New Handguns For 2025

As with each year’s crop of new firearms, optics, ammunition and accessories, American Rifleman editors typically notice emerging or accelerating trends in technology aimed at enhancing their user experience. This year, those trends include a raft of 2011-style handguns ushering the classic Browning design into the 21st century, among others. Here is American Rifleman‘s top staff picks for new handguns out this year, along with one of our field editors reporting on some of the latest designs to hit the market following SHOT Show 2025.

EAA Girsan Witness2311 Brat

EAA, with its Girsan Witness2311 Brat, visually re-defines the compact, double-stack M1911-pattern pistol category in a way that would have likely shocked John Moses Browning but that is sure to excite today’s concealed carrier on the lookout for a feature-laden bargain. The steel-frame pistol’s concealed-carry-friendly 7″ length and polymer grip section help keep overall weight to just 23 ozs. and combines with either 11-round (.45 ACP) or 17-round (9 mm Luger) magazine capacities to make for a high size-to-firepower ratio. Added to that is a standard feature set that includes: a 3.4″ bull barrel with flared muzzle fit directly to the slide; Novak-style three-dot sights; an extended beavertail grip safety with memory pad; bilateral thumb safeties; a skeletonized hammer and trigger; a removable, flared magazine well; and a full-length accessory rail. One version is even available with a titanium nitride-treated gold-tone slide and controls. —Brian C. Sheetz, Editor In Chief

KelTec PR57

KelTec’s penchant for coloring outside the lines is on full display in its new PR57 handgun, a 5.7×28 mm FN-chambered semi-automatic pistol that—between its cylindrical slide, rotating barrel, total lack of a detachable box magazine and attendant stripper clips—feels conceptually about 120 years out of place. Given the absence of a removable box, rounds can only be loaded (either singly by hand or via the included 10-round stripper clips) into the pistol’s 20-round blind internal magazine through the slide’s elongated ejection port. And yet, at just 7.16″ long and weighing only 13.86 ozs. empty, the polymer-frame, aluminum-receiver PR57 is also one of the first 5.7 mm-chambered handguns developed with concealed carry in mind—and its slide is designed to accommodate the installation of a micro red-dot optic. —Kelly Young, Senior Executive Editor

Walther PDP Pro-X PMM

Walther designed its latest PDP model, the Pro-X PMM, in conjunction with Parker Mountain Machine, and the full-size, polymer-frame 9 mm Luger pistol bears that company’s compensator aboard its 4.6″ threaded barrel as a result. The pistol seamlessly integrates the PMM muzzle accessory by pairing Walther’s 4″-barreled PDP slide with the 5″ model’s frame, preserving the platform’s sleek aesthetic while also providing a marked reduction in felt recoil. While offering the same superb ergonomics and bilateral controls that all PDPs are prized for, the Pro-X PMM also comes standard with Walther’s exceptionally crisp Dynamic Performance Trigger upgrade, an extended magazine well for easier no-look reloads and three 18-round magazines with aluminum basepads. Despite the PDP Pro-X PMM’s duty-ready size, capacity and feature set, the pistol weighs only 24 ozs. empty. —Kelly Young, Senior Executive Editor

Diamondback SDR 9 mm

Diamondback expanded its Self Defense Revolver (SDR) line in 2025 with a new six-shot model chambered for the 9 mm Luger cartridge. This latest iteration, featuring a 2” barrel, makes use of TK Custom moon clips that capture all six cartridges, as well as chamfered cylinder mouths, allowing for easy loading and unloading. Hallmarks of the SDR design include a serrated, push-button cylinder release located on the left side of the frame, as well as a captured cylinder crane that uses a push-button release located just above the trigger guard on the gun’s right side, allowing for easy removal of the cylinder for cleaning and maintenance. The 21-oz. revolver is topped by a set of high-visibility, fiber-optic sights, and the entire gun is dehorned and well-contoured for easy carry. —Evan Brune, Executive Editor

HK USA CC9

HK USA’s CC9 is the result of years of development and ultimately represents the first domestically produced firearm from the German brand. HK USA’s restructuring allows it to manufacture products in the United States it couldn’t offer previously, due to the complex nature of German firearm export laws and U.S. firearm import laws. The 9 mm Luger-chambered CC9 was subjected to a battery of reliability tests and met NATO standards usually applied to full-size duty pistols. More than 750,000 rounds of testing resulted in the final design of the CC9, which uses a +P-rated machined steel chassis system, as well as a cold-hammer-forged 3.32” barrel. Two interchangeable backstraps allow owners to fine-tune fit, and HK USA optimized the gun’s trigger reach to match that of its full-size VP9 for better ergonomics. Controls are bilateral, and the gun comes with one 10-round, flush-fit magazine and an extended 12-rounder. —Evan Brune, Executive Editor

Kimber 2K11

Kimber’s latest high-capacity M1911 variant is the highly anticipated 2K11. Available in 9 mm or .45 ACP, this double-stack pistol comes standard with a 7075 aerospace-grade aluminum grip module and trigger in place of the polymer components favored by competitors. The stainless-steel slide features polished flats, custom 2K11 front and rear cocking serrations, an external extractor and a durable DLC finish. The TAG FiberLok 2 green fiber-optic front sight is paired with a fixed rear integral to the optics-ready slide’s aluminum cover plate; a mounting plate for Trijicon RMR- and Holosun-footprint optics is provided. The 5″ fluted barrel is supported by a patent-pending, toolless guide rod that makes for easy disassembly. Other features include a 3-lb., 8-oz., GT match-grade trigger, a Stan Chen Customs magazine well and three magazines. —B. Gil Horman, Field Editor

Springfield Prodigy 3.5″ Compact

Springfield Armory took the 2011-type, hybrid-framed pistol mainstream in 2022 when it introduced the 1911 DS Prodigy series. Since that time, the Prodigy family has continued to expand, adding an EDC model this year with the Prodigy 3.5″ Compact. Not a mere chop job, the 3.5″ Compact is designed to be as lightweight and handy as possible, without compromising capacity or reliability. The grip frame is shortened yet houses a 15-round magazine. A 3.5″ bull barrel sits inside a shortened slide. Weight savings come from a frame machined from billet aluminum, and the beavertail and hammer profile are re-designed to minimize the pistol’s footprint. Excellent iron sights combine with Springfield’s flexible Agency Optics System (AOS) in a package that weighs 25.5 ozs. —Jeremiah Knupp, Field Editor