I’ve been on a .30 Super Carry jihad for the better part of a year now. With nearly a dozen articles on the subject, incessant social media posting, training and competing with 30SC, and more, there’s no end in sight. Virtually all of this experience has been with my Smith & Wesson Shield Plus, which has been an EDC staple since the end of 2023. That being said, there are other options for pistols chambered in .30 Super Carry. Around SHOT Show 2024 Avidity Arms announced the latest addition to their PD10 line, that being support for 30SC.
As the only option in .30 Super Carry with a 4-inch barrel, they had my immediate interest. Fast forward a few months and I reached out to Rob Pincus of Avidity asking to borrow one of their new PD10’s for some ballistic gel testing. Not one to waste an opportunity, I also took notes for a formal review of the pistol as well. We’ll talk about my gel test results later. For now, let’s take a look at the Avidity Arms PD10 in .30 Super Carry.
Design of the Avidity Arms PD10 in 30 Super Carry
The Avidity Arms PD10 is a full size, single stack, striker fired pistol with a polymer frame. Think sort of like a Commander size 1911 or slimline Glock 19X–long grip and 4-inch barrel. The gun features a 12-round magazine in .30SC, which is derived from a 9mm 1911 magazine variant. This is an upgrade of two rounds, or an additional 20% capacity. For those asking, no, this magazine is not the same as found in other 9mm 1911’s. While it isn’t proprietary, it is a less common design.
The trigger is close to what I’d call a rolling break for a striker fired design, which I’m pretty pleased with. A traditional safety blade can be found in the middle of the trigger face, acting as your safety device on the PD10. Outside of this, your only controls are a slide lock lever, and the magazine release. This slide lock is larger than what is found on Glock, but never interfered with the slide locking open. A small loaded chamber indicator can be found on the barrel hood, giving visual and tactile feedback without being obtrusive.
Overall, things are pretty low-profile here. Southpaws will need to use the right-handed controls, but everything is of reasonable size to be useable without getting in the way.
More Details
The frame features some unique texturing including a sort of celtic/trinity knot logo on the backstrap. It’s enough to help me maintain control with sweaty hands without being aggressive for those with soft hands. Either side of the gun features molded in reference points for your trigger finger, which I found to be a nice touch.
The accessory rail is a bit short unfortunately. I tried mounting a Surefire X300U, and the Streamlight TLR-1 and TLR-7 without any success. However the Streamlight TLR-7 Sub did fit onto the shorter rail. With some extra real estate available on the dust cover, I’d love to see another segment added to help fit service size weapon lights.
Sights
Your sight picture on the Avidity Arms PD10 is solid. The front sight is nicely squared with a bright tritium vial for use in low light. The rear sight is a little more open than I prefer, but certainly less than some offerings from other companies. Overall I think it’s a reasonable mix of speed and precision, and I had no issues making slow-fire hits on a B-8 Repair Center at 25 yards.
The PD10 comes cut for optics from the factory. Holosun K-Series or Shield RMSc is the standard cut here, with a decorative cover plate installed from the factory. Unfortunately the optic I planned to test was out for service during my brief 30-day stint with the PD-10, so all shooting was done with iron sights. Avidity did include longer screws for use with an optic in the box.
Range Time with the Avidity Arms PD10 in 30 Super Carry
I was given 30 days to review the PD10 on loan. During this time I attended the Rangemaster Advanced Shotgun Instructor Course, and my first child came home for the first time. Due to these restrictions, the round count here is fairly low. Range time consisted of two outings for ballistic gel testing, and some regular practice at the indoor range. In total, I fired 343 rounds out of the standard configuration of the Avidity Arms PD10.
- 25x Federal Champion 90gr FMJ
- 2x Failure to feed
- 19x Remington UMC 100gr FMJ
- 2x Failure to feed
- 95x Blazer Brass 115gr FMJ
- 10x fail feed
- 150x Federal American Eagle 100gr FMJ
- 4x Failure to feed
- 1x Double feed
- 15x Hornady Critical Defense XTP
- 1x Failure to feed
- 12x Speer Gold Dot 115gr JHP
- 2x Failure to feed
- 15x Federal HST 100gr JHP
- 10x Federal Punch 103gr JHP
- 2x Remington HTP 100gr JHP
As a special treat, Rob Pincus sent me out a prototype 5-inch barrel and slide for the PD10. Due to this slide length being a prototype, I did not capture data for reliability here. These were simply fired as part of my ballistic gel testing process. These bring the total round count for the frame up to 383.
- 10x Hornady Critical Defense XTP
- 10x Speer Gold Dot 115gr JHP
- 10x Additional using 5-inch barrel
- 10x Federal Punch 103gr JHP
Recoil is slightly less than my Shield Plus, making it an easy gun to shoot. A few runs of Dot Torture gave me average performances at five yards, which I consider completely acceptable. With irons, I was able to repeatedly keep rounds inside of a 3-inch circle at 15 yards, standing unsupported.
A Note from Avidity
If you were paying attention, you’ll notice mention of a prototype 5-inch barrel for the PD10. For those wanting more details, here’s what Rob Pincus has to say on the subject:
“Avidity Arms has made it public knowledge that they would like to bring a full size 5″ double stack pistol to market in the future. Naturally, Pincus has used his 3D Printing know-how to prototype a frame and the company has made a handful of 5″ slides…
Avidity is NOT offering a 5″ version of either caliber at this point, and have no timeline for potential future release.”
So there you have it! No timeline for release, but I can say that the 5-inch configuration also did very well in my gel testing with 30SC. Stay tuned for that data coming up soon!
Final Thoughts on the Avidity Arms PD10 in 30 Super Carry
It was really interesting to get my hands on the Avidity Arms PD10. There aren’t many options for those of us who love .30 Super Carry, and so I’m happy to see something service sized. While it’s outside the scope of this piece, the longer barrel lengths available from Avidity offer great performance out of available loads in this caliber. If you’re thinking about giving .30SC a try, the PD10 is one of just a few options, and is currently the only gun available with a barrel length matching what .30 Super Carry is designed around.
MSRP on the PD10 is $625.00. You can get information on ordering yours from Avidity Arms >>HERE<<
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