Archon Type B: Same Gun, New Name

By Jacki Billings

Archon’s booth was full of SHOT Show industry day attendees mulling over the Type B pistol and scratching their heads. Hey, haven’t we seen this before?

Why yes we have; but back then it was known as the Arsenal Stryk-B. Due to a recent legal scuffle, Arsenal was forced to rebrand as Archon, pronounced Ark-On for those keeping track. The rebranding didn’t stop at the company image, though. BATFE rules dictated that all new slides must be printed for guns as a result of the name change — and thus the Stryke-B was reborn as the lackluster sounding Type B.

In essence, it’s the same gun we saw at SHOT Show in 2017 just with a new name.

The 9mm, striker fired plastic pistol comes with some decent features like compatibility with Glock sights and a Picatinny accessory rail. The mag well is also beveled and Archon tosses in four, 15 round magazines for good keeping. The Type B comes standard with a flat faced trigger featuring a short reset that isn’t a total wash.

During the course of our demo, Archon was quick to point out its AF-Speedlock system during disassembly. The AF-Speedlock is a locking system which disallows the barrel from tilting during operation. Employing a fork-shaped locking block, the block is pulled down by a control cam, thereby releasing the carriage. The barrel is then guided on a straight line to the rear. Archon told us this locking system grants better accuracy to shooters compared to “standard pistols.”

Of course Archon threw in some buzz-worthy features in its pitch like “low bore axis” and front and rear slide serrations. (If you’re playing the SHOT Show drinking game, this is the point where you’d take a drink.) The company also tossed in what they term “innovative grip mapping” and what we’d call a textured grip. The so-called grip mapping is designed to offer better weapon control and safer handling, though looking down the shooting line we’d hazard to guess the pistol can’t change bad habits.

While the Type B isn’t the worst thing we’ve seen, we’re not entirely sure it’s deserving of its $849 price tag — not when you-know-who (Glock) sells plastic fantastics with factory Glock sights for less.

Consumers who were patiently waiting to snap up the Styrk-B and now alternatively awaiting the release of the Type B will still be twiddling fingers. Archon says the Type B won’t see its official release into the market until Spring.