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Much like everyone else in our consumer-driven world, I love new things! Especially when they are affordable. The S300 Grip Module from Amend2 happens to be both new and affordable. Amend2 is mostly known for its magazines made for AR 15s, AR 10s, and Glocks. The S300 came out of nowhere and premiered at SHOT Show 2020. Then we got a long wait between then, and the time the S300 hit the American market.

Obviously, since March 2020, things have been a bit crazy, and everything hit a delay or two. Luckily, the S300 grip modules are here and ready to take your P320 to the next level of concealment.

So What’s the S300 Do?

The S300 is a P320 grip modular that allows you to shrink your P320 beyond subcompact. In fact, it shrinks the grip considerably, so much so that P320 magazines are no longer an option. Instead, the S300 grip module utilizes Sig P365 magazines. This crazy hybrid design uses the P320 FCU combined with P365 magazines to provides the smallest P320 possible.

Remember how the Glock 19X used a long grip with a shorter slide? Well, the S300 does the opposite. You get a shorter grip with a long slide which sounds odd but presents a rather effective concealed carry firearm.

Why Would I Want That?

Good question, and maybe you don’t want it. I can tell you why I wanted it, though. First, it makes for a much more concealable gun at a very small price point. If you already own a P365, then it might not make much sense for you. However, if you have a P320 and want something smaller for concealed carry, a 59.99 grip module is much cheaper than a 500 dollar Sig P365.

At the same time, the Sig P365 magazines are quite common and vary widely in capacity from 10 to 15 rounds. The S300 grip module follows the standard P365 length and allows for the use of flush-fitting 10 round magazines or the extended 12 and 15 round magazines. For IWB fit, the smaller grip makes the weapon easier to conceal. The longer barrel and slide don’t much matter for concealed carry in an IWB configuration.

The S300 provides a super-short grip making the weapon extremely concealable. The longer slide and barrel have their own benefits when it comes to control, accuracy, and features. The P320 slide allows you to utilize a full-sized red dot sight, as I have with the SIG ROMEO1PRO. Additionally, the S300 packs an actual Picatinny rail over the P365’s silly proprietary rail.

Now you might be saying, well hell, now I need a new holster! Nope, you actually don’t need a new holster. The S300 grip module allows you to keep your P320 holster and provides zero issues with most holsters.

Does the S300 Work?

Installing the fire control unit (FCU) from your P320 to the S300 grip module takes almost no effort. Just Pop out the pin, pop it into the grip module, reapply the pin and call it a day. The fit is perfect, and the FCU slides into the module without any issues. Once installed, you drop your slide on and slap a P365 magazine in place, and you are ready to go.

The S300 grip module mimics the P365’s grip texture almost perfectly. It’s an aggressive little grip that is most certainly necessary for the teeny tiny grip. The grip is very, very small, and only with the 12 round magazine do I have what I describe as a full grip. With the ten-rounder in place, I got a major case of the hanging pinky.

Also, the ten rounder has a very soft click when you insert the magazine, and I always gave it a little tug to make sure it’s really in there. The 12 and 15 rounders gave a much more satisfying click when installed.

After everything sat in place, I loaded up my P365 magazines with 147-grain 9mm and hit the range. I wanted some spicy rounds to see if the super smaller grip made it tough to control the short little grip module.

To my surprise, the S300 remained plenty easy to handle and control. Well, more so with the 12 and 15 round magazines. The hanging pinky didn’t help, and I didn’t feel like I had the max control over the gun with the flush-fitting magazine. The 12 rounder balanced the small size of the frame with max control well. The 15 rounder gave me the exact same capacity as the P320C with the smaller frame as well.

Does It Affect Reliability?

Reliability is a pretty big issue with a concealed carry pistol. Concerns regarding a third-party company producing a grip module that mixes one gun’s slide with another magazine seem like it could quickly create issues. If it does, I haven’t found them just yet.

Outside of the 147-grain loads I fired, I went through some plain jane 115-grain loads, some steel case Winchester Forged ammo, and some 124 grain SIG +P JHPs. I ran into zero issues in terms of basic reliability with the S300.

Accuracy was still fantastic. The Legion series trigger with the SIG ROMEO1PRO made it so damn easy to ring tiny gongs offhand. At 25 yards, I made that four-inch gong swing and swing and swing. I cycled through my smallest steel targets and never had an issue engaging them with both speed and accuracy.

