New Avidity Arms PD10 in .30 Super Carry – The Solution to Greater Adoption
Two years ago this month, Federal Premium ammunition introduced the .30 Super Carry to the world. It was simultaneously announced with a few pistols made for this new chambering with offerings from Nighthawk Custom and Smith & Wesson. Little has changed since then except for the availability of the ammo which I seem to see on the store shelves whenever I visit my local shops. But there have been no new pistols announced that accommodate the cartridge.
For it to take off and really succeed before being relegated to the annals of history along with scores of other dead cartridges, adoption by more gun manufacturers must happen. But it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem.
It's not easy to be an early adopter. While it can pay off huge, early adopters also bear the brunt of the risk. And that's something that's not always easy to swallow especially by large manufacturers that all know they can be profitable with the “sure thing” of continuing to produce the pistols that have already been working well for them for a long time.
Think of it this way–an ammunition company approaches a firearms company about a new cartridge project, after all, they need guns to be on the market chambered in this new offering or there's zero market for them to sell the ammunition. At the same time, the firearm manufacturer is a bit leery about producing a handgun chambered in this new cartridge unless there's ammunition available for customers to buy. This requires infrastructure–substantial infrastructure–for this to even occur.
The ammo company has to spin up a whole new operation, or at the very least shutdown production lines of other calibers, to produce the new round. They've got to get it into the distribution networks, and dealers have got to get on board as well to place orders and find room on their shelves for product placement.
See? Chicken. Egg.
And the biggest problem back in 2022 was customers actually being able to get their hands on the product. Many of them were intrigued enough by the .30 Super Carry that they bought one of the three available pistols chambered in it, but then frustration began to mount as they struggled to find consistent supplies of the ammunition. This further discourages other manufacturers from jumping into the market.
Never mind the fact that the last year or so has actually been a bit of an industry-wide downturn economically. Sales of new guns have slowed down considerably.
And thus we find ourselves here.
It seems that supply is quite ample for purchasing .30 Super Carry ammo. What is now needed are more gun options for it to suit more customers.
Avidity Arms Announces PD10 in .30 Super Carry
Today, Avidity Arms officially announces their PD10 pistol chambered in .30 Super Carry. I've been following PD10 development for several years now having talked with founder, Rob Pincus, a number of times about the project and even holding early prototypes in my hands.
It took a great deal of effort, but Avidity Arms was finally able to bring full production to the PD10 and into the hands of consumers last year. Frankly, its refreshing to see a small company be able to bring a from-the-ground-up design to market as it is not easy to do. (Remember the meteoric rise and fall of Hudson Mfg's H9?) I commend Rob and his team in being able to survive ups-and-downs in a saturated market and all of the challenges associated with development and engineering to accomplish the vision.
And now the PD10 is the newest pistol to bring additional cartridge support for the .30 Super Carry. In an industry dominated by giants, it's a small-ish step forward but a significant one in increasing the likelihood of success for this fledgling cartridge.
All other specifications remain the same as far as weight and dimensions of the PD10's 9mm variant. But addition of the .30 Super Carry mean increasing magazine capacity to 12 rounds for 12+1 fully loaded. That's a pretty potent package for a slim, concealable pistol in a round with ballistics every bit as capable as the 9mm.
The .30 Super Carry PD10 is expected to ship to customers in February 2024.
For more info, check out their site: Avidity Arms
What do you think…is the .30 Super Carry here to stay? Are you interested in the PD10 chambered in it? Do you think more manufacturers will get in on the game? Sound off in the comments below!
Excellent Thoughts… thanks for sharing the news!
Time for a S&W PCC in .30 Super Carry.
I think yet another caliber like this isn’t really a niche…it’s more of a promotional gimmick for business. If you want really compact, buy a hot load in .380. If you want established performance and stopping power, just buy a 9mm. I don’t really see the need for this caliber.
That is certainly an argument to be made. On the flip side, having 9mm-like ballistics while also gaining 2 or more rounds, isn’t a terrible idea…
Another benefit is reduced recoil (lighter bullets) without much less muzzle energy. 110 grain .312 bullets at higher velocity gives less recoil than slower 124 or even 115 grain 9 mm.
The question I have; is with higher pressures of the 30 super carry, will the reduced recoil be noticeable if at all?
From shooting a s&w shield plus in 30 sc the recoil is noticeable but less than 9mm in the same package.
That’s because you either haven’t read enough or you weren’t paying attention
The selling point is more rnds. Not more compact, the rnd will do well as edc.
It’s a great choice for those of us with nerve damage to our hands.
I can shoot a 9mm ok but with a good amount of pain, the 30 super is so much better I don’t have to wear gloves to practice. I leave the 45’s and 10’s in the safe. I think the new PD10 will be a better format than the Smith Shield EZ.
