Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2021 i Handguns

Beretta’s Cool Cats Keith Wood’s “Two Cool Cats” article in the February/March issue gave some really good details on the beautiful and elegant diminutive autos as well as the usual excellent photos I’ve come to expect in Handguns. I liked the history related to the development of the Bobcat and Tomcat. However, I have to admit some surprise of the article’s subtitle calling the pistol pair “CCW semiautos”! Calling them fun little plinkers, yes. Expressing their size convenience to shove in a pocket, you bet. But to label them as a CCW pistol, hardly. With their almost nonexistent sights, sight radius and magazine release location, not to mention their anemic caliber, these pistols are anything but CCW/defensive handguns. However, they would certainly serve as a last resort, being better than…

I WAS WORKING MY FIRST JOB OUT OF school at American Rifleman when the military adopted Beretta’s double action/single action Model 92 as the M9. I remember there was much hand-wringing at the time due to the move to the 9mm cartridge and some early structural problems with the Beretta. More than 30 years later the military went looking for a new sidearm under its Modular Handgun System program, and the winner was SIG’s striker-fired P320. I’m not saying there was no handwringing, but the pistol’s reception seemed much warmer. The military designations are M17 for the full-size gun and M18 for the compact, and SIG is now selling P320-M17 and P320-M18 civilian versions. The only outward differences between the military and civilian guns are the controls, which are black…

DURING AN ARMED ENCOUNTER, BEING able to shoot accurately is a potentially life-saving skill, but the defensive handgunner understands there’s more to winning a gunfight than shooting ability. In any armed self-defense system, drawing the weapon is inherently important. If you’re aware of your surroundings, you may be able to draw preemptively, but if you’re caught off guard, you’ll need to draw posthaste. Despite this fact, many who carry a handgun for self-defense neglect the art of drawing it, potentially at their own peril. The Japanese martial art Iaido is based on the ability to perceive danger and efficiently draw a long sword or katana from its scabbard to deliver a precise cut. The emphasis in Iaido is not on dueling but rather on drawing the sword and cutting down…

Magnum Research fans get to welcome a new member to the family with the arrival of the Baby Eagle III semiauto pistol. The new Baby Eagle III is available with either a steel or a polymer frame in various configurations and calibers, all of which are manufactured by Israel Weapons Industries (IWI). The Baby Eagle III will appeal to fans of single-action/ double-action semiautos because it offers a robust design and excellent build quality, but it’s worth noting that the Baby Eagle shares little more than a name and passing resemblance with the larger Desert Eagle guns in its family. In fact, the Baby Eagle III’s design is closer to the CZ 75 than the larger semiautos from Magnum Research. Like the CZ 75, the Baby Eagle III has a…

BILL WILSON OF WILSON COMBAT FAME is a serious collector of the Beretta Model 92G SD, a specially made piece for the Army Special Forces. That gun became hard to acquire—and very expensive, harboring a magic not associated with other Beretta Model 92s. So Wilson decided to take some of his favorite Beretta 92 characteristics and incorporate them into the 92G Brigadier Tactical. The “Brigadier” comes from an improved slide and lockup that originated with the 96 Brigadier. The “G” refers to the ambidextrous decocking lever found on the 92G. I have one of the original Beretta 92s and can readily see and feel the difference in the Wilson gun, especially the lockup. Wilson has changed the rectangular look of the trigger guard from the M9A1 style to the rounder…

6 Top Home Defense Revolvers ARTICLES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED KORTH NXR HORNADY SUBSONIC Here’s what a few fans think about the military’s switch to the SIG P320/M17 (the P320/M18 shown here is profiled elsewhere in the issue). “A metal framed, hammer fired weapon is a better sidearm for the military. The M9 served me well. That said, I really enjoy my personal M18.”—Allan “Not a great choice. Would prefer the .45.”—Joshua CONTACT US EMAIL Handguns@OutdoorSG.com INSTAGRAM, TWITTER @HandgunsMag FACEBOOK facebook.com/HandgunsMag SNAIL MAIL Handguns, P.O. Box 271245, Fort Collins, CO 80527 ADDRESS CHANGES! SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS! EMAIL HGScuStServ@CDSfulfillment.com SNAIL MAIL Handguns, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA 50037-0539…

IT MAY SEEM OUT OF LINE TO HONOR A budget revolver with the term “classic,” but the Charter Arms Undercover has earned it. This .38 Special was the first of many Charter Arms revolvers and remains in my opinion the most useful. The Undercover was introduced at a time when good handguns of any type were difficult to come by. During the Vietnam War both Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers were in short supply, but Iver Johnson, Harrington & Richardson and various imported revolvers were cheap and available. The introduction of the Charter Arms Undercover in 1964 brought another type of revolver into the market—a good quality revolver offered at a good price, thanks to modern production techniques that allowed advances in safety with less expensive manufacture. The most…

