Israel-based IWI has just released photos and a video of their new entry into the crowded 9mm striker-fired pistol market. The fully ambidextrous MASADA looks like it’s been designed to pass the Military Arms Channel’s famous torture test and will start shipping in the first quarter of 2018.
IWI, an SK Group Member, Launches MASADA – A Striker-Based Line of Pistols for Military, Law Enforcement, and Civilian Markets
Ramat HaSharon, Israel, November 2, 2017. Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), an SK Group member – a leader in the production of combat-proven small arms for law enforcement agencies, governments, and armies around the world – is launching the MASADA line of Striker-based pistols for military, law enforcement, and civilian markets. The first model, the full size 9X19mm MASADA, will be exhibited at Defense and Security Thailand, Milipol (Paris) France, and Expodefensa Colombia.
According to Shlomi Sabag, IWI’s CEO, “We are proud to launch this new line of pistols – the MASADA – following a development process that took several years, based on requests from our customers. The new Striker-based line places special emphasis on operational safety and simplicity of maintenance, as well as a high level of ergonomics and ease of use. The pistol will be available to our customers from Q1/18.”
The MASADA has several advanced safety mechanisms including a firing pin block safety, a clean and crisp trigger reset with a built-in trigger safety, and a fast, easy and safe takedown – with no need to pull the trigger. The pistol can be provided with or without manual safety. It has an easy racked slide with improved front and rear cocking serrations, enhanced ergonomics with the IWI grip angle, and a low barrel axis for reduced recoil. The body has a glass-reinforced polymer frame as well as a polygonal cold hammer forged barrel with a 1:10RH twist rate.
Additional features include fully ambidextrous operating controls and fixed 3-dot tritium illuminated Meprolight night sights. It offers 100% interchangeability with a compatible trigger mechanism housing, reducing maintenance and life cycle costs. The pistol has an overall length of 6.6″ (186.4mm) with a barrel length of 4.1″ (104mm), and with a trigger pull weighing 5.5-7.0 lbs. (2.5-3.175 kg), and a weight without the magazine of 22.9 ounces
(650 g). The MASADA will be available in four colors: Sniper Gray, OD Green, Black, and Flat Dark Earth.
Sounds OK. Crowded is a gross understatement. 6.6″ long is a nifty size though. Pardon me but WHUT is the big deal about pulling a trigger on take down?!?
Fudd-lore from days of yore where pulling the trigger on rimfire (still holds accurate but more modern designs are getting better about it), or other hammer-fired weapons without a round in the chamber would wreck the firing pin, or partially disassembled guns letting the hammer fall could potentially break something (like an AR lower). Older generations and certain people get stuck on the mantra of the “4 Rules” and feel you should never ever pull the trigger unless you’re shooting the gun, because RULE 1: GUN IS ALWAYS LOADED! Sheepdawg. I hope you can detect my sarcasm, but I think you get the gist of the type I’m describing.
No, the pulling the trigger on take down thing is not fudd lore surrounding 22s.
It’s based on the fact glocks require it, and tons of glocks got put into the hands of LEOs and LEOs in training. The fact that many of said LEOs don’t really put a lot of effort into the whole gun handling portion of being an LEO, and the fact that a LOT of negligent discharges have occured with glocks in the course of maintenance. With Glock dominating LEO sales, the issue spread to lots of neophyte gun owners with little experience and who sought no training.
Having to pull the trigger to disassemble is extremely unforgiving of carelessness. So some people frown upon it. That is the source of it.
I’m going to respectfully disagree, raz-0, or maybe clarify my position.
I’ve been told not to drop hammers on empty chambers, etc. since LONG before Glocks were around.
Glock take-down has exacerbated the issue, but I’ve been told I was going to break my centerfires, etc. back when police were still carrying revolvers, let alone plastic autos.
An ND when taking down a Glock, is the same as a ND any other time. It’s not the gun’s fault. It’s never the gun’s fault. A gun is a simple machine. Someone needed to load a magazine, chamber a round etc. That’s not a “Glock design issue”. That’s sloppy fucks, being sloppy fucks.
Years ago I first-hand witnessed a Glock take down ND, the guy was very familiar with firearms and got distracted while setting up to clean, no excuses really he should have put all the ammo in another room or something… It was negligent. Fortunately it was pointed in a safe direction and no one was harmed.
However given that the technology exists to release the striker without a trigger pull, I think manufacturers including it is a smart move. I prefer it in my striker fired guns.
On the other hand with my HK4, the decocking process is to load the mag and rack the slide to chamber a round, then with safety set to safe and round in chamber… Pull the trigger to decock! No holding the hammer required, just let it drop!
Impossible to have ND if empty.
“WHUT is the big deal about pulling a trigger on take down”
Safety. A lot of NDs and some deaths have resulted and do continue to result from having to pull the trigger to field strip. Yeah, obviously we all realize that it’s extremely stupid to mistakenly think a gun is empty and pull the trigger when it is, in fact, loaded, but it does happen and more than I’d expect it to. There’s certainly nothing wrong with designing a gun that can be taken down without necessitating a trigger pull, and if I had designed one I’d market that as a meaningful safety feature, too.