Hitting the Reload Button

Reloads are tricky, at least for me. My big hands pin the magazines in, and I have to do this crazy open-hand maneuver to get the magazines to drop free. However, they do drop free when my 2XL hands aren’t in the way. The teeny tiny grip does make reload trickier.

That being said, the S300 grip module retains the ergonomics of the P320. This includes the ambi slide stop and larger magazine release. The S300 has some of the weaknesses of a smaller grip but does a great job of giving you the strengths of a larger gun.

Saddling Up

The S300 grip module is an interesting piece of gear. It checks lots of boxes for me. It’s super handy, keeps the gun reliable, and makes it much smaller and easier to conceal. I love having the smaller grip module with a full-sized red dot and my favorite striker-fired trigger. Plus, it’s American-made from a small business, and it’s affordable. It’s a winning combination of features, and I think it’s a great buy for P320 owners who want to deep conceal their pistol.

Magazine-fed shotguns are nothing new, but it’s tough not to be a fan of the design. Especially if you are a rifle shooter transitioning to shotguns. A magazine-fed option often retains all those skills you crafted on the rifle when it comes to reloads. Shotgunners might have fixed feelings on mag-fed shotguns, but they’ve proven to be quite popular. I’ve fired a great many of them, and my favorite so far is most certainly the SRM 1216 from SRM Arms.

The SRM 1216 looks like something that would be well suited as a game-breaking CQB weapon in Cyberpunk 2077 or whatever the next Halo we have coming out. It’s far from average, and its unique look certainly gives that bleeding edge sci-fi look we all know and love. I’ve long wanted to get my hands on an SRM 1216, and now I finally have. Boy oh boy, was the wait worth it.

What Is This Thing?

First and foremost, the SRM 1216 is a 12 gauge semi-automatic, gas-operated shotgun that utilizes a roller delayed blowback system that can fire 2.75 to 3-inch rounds. Yep, roller operated leaps out at you, right? Well, it should because, as far as I know, this is the only roller delayed shotgun out there. Roller delayed typically belongs to the HK series of rifles, pistols, and SMGs.

Two large rollers sit on the bolt and prevent the bolt from moving until the pressure has reached a safe level. Roller delayed systems are very simple and allow the construction of the weapon to be simple. Taking it apart to get a peak requires little to no time at all. Pop a single pinout, break it down shotgun-style, and remove the bolt and bolt carrier group. Ultimately, cleaning the system is super easy and takes no effort.

Most shotguns utilize a gas-operated system with some form of a piston or an inertia system. Both require a bit more complicated construction and the placement of parts that might make it tough to incorporate the unique magazine design.

The bullpup design also allows it to be quite short and handy. Not as short as something like the pump-action KS7 from KelTec, but it’s about 6 inches shorter than most standard shotguns and retains an 18.5-inch barrel. I know what you’re saying. Ahh, it’s a bullpup, and I’m a lefty.

Fear not, young man. You can order your SRM 1216 as a left-handed gun, or you can swap everything to make it left-hand friendly. This includes the loading port to allow lefty-friendly ejection. I won’t say doing so is simple, but the SRM Arms youtube channel documents how and what you’ll need to do so.

Inside the SRM 1216 Magazine

Let’s talk about that magazine a bit as well. The SRM 1216 utilizes a removable tubular magazine system. The magazine has four tubes that each hold four rounds. When the user goes Winchester with the first tube, they can rotate to a second, third, and fourth before needing to reload completely.

The tube can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise on command. To rotate the tube you press a tab upwards to unlock the tube. The tabs are ambidextrous and very easy to use, and the magazine rotates without issue. What’s really cool to me is that if you run a tube dry, the bolt locks back to the rear. However, as soon as you rotate a tube into position, the bolt automatically loads the next round in the new tube and closes.

Removing the magazine and reloading is easy and can be done in the field. First, reach in front of the magazine and access the massive magazine release.

Press it in and then pull the magazine downward and out.

To reload, bring the magazine into the horizontal magazine well and then push the other end up until it locks in place. It’s not AR 15 fast but is damn sure a fast way to shove 16 more rounds of buckshot into a gun.