Another handgun caliber to shoot…don’t see the problem there. Everyone today is so focused on “defensive guns” that they lose sight of the fact that .9999% of the time we shoot we’re having fun. I’ve never had a bad day at the range. I’ve been shooting and reloading for over 50 years and have handguns in just about every caliber and configuration. I never get tired of a new caliber coming out. When they came out with the 327 Federal Magnum I ended up buying every gun Ruger, Henry, Bond Arms and Taurus cataloged which got me another 20 plus guns to enjoy. Looking forward to getting the Avidity PD10 in 30 Super Carry…and to see what other manufacturers get on the “gun wagon”…..
Yep, 30SC is to 32 acp what 460 Rowland is to 45 acp. I got a Hi Point, just for fun,and it’s almost everyone’s favorite at the range. We are a niche, but target shooters are looking for an affordable, full size target pistol.
I bought a Smith &Wesson Shield Plus in .30 SC. It will hold 17 rounds in a very concealable package. It came with night sights, a 16 and a flush 13 round mag. At a give away price of LESS than 300 bucks. It’s barrel short but a thinner, more shootable gun might appeal to me…….I’ll be watching….
The .30 SC is a significant advancement in cartridges. But so was the .357 Sig. Ponder the .357 Sig…….
Or the 40 S&W.
The 40 was only introduced because the FBI Couldn’t handle the recoil of the 10mm!
I think the products that could mainstream .30 SuperCarry are conversion barrels (threaded) and double-stack magazines for the Glock 43. As someone who cannot afford to lose any more hearing, I’d also wish for heavy subsonic loads and a suppressor the size of the Gemtech Aurora II or JK Armament’s JK105 CCX.
I’m a design engineer for Hi-Point Firearms in Mansfield, Ohio. Yea the folks that have the only PCC chambered in 30 Super Carry. I’ve been working with the cartridge for over 17 months now and people need to start doing there homework. With monolithic all copper bullets in the 50 to 65 grain range the 30SC becomes a beast in a little package. 1,800 fps out of a s&w shield plus with the little 56 gr copper HP I’ve developed with this little bullet average expansion of .640″ in gel and about 13″ penetration. Out of our carbine over 2,400 fps. Soon I’ll be getting my hands on both a 4″ and 5″ version of the PD10. They will probably be in the 1,900 fps with my bullet.
Now I understand with over 45 years of loading experience time is the ultimate to see how the round will perform in different environments, but what I’ve seen in the last 17 months of playing with the cartridge it more than equals the 9mm, blows the 380 out of the water and makes the 5.7×28 look like a 22lr when it comes to energy.
I know everyone has there favorites, but for me my EDC is the S&W Shield Plus in 30 Super Carry. I shelved my 9’s.
Good shooting all
Would love to have your reloading data for 30 super carry.
I don’t understand why the other large gun companies like Glock, Sig, Ruger, Taurus, Springfield, Shadow Systems, etc can’t make the small changes necessary to match S&W and Avidity Arms with a 30sc pistol. If S&W can turn their 13+1 Shield Plus 9mm into a 16+1 Shield Plus 30sc, then Glock, Sig, Taurus, Ruger, SS, and Springfield can do the same to their stack and a half pistols. At a minimum, they could make conversion barrels, magazines, and slides in 30sc as accessories for people to convert their existing 9mm guns. That 21+1 Avidity Arms 30sc video I saw this morning has me getting the credit card ready for a purchase.
This may be a great cartridge and it may give you two extra rounds (article shows 12 rounds vs 10 rounds of 9 mm) but you have to buy a new gun and a new supply of ammunition for it. People should first practice with the caliber and gun they carry every day. They should build up a supply of ammunition in both practice and self defense rounds before they run off and buy the “popular new ammo and gun”. Kinetic energy is one way to evaluate ammunition but there are others including the Taylor equation. There is a great article on the Buffalo Bore website that talks about kinetic energy as well as other critical factors such as bullet diameter, bullet type, and bullet construction. Higher velocity means higher kinetic energy as velocity is squared in the kinetic energy formula but does a smaller bullet at a higher velocity stay in your target, how much damage will it cause? Many things to consider before simply running out to buy a new caliber and a new gun for that caliber.
I bought my 30 SC about a year ago I prefer it Over 9MM, I plan on buying another, My daughters prefer the milder recoil ! Plus While everyone is fighting over the last box of 9mm . 30 SC gives me another op
I’m happy another company is manufacturing a pistol chambered in 30 SC. I love this round and can’t wait for Glock to come on board. Great article.
yea, would love to know what your load data is…
I see some load data for a 71 gr bullet out at shootersreference but not 56gr