As for the pistol here: the grip looks nice and comfortable. From the side, the pistol reminds me quite a lot of the Ruger American. I can see the CNC passes on the top of the slide. I can’t tell from the press release if this gun is going to be available in the U.S., though. I do know the ATF can take a solid year to approve the import of a new semi-auto pistol. This may only be available abroad for a while, if it ever comes to the U.S. Unless I missed something in the press release and other info above?
The instructor missed a belt loop. 😛
Sorry but if you’re too STOOPID to make sure your glock is unloaded you’re too retarded to even have a GUN. I’ll stick with my comment. Have a special day…oh and why oh why is it difficult for cops(and military) to understand basic safety? IQ?😜😜😜😜😜
Also, pointing the gun in a safe direction (as much as can be expected, on a 3rd floor apartment there really is no safe direction), not pointing it directly at your wife while doing so is a pretty major point. I have 0 sympathy for these people that kill someone when “cleaning “ their gun and they deserve everything that happens to them. If I’m ever on the other side of this then I’ll eat my words but damnit CHECK YOUR CHAMBER BEFORE PULLING THE TRIGGER.
I was almost shot in the leg at point blank range by a ND at at my LGS a few years ago by some fucktwit with a bolt .30-06 that proclaimed “I checked it”. No retard, you obviously didn’t.
Yes, it’s stupid. But if you can design a gun that doesn’t require a trigger pull for field stripping (and you can) why wouldn’t you? In this case there really doesn’t have to be any negative trade-off whatsoever like making for a worse trigger pull or adding bulk and weight, etc. Effectively no downside but very obvious upside seems like a clear choice.
Don’t misunderstand me, it’s a very good idea to design it that way, I simply give no quarter to people that ND when they are basically dry firing.
I actually commented a few days ago in a different thread that it’s one of the things I appreciate about the Ruger SR series. When you push the ejector down the trigger bar moves down to a position where it can not engage the striker at all.
You’re seriously asking that?? Have you not seen the hundreds of memes out there about young privates marrying strippers and buying cars at 75% interest from less than reputable buy here pay here places just off post right before they deploy for the first time?
You have to remember the old Einstein (I think it was him anyway) quote:
“Never underestimate the depths of human stupidity.”
No matter what the tool is or how simple the task someone will ALWAYS f*ck it up. There are always people who can burn water and f*ck up a wet dream.
New press release makes it clear that it WILL be sold in the U.S. in Q1:
Amen, it’s very easy to acquaint yourself with the function of all your weapons and then handle them appropriately. I carry a couple different gen4 Glocks and sometimes a 1911. Been carrying and competing 30+ years and never have had an ND.
Apparently it’s a safety issue.
Mind you, there are people that think it’s dangerous to pull a trigger to disassemble a gun but have no issue recommending dry fire practice all day long.
It’s all about the fact that Pre-Gen 4 Glocks required a trigger pull before take down. The big deal people who hate Glocks make out of it is simply sensationalism since anyone who doesn’t clear their gun before cleaning it is just bucking for a Darwin award. For that matter, if pulling the trigger on your gun is such a big deal to some people, I guess that means they never do dry fire training? Anyway, on-line gun “experts” make a big deal about not having to pull the trigger before take down so they can seem cool.
My dad told me, “If you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything.”
I’m not saying anything.
I guess Magpul’s copyright’s expired.
Magpul sold the production rights and such to Big Green (Remington) and they called it the ACR. I think the Masada name is fair game now.
It is unclear why they cut front slide serrations. Nobody in Israel will be doing any press checks any time soon. The infamous system of chambering a round while drawing is alive and kicking.
That’s not for cops and border guards on duty – they carry a round chambered.
The so-called “Israeli Carry” is used by off-duty soldiers and cops. At least off-duty soldiers have their guns with them – better than the US and elsewhere.
Police do not carry a round chambered (yes, I am a volunteer police officer in Israel)
Quick questions as I’m curious…
If you don’t carry a round chambered and you do draw, rack and then fire, let’s say three rounds, and then re-holster…then what? Is it ok to then walk around with a chambered round? Is there a time limit? After it is determined that there is no more threat does the person have to un-holster, take out the mag and kick out the live round, then put the live round back into the mag, then put the mag back in the gun and then re-holster once again on an empty chamber?
Take a break.
If the reliability really is “all that and a bag of potato chips”, then yeah, I might pick one up. Seems like a good duty gun. Otherwise, I’m pretty much all set on 9mm handguns. A 5 inch barrel would get my attention more but…I’ll wait and see.
Jeremy S is correct
I have been posting here for years that Glock did a dis-service to American gun owners by introducing the concept of pulling the trigger to take apart a pistol
You can talk all you want about “safety is between the ears” and other cliches.