Another benefit of this tubular removable magazine is that the ammunition won’t deform over time. Shotgun ammunition left in a box magazine can deform due to the pressure from the magazine, which can potentially cause feeding issues. Here, this is never an issue since the ammunition is sitting in tubes.

Loading the magazine requires two hands. You have to pull back a shell retainer and slide in shell after shell. It’s easy but can’t be done with the magazine in the gun.

Blasting Away With the SRM 1216

Getting a grip on the gun isn’t tough. It’s got a short 13.25-inch length of pull and shoulders comfortably. The included recoil pad helps, and the only real downside is that the magazine acts as the grip for your non-dominant hand. It’s rather slick, and with a push-pull grip, my slide slides ever so slightly.

What happens when you mix a blowback-operated action, a bullpup shotgun, and make it 12 gauge? Well, you eliminate any and all recoil reduction you get from a pump action.

Alright, I’m being dramatic; however, the gun certainly has more recoil than most gas-operated guns. It’s not as rough as a pump-action, but when you start cooking off some hot loads, you’ll feel it. With reduced recoil tactical loads, it’s a kitten—the same with cheap game loads.

Reliability in Spades

The SRM 1216 feeds both reduced recoil loads and cheap game loads reliably and without issue. I often have a little fear of failure with a semi-auto shotgun and since this gun has such a novel blowback system I didn’t know what to expect. I was rather happy that it ran with everything I put through it.

High brass, low brass, buckshot, slugs, birdshot, and beyond worked without issue. The only load It didn’t cycle was the super low recoiling sub-1000 FPS trap loads I keep around. No semi-auto has cycled these successfully beyond one or two, and they are about the lightest load you can get for a 12 gauge outside of mini shells. Also, no, mini shells won’t cycle in the SRM 1216.

If you want a gun that cycles fast, then here you go.

Hot damn, does it fire, eject and load quickly! I can dump four rounds of buckshot out and on target in about 2 seconds from a low-ready position. Semi-auto shotguns also tickle me when it comes to tube dumps, and the SRM 1216 is no different. I can dump shells without tampering with reliability, and I did so for tube after tube of ammunition.

Running the Rabbit

For fun, I did a little drill where I loaded one round into each tube, set up four clay pigeons on the berm, and practiced transitioning from tube to tube. It’s simple, I set a Shot Timer up and hit go. At the beep, I went from right to left. Since only one round was loaded into each tube, I had to keep rotating the tube system.

I was quite slow at first, and his 7.48 seconds. That was an ouchy, and I learned that a forward grip on the tube made tube transitions much easier. As I practiced the drill over and over, I built a good rhythm in place and got much faster in just a few rounds. I got my time down to 4.8 seconds from the low ready with a hit on each target.

The SRM 1216 has a smooth rotating magazine that makes it easy to transition. Once I flip the tab up and start rotating the tube, the tab will relatch as soon as the tube finishes its rotation. You can’t accidentally rotate it too far. It’s very intuitive and simple to do.

On Target

The SRM 1216 has a sweet little trigger—roughly 6 pounds or so. A lot of rail lives at the top of the gun, and my HS510C is the perfect companion for this little shotgun. Like an AR rifle, it’s an ‘in-line’ design that makes AR height optics appropriate and easy to use. Mine didn’t include iron sights, but a rail section forward of the magazine is perfect for a front sight, and you’d have a long sight radius.

Personally, a red dot makes way more sense to me and allows me to engage rapidly. Semi-auto shotguns dominate close-range fighting, and red dots make it perfect for that specific use. I took some Hornady slugs out to 50 yards and range 6-inch plates over and over. With my favorite load, Federal Flitecontrol, I can absolutely put a load of buck right where I want it within 25 yards.

The SRM 1216 In Action

Do I have any complaints about the SRM 1216? Hmm, not many. The magazines are somewhat expensive at around 200 bucks a pop. There is a good argument that for home defense, you won’t be swapping magazines and are unlikely to need 16 rounds of 12 gauge. That’s all up to you, but I want at least one extra mag on tap just in case one fails me.

Other than that, it’s tough to hate the SRM 1216. It’s a very well-made, well-thought-out shotgun. Hell, the 16 round magazine doesn’t count as a ‘high-capacity’ magazine in less free states because it’s four tubes connected and not just a single magazine. The SRM 1216 is the sci-fi shotgun of my dreams.

