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Palmetto State Armory (PSA) is in Columbia, South Carolina, and was founded by James McCallum who was a small arms expert in the military. The company is about 14 years old, and they offer firearm parts and firearms from other manufacturers in addition to the firearms they build. One of PSA’s most popular pistols is the Dagger, which is essentially a clone of a Gen 3 Glock 19 pistol with some enhancements. What is really appealing about the PSA Dagger is its price. I got a chance to test the Dagger on my home range, and here is my full review.
PSA Dagger Specs
Model: Compact SW2 Extreme Carry Cuts RMR slide in 2-Tone Flat Dark Earth
Chambering: 9mm Luger
Length: 7.65 inches
Width: 1.28 inches
Weight: 22.4 ounces
Barrel: 4.5-inch stainless steel 1 in 10 twist, threaded w/protector and DLC coating
Action: Striker fired
Trigger: 4.5 pounds (as tested)
Capacity: 15+1 (ships with one Magpul PMAG)
Slide: Stainless steel, flat dark Earth Cerakote
Frame: Black polymer
Sights: Co-witnessing black, square notch rear and post front
Optics Cut: RMR Pattern
Price: $379.99
Related: Weatherby Model 307 Alpine CT Rifle Review
PSA Dagger Overview
Generally speaking, the striker-fired, polymer-framed 9mm pistol is the pistol of the 21st century. It seems like almost every manufacturer offers their version, and regardless of the PSA Dagger model you are looking at, you can see the G19 influence. The Dagger has a polymer frame with stippled panels on the front, rear, and sides of the grip. It also has a single bump or finger grove just under the relieved trigger guard. On the dust cover or section of the frame forward of the trigger guard there is an accessory rail.
The stainless-steel slide on the Dagger has front and rear serrations and milled windows on the sides of the slide. It also comes with an optics cut for the Trijicon RMR footprint with a black cover plate that’s held in place with two screws. The sights are standard black, but they are suppressor-height sights that will also allow for co-witnessing with a red-dot reflex sight. Somewhat oddly, the rear sight is dovetailed into the slide just forward of the optics cut, and the Dagger will accept aftermarket Glock sights. The trigger has the integral passive safety, but unlike the pivoting center section of the Glock trigger, the trigger on the dagger has a bottom that pivots to free the trigger for a full press.
The PSA Dagger ships with a single 15-round Magpul PMAG magazine, but it will accept Glock 19 magazines. It also comes with a soft-sided case with three internal compartments. As with all of the PSA manufactured firearms, the PSA Dagger comes with a 100 percent lifetime warranty, which extends to shipping and insurance when the handgun is repaired and returned.
PSA Dagger Shooting Results
The PSA Dagger is clearly positioned as a self-defense/general-purpose pistol, and it is sized right for concealed everyday carry. During testing, the pistol was fired 250 times and there were no failures to feed, extract, or eject. In terms of precision, the pistol was a bit finicky when it came to ammunition it liked. With two of the loads tested, it produced five-shot groups at 10 yards that were in the 1.25-inch range, but with the Remington Range Clean load, group size approached 2 inches.
Since the pistol comes with a threaded barrel, accuracy testing was conducted with three different suppressors, and the results varied. With the new Silencer Central Banish 9, precision was poor, with some groups opening to almost 6 inches. With the much smaller and lighter Banish 9K, the pistol performed much better, but groups were about snuff-can size. When tested with the Wilson Combat Quell PS suppressor, groups were identical in size to when the pistol was fired unsuppressed. The pistol functioned perfectly with all three suppressors.
As for shooting comfort, if you find a Glock comfortable to shoot, I believe you will find the PSA Dagger even more comfortable, because the grip has more of an oval feel as opposed to the squared feel of the Glock. However, when I shoot a Glock, the relief area behind the trigger guard digs into the knuckle of my middle finger and when shooting the PSA Dagger, the sensation was the same. If you have a similar issue with Glock pistols, it will be no different with the Dagger.
In addition to the precision and reliability testing, the pistol was put through a variety of self-defense-type drills, using the factory sights and a Trijicon RMR. Even though the Dagger’s trigger is less than stellar—with some creep as with most all striker-fired pistols—the gun performed well. I had no trouble ringing an 8-inch plate with two shots from the holster at 25 yards in about four seconds. Torso-sized silhouettes at 50 yards were easy to hammer as well. Finally, although the Magpul PMAG was supposed to hold 15 rounds, 14 was all I could cram in it.
Final Thoughts on the PSA Dagger
Pros
Affordable
Optics Ready
Threaded muzzle
Reliable
Cons
So-so suppressed precision
A lot of outdoorsmen would like to have a trustworthy pistol they can keep in their tacklebox, truck, ATV, or side-by-side, for protection. Some also like the idea of a trail gun when hiking or a general-purpose handgun to carry when hunting. They all want a pistol that is resistant to the elements, one they can rely on to work when they need it, and that does not cost them an arm and a leg. The PSA Dagger fills that role perfectly and costs less than $400. Similarly, if you are looking for an affordable, straight-up self-defense pistol to carry on an everyday basis, the PSA Dagger seems to be a good fit for that role too. Arguably, anything you can do with a Glock 19 you can do with a PSA Dagger for about half the price.
Granted, if you want to outfit your PSA Dagger with a reflex sight and a suppressor, the cost will climb. However, you can find RMR footprint reflex sights for about $100, and the Banish 9K suppressor only costs $699 and weighs less than 3 ounces. This means you could have a reliable 9mm pistol, with a red-dot sight and a suppressor for less than $1200, and of course you could use the suppressor on other guns too.
There are a lot of polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols in 9mm Luger to choose from, and Palmetto State Armory offers their Dagger in a variety of configurations. If you are in the market for that type of handgun, the Dagger deserves a look. They even offer a version of the Dagger that comes with 10, 15-round magazines for only $469.
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