Tag Archives: SOCOM PDW

SOCOM Goes Rattler for PDW

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The U.S. Special Operations Command signaled the end of a five-year search for a personal defense weapon platform last week, opting to run Sig Sauer’s MCX Rattler.

The Commercial PDW contract, by its nature, needed to be filled by an off-the-shelf gun that was in current production. Sig introduced the .300 BLK-chambered Rattler in 2017 “at the request of elite military units” after a Request for Information was filed by SOCOM. The company then supplied a few to the country’s elite commandos for testing in February 2018. In a notice of intent to award published on May 19, 2022, it would appear those tests went very well.

“USSOCOM HQ has been researching and reviewing different systems since 2017,” said the notice. “We have meticulously reviewed each system for technical acceptance and whether it fits the commercial definition. Except for Sig Sauer, the vendors did not meet the technical requirements and/or the weapons do not meet the commercial definition.”

The SOCOM notice this month stressed, “The PDW system will allow Operators to have maximum firepower in a concealable weapon.” (Photos: Sig Sauer)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Behind the scenes at Maxim Defense

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One of the places I stopped at on my trip to Minnesota last month– in the 91-degree heat just a couple hours south of Canada?!– was Maxim Defense. For a company that didn’t exist seven years ago, they have really come out of nowhere and made a name for themselves.

They specialize in the “short space” so to speak, with products like the PDX.

The PDX had its origin in a PDW project for Tier 1 operators which specified a gun that, above all, was extremely compact for close quarter encounters– but still able to fire 5.56mm rounds. Crafted with that use in mind, Maxim’s result was a gun that is as sweet as it gets– just 18.75-inches long overall with a 5.5-inch barrel that ends in a Hatebrake muzzle booster while the collapsible stock is Maxim’s in-house SCW stock system. The PDX includes an integrated BCG with interchangeable buffer weights to maximize performance. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Check out the video tour and interviews in my column at Guns.com.