Compact pistols seem to be the Goldilock standard for handguns. They fit just right in a role where they can double as both a firearm that can be carried concealed and used for home defense. It’s small and light enough to tuck into your pants and hit the road, but it also accommodates a light and is easy to handle for home defense. Compact pistols are big enough to fill your hand and be easy to control with minimal recoil from standard calibers.

Compact pistols offer you most of the benefits of a full-sized pistol combined with most of the benefits of a subcompact pistol. Today we are looking at three popular compact pistols and seeing which comes out as top dog. Those pistols are the Sig P320C, the Glock 19, and CZ P-10C. 

I’m not sure if I need to mention this, but we’ll be looking at the 9mm variants of these guns.

Glock 19

O.G. of compact pistols, the Glock 19 is easily the most popular Glock model—especially with the civilian market. This pistol started the theme of compact pistols being just right in size. It packs a rail, a 15 round magazine, and is now in its fifth generation.

Sig P320C 

When the P320 hit shelves, the P320C followed up quite quickly. Sig advertised the P320 to provide you everything a lot of people believed Glock left out. The p320C comes with a 15 round magazine, a rail, and a variety of models available.

CZ P-10C

As much as we try to keep CZ sacred, the P-10C brought them lots of mainstream attention. The CZ P-10C refines the compact pistol and comes with a 15 round magazine, a rail, and it also provides a multitude of models.

Compact Pistol Life

I find that these three particular compact pistols have reached a certain degree of popularity. The Glock 19 obviously rules the roost, but the P320C and P-10C are catching up. I’ve broken down this article into several categories, and we’ll discuss the merits of each pistol and why one might edge the others out in each category.

All three of these handguns are great guns.

They are duty suitable and built to last. There isn’t a single bad gun in this group. However, some pull ahead in certain categories every so slightly. Keep in mind this is just my opinion, and the good news is you can sound off in the comments to let me know what you think about each category.

Best Ergonomics — CZ P-10C

Ergonomics are how the pistol feels in hand and how accessible and easy the controls are to reach. In this category, I think the CZ P-10C stands out considerably. The Glock 19, even the latest generation, feels a bit like a brick in your hand. The P320C feels a bit like a thinner brick in your hand. Neither is terrible, but when held in comparison to the P-10C, you notice a huge difference.

The P10C tapers its grip as it meets its peak behind the trigger. This thinner portion of the gun provides a much more comfortable grip overall. I didn’t notice the brick-like nature of the other two compact pistols until I picked up the P-10C. Plus, the ultra-aggressive grip texture is fantastic and tough to beat.

Additionally, I appreciate the slide lock/release on the P-10C. On the Glock and Sig, my thumbs pin down the slide lock and render it nearly useless. The undercut on the trigger guard of both the P-10C and P320C makes it easy to choke up. Accessing the magazine release of each weapon isn’t difficult, and the CZ P-10C is the only one that provides a true ambidextrous release.

The P320C comes in second, and ultimately the Glock 19 comes in third in ergonomics.

Best in Reliability — Glock 19

All three of these compact pistols have been proven to be extremely reliable. When a gun sucks, it doesn’t take long for the internet to notice and report on it. Well, you won’t see many reports of any of these guns failing. In general, these are all very reliable pistols.

However, the age of the Glock 19 and the fact that it’s been issued so widely to police and military forces across the world show that the gun works. It’s the most proven firearm on this list and takes the top spot for reliability.

Coming in second will be the P320C which proved itself well during the Army’s MHS contest. Third, obviously is the CZ P-10C, and that’s largely due to the fact it has not been tested to the same degree as the other two pistols. None of these guns have failed in my usage.

Best for Customization — SIG P320C

The Glock 19 would be the easiest option to toss onto this category and call it a day. Sure, you can get a dozen different triggers for the Glock 19, but they aren’t all that different. With the P320C, you can pop out that fire control unit (FCU) and instantly change the grip module. You can get metal grip modules, X series, and aftermarket options without the need for an FFL.

