Dagger

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The primary reason I’m a big fan of the Ruger P95 is that for the price (usually $200), you can’t find a 9mm handgun of equal quality and durability. That doesn’t mean the P95 is the ‘best’ 9mm….it simply means that for $200 it’s the best you’ll find. There are other 9mm’s that are superior due to the P95’s dated design.

Most of the P95’s (but not all…most, though) lack an accessory rail, the sights are functional but thats about all you can say about them, threaded aftermarket barrels are virtually unheard of, magazines are proprietary, spare parts are tricky (although I’ve never heard of anything breaking), ergonomics are lacking, and finding a good holster is a trick.

What the P95 brings to the table is utter brute ruggedness, reliability, and economy.

But, if I could get rid of all those negatives and still keep the price down there in the 200’s, then it might be worth moving along to a different platform.

There are a few Glock knock offs floating out there these days, as well as a few well-regarded polymer pistols (Canik, Steyr, etc). The one that caught my eye was Palmetto State Armory’s (PSA) entry…their Dagger 9mm.

The Dagger is clearly a Glock knock-off. So much so, in fact, that the slides/frame interchange although there are some internal parts that are unique. But there’s also a rather large amount of parts that do interchange. And it takes Glock magazines, Glock holsters, Glock sights, and can be had in different colors and with slides that have features such as dot mounts, forward mounted rear sights, etc. But, what separates it from the other Glock wannabes is the price.

PSA sells the frames and slides separate for those who already have a Glock slide (or frame) around that they need to mate up to make a complete gun. So, if you don’t want to buy an already assembled gun (and its excise tax), you can order a frame and order a lower. PSA regularly offers ‘blems’ at a discount and also has ‘flash sales’. It’s that combination of discounts that  made me decide to give them a try.

‘Sniper green’ complete frames were on sale as blems for $59. Okay, sign me up. And then they had a flash sale on ‘sniper green’ complete slides with threaded(!) barrels, suppressor height sights, and optics mounting plate. $199. Again, count me in.

So, for $260 I wind up with an off-brand Glock. Or did I? A gun that is unreliable or just plain won’t work is no bargain. I’ll take it to the range and dump a couple hundred rounds of ball through it.

But what is more interesting is to examine how it changes the logistics environment.

The Ruger P95DC (and P89DC) were never my ‘run out the door’ gun. When it’s time to grab a rifle, pack, and go,go,go my pistol choice will be the Glock. And the Glock is also my secondary tier gun as well, which is why I have so many. But sometimes there are situations where you don’t want to ‘waste’ a $500 pistol. A gun for under the seat of the truck, a gun hidden in a stall out in the barn, a gun tucked in a drawer at your remote cabin, a loaner for friends, etc, etc. Those are the times you want what essentially amounts to a disposable handgun. Good enough to do the job well, but cheap enough that if you lose it you don’t really care. For that scenario, the Rugers fit the bill perfectly.

For $60 more though, I get the economy of not having to buy specific magazines….my stash of Glock magazines will work fine. Same for holsters. And a large amount of my spare parts. And manual of arms. And accessories for the rail. And a threaded barrel for a can. And is a candidate for the ‘carbine/pistol combo that share a common magazine’. Since there’s no need to buy proprietary mags at $20/mag, and no need for a particular holster since I can use my GLock holsters, that would offset, I think, the $60 difference.

So, although in this case its about 1/3 more expensive than a $200 P95DC, the advantages may make it worth the extra coin. And, even at $260, youre still well below the price of most big-name 9mms. And there’s the additional economic incentive of not having to buy extra mags since the existing supply of Glock mags takes care of that side of things.

Pretty much every review I’ve seen so far seems to affirm that they’re pretty much what youd expect – a no-name Glock with mostly Glock performance. But, there’s no substitute for empirical data so I’ll be taking a couple to the range and seeing how they go.

I’ve no intention of dumping two dozen Ruger 9mm pistols on Gunbroker and replacing them all with the PSA gun…I’ve already established the logistics base, so wht not keep them? But for the places where I’d stash a P95DC, I might swap them out for the PSA and get the benefit of being able to leave extra mags, a mounted light, and any one of the huge number of very affordable holsters out there for the Glock.

