If you watched Miami Vice in the 80s, or the nightly news for that matter, you remember the Intratec TEC-9.
The 9mm pistol, introduced in 1985, was a blowback semi-auto with the magwell located in front of the trigger guard rather than in the pistol grip and was built from inexpensive, molded polymers and a mix of stamped and milled steel parts.
The gun developed a bad rep for its association with gang violence, both in reality and on TV shows, and a worse reputation.
The gun also drew a lot of negative attention from the ATF, because the open-bolt configuration was deemed too easy to convert to full-auto. This led to the more common, closed-bolt variant, the KG-99.
Still, over 250,000 were made before Intratec officially dissolved in 2001.
These days, if any parts on an existing TEC-9 fail (the gun’s polymer lower will easily crack if +P ammo is used), there are no new replacement parts available. Additionally, the pistol used proprietary magazines, which are now pretty rare.
A company called SOL Invictus is bringing the pistol back in a big way and rebranding it as the TAC-9 (the TEC-9 is actually outlawed in some states by name) with a redesigned lower made from aluminum sporting an AR-style magazine release. The proprietary magazines are also gone—the TAC-9 will accept Glock mags, the angle of which allows for better feeding than the original design.
The gun will also have different endplates, allowing for the user to set it up in a pistol configuration, with a SIG Brace, or even with a full stock, with a $200 tax stamp of course.
The guns on display at this year’s SHOT Show were non-functioning, with old-school TEC-9 uppers attached to the brand new aluminum lowers, but a redesigned upper with a Picatinny rail and interchangeable barrels is on the way, so keep your eyes peeled for the new TAC-9 pistol when it hits the market this summer—it will be available in 9mm, .45 ACP, and 10mm. MSRP: NA