The micro compact pistol market continues to be hot, and anyone with just a basic understanding of the issues driving that can easily understand why.

You have people wanting to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones by carrying concealed who finally have a way to carry more than just a few rounds between reloads. Obviously, having more rounds between reloads means that you have a better possibility of stopping a threat before you have to pause for that reload which means that you have a better chance to survive that encounter. So, having more than a few rounds in the pistol while keeping the pistol small enough to conceal (which is one of the major attributes of micro compact pistols) makes them incredibly attractive to people looking primarily for safety and self-protection without allerting the people around them that they are carrying.

Couple that with people’s concern that a rabidly anti-gun administration might make it difficult to get firearms in the future which is driving higher sales in the firearms industry in general.

And, then, several micro compact models are optics ready to accommodate the red-hot (pun intended) red dot market.

Those three factors together are driving the micro compact pistol market to possibly being the hottest market in firearms right now.

Which goes a long way to explain why Stoeger Industries is jumping into the fray, too. Chris Eger gives us some details:

Beretta-owned Stoeger is upping its pistol game for 2022 with a new series of optics-ready handguns that are billed as “Every Day Tough,” and the STR-9SC is one of the more interesting in the series. 

Eger continues:

In 2019, the company introduced the STR-9, a mid-sized 9mm double-stack polymer-framed striker-fired pistol with a 15-shot magazine. Stoeger soon followed up with the STR-9C Compact in 2020, the STR-9 Combat in 2021, and this year the STR-9F – a full-sized model – and the STR-9SC sub-compact available in an optics-ready variant.  

Details from Stoeger Industries website tell us that the STR-9SC weighs 22.4 ounces unloaded, has a barrel length of 3.54″, and has a capacity of 10+1 which is about the minimum that you’ll find in the micro compact category. Starting MSRP is $329, with the model which has titanium sites having an MSRP of $399, and the optics ready model also having an MSRP of $399.

To summarize, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly micro compact pistol, Stoeger’s STR-9SC may be one to consider.