FIOCCHI’S BLUE GUARDIAN REDUCED Ricochet hollowpoint ammo is heading to your gun store shelves. This new offering is designed to be safe for indoor shooting in more ways than one. The projectiles are lead-free, as are the primers, and depending on where you shoot, this can meet range requirements in place at some indoor facilities. These Reduced Ricochet bullets are a powdered mix of copper and tin that is then heat-treated in a proprietary process, similar to what is seen with frangible/training ammunition. However these bullets have a hollowpoint design and are meant to perform well in defensive use, whereas dedicated frangible ammunition is solely intended for target shooting. Currently, Blue Guardian Reduced Ricochet ammunition is offered in the four most common pistol calibers. You have your choice of a…

If you don’t know, Dan Wesson, which is known for its 1911s, is part of CZ USA. The new DWX pistol combines the legendary reliability and ergonomics of the CZ 75 with the trigger system of the 1911, which has what many people consider to be the best handgun trigger pull in the world. And the DWX is truly a combination of both designs; many parts on this handgun are interchangeable with both the standard CZ 75 and a 1911. Currently, there are two models of the DWX: the standard DWX and the DWX Compact. All are made in the Dan Wesson facility in Norwich, New York. The full-size DWX has a five-inch barrel, is fed by CZ P-09 magazines and is offered in 9mm or .40 S&W. It is…

DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HANDGUN CARtridges can be confusing if you’re relatively new to defensive handgunning. Let’s start with one basic fact: Pistol rounds are rarely decisive threat-stoppers. None of them truly possesses the energy to overwhelm and shut down an attacker’s vital functions quickly with a single shot every single time, with the exception of the so-called “T-box” head shot. That’s why defensive training drills focus on delivering multiple well-placed hits to incapacitate an assailant as rapidly as possible. However, with the proper bullet, the more powerful the round the more likely your hits will have the desired effect—through tissue destruction, wound cavity and other factors. The trick then is to select a cartridge—and gun and specific load—that works best for you, and it’s a trade-off between the power of the…

Time flies. It’s hard to believe the Ruger American is five years old, and you can be forgiven if you’ve kinda forgotten about this model as Ruger and other companies have been concentrating on smaller and smaller, lighter and lighter guns designed primarily for concealed carry. But there’s still room in this world for guns that are bigger than the palm of your hand and pack a serious punch. While it’s called a Compact thanks to its 3.75-inch barrel, the Ruger American Compact .45 ACP in Cerakote Gray will not be mistaken for, say, a SIG P365 or a Springfield Hellcat. The gun is close to eight inches long overall, and weight is 29 ounces. And that’s totally fine, as this gun is definitely suitable for carry, as well as…

THE NEWEST BRANCH ON SMITH & WESson’s ever-growing M&P family tree is the M&P9 M2.0 Compact four-inch OR. OR stands for Optics Ready, and this gun sports a milled slide that allows shooters to mount their favorite reflex optic. Smith & Wesson includes seven plates for mounting most popular red dot pistol sights. “The use of optics has become increasingly popular as handgun owners look for ways to enhance their accuracy and shooting experience,” says Vince Perreault, Smith & Wesson’s brand marketing manager. “To meet the demands of our consumers, the M&P9 M2.0 Compact is now able to accept many popular slide-mounted optics, straight from the factory.” The gun’s four-inch barrel is housed in a slide that measures 1.1 inches wide. Overall length is 7.3 inches, which is slightly shorter…

SPRINGFIELD ARMORY’S XD-M ELITE 3.8 Compact offers a smaller, handier pistol with the styling and ergonomics exemplified in the full-size Elite series pistols that include the Precision, OSP, 4.5 and the 3.8, the Compact’s long-grip 20-shot cousin. The new belt-size Elite 3.8 Compact offers 14+1 rounds in a dependable, easy-shooting, short-frame platform not to be confused with ultra-concealable, high-capacity pistols like Springfield’s 11+1 Hellcat. Yet this bigger 27-ounce pistol is perfectly sized and balanced for home defense, will still fit under a jacket for concealed carry and fits even large hands comfortably. The Elite-series slides are sculpted along the top, reducing the annoying boxiness many polymer pistols exhibit, and generously sized slide serrations on either side of the ejection port give good purchase for charging and clearing. After some 20…