Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2017 i Handguns

<<< Is there a place for both laser sights and standard conventional sights on your favorite firearms? We think so and our resident experts will tell you why. We also have a great grouping of new handguns and rifles, and the extension of a popular AR-15. <<< We have a group of totally new products this week to go along with a review of Hornady’s reworked and modernized .25-35 factory load and then we confront the unthinkable—an assailant who is wearing body armor. What to do….? TV  Monday 2:00 p.m. Wednesday 2:30 p.m. Thursday 9:00 p.m. Thursday 12:00 a.m. Friday 1:30 p.m. All Times are Eastern Time…

IN THE OLD WEST DAYS, SMALL CON- cealable handguns were popular. Something that could be hidden and brought out quickly was attractive to gamblers and women of the night, among others. The fact that they were badly underpowered didn’t seem to bother anyone. An example of a popular derringer was the Rem- ington in .41 rimfire. A heavy coat would stop one of those bullets. But derringers came much smaller and less powerful than the .41, as the model manufactured by Ethan Allen & Co. chambered for .22 Short, illustrates. It is one of the smallest cartridge handguns ever made. It’s just four inches long and weighs a mere three ounces. It’s also quite rare. According to the records from the Springfield Ar- mory Museum, only about 300 were produced…

TWENTY YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS IN uniform as a cop, the king of tacti- cal flashlights was Maglite, with Streamlight a distant second. Today, anyone under the age of 30 with an interest in tactical flashlights is aware of Streamlight but probably has never heard of Maglite because the company didn’t keep up with changing technology. That can’t be said about SureFire. Today, it is the undisputed king of tactical flash- lights. In the tactical community there is no greater cachet than being adopted by the U.S. military, and SureFire weapon lights were all over the M4s our troops carried into Iraq and Afghanistan. SureFire has continued to introduce new and im- proved products as light technology has improved, and most of its efforts lately have been into handheld…

People who aren’t even gun people know about the Desert Eagle line of pistols. They’ve learned about the gun from movies (Desert Eagles have appeared in more than 500 films, bringing to question whether or not it deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), television and popular video games. But seeing the Desert Eagle on screen can’t give them an appreciation of just what the hulking Mark XIX in .44 Magnum or .50 Action Express really feels like in the hand. These guns look formidable on the silver screen, and they are just as formidable on the range. In 2015 Magnum Research decided that as sensational as the Mark XIX really was, it wanted to lighten the gun to create a more user-friendly range gun. “The main catalyst…

Walther is one of those companies that seems to alternate between hibernation and hyperactivity when it comes to designing firearms. The number of new pistol designs introduced by Walther between the P38 (1938) and the P99 (1996) can be counted on one hand. On the other hand, we seem to be in one of those eras of Walther hyperactivity, as in just the past five years it has introduced the PPQ, PPX and the CCP—not to mention Americanized variations of the PPQ and PPS. Its latest brand-new pistol is the Creed. I think it will get a huge amount of attention—and rightfully so. The PPX was successful, reliable and economically priced, but few people liked its looks. A lot of people thought the PPX looked like a cross between a…

Best Carry As a former firearms instructor and retired sergeant from the People’s Republic of New Jersey, I have a few points to share concerning appendix carry (“Front and Center,” October/November). In my opinion it’s the only way to carry because it’s the easiest place to protect. Also, you should never, ever holster there. Unsecure your belt, make sure your gun is charged and ready, and replace the entire setup. Every negligent discharge I ever saw came about because the individual was trying to do too many things at the same time. STEVE HANCOX STATEN ISLAND, NY Good Habits Richard Nance’s article “Be Very Wary” (December/January) reminded me of a habit I’ve gotten into. He mentioned having to dig into a pocket to grab a cell phone to call 9-1-1,…

WHEN AN ASSAILANT ARMED WITH A contact weapon like a bat, a crowbar or a knife charges you, you might think that drawing your concealed handgun is the first step in your de- fense. However, immediately going for your gun contains two poten- tially fatal flaws. First, depending on the distance between you and the assailant, there may not be time to draw your gun. Studies have shown that the average man can close a distance of 21 feet in approximately 1.5 seconds. Second, assuming you had time to draw your gun and shoot the assailant twice in the chest, his forward momentum will likely enable him to reach you with his weapon. That’s because, barring a shot that results in a central nervous system stoppage, it’s unlikely the assailant…