We’ll see….they should be here this week.

20 thoughts on “Dagger”

  1. The PSA gun sounds like the better value and the more practical of the two, especially if you already have Glock stuff. Let us know what you think after shooting it.

  2. I was at a fun show a few weeks ago and saw a Ruger P95DC for sale $700 and laughed at the price he was asking. A few hours later, I passed the same table and the Ruger sold. The seller told me folks are willing to pay more for privacy and no paper trail these days. Polymer 80 frame kits bought with cash at the shows seem like a smart way to get a quality home built tool at a nice price.

  3. Following. As the supply chain problems highlighted with unobtainium things it is shrewed logistical thinking to stay in one’s lane with kit. Keeping it common and staying with historically available ammo alone is a good lesson. Having homogenous gun sets that share much commonality in parts, mags etc is some real apocalypse collapse forward thinking. I only have a few p95s that are forever keepers no matter what, just because they are cool like that. Any future buys are only going to be redundant units to blend in with the logistics train of things. 2 is 1 but one is none, well a six pack to a baker’s dozen is more gooder. Stay stocked up and Stay Frosty.

  4. I have a couple. $329 delivered with night sights, hard to beat. So far so good.

  5. I’m curious to hear how they perform in the real world.

    I know the parts you have listed for $260 – but what is the real cost of getting them in hand?
    Shipping, fees, and taxes add up fast and increase the real price of getting the gun in hand.
    I’m a dealer and PSA is one of the places that still charges me sales tax, and their shipping is not as low as some places.

    • Usually when they have these sales, the shipping is included. No sales tax for MT. So, I think it was $9.95 for shipping which means that, to be more accurate, its a $269.95 gun.

  6. Given the cost of Glock Mags vs Ruger Mags by the time you have around five for each gun [not that you need to buy any more but we all know you will] the cost will be less than the Rugers.

    • A Magpul Glock mag is <$10, a factory Ruger mag is around 1.5c-2.5x that.

    • I have a Dagger and so far (300 rounds or so) it has worked 100 percent and is about as accurate as any other pistol I have

      Your mileage may vary on the holster interchange with Glocks, some work and some dont

      • As I’m in the UK far less than I want. It’s a slow day so I went and looked them up on Gunbroker and for some odd reason the Daggers are going for more than the new price.

  8. That is some good thoughts put down on paper. Thank you for the explanation.

    Glocks have a reputation for being dependable and don’t break very often. And when they do, replacing parts isn’t a huge deal (as long as you have the part in hand). Nothing handfitted like a revolver often has. If something breaks inside a revolver, a professional is often required to fix.

  9. Got one on Black Friday. Threaded, RMR cut, suppressor height sights, five 15 rd Mags and five 27 rd mags shipped for $399. The mags are worth half the price. Wasn’t in the market but the price was worth the possibility of a future trading item at a show.

    The grip is what has sold me, it fits the hand far better than Glock standard, and as you stated the price. After the 200 rd break in, its as boringly reliable as the Glocks since it is essentially a Gen 3 with cosmetics.

    I think you will like it!

  10. You’ll discover that the Dagger is a tight fit in a lot of holsters meant for the Glock 19. In some, a really tight fit, and in some it won’t fit at all. The trigger guard seems to be a slightly different shape. Not way different but different enough. I found that pretty much any leather holster has enough give to allow the Dagger to fit. You just have to try it and see. I’ve had no issues with mine functioning properly at all.

    • I have read this also. Not sure if it was the trigger guard or the slide opening dimensions? Probably worth a try, however, and the replacement mags and if you use a larger holder like a UM84 or as mentioned here, a leather one, you should have no problems. Sounds like they are reliable as well.

  11. CZ- you should those Highpoints I hear “wonderful” things about them.

  12. They really are pretty neat clones and come with actual metal sights, not the plastic Glock factory ones. I have shot a couple and know several people who have the various flavors of them and they all shoot great, I want to get their 19X version. The only thing I don’t like about them is the trigger guard shape. That little nub at the front makes it not fit into many Glock holsters. I have seen people sand those off and reprofile them and seem to really enjoy the modification.

  13. The Ruger P-series have one advantage over the Glocks: my first gen PC9 carbine shares mags with the pistols.

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