Archon Actually Inbound
As part of my trip to CANCON in Savannah earlier this month, I ran into the folks over at PTR and, besides their new and interesting Vent series of suppressors in three calibers, they are also now working with the Czech Republic-based Archon (pronounced arK-ahn) Firearms to manufacture and distribute that company’s line of pistols in the U.S.
The origin story goes back to the Russian-Italian Stryk pistol that debuted in 2017 by Arsenal Firearms – which soon rebranded to Archon. After appearing at SHOT Show in 2018 and 2019 with production shifting to RUAG in Hungary and Germany, the brand sort of went under the radar for a minute, but now PTR has the pistols in production in a new second-generation design.
The Archon line uses a patented breech locking system, the AF-Speedlock, which eliminates the need for a tilting barrel and allows the entire slide of the firearm to be dropped lower into the grip. Think CZ75 but with an even lower bore axis.
Like, really low bore axis. This helps reduce muzzle rise, allowing, in theory at least, for less felt recoil and faster target re-acquisition.
More in my column at Guns.com.