FN America is now selling a flat dark earth version of the FNS-9 Compact pistol. This announcement comes two months ahead of the 2017 SHOT Show, suggesting the company could be reserving a few big announcements for January.
IWI US announced the company is now offering Jericho JGear Pistol Kits featuring the 941 pistols. These kits include both a gun and the shooting accessories.
Guns available are the F9, FS9, PL9 and PSL9 versions of the model 941 handgun. All of the guns are equipped with Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights. These sights use tritium vials that glow without an outside power source so you have a better sight picture when aiming in low light conditions.
In addition to the pistol, each kit contains a variety of products. These include:
The MSRP on these kits is $699 for the polymer framed pistol and $779 for the steel framed gun.
Right now, the kits appear to be only available for guns in 9mm. IWI US offers Jericho pistols in other calibers, but it remains to be seen if it will offer kits for other guns.
Colt’s Manufacturing Company (Colt) announced several new additions to its Competition Pistol line of 1911-style handguns. One is a blued finish pistol chambered in .38 Super while three additional models are in stainless steel.
Walther Arms is now introducing a new pistol called the Creed. The new Walther Creed promises to deliver all of the standard, high-quality features that the company’s handguns are known for, but at an incredibly low price: $399.
The new Creed is a full-size 9mm pistol with many of the same features that shooters have come to expect from the company’s other handguns, including:
The Creed is hammer fired, not striker fired, and uses a pre-cocking, double-action trigger. Walther states the trigger pull to be a constant 6.5 pounds and very smooth.
The gun has a 4″ barrel and ships with two 16-round magazines. A 10-round, restricted state version is also available. Unloaded, the gun weighs about 27 ounces.
The Creed looks to be a less-expensive version of the PPX pistol. The two guns share many of the same features, and I would not be surprised to discover that the magazines are interchangeable between the two guns.
Both guns are hammer fired with a 6.5 pound pull. Both guns have a 4″ barrel and hold 16+1 rounds of 9mm. Both guns weigh…wait for it…27 ounces.
There are some obvious differences between the two guns of course. The frames are molded slightly differently (look at the trigger guard and accessory rail, for example.)
Also, the slide on the PPX has more machining. The additional machining on the PPX could easily account for some of the price difference between the guns. Other companies have offered less expensive versions of guns that, while functionally very similar, had simplified machining and engineering processes.
On the whole, its not a bad business decision for Walther to go after the budget market. Smith & Wesson has been making huge money in this niche with its SD series of pistols.
In addition to the bottom line, the move can also benefit the customer. Someone who cannot afford a $500-$600 pistol may be able to swing a $350 one. So much the better that the customer have Walther as an option.
Years in the making, Remington is finally launching the RP45 pistol. This polymer-framed, striker-fired handgun has been under development for several years and just now coming to market.