A CENTURY HAS PASSED SINCE REMING- ton’s first foray into the world of 1911s. Big Green’s initial run of the M1911 took place during World War I, a time marked by a desperate need to arm tens of thousands of soldiers. When production halted in 1918, almost as quickly as it had begun, approximately 21,000 M1911s had been manufactured under the Remington-UMC name. Today those handguns are sought-after collector’s items. The company did not resume production of the 1911 until 2010, which is when the Remington R1 made its first appearance. While the R1 line has steadily expanded, it has understandably focused mainly on the traditional.45 ACP chambering. Until recently, the lone exception to this focus was the Remington R1 Enhanced 9mm, but now there’s a bigger, badder 1911 joining…

RECENTLY I WAS ABLE TO EXAMINE and fire a link to the past, a well-preserved handgun with quite a history: a Colt bullseye gun. Target-grade 1911 handguns were developed shortly after World War I in order to compete in the National Matches. The Colt 1911 had not been designed for accuracy and needed considerable work to provide the specified accuracy at a long 50 yards. The trigger and small sights had to be reworked. The heavy trigger, with its rapid reset, was practically ideal for defensive work, but firing at an eight-inch bullseye at 50 yards was another matter. Army gunsmiths went to work. They polished and relieved the trigger action, fabricating lightweight triggers as they went along. Trigger pulls were reduced from the original six to eight pounds to…

RUGER AMERICAN COMPACT .45 Hot on the heels of the 9mm American Compact comes a .45 ACP version that features an ambidextrous manual safety. With its 3.75-inch barrel the gun measures 7.25 inches overall, and it’s 4.65 inches high. Weight is 29 ounces with an empty mag. It comes with medium and large replaceable grip modules, as well as a 10-round extended magazine and a compact seven-rounder. The American boasts a one-piece stainless steel chassis with integral frame rails, Novak LoMount Carry three-dot sights and an accessory rail. { $579, RUGER.COM } LYMAN DIGITAL LEAD THERMOMETER If you cast your own bullets or are thinking about taking the plunge, you’ll want to check out this new digital thermometer. It features a fast readout and easy-to-read display that can be set…

Last year Springfield Armory introduced an upsized version of its successful 9mm EMP (Enhanced Micro Pistol): the EMP 4 Lightweight Champion. And now it’s brought out what amounts to a “factory custom” version of that model: the EMP 4 Lightweight Champion with Concealed Carry Contour. Before we dive into the details of this specific model, let’s review how the EMP differs from the “standard” 1911. It does—and yet it doesn’t. Let me explain. The 1911 was built around the .45 ACP cartridge. That means it’s a gun designed not only to handle the recoil of that cartridge but also designed to fit, feed and function with a cartridge the length and width of a .45 ACP. For years, Gunsmiths and companies have been producing 1911s chambered in 9mm, but getting…

As a somewhat arrogant karate black belt in my early 20s, I visited a nearby martial arts studio to participate in a class. The high-ranking black belt teaching that night was quite an impos- ing figure. He stood well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and the type of lean muscularity developed through years of arduous training. Even as he practiced striking and kicking without an opponent, you could sense the power he was generating and feel the intensity in his movement. This martial artist was by no means flashy. His kicks were all delivered below waist level, and there was zero wasted motion in his blocks and strikes. There was nothing ornamental; everything was direct and precise. Extremely impressed, I asked the instructor how he became so skilled.…

WHEN IT COMES TO 1911s, CONSUMERS have a huge number of choices, but right now there isn’t any good taxonomic classification of these pistols. (Taxonomy, if you didn’t know, is the scientific classification of organisms by family, genus, species, etc.) When it comes to 1911s, your two basic classes are “modern” and “original/retro.” The “modern” field is crowded, the “retro” group not so much. However, even many 1911s advertised as being “a page out of history” aren’t historically accurate. The new 1911A1 Government model.45 ACP from Inland Manufacturing in Dayton, Ohio, is about as close to John Browning’s 1911A1 as I’ve seen in a long time. Whether you compete in Wild Bunch stages at SASS events or just like historically accurate firearms, the 1911A1 is about as iconic an American…

INTRODUCED IN 1971, THE SECURITY- Six double-action revolver created quite a stir. It was made strong to withstand heavy law enforcement or outdoor/sporting duty, and the gun is composed of subassemblies that made for easy manufacturing—which contributed to its low price of $89 when it came out. More than 1.2 million Security-Sixes were sold by the time it was discontinued in the mid-1980s. I count almost three dozen variations in all barrel lengths, grips, finishes and chamberings. There were also many special editions made to commemorate special law enforcement dates or occasions, as well as for contracts—including the shipment of 30,000 guns chambered for the.380 caliber rimmed cartridge built for the government of India. My stainless model was made in 1982. I like a gun with larger grips, and mine…