Here’s a suggestion for gun companies working their way through the always slow, but even slower summer of 2025: start thinking smaller going forward.
Not for your business goals; for the new areas of opportunity opened up by the January 1, 2026 change that will take the costs for suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns and “any other weapons” down from today’s $200 and a federal paperwork to just paperwork.
We’ve all been rushing about predicting a sudden surge in suppressors, but I think we’re overlooking “other” items targets of opportunity.
Yes, everyone is going to want suppressors. But not because we’re all would-be assassins (sorry antis). We want them because they’re effective hearing protection.
I’m leaving it there. Not going into the weeds to argue the need (not the want) for an accessory that essentially performs the same function as a muffler on lawnmowers, chainsaws and vehicles. Suppressors protect our hearing. Saying otherwise makes you either deaf or ideologically blind. Or both.
The immediate problem with suppressors, more specifically suppressor sales, is simple: no one wants to pay the $200 tariff with its period-certain demise drawing closer by the day. Some makers/sellers can afford to eat the $200. Others can’t. Those that can eat the $200 will see sales increases. Those that can’t, won’t.
But the two other categories: short-barreled weapons and the nebulous “any other weapon” also represent growth segments for smart companies. There are already a wealth of “personal defense weapons” (PDWs) in the marketplace. They range from AR-style pistols to guns that when equipped with arm braces, resemble the legendary MP5.
Lately, I’ve been shooting the snot out of one: Springfield Armory’s Kuna.
Springfield Armory’s Kuna is the latest entry into the pseudo PDW category. It will be eligible for a distinct improvement, a legitimate folding stock, come January 1, 2026. Springfield Armory photo, with permission.
I started toying with it a couple of weeks ago. And while I really like shooting it, it’s one of those guns that will be improved when the Times Square ball drops on 2025. And the improvement will not require any retro-fitting or replacing any complicated parts.
On January 1, 2026, the Kuna will become legal (after requisite paperwork) with a full-sized folding stock.
Today, it’s legal with an arm brace because manufacturers aren’t liable for people deliberately misusing the arm brace.
Most of you already know what I mean: unfold the arm brace then scrunch down to turn a perfect length arm brace into a too-short rifle stock.
My latest range session (top) included the Kuna (right) and, for comparison, the Trailblazer Firearms Pivot (left). The Kuna shot as accurately as the Pivot, but was at a significant disadvantage: the Pivot’s unique design makes it a legal rifle- and means the stock has length of pull adjustments that remove the “scrunching up” necessary to mis-apply the Kuna’s folding arm brace. Even with the folding arm brace, the Kuna was capable of respectably accurate performance at 25 yards (bottom).
The Kuna’s named for the Croatian national animal (a/k/a the Pine Marten). It’s no secret that the Kuna’s manufactured in Croatia by Springfield’s partner, HS Produkt. It’s a roller-delayed system that reduces reciprocating mass. That reduction cuts down on recoil and muzzle flip. Net/net -the Kuna’s an easy-shooting, low-recoil pseudo PDW that enables you to hold rounds on target with a gun that’s lighter and more maneuverable than a heavier gas-driven system.
It has fully ambidextrous controls, hammer forged barrel, an AR pattern grip, flat trigger, hybrid flip-up sights (think MP5) M-Lok rails, and plenty of real estate atop the gun for optics. And, yes, it’s suppressor ready.
It can be had in one of two configurations: the base gun ($999 MSRP) or equipped with the Strike Industries FSA folding stock ($1,149 MSRP). Both ship with two translucent 30-round magazines -unless you live in one of the “capacity restrictive states.”
There’s going to be a burgeoning market for PDWs come ’26.
Smart manufacturers are already scrambling around their skunk works to design, prototype and debug guns that have the possibility of turning today’s ubiquitous 16-inch AR-rifle into the option for people who just refuse to do any more federal registering of…anything.
Yes, Form 4 paperwork is a hassle. And, yes, the “big, beautiful lawsuit” filed by unified 2A groups may remove it- eventually. But the ability to own a legit-PDW in just a few months, with only a Form 4 and no $200 charge, may get many people over the paperwork hump.
The popularity of the mis-used pistol brace is proof that people want carbines with barrels shorter than sixteen inches. And smaller guns will re-popularize pistol calibers. Everyone wants a gun that’s smaller than 16-inches in length, and more manageable. You can’t get there with a 5.56/223, even if it’s suppressed.
And the new rules will make it possible to integrate suppressors into those carbines…win/win for shooters who want a compact gun that will neither blind nor deafen them on the range or in a serious shooting situation.
Magpul’s looking ahead with their UCS. Magpul image, with permission.
Are we beginning to see opportunity here? Maybe, but one of the companies I look to when I’m trend-spotting doesn’t make guns, it makes accessories. Just this week, Magpul announced their UCS a “Universal Carbine Stock” designed to fit firearms with vertical 1913 rails on the rear of their firearms receivers.
The $219.95 (MSRP) device will instantly make the Kuna, along with the “SIG MPX/MCX, FN SCAR, IWI Galil, CZ Scorpion, Ruger LC carbine, Brownell's BRN-180, and certain AK variants such as the PSA AK/AK-V” into legit SBRs.
Personally, I’m not going to be shocked if/when one of the forward thinking shotgun companies comes out with a very short shotgun in a non-punishing gauge (20/28 or maybe even .410 bore). I’m also predicting that gun, whatever it is, will also feature a pistol grip with a 1913 rail behind the pistol grip.
But there are also other opportunities here, too. The “Any Other Weapon” category has always been more “007” gadgetry than real weaponry. With a little innovation and some imagination, this category stands to get the attention of customers looking for something “different.”
The mind boggles, but the imagination should be bubbling. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
—Jim Shepherd