Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2017 i Handguns

Stomp on the Gas I was particularly impressed by the article “Taming the Beast” (December 2016/January 2017). It is one of the first articles about grip that explores alternate methods of gripping a pistol to decrease recoil. I heartily agree with many of the points, especially mentioning flexing the arms and having a fighting stance, something I have been advocating for more than 20 years. And I was particularly impressed by the picture and caption on page 46 about the thumb not “resting,” which was music to my ears. I do want to correct one misstatement. Using the off-hand thumb to exert pressure is first attributed to Dave Sevigny, by way of fact source of Mr. Proctor. In fact, I was the originator of that concept dating back to USPSA…

YOU WILL NOW AND THEN READ OF A reloader or a competition shooter who only loads in new or once-fired brass. Why would they do that? And what’s wrong with mixed brass, even range pickups? Simple: consistency. They want all their brass to be matched, so they can obtain the gilt-edged accuracy they desire. The question we all have to ask is, does it matter? And if it does, by how much? To test this, I selected a Les Baer Heavyweight Monolith 1911 in .45 ACP, a Ransom Rest and one of my go-to loads: an Oregon Trails 200-grain lead semi-wadcutter and a charge of VihtaVouri N-310. It’s a brilliantly accurate load. For a jacketed load, I went with Hornady’s excellent XTP in 200 grains and WW-231 powder. I have…

KIMBER CAMP GUARD 10 The 10mm is becoming a favorite for those who like a semiauto for their backcountry defensive needs, and Kimber’s new Camp Guard 10 definitely has an outdoorsy flavor. The rosewood grips feature engraving with a mountain vista and the logo of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which receives a portion of all sales. The Camp Guard 10 is treated to Kimber’s weather-resistant Kim-Pro II finish and Tactical Wedge three-dot tritium sights. The heel of the frame is rounded for easy carrying, and the frontstrap is checkered 30 lpi. Five-inch barrel, 38-ounce weight. {$1,228, KIMBERAMERICA.COM } LASERMAX CENTERFIRE This laser/light unit introduces the company’s new GripSense technology that automatically activates the unit when the sensor finds your finger in its “finger detection zone.” Activation is also possible…

The fact that you deploy a handgun in defense of yourself or another means you were faced with an actual or potential imminent deadly threat. Based on this premise, there is a reasonable expectation you may be injured during the course of this high-stakes encounter—especially considering you will be reacting to the attacker’s action. Several years ago, at a SWAT conference, an inner-city ER doctor who had treated hundreds of gunshot victims told me that approximately 80 percent of handgun wounds are survivable. (Similar statistics can be found in various studies available online). The doctor reasoned that if you have been shot and have the wherewithal to comprehend you have been shot, there’s a good chance you will be among the 80 percent who make it. However, in order to…

THOSE WHO TRULY LOVE THE CLASSIC 1911 might do well to consider the Ed Brown Signature Edition .45. Lavishly engraved and detailed to the highest degree, this is the one you’ll want to keep as a showpiece. The gun has nearly 100 percent coverage in a beautiful floral pattern. Everything except for the bottom of the frame and the top of the slide is engraved. The slide is mirror finished prior to engraving, and a portion of the slide flats is left bright. Here we find the inscriptions “Signature Edition” and “Custom By Ed Brown.” The slide features traditional square-cut cocking serrations on the rear. The slide’s custom rib is accomplished by first flattening this part of the slide, serrating it from front to back, and then, to give the…

WHILE SOME OF THE MORE TRADITIONAL- minded among us might hate to hear it, the 9mm cartridge has become the top choice for defensive handgunners and law enforcement/ military. Overseas it has been for a long time, but it wasn’t until the first striker-fired, polymer-framed 9mms began showing up on our shores that the caliber really caught on here—helped along by our own military’s adoption of the 9mm as its official sidearm. Soon U.S. brands were churning out (or importing) polymer 9mms, and almost every new polymer-frame gun introduced in the past couple decades has started with 9mm as the base caliber. Helped by the huge rise of concealed carry, the 9mm has become our dominant caliber. In every area but one. Our cherished 1911, designed by John Browning for…

BLACKHAWK IS DOING THINGS BACK- wards. Most companies that make holsters start out with nylon and leather and move into Kydex and injection molding. Blackhawk made its bones with tactical nylon, backpacks and gear bags in Cordura nylon, as well as holsters. When it introduced the Serpa holster, made out of injection-molded polymer, it enjoyed the kind of success most companies can only dream of. The number of Serpa holsters made is in the millions. Now Blackhawk has gone old school and introduced a new line of leather holsters in its CQC holster line. Not only is leather a traditional holster material, but also Blackhawk is making a number of traditional holster designs. I obtained three of them—two traditional models and one that’s a modern take on a proven design.…