Like the Glock, you can change a wide variety of things about the gun. This includes the slide, barrel, triggers, and beyond. However, the FCU makes your customizations more meaningful. The Glock 19 comes in second clearly, and the P-10C in a distant third.

Best in Accuracy — It’s a Tie

Compact pistols are all relatively the same when it comes to accuracy. You won’t see any massive difference between the guns in the hands of a shooter. An expert with a Glock will shoot a Sig or CZ just as accurately. I’m personally most accurate with the P320C, but the optic certainly helps in that role.

Best Price — P-10C (Just Barely)

As I write this in 2021, prices are all other the place. The best I can do is find one website that sells all three pistols and look at the price between each standard model. I’ve excluded special additions, X-Series guns, etc. I compared the Glock 19 Gen 5, the CZ P-10C, and P320C.

It seems that the P-10C is about 40 bucks cheaper for its bare-bones base model. If I compare the Glock 19 Gen 4, the prices are identical, so you could argue it’s a tie. So as a tiebreaker, I looked to the optic’s ready models, and the CZ P-10C is cheaper than both the P320C RX and Glock 19 Gen 4 MOS guns.

My Personal Favorite?

Out of the box, I think the best stock gun of these three compact pistols is the CZ P-10C. Yes, I’m a CZ fan, but I do feel for the money the CZ provides the best features and experience. From the metal sights to the better overall ergonomics, I think it’s just a better gun compared to the other two. That’s just looking at stock pistols; I’m sure if we dived into some of SIG’s special editions, I’d change my mind. That being said, the Sig and Glock offer plenty of reasons to purchase them.

The Glock 19 offers a massive aftermarket with affordable and available OEM magazines, lots of holsters, and a superbly simple design. Anyone can work on a Glock, and the armorer’s course is like a day-long, and all you need is a punch to take the entire thing apart.

The Sig P320C allows for a crazy degree of customization, with new features, grip modules, and slides being released all the time. The FCU opens up an entire market to turn one pistol into many.

Compact Pistols For All

Ultimately I think these are the three best compact pistols currently on the market. You know my personal favorite and feelings on the above categories. What’s your opinion? Let us know below your favorite of the compact pistols on this list and beyond this list.

Leave it to Magpul to take a concept that historically sucked and make it great. I’m speaking about drums, of course, and how Magpul figured out how to finally make them work. Historically, drums sucked. And they continued to suck until Magpul figured out how to make them work. They started with the AR 15 and then the AR 10, and now we have drums for the CZ Scorpion and Glock series as well. I got my hands on the Magpul D-50 CZ Scorpion drum magazine and have taken it for a spin.

The Scorpion series has been extremely popular in the world of PCCs and large format pistols. I’m lucky enough to have both the pistol variant as well as the carbine variant. That being said, my rifle variant is the bullpup model, so this will certainly be a unique test.

Magpul modeled the Scorpion D-50 drum directly after the D-60 and D-50 drums. It’s a fair bit smaller and shorter than those two but identical in design. This includes the Gen M3 style design. It features the Gen M3 polymer mix, the Dot Matrix, the easy takedown procedure, and the same load lever design. Even though it’s a well-made drum, you might ask why exactly you would need a Scorpion D-50?

Is the D-50 CZ Scorpion drum magazine practical?

Obviously, the benefit of a drum is to increase capacity without having an obnoxiously long magazine. Magpul did this previously with the 35 round Scorpion magazines but took it a step further with the D-50 and its 50 round capacity. More ammo is better than less ammo as long as the ammo feeding device works, obviously.

That’s always been the real downside of a drum. The feeding devices rarely worked and had a tendency to be maintenance-heavy. Magpul fixed that previously and their drums have been proven to work. In a rifle, obviously, a drum makes sense, but what about a PCC or large format pistol? Well, if you’ve chosen either to be a defensive weapon, then the D-50 CZ Scorpion drum magazine makes a lot of sense.

Using a pistol-caliber firearm means you’ll likely need to fire more rounds to put a threat down. Sadly, pistol calibers can’t meet the power of anything rifle caliber. Having more ammo than less makes sense. The weight penalty for a bedside gun isn’t an issue. You won’t be patrolling with a Scorpion D-50 across the Helmand province.

Plus, in a home defense situation, you won’t be rocking a chest rig and packing a half dozen magazines for speed reloads. As such, the drum offers you almost twice the capacity of a standard magazine. More ammo in the gun means less reloading, and less reloading is a good thing in a fight.

