Smith & Wesson Launches Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ
Smith & Wesson Inc. today launched the new Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ, chambered in 9mm and featuring a variety of Performance Center upgrades. Building on the popular M&P9 Shield EZ pistol, the new Performance Center models share the same easy-to-use features found across the entire M&P Shield EZ series, and are further enhanced with premium Performance Center features. The Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ pistols are available with striking black, silver, and gold accents, and include a ported barrel, flat face trigger, tuned action, and more.
Tony Miele, Sr. Director, New Products and Performance Center, said, “Performance Center has the ability to design and manufacture specialty upgrades normally found in aftermarket work, straight from the factory. With the popularity of the M&P9 Shield EZ, we set out to develop Performance Center versions with porting, a tuned action, aftermarket sights, and more. These new pistols deliver easy-to-use features with the custom upgrades that our customers expect the Performance Center to deliver.”
Built for personal and home protection, the new Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ pistols are the latest addition to the M&P Shield EZ family and feature an 8+1 round capacity and a 3.8″ barrel. The Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ pistol ships with two 8 round magazines that feature a load assist tab for quick, easy loading, as well as a picatinny-style equipment rail to accommodate accessories. The pistol also features an optimal M&P pistol 18-degree grip angle for a natural point of aim, HI-VIZ Litewave H3 sights, and a light, crisp trigger.
The MSRP on the Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ pistols is $588.
Springfield Armory Releases .308Win Chambered Pistol SAINT Victor
Standard 9mm pistol on your hip not enough? AR pistols chambered for 5.56 still not quite there yet on firepower? Remington 700 bolt-action pistol just a little too slow for your taste? Springfield has you covered with their latest release – The SAINT Victor Pistol in .308.
As part of the SAINT Victor line, this pistol is loaded with premium components. Purpose built for defensive use, the SAINT Victor Pistol in .308 is a serious use firearm, featuring an HPT (High Pressure Tested) and MPI (Magnetic Particle Inspected) bolt to confidently handle a heavy round count schedule. From its Melonite finished barrel, to its pinned low profile gas block, to its crisp and grit free enhanced nickel boron coated, single stage flat trigger, the SAINT Victor Pistol in .308 adds a potent defensive platform to the SAINT pistol family.
This new SAINT pistol packs .30-caliber power into a 10.3″ CMV-barreled package that measures just over 28″ with the SB Tactical SBA3 five-position brace fully collapsed. Round that out with excellent appointments such as a BCMGUNFIGHTER Mod 3 pistol grip, 20-round Magpul PMAG Gen M3 magazine, a patented, rock solid, free float M-Lok handguard, and an SA 2-Piece Blast Diverter, and you have a pistol that easily tames the .308 cartridge while remaining handy and compact. Continue reading
Ruger Introduces the PC Charger Pistol
Gentlemen, you had my curiosity… but now you have my attention.
We first laid eyes on the Ruger PC Carbine at Range Day during the 2018 SHOT Show and almost immediately fell in love. It’s a take-down pistol caliber carbine that feels and shoots like a real-deal rifle from a great firearms company. While I haven’t had the extra money (or, realistically, the need for another PCC) to put one in my safe, every time I see one out in the wild, I long to have it. Now, Ruger has stepped up their game with a pistol version.
The just announced PC Charger is a 9mm pistol based on Ruger’s popular PC Carbine Chassis model. The PC Charger boasts an abundance of features including a 6.5″ barrel; an integrated rear Picatinny rail that allows for mounting of picatinny-style braces; a glass-filled polymer chassis system; a flared magazine well for improved magazine reloading capabilities; and an ergonomic pistol grip with extended trigger reach.
The glass-filled polymer chassis system allows for the use of standard AR pistol grips. These models utilize a CNC-machined, hard-coat anodized aluminum handguard with Magpul M-LOK-compatible slots at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions for easy mounting of M-LOK-compatible rails and accessories. The 6 o’clock position of the handguard features a factory-installed handstop for secure support-hand placement.
These models also maintain several hallmark features of the original PC Carbine, including an easily interchangeable magazine well system that allows the pistol to accept Ruger Security-9 and SR9 magazines, as well as Glock double-stack magazines; a dead blow action with a custom tungsten weight that shortens bolt travel and reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise; a reversible magazine release and charging handle to accommodate right- or left-handed use; a simple takedown mechanism to allow for quick separation of the barrel/forend assembly from the action; a durable heat-treated, chrome-moly steel bolt; a cold hammer-forged chrome-moly steel barrel with ultra-precise rifling and a 1/2″ x 28 threaded barrel.
The threaded barrel, coupled with a brace like the SB FS1913, would make this thing a great home defense/range/truck gun that can share magazines with your carry pistol. Or, I guess, if you’re feeling adventurous, it could be your carry pistol.
