Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2018 i Handguns

A Shame I read with interest Mr. Cohan’s article on confiscated guns (February/March). I have an interesting story about that. I once had the opportunity to visit an ATF evidence room, and I was shocked at what I saw. Every type of firearm, including military, were locked in there. There was no particular order to it, and the truly shocking thing was the file cabinet full of handguns. I believe it was an old five-drawer cabinet, and every drawer was full to overflowing, of all types and conditions of handguns imaginable. They were thrown in there like cordwood, including fine old Colts, 1911s and more. I was told none of them were ever going anywhere, as they were all evidence in criminal cases—and perhaps some would be destroyed someday. MIKE…

AS A NATIVE CALIFORNIAN, I SOMETIMES forget the whole world doesn’t walk around in T-shirts, shorts and flip flops year-round. Recent trips to northern Illinois and central Pennsylvania reminded me not everyone has it so easy when it comes to concealed carry. Clearing a baggy T-shirt to draw your handgun is a lot different than having to fish your handgun out from under layer after cold-blocking layer of garments. Add a pair of cozy gloves to the mix and getting to your gun in a hurry can be next to impossible. Even worse, if your gun snags on a garment during the draw stroke, it can be dropped with the muzzle pointing who knows where. If moving to a warmer climate isn’t in your plans, here are a few tips…

Sarsilmaz is not a word that rolls smoothly off the tongue for a native English speaker. For that reason, when the Turkish arms manufacturer tried to make a big splash in the U.S. market about five years ago, it went with the name SAR Arms. The company did not have the success it would have liked, but now it’s back with a new English-friendly brand name—SAR USA—and a brand-new product: the SAR 9 pistol. If you don’t have any experience with firearms made in Turkey, you might wonder if they’re cheap junk. While I’ve seen a few shotguns coming from there that were a bit sketchy, every Turkish-made pistol I’ve tested in the last five years has been as well-made and reliable as most American-made pistols I’ve tested. Still have…

BUFFALO BILL CODY WAS AN INTEREST- ing man. Born in Iowa in 1846, he signed on as a rider for the Majors and Russell message service while still a teenager. After the Civil War, he worked as a scout in the Indian Wars, as a professional hunter sup- plying meat for the Union Pacific railroad and a hunting guide. Finally, thanks to a writer with a pen name of Ned Buntline and his book Scouts of the Prairie, he had his Buffalo Bill Wild West show from 1883 and until his death in 1917. To honor this man and his colorful life, Uberti is introducing a copy of his beloved 1858 Remington revolver. The Remington 1858 was a sturdy, solid-frame revolver that rivaled the popularity of Colt’s wheelguns. Not long…

FN AMERICA FDE & BLACK SERIES This new limited-edition series features FN’s most popular pistols with black slides and flat dark earth frames: FNS-9 Compact ($599), FN 509 (shown, $649), FNX-45 Tactical ($1,349), FNX-45 ($824) and FN Five-seveN ($1,399). Features are otherwise unchanged from the standard versions. Magazine capacities for non-restricted states are 17 for the 9mms and 15 for the .45. The Five-seveN, which is chambered for the high-velocity 5.7x28 cartridge, has a 20-round capacity. Ten-round mags are available for restrictive states. { FNAMERICA.COM } FEDERAL HYDRA-SHOK DEEP While there’s certainly nothing wrong with the original Hydra-Shok bullet, if you can make it better, why wouldn’t you? The new Deep version has a more robust center post and core design and promises as much as 50 percent more penetration.…

After spending time shooting the PPQ SC (Sub Compact), I find it a lot like a medium-size Labrador: stoutly built, tough and ready for anything—and of the firm opinion that it is a big dog. The Sub Compact has all the attributes of the new Walther PPQ line. The slide is contoured for ease of grasping to actuate it. The slide serrations are angled so they will dig into your hands as you work the slide. The pyramidal shape of the slide acts to give the slide the maximum purchase on your fingers and the heel of your hand. The PPQ SC barrel is Tenifer-treated, as is the slide, and features the pistol’s serial number, caliber and German proof, as well as the Walther logo. Up on top of the…

