Today (21DEC21) Savage announced the Stance single-stack 9mm pistol. The gun seems to have come from no where but then again Savage isn't exactly known for creating much noise with the media.
As a pistol geek I immediately took a look, but the closer I look the more I see a reskinned Honor Defense Honor Guard. A few years back, when single-stack 9mm pistols were all the rage Honor Defense created the pistol that everyone was asking for. Excellent stippling, factory night sights, a chassis system for grip interchangeability, front slide serrations... all the things people were either wishing for or spending money to do to their current guns Honor Defense included in one gun. Many of these features seem standard now, but at the time it was Honor Defense who made it all standard.
Looking at the Savage Stance the chassis' shape, trigger shoe, magazine release, and takedown lever appear almost as if they are new-old stock Honor Guard pistols. Even the magazine design and sleeve. I know most handguns look similar to the untrained eye (like the folks who routinely comment that a Walther is a Glock copy...smh), but even the frame's texture looks to be the same type of polymer. It could easily be coincidental as Savage isn't the least expensive company, but the MSRP of $479 is high (especially considering single-stack 9mms are out of fashion) just like the the Honor Guard was. The biggest difference of course is that the Honor Guard was ahead of its time and released at the height of single-stack 9mm popularity.
For a closer look at what I believe to be the prodigy of this pistol check out this "update" video from 2017:
The choice by Savage to release a single-stack 9mm is interesting. Most folks these days are asking:
For more information about the Savage Stance see their website here.
Looks incredible, and I don't know why I didn't grab one of the O.G models!
Seems like they pulled a "Springfield" and purchased the rights like SA did to the old HS2000 and made the XD. Curious where it will ultimately go though