Luckily, the gun world doesn’t knock points off a gun for an unimaginative names because the DD PCC takes won’t win any awards for marketing genius. Then again, that moniker tells you everything you really need to know.
As the initials imply, it’s the Daniel Defense Pistol Caliber Carbine. The DD PCC’s release was largely overshadowed by the rerelease of the Daniel Defense H9. While plenty lined up to see what’s admittedly a neat little pistol, the Daniel Defense PCC went unnoticed.
Daniel Defense participated in a range day that was separate from the standard Industry Day at The Range, so it was tougher to get coverage of the DD PCC. I spotted it at the Daniel Defense booth as I was checking out the new handgun. The slightly curved magazine caught my eye. It turns out to be a Scorpion magazine.
My interest was peaked. Scorpion mags provide a real SMG-type magazine over what’s become the prevalent use of GLOCK magazines in PCCs. Upon commencing to grope the gun, I discovered it’s fully ambidextrous with excellent controls all around. Most guns that use Scorpion magazines use a paddle release, but Daniel Defense chose to use the familiar AR magazine release button.
The DD PCC is a direct blowback design, which is a bit disappointing. There are plenty of other operating systems without the downsides of direct blowback. To Daniel Defense’s credit, the gun uses a hydraulic buffer to help reduce recoil and some of the more violent impulses from a direct blowback gun.
At the Daniel Defense booth, the guns were shown in a wide variety of configurations with different barrel lengths. It’s likely that full-sized rifles, SBRs, and even braced pistols will be available. One downside to the gun is there are a ton of proprietary parts, including simple things like the bolt and charging handle. No chance of mounting the upper to your favorite lower, which cuts out a lot of options and magazines, plus no ghost gun chance with an 80% lower.
The price wasn’t finalized before SHOT, but a mention of pricing under two thousand dollars was tossed out.