Yes, by the way, you can leave it loaded. Unlike other drums, this isn’t a major issue with the Scorpion D-50 (or any Magpul drum). You can load it JHPs and forget about it.

Breaking down Scorpion D-50

Breaking the Magpul drums down for maintenance is very simple to do. First, pop off the four tabs with a flat head tool. Once the tops are popped off, use the same flat head tool to defeat the four latches, and you can remove the front and rear of the drum for maintenance.

Obviously, make sure the drum is unloaded prior to taking things apart. Once the drum is apart, you can clean and oil the drum. Magpul previously said that the D-60 and D-50 could go for 1000 rounds between cleanings, and I assume the same with the Scorpion D-50.

The insides of the drum are quite simple, and that makes cleaning them rather simple as well. Simple is good, and you can’t beat simple, especially when it comes to magazines.

Load, Shoot, Repeat

Magpul loves to claim the drums are easy to load, and in some ways—they are. The lever that presses the follower down and allows you to load the drum ensures you aren’t fighting a single spring for all 50 rounds. That being said, trying to hold the drum, while holding the lever and putting in rounds will make you wish you had three hands.

Sure, it’s not difficult from a manual loading perspective, but it’s not what I’d call easy ergonomically. I hug the Scorpion D-50 with the same arm that manipulates the lever and then load rounds with the other hand. Loading is relatively quick, although, near the end, you’ll be loading one round per lever manipulation. It’s a thumb workout, to be sure.

I really love the window at the rear of the drum that allows you to monitor capacity. Unlike a side-mounted window, you can do a quick flick of the eyes to see how much you got left. It’s very clearly marked and keeps you keep track of your 9mm rounds as you deplete them.

Speaking of depleting ammo, I set forth to do just that. Drums are so much fun to shoot and in the Scorpion doubly so. I grabbed several hundred rounds, a pair of Scorpions, and went to the range. I love shooting Scorpions and PCCs in general. So I certainly enjoyed the process of emptying these drums more than I enjoyed filling them.

Getting Our Pow On with the CZ Scorpion Drum Magazine 

I utilized a Scorpion Micro pistol and my Scorpion bullpup rifle and let the lead fly. I started with just a few basic drills to see if the drum did the very basics of being a drum. Next, I then set forth dropping the almost fully loaded drum from the gun and seeing what happened. On occasion, a round or two popped out, but nothing else seemed to happen. Oh, and the drum dropped free without issue.

Those takedown tabs never dislodged as I assumed they would. They aren’t hard to pry off, and I just assumed they would pop off rather easily under pressure. Even if so, all four of them could pop off, and the Scorpion D-50 will still run completely fine.

Next, I wanted to apply pressure in various ways to see if I could make it fail. I used it first as a monopod of sorts and let the full weight of the weapon sit on the drum, and I pulled the trigger. No problems.

I used the drum as an improvised barrier stop and pressed the drum into the barrier, and fired. Again, no problem with reliability.

Lastly, I placed the drum over the top of a barrier and pulled rearward to change the pressure up, and again the gun and drum operated without issue.

From there, I got to do the fun stuff. I did various drills and just shot a lot out of the drum. Several hundred rounds over several days between a few different shooters. I dropped round after round and heard ding after ding. Whenever the drum ran empty, I dropped it from the gun to the ground to try and give it a little stress. The drum must’ve meditated prior because the Scorpion D-50 didn’t seem to mind stress.

Saved Rounds

The drum doesn’t affect Scorpions with a standard layout. Sure the gun gets a bit heavier, and using it with a single hand is rather difficult. The brace certainly helps stabilize the now heavier weapon. In the bullpup Scorpion, the drum feels somewhat awkward, and your arm has to wrap around its bulbous form. Yet it loads, ejects, and fires without issue in the bullpup gun.

All in all, the Scorpion D-50 drum is pretty fantastic.

The last pistol caliber subgun to wear a drum this well was the Tommy gun. In fact, the Scorpion quickly becomes a rather modern variant of the Tommy gun with a dream and certainly looks pretty freaking sweet. Luckily it works as good as it looks. Do you love it? Hate it? Let us know below!