When it comes to new compact and subcompact pistols, you can find them offered in a variety of operating systems, from double-action-only to single action to striker-fired. However, when you’re talking about new full-size pistol designs, these days it’s rare to see anything that isn’t a striker-fired operating system. So I’m not sure why many people were surprised when Remington—one of the oldest names in American firearms—announced a brand new striker-fired pistol, the RP9. The 9mm RP9 is actually the first pistol available in Remington’s new RP series of pistols. By the time you read this the RP9 should have been followed up by a.45 ACP RP45. For as much attention as the RP9’s 18+1 capacity is getting, the 15+1 capacity of the .45 ACP RP45 is getting even more.…

Kimber has risen to the top of the ultra-competitive 1911 market, and that’s no mean feat. There are dozens of 1911 manufacturers and an army of 1911 fans who will take any company to task if its product doesn’t live up to expectations. But there’s an even larger pool of shooters, who are joining the growing wave of concealed-carry permit holders, and for many of those new shooters a full-size 1911 chambered in .45 ACP is simply more gun than they want. The trend has been to develop lighter, smaller carry pistols that are simple to operate easy to hide under light clothing. To that end, Kimber America launched its svelte single-action Micro in 2012. Chambered in .380, the Micro was like a shrunken 1911, with the same grip angle…

I WROTE UP THE ORIGINAL RUGER American pistol in the April/May 2016 issue of Handguns, and it earned my respect. No jams in 750 rounds, even though at one point I and my volunteers got the front half of the slide too hot to touch. Ruger has now introduced a Compact version of the American, and I suspect it will be even more popular. When I wrote up the full-size American pistol, Ruger had plans to offer the pistol with a manual safety, but none of those models were available yet. That has changed, and all versions are now available with or without manual safeties. Ruger labels the models without manual safeties as Pro models. I liked the full-size American pistol. No surprise to readers of this magazine because I’m…

SINCE 1888, THE FRENCH USED THE 8MM Lebel revolver as their military handgun, but in the 1930s they started looking for something more modern. After some testing, they adopted the Modele 1935—also known as the MAS—in models A and S, and it was the official sidearm of France until 1950. The single-action semiauto was developed by Charles Petter, engineer at the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques factory located in Alsace. The Germans took over the factory in October 1940 and had control of the plant until France was liberated. The pistols produced during this period have few changes from the French design except for the Waffenaut acceptance marks. It is a well-made gun with the capability of handling a more powerful round, the 7.65mm Longue, which actually originated in the…

ALTHOUGH DRAWING YOUR GUN IN RE- sponse to a perceived deadly threat is pretty darn important, so is the act of returning your gun safely to the holster. While holstering isn’t particularly exciting, it is critically important. Take it for granted and you’re courting a self-inflicted gunshot would. If you carry a gun, you need to give careful consideration to when and how to safely holster it. Knowing when to holster is pretty straightforward. When there are no threats looming in your environment, it’s probably time to put your gun away. This is an especially good idea if you have used your gun in defense of yourself or another and the police are responding. If you’re holding a gun when the police arrive, at best you’ll be dealing with justifiably…

We’re Americans. We are a nation of inventors, tinkerers, improvers, people who won’t settle for “good enough.” An example is the P-51 Mustang. When it was first unveiled, it was a merely adequate fighter plane. Then came a new engine and external fuel tanks, and the P-51 quickly proved superior to anything in the air. Our country made them in volume, to the point that when a high-scoring German ace first saw unpainted P-51s, he had two thoughts: “They make so many they don’t even bother to paint them?” and “The war is lost.” What does this have to do with handguns? Simple. S&W unveiled the M&P pistol back in 2005, when striker-fired pistols had become the norm and its previous efforts with that design—the Sigma—weren’t exactly setting the world…

I would wager that anyone who has been shooting for any length of time either owns or has fired a Ruger Mark I, II or III pistol. These .22 Long Rifle pistols are perhaps the most successful line of rimfire autoloading pistols in the world. In fact, the Ruger Standard Model (what everyone thinks of as the Mark I) was Ruger’s first firearm, introduced in 1949. This Ruger design has been upgraded through the years. The Mark III was introduced in 2004, and while it offered many improvements over its predecessors, it was not perfect. Evolution has now brought us the Ruger Mark IV, an improved version of the design produced through user input and the use of advanced manufacturing techniques. Currently, the Mark IV is offered in three flavors:…

THOSE WHO ADMIRE GERMAN CRAFTS- manship and dependability in a gun can now turn to Heckler & Koch for its newest offering. Introduced a short time ago, this striker-fired handgun has new and innovative features. HK has designed the VP pistol around a modified Browning short-recoil system, and combined with a consistent striker trigger design it makes for an interesting handgun to consider for personal or defensive use. The VP series (VP for Volkspistole or “people’s pistol”) got started in 1944 when everything from materials to ammunition was in short supply. The first VP was crude by today’s standards, having been engineered and constructed with sheet steel, but subsequent models eventually led to the popular VP70, first produced in 1970. The frames of the new VP FDE (flat dark earth)…