There’s new and exciting gear always hitting the market when it comes to gun stuff, especially around the annual SHOT Show. It’s not everyday though that the perennially almost-to-be-released PD10 designed by Rob Pincus and manufactured by Avidity Arms, actually hits the market. I had a chance to catch up with Pincus at the 2023 SHOT Show and subsequent to that, we chatted more about his magnum opus over a phone interview.

The Avidity Arms PD10 is a mid size/compact 9mm polymer framed firearm designed for everyday concealed carry. Pincus told me that the concept of the PD10 came about while having a conversation at a bar in Nuremberg, Germany. Pincus said that he was there for the European version of SHOT Show back in 2013 and the conversation steered towards living in a post Sandy Hook Shooting world. 

“There was a lot of fear in the gun community about what was going to happen after Sandy Hook. And, Obama was talking big about gun control and all that. A lot of companies sprouted up starting to sell AR-15’s,” Pincus said. He continued, “Well, gee, we’ve got a collective 150 years in around this high top table in the industry, we should start our company. It was kind of a joke, but then some of us at the table [continued] carrying that conversation on over the next year.”

What developed was the creation of the PD10. The unique thing about the firearm was the order of operations in which it was designed. Pincus stated that he wanted to make sure the firearm had reliable and easy to source magazines. On that ideology a magazine was sourced and used to design the firearm around. The interesting thing about the magazine that was selected, it eventually became discontinued and another magazine was needed to be selected post initial design.

Pincus talked about the process:

I started working with an engineer. The engineer who had a little bit of experience in the gun community, also in the gun industry, he said, “You know, you’re really designing two things. You’re designing a gun and magazine, they have to work together kind of flawlessly. If you’re going to call it a defensive gun. And you have to pick one first.” And I said, “Alright well, it’s kind of a chicken and egg, right?”

I had a chance to hold the PD10 and manipulate it at the SHOT Show. I found the slim grip with slightly bulbous backstrap to be comfortable. The PD10 was ultimately built around a single stack 9mm 1911 magazine and those dimensions lend themselves to the sleek grip. For my hand, which has a hard time finding full comfort in other so-called compact or mid size firearms, the controls were easily manipulated and reached without issue. I can see this firearm having somewhat of a universal appeal for people with smaller hands up to sasquatch sized paws.

I found the slide to come back with ease and tested out the trigger a few times. The trigger was crisp and did not take a great deal of effort to get past the wall and through the break. It did feel uniquely different, but not in an offensive manner.

Overall, my first impressions of the PD10 were all positive. Naturally I’d like to see how the firearm performs at the range to better make a determination on how well it would suit me.

From the specifications page:

Caliber: 9mm
Action: striker-fired
Capacity: 10+1
Barrel Length: 4”
Frame: Polymer
Overall Length: 6.94”
Width at widest: 1”, Slide is .9″
Weight: 18.8 oz.
Isonite Coating on most metal parts
MSRP: $599 ($625 w/ Optic Cut)

This announcement is not the only exciting news that Pincus had to share with me though. I prodded him about some potentially secret squirrel plans I heard him talk about during a conversation at SHOT and he enthusiastically acquiesced to spilling the beans on the record. Pincus said of the PD10:

I wish I could tall ya to cut the recording and I’m gonna tell you all the secret stuff…I just, I’m not good at keeping secrets. Man, I want to see more American young companies, I want to see more creative and innovative, not only engineering and design, but also approaches to business. You know, I guess one of the things we’re doing it’s also out there that I don’t know, if you and I have talked about is, we’re working on…I’ve got one sitting on my desk right here, a version of the frame that is 3D printing friendly…

We had a team help me develop on guys who are way better at 3D printing than I am…developed a 3D printer friendly frame. And we’re going to be releasing that at the same time the first guns go out to retail, and we’ll be selling parts kits to private gun makers. I think it’s incredibly important that the industry work with the private gun making community to make things as safe, as efficient, and as easy as possible. And I have no doubt that once the 3D gun builders get their hands on this file and get their hands on the guns, they’re going to do some creative stuff.

I asked Pincus about any plans going forward concerning other iterations of the firearm. He told me there are plans for the PD8 to be released, which will be a shorter grip version of the PD10. There are also plans to make a double stack version of the pistol.

The first PD10 is scheduled to ship to and be distributed out of an East coast gun dealer. Dealers have been placing orders with Davidson’s since SHOT Show and Avidity Arms has been saying the first batch will ship “In February”, but my sources say that guns are being assembled the week of the 13th and might be showing up in stores as soon as the 20th.

This is an exciting time as a new company truly hits the mainstream with their flagship pistol finally making it to the market after a decade of planning. I hope that Pincus and all the people over at Avidity Arms all find success in the release of the PD10. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on a PD10 before long and give a closer look at it. For more information on the PD10 and Avidity Arms be sure to check out their homepage.

If you’d like to listen to my full chat with Pincus about the PD10 click HERE or check it out in the embed below.