Innholdsfortegnelse for October - November 2017 i Handguns

Stand Your Ground In your August/September issue, there is an article on page 10 about “stand your ground” states. There isn’t a list of the states that do have this personal defense law. I live in Illinois. Is this a state that has this law on the books? DANIEL L. JOHNSON JR. COOK COUNTY, IL Not exactly, Mr. Johnson. According to Wikipedia, the following states have stand your ground laws on the books: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. According to the same source, the following states have stand your ground “in practice” via case law or other, less-formal means: California, Colorado, Idaho,…

 TOO MANY WOMEN APPROACH SHOP- ping for a firearm the same way they shop for shoes—based on looks. Unfortunately, using that standard alone can result in disappointment. A gun that’s a poor fit is no fun to shoot. Often for women, and occasionally for men, finding a handgun that fits well can prove challenging. If the bottom knuckle of your thumb winds up centered on the backstrap, the gun is a very poor fit. Here are some simple guidelines for evaluating gun fit when you can’t try the gun by firing it, such as at a gun shop. Regardless of where you try the following, ensure the gun is unloaded and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. The first step is to place the web of your shooting…

VERBAL SKILLS TEND TO COME IN HANDY during an armed encounter. As a police officer, I’ve used the “gift of gab” to great effect on a number of occasions, but verbal skills aren’t just for cops. Saying the right thing at the right time—and with the right delivery—can prompt a would-be assailant to back down. Since voluntary compliance is always preferred to bloodshed, it’s important to give careful consideration to how you can communicate effectively in crisis. The problem with many well-intended firearms instructors is they offer to their students little more than a few canned phrases such as “Don’t move!” “Drop the weapon!” or “I have a gun! If you come through the door, you will be shot!” While any of these directives could prompt a criminal to reconsider…

Back when I was a junior editor at $PHULFDQ›5LÁH- man—an editor with almost zero pistol experience—the magazine received a 10mm for testing. I don’t remember what model it was, but the guys let me shoot it. Or maybe they conned me into shooting it to see what kind of reaction a relative neophyte would have to touching off what is a fairly fearsome auto pistol round. Aside from the impressive muzzle blast, I don’t remember much about the experience other than I was proud that I managed to hold on to the gun. In those days, the 10mm was something of a rarity. It had only recently been conceived for the Bren Ten, with major input from Col. Jeff Cooper, and the Colt Delta Elite—the ÀUVW›››PP›››››³ZDV›RQO\›D›FRXSOH› years old as well.…

IN 1935, SMITH & WESSON CAME OUT with the .357 Magnum and a new gun to fire it, the Model 27. All gussied up with special features and delivered to the custumer in a fitted box complete with a numbered registration certificate, it was so popular the production could barely keep up with demand. While the gun was a commercial success, it was too fancy and too expensive for law enforcement. Smith & Wesson rallied to the cause with a bare bones gun: the Model 28—adding the Highway Patrolman moniker in order to entice law enforcement to take a second look. While the internal workings were the same as the Model 27—smooth double-action with a crisp trigger pull—the M28’s finish was a different story. Gone was the high polish, the…

IN 1868, THE BRITISH—WHO SUBSCRIBED to the theory that a slow- moving and heavy bullet provided good stop- ping power—brought out their first double-action handgun chambered for the .450 Adams. The Adams served until 1880 when the revolver and round were replaced by the .455 Mark I cartridge and the Webley revolver. (The Adams round, which is a blackpowder item, was a short version of the Webley rounds.) The Webley handgun is a large double action that breaks open for reloading. The extractor ejects all of the rounds at the same time—a feature desirable in a combat handgun. To get into all the Webleys and their various rounds would take up a lot more space than this column has because there are so many variations. Probably the most common round…

SMITH & WESSON SD SERIES Smith & Wesson is breathing new life into the affordable SD9 and SD40 pistols with flat dark earth and gray frame finishes. These are polymer-framed, striker-fired guns with four-inch barrels, three-dot sights and accessory rails. Slides are black Armornite-finished stainless steel. The SD9 has a 16+1 capacity; the SD40 is 14+1. {$389, SMITH-WESSON.COM } HORNADY STEEL MATCH 9MM Want to be able to shoot a lot of Hornady’s excellent 125-grain HAP bullets through your 9mm but you don’t reload and don’t want to shell out a ton of money? This new Steel Match offering is for you. The load makes Minor power factor, and unlike some imported steel-case stuff, Steel Match uses non-corrosive primers. Great for competing, practicing or plinking, and you’ll save about 40…