That is NOT true
We in Anesthesia have been doing a lot of research on safety through our Patient Safety Foundation
They have found that even with a highly trained workforce that gets required continuing education there continue to be the same errors made due to inattention, fatigue and unfamiliarity with new equipment
We have started engineering safety features into Anesthesia gas connections and syringes
Guns have a lot of areas where safety features could be built in without taking away from rapid deployment
Starting with a takedown process that does not violate the first rule of gun safety!
I guess you don’t dry fire much.
I never saw much utility in dry firing a pistol that has to be cycled by hand after every “shot.”
Revolvers, yes, they should be dry fired. Dry firing most pistols is a waste of time.
Well, I don’t have a revolver so I guess I’m stuck with “wasting my time”
For better or worse, there’s a strong philosophical opposition to anything that protects us from ourselves or is redundant to having a safety between the ears.
It has to do with the self reliant individualism of gun owners and will never change, nor should it, otherwise it’ll be smart guns for everyone.
Redundancy is necessary in complex things like surgery, not simple things like guns.
Don’t matter much to me and millions like me. This pistol is so so dangerous, that the commie kalifornia overlords say NO NO NO. We are safe to live yet another day. Thank you overlords. I”ll just have to keep my much older tech firearms.
“Twirling his handgun?” The IQ of a turnip.
I have a brother-in-law, former LEO for Hermiston Oregon Sheriff’s dept. Fresh out of the Navy and 1st day on the job, sitting in the lobby waiting for the Chief to come in, he is twirling his handgun on his finger, needless to say it discharged into the floor just as the Chief entered and the round went over the Chief’s shoulder and broke a window. Many years later he left that dept with many accolades decorations and letters from the Governor in his file as an undercover officer. He made it through that first day after the removal (surgically) of the Chief’s foot from his butt.
Uh, since all the defenders at Masada died by suicide, I’m thinking that maybe this wasn’t the best choice of names for a defensive handgun.
If it is, then I’m sure that we’ll soon be reading about the all-new Jonestown flavor of Kool-Aid or the eternally restful Heaven’s Gate mattresses coming soon to a store near you.
That was my first thought! But, on the other hand, it might be comforting to know that the gun will serve you all the way to the end, whichever it might be 😉
Yeah, I too was thinking that only the Romans should be celebrating that fort and it’s history.
So now we have an IMI Glock Brand Glock.
It looks like an HK P30 without the hammer….
I think it kind of resembles the ruger american pistol.
Embarrassment that so many people are too f#$%ing stupid to clear their firearm before cleaning that the industry has to change to accommodate, and announce with fanfare, this mass retardation.
Good luck to them. I would love to purchase an IWI but their guns are never quite up to the US consumer market standard, and they are more expensive than better alternatives too. What are the odds this gun will be available for less than $700 on the street? Not great. And then there’s the issue of “customer service” not even translating into hebrew, it is a completely foreign concept to them…
I’m late to the game, but the Masada is retailing for $479 where I live. And if you have an issue with pulling the trigger to disassemble, maybe you shouldn’t own a firearm.
Love the way the instructor goes crossed-thumbs at 0:42. Very old school.
Also the barrel dropping as he mashes the trigger at 0:47…and the trigger finger flopping around in there afterwards at 0:48.
Poorly made ad. Maybe a poorly made gun?
Looks like the issue from an Honor Guard+Shield+P7 three way.
My handgun taste never made it past 1980.
I like my Smith N K and J frames without a dash, model 1911 or the words Hi-Power on the slide of my auto loaders and my rifles made in Belgium or New Hampshire.
Never saw a need for a de-cocker on those guns, never had an ND with them either. Of course, I know alot of folks who never really took the time to learn to HANDLE them who did…
You cant fix stupid, you can only limit its options.
I’ll go look at these when they come out though. IWI makes a quality gun. Perhaps I’ll retire the Remington Rand in the truck and join the 21rst Century.
Pulling the trigger on takedown is required on some pistols to release the action.
The magazine must be removed and the slide racked and locked, which will eject any round chambered.
The takedown pin is removed or the lever is manipulated and the slide is slowly released and the trigger pulled to unlock the slide.
That is the way my Taurus PT24/7 Pro LS DS 9mm. works.
Impossible to fire a round when disassembling.
Pretty much the same for my PT111 Millenium G2 9mm.
NO WAY to fire a round when disassembling.
Meh. Another “me too” commodity plastic 9mm. not even worth an article.
I’ll be checking one out for sure. I have an older Israeli police trade-in Jericho that is an amazing gun. It’s old enough that it’s marked IMI instead of IWI. I also love my Desert Eagles. The Israelis make great weapons and equipment. My Level IV plates are also from Israel and I have done contracts in both Israel and the West Bank. If it’s IWI, it’s going to be good.
A lot of people are too stupid to unload their guns before take down.
Looks like an XDM ?
Reading the comments just confirms my lack of faith with some in this world. So much wasted H2O.
Also the “instructor” has a horrible grip. Looks like a C shooter in USPSA or an A shooter in IDPA.
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