When this column was originally being written, the 2025 SHOT Show has just come to an end. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported that it was attended by 54,000 industry professionals and 2,850 exhibitors. There were 14.1 miles of aisles. It is not open to the public, so I hear the same question from those who were unable to attend: “Did you see anything good, cool, new or amazing?” If I’m being honest — and I always am, even if you see me sometimes write with flowery words to cushion my editorial blows — 95-plus percent of the new guns at SHOT Show are simply variations of existing models, otherwise known as “line extensions.” That’s not necessarily a criticism, just an observation.
Some might interpret line extensions to mean that a brand is stagnant, or taking the safe route to increase profits. That might be true for some situations, but some line extensions are like magic. When a new product is successful, variations will follow possessing bigger, smaller, lighter, or more powerful features. Sometimes a line extension is like capturing lightning in a bottle, proving to be better than the original. This statement could apply to almost every variant of the SIG Sauer P320 in 2025; the original P320 was introduced at the 2014 SHOT Show.
The Glock Standard
Truly, no firearm company personifies the term “line extensions” better than Glock. Gaston Glock introduced his G17 in 1982. Fundamentally, Glock has done nothing since but offer line extensions of that principal design. Glock pistols are offered in different sizes, different calibers and colors, but every Glock is based on the same design; only the proportions and certain parts have changed.
The G19 is the perfect example of a line extension that wouldn’t exist without the original, but it far surpassed the G17. The G19 was “lightning in a bottle,” and it remains the carry gun against which others are judged — since 1988. We don’t have access to current production numbers, but it used to be the best-selling Glock model.
Advertisement
Why hasn’t Glock offered the public more than another line extension? It hasn’t needed to. Even today, more than 40 years later, Glock hasn’t met demand. It is the most popular pistol brand in the world. Glock did develop a pistol-caliber carbine (PCC), but it never introduced it to the commercial market because it didn’t need to. Patents were discovered for a carbine in 2019. Glock built an AR-15 variant to compete for a UK government contract, which it didn’t win. The carbine might be a great rifle, but will it ever be released commercially? I’d say no, not unless the sales of pistols tank; I don’t see that happening.
Business Considerations
Line extensions are a safe bet for business, and a way to maintain a steady, predictable income stream. However, a healthy amount of cash in the bank allows a company to direct engineers to take time and dream up the next big thing. New products are a gamble, and they take time to develop. Research and Development departments can be money pits.
In 2020, when there were riots throughout the U.S., we saw demand for guns and ammo spike. Almost every company that made a gun shelved whatever new products were in the development pipeline. Generally, for the next three years we witnessed companies promoting sales of copies of existing models. It was all they could do to keep up with demand. New-gun introductions were often just line extensions because they required little effort and investment to produce them.
Advertisement
The Model 1911 is America’s pistol. Early in its storied history, there were some caliber variations. The .38 Super was introduced in 1929, for example. Following World War II, Colt began offering its Commander. The Commander was a line extension of the M1911 introduced in 1949. It featured a shortened slide of 4 1/4 inches. It was the first large-frame pistol with an aluminum frame to be mass produced. An evolution of the National Match series, the competition-oriented Gold Cup followed in 1957. Also in 1970, the aluminum-frame Commander became the Lightweight Commander while an all-steel version was introduced as the Combat Commander. An aluminum-framed pistol simply wasn’t possible when John Browning was developing the 1911 because the metallurgy wasn’t there, and that’s another point. Sometimes line extensions don’t just follow trends and fads, but advancements in technology. SIG Sauer’s collaboration with Avient (formerly PolyOne) to produce its X-Series tungsten-infused polymer grip modules (TXG) for the P320 is one such example.
SIG Sauer, I believe, wears the crown as the “King of Line Extensions.” How many variations are there of the P320 and P365 platforms? In part, these options are due to the modular nature of these pistols. The internal chassis system is the serialized part, so a pistol design can be exploited to create numerous variants and accept personalizations. Within two years of the 2019 introduction of the TXG grip module, aluminum and steel grip modules were released. Now P320 and P365 slides sport integral compensators and are either optic ready or optic equipped. There are even state-compliant models of these.
Technology has changed, but so do tastes. Handgun variants are influenced by external pressures such as improvements in ammunition. In the era of Jeff Cooper’s writings, Guns & Ammo readers knew the 9mm was useless as a manstopper. “Real men carried a .45,” he’d write. To manage the recoil of the .45, you want a big, heavy gun like the M1911. However, improvements to defensive ammunition have elevated the 9mm, especially since the FBI adopted the 9mm in 2015 and inspired the trend of federal and local law enforcement agencies to transition away from the .40 S&W. The FBI’s selection of Hornady’s Critical Duty 135-grain +P 9mm load helped to make this possible. Today, the most popular cartridge for 1911 pistols is the 9mm, and compact models sell more units than full-size guns, not to mention the popularity of double-stack 2011-types. Hence, line extensions have allowed the Model 1911 to remain a valid option for competition and carry, and there seems to be no stopping that trend.
Smith & Wesson has also leaned heavily into offering line extensions of its M&P series. The subcompact Shield was a revelation, too, and if it wasn’t for that pistol the P365 might not exist in its current form — and I believe the P365 is currently the carry gun that others should be judged against. In 2018, S&W also introduced its Shield EZ, specifically to support gun owners with compromised grip strength or dexterity issues. It is so easy to load, rack and shoot that it remains a tremendous success. When a brand explores the possiblities through line extensions, sometimes the unexpected happens — like magic. Manufacturers knew there was a desire for pistols that are easy to manipulate, but the Shield EZ nailed that design effort. It’s been so successful that other firearm companies are making easy-to-rack pistols, including Ruger and Walther. Line extensions appear when engineers are allowed to tinker with an idea or existing product. How can it be made better? What are consumers demanding? Line extensions may only offer incremental improvements to a designs, but the result can produce a significant impact.
A company’s desire to maintain a predictable income level through line extensions can be a siren’s song, influencing manufacturers to become stagnant and refuse to innovate. Far more frequent than not, subsequent variants can lead to something wonderful. Line extensions are the physical manifestation of the metaphor, “We all stand on the shoulders of giants.”
Read the full article here