In one of the surprise announcements of 2019, Mossberg entered the handgun market at SHOT Show 2019 with its new 9 mm MC1sc.
The “sc” stands for subcompact because unsurprisingly, Mossberg’s first handgun entry is for the popular concealed carry market. It’s in the same general size range as the popular Smith & Wesson M&P Shield, Glock 43 and SIG Sauer P365. Like those pistols, the Mossberg is small in hand although not undersize for the average person.
The MC1sc has a relatively standard 6+1 round capacity with flush-fit magazines, and follows the trend towards striker fired defensive guns with a flat trigger with trigger blade safety and 5-6 pound trigger pull. Magazines are clear so that it’s easy to count how many rounds are loaded at any given time.
I had the opportunity to try it out during Industry Day at the Range, and found it surprisingly easy to shoot with very reasonable recoil for such a small gun. It’s certainly a more mature offering than might be expected from a new market player, and clearly benefits from Mossberg’s experience as a firearms manufacturer with its shotguns and rifles.
Unusually for defensive handguns, the MC1sc’s manual safety version uses a cross-bolt safety located behind the trigger. It’s pushed across in one direction to be on safe, and in the other direction to allow the gun to fire. Most manual safety handguns use a frame- or slide-mounted safety) and the MC1sc will require additional practice to remember which side the safety should be pushed to for firing, and how to operate it under stress.
The initial release includes the standard model (MSRP $425), a cosmetically upgraded Centennial version (MSRP $686), the cross-bolt manual safety model (MSRP $425), a factory TruGlo night sight option (MSRP $526), and a Viridian laser-equipped option (MSRP $514).
