Vigilance Rifles, Inc. announced an updated model of their A-M20 Submachine Gun for 2021, now available in semi-auto form. The semi-auto model is called the M20, and it can be configured as a pistol or carbine.
The modular design uses a quick-detach barrel and side-folding stock that can be compressed down into a tidy package for transportation and storage. While it’s not winning awards for good looks it’s clear that Vigilance took a direct approach to the design.
The M20, chambered for 9mm Luger, uses a simple blowback action and has a hinged top cover for ease of cleaning, clearing malfunctions and presumably disassembly. The top cover has integral sights and can be used as a mount for optics.
It has a left-side charging handle and ejects on the right, feeds from what appear to be Glock-pattern magazines, and uses AR-style furniture including the buttstock and pistol grip. It also looks like it might use AR fire control parts.
A lot of these details are missing from the product pages. Also conspicuously missing is any kind of handguard or barrel shroud. By going with a simple approach to the design, Vigilance may have fallen short when it comes to practicality.
The lack of any handguard or forend will make handling a hot M20 a bit difficult, and it limits the sight radius to just a few inches on the top cover. And then there’s the elephant in the room, the list price.
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Vigilance is pricing the base carbine at over $1,700 with shipping. The pistol conversion kit is $399 and the optional hard carry case is $299. For that amount of money, shooters can get a high-end custom or boutique pistol-caliber carbine, or a basic one and have money left over for ammo and optics, even in today’s market.
While the design may have potential it has clear shortcomings that Vigilance will have to address in order for this to succeed as a consumer-oriented product. As it stands, the semi-auto version looks more like a proof of concept than a fully featured firearm.
Still, with some very small changes, the M20 could be a lot more appealing. Replacing the sighted top cover with only a flattop rail and adding some kind of handguard would go a long way to improving the design, and hopefully lower the price a bit.
For more on the M20, A-M20, and the rest of the Vigilance lineup, check them out online, and let us know what you think in the comments.
It looks like a ruptured duck, and from the short video, appears to be almost as handy. $2100 for the package? Pass.
The utility of a true 9mm sub mg’s is, as we used to say, ” They can clear out a room full of Colombian colonels in a few seconds.”
The utility of a 9mm semi auto rifle is nil… unless you’re a grandma on a farm.
I always figured that a thirty plus round Glock 17 magazine would do just as well in a Clock 17, 19 or 26 as in a semi auto rifle… same round, same capacity and easier to handle.
“… the base carbine at over $1,700 with shipping. The pistol conversion kit is $399…”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the rule; If it’s sold as a rifle it must always be a rifle, but a pistol can be converted into a rifle?
I believe you are correct, sir. Also, even if it begins “life” as a pistol, if you convert it to a rifle, at that point, it must always remain a rifle…no going back to pistol form. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but that is my understanding.
It looks ridiculous.
It looks like the only known surviving USFA ZiP .22 and a Glock had a baby….
Yeah, I think not.
WORTHLESS WASTE OF ENGINEERING WITH THE ADDED INSULT OF A RIDICULOUS PRICE TAG . JUNK
This is going to be a great failure in the market place.
$1700 for a stubby AR Pistol that will 🔥 my support hand…..I will pass