Game Changer
How the new PSA Dagger redefines what we can expect from a "Budget" pistol
Hello everyone,
After an unfortunate hiatus, I’m happy to be back in the saddle to tell you about a pistol that I believe will take the market by storm this year.
It’s cheap. It’s reliable. It has a lifetime warranty. It’s 100% Made in the USA
The Palmetto State Armory Dagger
Why It’s Important
Long time readers of my Twitter will know how I feel about “budget” guns. In the past (say 10 years ago or before) they were mostly flimsy pieces of crap that most professionals would never dream of using for self defense. It’s gotten better since then, but these cheaper pistols (<$400 MSRP, for reference) still lag behind the Glocks, Sigs, and Smith & Wessons of the world, specifically in terms of features and parts longevity.
Enter the Dagger.
They say Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery, and PSA took this to heart, deciding not to engineer a pistol from the ground up, but instead reverse engineer an existing design to make it more “value-oriented”
That design in question? The venerable Glock 19. Specifically Glock’s "Generation 3” model, which recently aged out of its patent protection.
PSA could have easily just made a hack copy of the G19 Gen3 and been done with it. After all, it’s one of the most reliable, best selling, proven pistols ever made. But fortunately for us, good ol’ American Ingenuity isn’t dead in some parts of this country, and PSA decided the Dagger needed…..more.
Head to Head
The Dagger comes in many variants, but for the sake of comparison we’ll put its “base model” with an MSRP of $300 (Above) head to head with a stock Glock 19 Gen 3, which today has an MSRP of about $500 (Below)
Compared to the Glock, the Dagger offers
Improved slide serrations, making the pistol easy to manipulate in muddy or wet conditions
Improved grip texture and ergonomics for a more solid handgrip, helping practical accuracy
Metal 3 Dot iron sights, improving on Glocks terrible plastic sights, easily the first thing that Glock owners replace on a “stock gun”
But are you a tactical bro and left still wanting more? You can pony up an extra $100 (ie. still $100 less than you would spend for a stock Glock brand Glock) and PSA will throw this bad boy at you: Now you have a threaded barrel to mount a suppressor/silencer, raised sights to accommodate that silencer, and a slide cut to use a red dot sight, all out of the box. A Glock set up like this would easily cost you $800 to $900
This sounds too good to be true, you might think. Where’s the catch?
TLDR…..it’s the trigger. Maybe.
Instead of using Glock’s typical trigger safety, the Dagger uses a hinged trigger design similar to the Smith and Wesson M&P. Receptions to this trigger have been….less than outstanding. It certainly works well enough to be functional, but for everything else being so above average, the trigger seems like a giant step backward, especially considering how excellent Striker-fired triggers have become in the last few years. This is 2005 tech riding in a 2022 design.
But although it’s a major disappointment, it doesn’t sting as much because….
Buying into Clout
The Dagger has one other major advantage over the Budget Pistol competition by being a “Glock Clone”… it’s compatible with aftermarket Glock parts and accessories.
Hate the trigger? Well lucky for you specialty manufacturers have been making replacement Glock triggers for three decades. You can replace them with simple hand tools (although being your resident Officer Safety, I’d recommend you pay a gunsmith to do it for you).
Need a quality holster? More companies make holsters for the Glock 19 than any other pistol out there, bar none. On the other hand, good luck finding one for your cheapo Taurus or Canik.
Do you want to get into competition shooting? Glock magazines are cheap, available everywhere, and nearly indestructible. You can order a dozen of them at a time, and you don’t have to worry about beating the hell out of them by dropping them on the ground while practicing reloads.
When you get a Dagger, you’re not just buying a pistol, you’re buying into 40 years of legwork and product development done for you ahead of time, both by autistic Austrian engineers and the finest redneck gunsmiths America could throw at it. As someone who buys and sells a lot of handguns and hates having to get new accessories in order to carry new gear, I can’t really emphasize how big of an advantage this is. It’s one of those things you can’t truly appreciate until you’ve “been there, done that.” Tony Soprano remarked that it’s good to get in on the ground floor of some things.
Guns are not one of those things.
Wrapping Up
I hope you enjoyed this little write-up on the PSA Dagger. I’ve gotten the chance to handle one, but I still need to get out to the range to put one through its paces. Luckily, they seem to be getting good marks for reliability from all the YouTube gun guys who pay out of pocket to run thousands of rounds through these things just for fun.
Would I recommend you get one? For the money, hell yeah. If you know someone wanting to get into guns on a budget, this would be a great starting off point (maybe you’ll consider forwarding them this article! ). I definitely plan on getting one over this summer and reporting back after I’ve put a 1000 rounds or so through it. Speaking of which, a quick note on housekeeping….
I appreciate you accommodating my hiatus from posting on Substack over the last couple weeks as I’ve transitioned to a new job in a new field. It’s been a big adjustment and I’m thankful for your support.
I have excellent news though: I have a solid backlog of content, so after today’s post, you can expect a fresh Public or Private post every three days for the next couple weeks.
Can’t wait to talk again. Have a great rest of your weekend.
This is great. Thank you!