A Dynamic Pair

Folks who carry pistols for self-defense often face a conundrum. They want guns that are small and easy to conceal, but those pistols often aren’t easy to shoot, and the cartridges for which they’re chambered might not provide sufficient ballistic performance.

The disconnect is strong enough that some shooters are even tempted to use one pistol for defense and another for training, which isn’t ideal. Now, however, a new pistol and fresh cartridge have come together to create a potent self-defense package.

Avidity Arms has introduced its PD10 pistol in a 30 Super Carry chambering. The pairing gives shooters a single-stack mid-sized pistol that’s easy to carry and shoot, combined with a cartridge that produces optimal ballistic performance and maximizes magazine capacity.

Why It Works

“The 30 Super Carry was designed as a new cartridge to fill a self-defense role,” says Federal ambassador Jim Gilliland, a competition shooter and retired U.S. Army first sergeant. “It’s harder hitting, has less recoil, lets you fit more ammo in the gun, and is more concealable. When Avidity developed the PD10, it was developed as a personal carry gun—a very small, low-profile pistol that gives you all the capabilities of a larger gun but in a more concealable package. To pair that gun with the 30 Super Carry is ideal, as they were born under the same premise. When you put them together, you get a very small, light, concealable gun and a cartridge that gives you more rounds that you would normally have with the same capabilities as a larger cartridge.”

Rob Pincus, president of Avidity Arms and designer of the PD10 pistol, says the pairing fills a glaring hole in the world of concealed carry.

“The PD10 and 30 Super Carry round are superficially ‘off trend,’ but the performance and features they offer are what people have been asking for—and what I think people need—in regard to armed personal defense,” he says.

Gilliland says he’s trained with the PD10 in 30 Super Carry for about two months, firing several hundred rounds. He thinks shooters will like what they see when using the new pairing.

“It’s a very thin gun, which is one of the things I enjoy about it,” he says. “It conceals easily even under light clothes. It’s big enough so you can fit it in your hand and have a full grip, but it’s small and light enough so it still moves fast. It’s a very easily controllable gun. It has great sights on it, and it’s easy to manipulate. Essentially, it’s giving you a very good platform to use as a concealed-carry self-defense gun and a cartridge that’s developed specifically for that reason.”

How It All Started

Pincus says the concept for the PD10 began almost a decade ago and came about via his experience as an instructor. Many of his students purchased small guns to carry yet brought larger, easier-shooting guns to classes. The idea for the PD10 started with a 2013 discussion between Pincus and Michael Sodini, a co-founder of Avidity Arms. They established the PD10 design as the company’s first project in 2014. Prototype PD10s in 2015 sparked positive feedback. The company eventually moved to Florida, and in 2019, Chuck Usina joined the ownership team. The trio was joined by Joe Worley in 2022, and the company relocated to Fletcher, North Carolina. Avidity began shipping production PD10s in 2023.

Soon after the introduction of the 30 Super Carry, Gilliland reached out to Pincus and suggested he look into the new cartridge. Pincus says he knew the chambering made sense in the PD10, but he believed the pistol and cartridge faced some challenges to be accepted in the market. Then, around the 2023 SHOT Show, Avidity committed to manufacturing the PD10in 30 Super Carry.

The striker-fired PD10 weighs about 18.8 ounces, with a 4-inch barrel and an overall length of 6.94 inches. The pistol, as originally released in 9mm Luger, has a 10+1 capacity. It has an 11+1 capacity when loaded with 30 Super Carry with Avidity’s standard magazine and a 12+1 capacity with a modified follower. Avidity Arms intends to sell complete pistols in 30 Super Carry as well as complete slide and barrel conversion kits.

The Benefits

“Both the pistol and the round fit the bill for what most people probably need, but no one was explicitly looking for either,” Pincus says. “It makes a lot of sense for these two products to come together.”

Of course, the relatively new cartridge and pistol platform might not yet be household names. But Pincus says the 30 Super Carry and PD10 have a great story to tell, and he believes shooters will want to learn more after getting to know the platform.

“I’ve always found that education about things that are different and innovative is the most important piece of marketing,” he says. “People who want to be prepared to defend themselves or those they care about with a handgun need to learn more about the PD10 pistol and 30 Super Carry ammunition.”

Gilliland agrees and says shooters who train with the PD10 in 30 Super Carry will immediately see the benefits of the platform.

“What sort of shooter will benefit most from this?” he says. “Honestly, I think anybody who’s looking for a concealable handgun that has all the power potential of the larger calibers. It gives anybody looking for that platform a leg up. Whether you’re a first-time shooter or longtime shooter looking for something a little thinner and more concealable, it’s definitely a good option.”