The PC Charger models ship with the SR-Series and Security-9 pistol magazine well installed and an additional magazine well that accepts newer Glock magazines. A 9mm Luger Ruger American Pistol magazine well is available separately at ShopRuger.com.
The standard model features a 17-round capacity, and an additional 10-round, state compliant model also is available.
At an MSRP of $799, it’s a little steep, cutting into CZ Scorpion territory, but likely to come down in price and go up in availability faster. Add in the handy takedown feature and that it comes with some nice accouterments, if I were going to add a firearm from this genre to my collection, I think this would be the one.
FN Expands FN 509 Line with Optics-Ready Midsize Model
FN America, LLC is pleased to announce the release of an optics-ready variant of its FN 509 Midsize pistol. The FN 509 Midsize MRD combines the highly desirable 15-round frame size with FN’s patented optics mounting platform.
The FN 509 Midsize MRD’s ideal combination of four-inch slide and barrel with midsize frame retain full-sized pistol performance in an easily concealed package. The Midsize MRD now features blacked-out cowitness iron sights that allow the user to maintain focus on the red dot of their optic with a clear sight picture. The pistol ships with two 15- or 10-round magazines and optics mounting hardware to mount more than 10 commercially available optics in a soft-sided zip case. The FN 509 Midsize MRD is now available at FN-authorized retailers nationwide and has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $799.00.
Ruger AR-556 Pistol Now in .300 Blackout
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. is pleased to announce a new AR-556 Pistol chambered in .300 Blackout. The second addition to the Ruger AR-556 Pistol line features a 10.50″ cold hammer-forged barrel with a 1:7″ twist and pistol-length gas system to reliably function with both the lightest supersonic hunting rounds and heavy, subsonic rounds.
This new .300 Blackout model is equipped with an adjustable SB Tactical SBA3 Pistol Stabilizing Brace® that features a minimalist design and integral QD sling sockets. The pistol also boasts a 9″ aluminum free-float handguard with Magpul M-LOK accessory attachment slots for easy user customization.
The dust cover and metal magazine are marked with the caliber for easy identification of both the pistol and ammunition. The pistol-length gas system is tuned to run with a wide variety of ammunition, with or without a silencer. The 5/8″-24 muzzle threads are capped with a thread protector.
For more information on the AR-556 Pistol, or to learn more about the extensive line of award-winning Ruger firearms, visit Ruger.com or Facebook.com/Ruger. To find accessories for the AR-556 Pistol and other Ruger firearms, visit ShopRuger.com or your local independent retailer of Ruger firearms.
Glock Introduces Two New Slimline Models – G43X and G48
G43X and G48 Officially Announced Just Ahead of SHOT Show
Several weeks after an online “leak” began creating buzz about the two new single-stack 9mm Glock pistols, the company officially announced the new additions today.
The rumor mill kicked off with word of the G43X, complete with rendered photos of what the new pistol – a G43’s 3.4″ barrel and 6″ slide atop a .75″ longer grip – would look like. This longer grip gives it a magazine capacity bump of four rounds from six to 10. As several totally-organic posters on social media pointed out that the “X” designation meant that it was crossed something, news of the G48 spread. This latest offering has a nearly identical footprint as the G19 but shaves off a tremendous 0.16″ at a loss of 5 rounds, matching the 43X’s 10 round capacity.
The GLOCK 43X and the GLOCK 48 feature the design of the Slimline series with a silver slide and are a perfect fit for everyday carry. Chambered in 9x19mm, both pistols feature a compact Slimline frame with silver nPVD finish.
“With the success of the Slimline series in the marketplace and over one million GLOCK 43 pistols sold in just three years, the Slimline series pistols have been tested, trusted and proven,” said Glock Vice President Josh Dorsey. “We listened to the consumers request for a GLOCK Slimline model with increased round capacity and both of these pistols deliver that flawlessly. GLOCK’s continued pursuit of perfection drives innovation while not straying from our promise of reliability and durability and that is demonstrated in the G43X and G48.”
Designed for comfort, the G43X and G48 combine a longer grip length with a minimal width around 1” for what the company describes as “a comfortably balanced, versatile grip that’s ideal for a variety of users.” While the two pistols share the same size frame, they have different slide lengths.
These pistols incorporate elements of the Slimline series such as the short trigger distance, a frame with a built-in beavertail, a reversible magazine catch and the match-grade GLOCK Marksman Barrel (GMB). The G43X and G48 also feature precision-milled front serrations. Both models are available in three sight configurations; standard, GLOCK Night Sights (GNS), and our personal favorite, Ameriglo BOLD.
The silver Slimline models G43X and G48 will be showcased at SHOT Show 2019 and will be available on dealer shelves beginning January 21st. The GunLink team will be sure to get some hands-on range time with the new pistols and share our experiences here and in the GunLink Forums SHOT Show board.
For more information about the new Slimline series G43X and G48, contact GLOCK, Inc. or go to https://us.glock.com/a-perfect-fit.