2017 was a heck of a year for SIG. During the shooting industry’s big trade show last year, SIG announced it had won the Army’s Modular Handgun System contract with a version of the P320 only slightly different from its commercial model. And at the same show, SIG debuted two new eagerly anticipated versions of the P320: the X-Five and the V-TAC. Then, late last summer, the Internet exploded with reports—and videos to back them up—detailing how, in certain circumstances, the P320 can fire if dropped. Every- one seemed to lose their collective mind, conveniently forgetting that many firearms (including the vaunted 1911) can also discharge if dropped in the exact wrong way. The SIG P320 meets and exceeds all U.S. safety standards, and SIG is quick to point out…

OVER THE YEARS, THE DEBATE BETWEEN those favoring the single-action and single-action/double-action semi-autos has taken predictable paths when it came to firing the first shot. The single-action shooter tended to be tactical-minded while the double-action first-shot fans liked the handling and perceived safety of the DA/SA pistol. There wasn’t a lot of choice in the 1970s and early 1980s. I began carrying a cocked-and-locked 1911 in about 1978, and over the years I have seen shooters carrying 1911s with the hammer down, which is less than ideal, and chamber empty, which defies the need for simple readiness. Some feared or did not trust cocked-and-locked carry or genuinely preferred the double-action system, but they respected the handling and power of the 1911 handgun just the same. One unique solution in trying…

TOO MANY YOUTUBE VIDEOS SHOW the effects of shooters’ insufficient support of high-recoil handguns. Unfortunately, most of those videos are of women whose mates or friends didn’t know or care enough to provide instruction on technique, and the result is a scared shooter at best or an injured one at worst. Stance is the first of the seven fundamentals of marksmanship, and it’s one of the most misunderstood. There are schools and instructors that still teach the so-called Weaver stance or one of its many variants—shooting with the gun-side shoulder and hip angled away from the target, and the support-side elbow clearly bent. But today most instructors teach the isosceles stance, in which the shooter faces the target squarely or close to squarely, with both arms extended. Both stances work,…

I’VE BEEN INTERESTED IN FIREARMS FOR long enough that I can remember when the first holsters made of polymer were introduced. At first they were the aberration, with the lion’s share of holsters still being made of leather or other animal hides. Today, polymer holsters are the norm, and the number of companies making excellent holsters has grown so much it is hard to keep track of them all. Vedder Holsters (VEDDERHOLSTERS.COM) is a small company looking to make it big. It is a family-owned holster company in Mount Dora, Florida, that got into the business in 2012. All its products are handmade in the U.S., and Vedder is still small enough it is responsive to its customers—making all its holsters to order and shipping them within two to three…

Where were you on August 21, 2017? If the significance of that date escapes you, then you’ve already forgotten about the first total solar eclipse visible throughout the contiguous United States in our lifetime. Odds are you’ve already pitched the certified eclipse glasses for which you paid the princely sum of $10. Life in Casper, Wyoming; Lincoln, Nebraska; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and other towns along the path of totality has returned to normal. Interviews with astronomers have declined markedly. But the Great American Eclipse was not the only significant eclipse of 2017. In Yonkers, New York, the product development team at Kimber America—the leading producer of 1911s—was seeking to update the Eclipse, its nearly 20-year-old flagship model. That task fell to director of product marketing Winslow Potter, the same man responsible…

RUGER’S SP101 MADE ITS DEBUT IN 1988. It was a small-frame revolver intended to be the stablemate for the GP100 that had supplanted the firm’s small Security-Six wheelgun. The SP101 was originally designed as a .38 Special, but according to the book Ruger & His Guns, defense expert Massad Ayoob convinced Bill Ruger it should be a .357 Magnum—albeit one that handled only the 125-grain .357 load. In fact, 3,000 guns marked “357 Magnum, 125-grain ammo only” were produced. But obviously there are problems with such a critter, so Ruger designers lengthened the SP101’s frame and cylinder to create a true .357. Over time the SP101 has been chambered to .22 Long Rifle, .327 Federal Magnum, 9mm Luger and .32 H&R Magnum—the latter two chamberings discontinued. Guns with that kind…