PSA Dagger Full Size, Dagger Micro and 5.7 Rock: Where PSA’s Handgun Line Branched Out (SHOT Show 2022 Look Back)

Channel fans and family, this one is a look back to SHOT Show 2022 (the video went up on January 25, 2022). I took some time to visit my friends at Palmetto State Armory, and once again they surprised me. One year after the original PSA Dagger, they took that design in three directions at once: a full-size frame, an all-new micro carry gun, and something I honestly did not see coming, a 5.7×28 pistol called the 5.7 Rock.

Quick note: this is a booth first look, not a SlavGuns range test and evaluation. No rounds were fired in this video. Everything below is as it was presented to me in January 2022, so check PSA for current models and availability.

---

Where it started: the original Dagger

The year before, PSA announced the original Dagger, basically their answer to the Glock 19. I bought one, a lot of my friends bought one, and we shot them suppressed and unsuppressed. It’s been a terrific pistol. It keeps Gen 3 slide compatibility, so you can run PSA’s own Gen 3 Glock-compatible slide or your own if you want to go that route, and PSA sells the parts and kits separately too.

The biggest improvement is the grip. If a typical Glock points up at the sky for you, this is going to fix a lot of that. The way I’d describe it: a slightly modified Smith & Wesson M&P9 feel in the hand, with Glock reliability and a Glock-compatible slide on top.

Dagger Full Size: same slide, bigger frame

The next logical step was a full-size pistol, and more specifically a full-size frame. The slides are exactly the same as the original Dagger, so they come in the same configurations, but now you have a Glock 17 compatible mag well and magazines. The frame feels exactly the same in the hand, with slightly different stippling.

The one on the table was what I’d call the tactical version, with suppressor-height sights and a threaded barrel. As a duty-size alternative, this one made a lot of sense to me, and I was really looking forward to shooting it suppressed.

Dagger Micro: a carry gun that keeps the rear sight

Then PSA took it a step further and shrank it. The Dagger Micro is an all-new pistol: new slide, new grip, same design language and same features as the Dagger, just in a carry-size frame. In the hand it almost felt like a Glock 48 to me, although I don’t know whether any parts interchange. Size-wise, it looked roughly in the same class as a SIG P365 or Ruger MAX-9, maybe a little bigger.

The detail I liked most is on the optics-ready version. You get an RMR-pattern cut, but you still keep a rear sight on the slide. One thing I can’t stand on a lot of optics-ready guns is that the cut forces you to give up the rear sight. Here, if the dot fails, you still have front and rear sights. Shorter sight radius means it won’t be as precise as a full-size gun, but this is a carry gun, and that’s the right trade.

A standard-sight version was also planned, and the sample I saw had a light mounted, so there’s still a Picatinny rail, which is something a lot of compact carry guns skip. I wasn’t sure about a threaded barrel on the Micro. With a barrel that short, it wouldn’t be as effective anyway.

5.7 Rock: from practical to really cool

Then came the one that made me go “dude, what?” The PSA 5.7 Rock is Palmetto State Armory’s full-size 5.7×28 pistol. The slide reminded me of the Ruger-57, but the grip is very much like a thinner Dagger, with the same design language and the same features. (And yes, I had just sold off some extra 5.7 ammo right before this. Bad timing.)

• New magazines: a bit longer, almost 1911-like, but staggered, so you fit 23 rounds of 5.7×28.
• Optics-ready version with a threaded barrel was part of the plan.
• Low recoil, high velocity: some people carry 5.7, it has practical uses, and it’s great for varmints. But really, this is just stupid fun.

Why the threaded 5.7 got me excited

5.7×28 is a great round to suppress, and a lot of people already own a .22 rimfire can. Many stainless or titanium rimfire cans can handle 5.7×28, so you may not need a bigger 9mm can. Always confirm with your suppressor maker that your specific can is rated for it. With suppressor sales growing the way they were, that made a threaded 5.7 a lot more interesting.

Some context from January 2022: ATF had just rolled out eForm 4. At the time I was waiting around 12 months on two suppressors and about seven to eight months on a couple more, and ATF was promising to get eForm 4 approvals down to roughly 90 days. That’s how things stood when this was filmed, not a statement about wait times today.

What came next

This booth was the moment PSA’s handgun line really branched out, and I kept checking in with them in the years after. If you want the rest of the story on the site:

• PSA Micro Dagger, Compact 5.7 and the Switch Modular Pistol: Looking Back at PSA’s 2023 Handgun Plans
• Latest Handguns from PSA: Compact 5.7, 10mm, .45 & Sabre Dagger (SHOT Show 2024)
• PSA X5.7: MP7 Vibes for the Common Folks?

My take

I really do appreciate what PSA has done for the gun industry. They take good guns and make them affordable for gun owners, and you know my philosophy: the best way to protect the Second Amendment is to put as many guns into people’s hands as possible. I have yet to train a new gun owner who put the gun down and decided guns are evil and no fun. The full-size and micro Daggers were the practical moves. The 5.7 Rock was the fun one. Just remember this was a booth first look from SHOT Show 2022, not a range review.

Gear and support

• Eye pro, ear pro, lead wipes and everything else I run: SlavGuns Amazon storefront
• Support the channel: join the Squat Squad on YouTube

Got questions about the Dagger family or the 5.7 Rock? Leave them in the comments. Thanks for reading, and keep on squatting!

Some links are affiliates.