In August 2016, Kim Woodman was charged by a sow brown bear on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska and subsequently killed the animal ZLWK›ÀYH›VKRWV›IURP›KLV›VLGHDUP›› 6XFK›HYHQWV›LQYDULDEO\›VWDUW› FRQYHUVDWLRQV›DQG›GHEDWHV››EXW› PXFK›RI›WKLV›GLVFXVVLRQ›UHYROYLQJ› around this particular incident had to do with the caliber of :RRGPDQ·V›ZHDSRQ››››PP›$XWR›› And while some say the 10mm is WRR›OLJKW›WR›HYHU›PDNH›D›UHOLDEOH› bear stopper, there are a growing number of anglers, hunters and KLNHUV›ZKR›ÀQG›WKH›%LJ››››WR›EH› the perfect companion in country where large predators are a FRQVWDQW›WKUHDW››,›LPDJLQH›.LP› :RRGPDQ›LV›RQH›RI›WKHP› Kimber, too, seems to be on board with the 10mm for de- IHQVH›DJDLQVW›ODUJH›SUHGDWRUV›› This year it released its new Camp Guard 10, a 1911-based 10mm Auto that was designed in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and which has been engineered VSHFLÀFDOO\›IRU›GHIHQVH›DJDLQVW› SUHGDWRUV›RI›DOO›W\SHV››3ODQ›$›LQ› EHDU›FRXQWU\›LV›DOZD\V›DYRLG- ance, but the Camp Guard is an HIIHFWLYH›3ODQ›%› “The Camp Guard 10 is the…

Smith & Wesson has been experimenting with frame size in revolvers for more than a century, and the results have not always been positive. In 1935, the company unveiled the new .357 Magnum in its beefy N-frame wheelgun, which was large enough and strong enough to handle the .357’s prodigious power. It was also so large some shooters found it cumbersome, so the decision was made in the 1950s to start chambering the brand’s K-frame revolver—which had traditionally been linked to the milder .38 Special—in .357 Magnum. It was a good idea, and the guns were popular, but there was a problem. As .357 velocities and energies increased, so did stress on the K frame, and it became apparent these guns didn’t hold up as well as hoped with newer,…

MAGAZINES LIVE A HARD LIFE. THEY’RE dropped on the ground, in sand, in puddles, in the mud. They’re stepped on and kicked. They’re carried in pockets where they collect lint. And most shooters never clean them. Under these circumstances even the best magazines will eventually fail, and even if you do care for them, normal wear and tear can lead to structural problems that will turn your semiautomatic into a slow one-shooter. Extending the life of your magazine starts with maintenance. For those who do not have a skilled shooter to show you how, there are plenty of reference materials—owners manuals, books, videos—you can use as a guide. Just remember to always wear safety glasses when working on springs or parts that can take off at high speed. Between or…

THE SIG SAUER P320 WAS INTRODUCED IN 2014 and has been well received and well regarded. After being selected by the U.S. Army for the Modular Handgun System contract this past January, however, the SIG P320 was thrust onto the big stage, under the brightest spotlight a gun company could hope for. Suddenly the SIG P320 was on the radar of millions of American gun owners who’d never heard of the pistol or who were only vaguely aware of its existence. The version of the SIG P320 chosen by the U.S. Army will be called the M17 and offered in full-size and compact versions. The differences between the M17 and the commercial P320 are minor and mostly cosmetic, but sales of the commercial P320 are sure to skyrocket because of…

When your pistol malfunctions during a range session, do you stop and look at it, dumbfounded? Do you set your pistol down and raise your hand for assistance because you aren’t sure how to remedy the problem? These are common reactions for a new shooter, but if you’re going to carry a pistol or keep one in the home for defensive purposes, you need to be your gun’s emergency roadside mechanic. After all, lives may depend on your ability to fix your gun and get back in the fight. When pressing the trigger of your pistol produces a “click” instead of a “bang,” it’s time to employ the immediate-action technique, also known as “tap, rack, assess.” There are a few ways to accomplish this, but they all share some common…

EARLIER THIS YEAR WE NEEDED A 10MM pistol to use on “Handguns & Defensive Weapons” television, and I turned to SIG Sauer’s P220 Hunter, a 2015 addition to the company’s stable of P220 variants. Unlike the rest of its stablemates, the P220 Hunter is a single-action-only semiautomatic. As the name suggests, it’s purpose-built for hunting, and there’s no bigger tip-off to this than the Kryptek Highlander camodip finish on the stainless steel slide and frame. Kryptek has become a top choice when companies are shopping for patterns that will make their guns stand out, and the Highlander pattern used on the P220 Hunter looks sharp. The slide and the frame are both stainless steel. The former features serrations at the rear only, and inside you’ll find a five-inch barrel (other…