent casing.
This system is not only safe—hotter rounds simply delay cycling a bit longer—but it also reduces slide velocity, which in turn helps reduce felt recoil.
The Legacy of the H&K P7
One of the most famous pistols to use gas delay was the Heckler & Koch P7, a unique “squeeze-cocker” design now prized by collectors. It also featured a low bore axis and fixed barrel, but high production costs and complexity limited its commercial success.
The Laugo Alien, in many ways, is a refined spiritual successor to the P7—but with a twist. Laugo engineers inverted the gas system, tucking the piston and recoil spring above the fixed barrel. This allows the barrel to sit almost perfectly in line with the shooter’s hand, eliminating muzzle flip and driving recoil straight into your grip.
While other manufacturers race to flatten recoil through porting and compensators, the Laugo Alien waits calmly at the finish line.
Personal Story: One Hole, Three Shots
Before wrapping up, I want to share a quick personal story.
Part of my job is zeroing guns for customers. I’ve done it hundreds of times—sitting on a stool, resting the gun on a block, and taking a three-shot group. These three shots give a reliable average, accounting for both shooter error and the gun’s natural dispersion.
Of course, some firearms shoot tighter than others. The best ones leave you with a small cloverleaf pattern—where the holes just touch.
The first time I shot the Alien, I followed the same process: stool, block, 15-yard target. I focused on the fundamentals—breath control, grip, smooth trigger press. The trigger broke cleanly, and the recoil was surprisingly soft.
But what really surprised me came after the second shot. I expected to see two holes, but there was still only one. I briefly considered that I’d pulled a shot—maybe even had a squib round—so I locked the slide back and checked the bore. Everything looked good.
I took the third shot.
Still one hole.
When I brought the target in, I saw it: three perfectly centered rounds, all through the exact same hole. No cloverleaf, no oval—just one clean, concentric dot. It wasn’t a fluke either. As I continued to zero the gun, its consistency left a lasting impression.
Out of all the customer guns I’ve fired, few have truly stood out.
The Laugo Alien is one of them.
