FIRST LOOK: THE NEW MOSSBERG MC2sc HANDGUN

Near Prescott, Arizona lies Gunsite Academy. There, hidden by pinyon-and-juniper-covered hill country, Mossberg recently unveiled an updated version of their very successful subcompact handgun to a select group of gun writers. By some fortunate oversight, I happened to be among that group and was privileged to help wring out the new and improved version of the little pistol.

In case you are unfamiliar with the story and the firearm, in 2019 Mossberg introduced their first handgun in a century, calling it the MC1sc (Mossberg Carry 1 Subcompact). (Yes, just over one hundred years ago Mossberg did offer a handgun; the “Brownie”. It was a four-barreled affair chambered in .22 Long Rifle and marketed mostly toward trappers. It was discontinued some thirteen years later.)

With a click of the heels and a snappy attitude, the MC1sc took its place among today’s lineup of trusted concealed-carry handguns. It’s a 9mm caliber piece well designed for concealed-carry use – a striker-fired unit that sports a slender profile, single-stack magazines, (6-round flush and 7-round extended), and other features that render it both attractive and reliable for daily use.

REMODLED – THE MC2sc

With Mossberg’s introduction of the MC2sc, they’ve addressed the biggest shortcoming their little carry pistol had; limited capacity. To keep up with the big dogs in the arena of little handguns, the MC2sc needed to be capable of gulping down an alarming amount of cartridges, and then reliably producing them when called upon. The engineers at Mossberg did an admirable job with the re-design. A new MC2sc comes with two magazines; an 11-round flush-fit, and a 14-round extended. And they managed to keep the grip gracefully narrow, just 1.10 inches thick as opposed to the MC1sc at 1.03 inches. That’s only seven-hundredths of an inch thicker in trade for double the firepower. This magic was accomplished by using slim profile double stack metal magazines in the MC2sc, rather than the single stack polymer mag used in the MC1sc.

Another interesting upgrade to the MC2sc is optics-ready capability. Common Micro-Dot optics are a snap to install; simply remove the plate atop the slide and install any optic with a JPoint or Shield footprint in its place.

Aside from these two major design changes the little Mossberg pistol remains largely the same. Sure, the engineers tweaked a little here and adjusted a bit there, but for the most part, it’s the same handgun we’ve come to know and respect.

TESTING AND SHOOTABILITY

There were twenty-three of us on the line at Gunsite, each with a brand-new MC2sc holstered. Over the next eight or so hours we checked zero, shot groups at a variety of distances, performed speed drills, and wrung the little handguns out any way we could. Now, I’m far from an expert with this type of firearm, but even so, I was able to shoot the “El Presidente” drill at par on my second attempt. For those of you who (like me) are unfamiliar with the drill, it consists of three targets placed one yard apart, shot from the ten-yard line. The shooter must start holstered, draw and shoot each target twice, reload, and again shoot each target twice. Par for the exercise (when shooting a semi-auto handgun) is a clean round (no misses) in ten seconds or less. To me, the fact that I was able to complete an unfamiliar drill with a brand-new handgun at par on my second attempt was a testament to the shootability of the firearm.

Subcompact pistols are not famous for accuracy, but the MC2sc pistols shot remarkably well. Several of my unsupported seven-yard 5-shot groups could have been covered with a quarter. We weren’t using soft-shooting target ammo either; we used the best, hottest Hornady ammo available.

The last exercise we got to do was a fun little run-and-gun scrambler where we shot fourteen steel targets from a variety of positions and at diverse distances as fast as we could, running between positions. Again, I was impressed by the little handgun’s shootability and accuracy, making first-shot hits on 13 of the 14 targets.

During a solid day of shooting, I experienced one malfunction, where the slide locked back before the magazine was empty. Upon investigation I found that there was no malfunction at all; the lock back was caused by my own thumb pressing on the underside of the slide lock release button during the shot.

CONCLUSION

The MC2sc is a reliable, accurate, concealed-carry weapon. All things considered, the little pistol offered up a stellar performance, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone. MSRP will come in from $555 (standard) to $663 (night sights).

SPECIFICATIONS

Caliber: 9MM

Capacity: 11+1, 14+1

Barrel Length: 3.4”

Safety: Trigger Blade (optional manual cross-bolt)

Sights: White 3-Dot or TRUGLO Tritium Pro

Length: 6.25”

Height: 4.30”

Width: 1.10”

Weight: 19.5 oz.

Frame: Polymer

Slide: 416 Stainless Steel

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