Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2017 - January 2018 i Handguns

Contortionist? I would like to see a picture of Mr. Nance grasping his handgun right-handed, his slide with his left hand and then rotating it far enough to the right as described in his article to do him any good. If he can without standing on his head, his wrist and shoulders are built differently than mine. A right-handed shooter can easily rotate a handgun 180 degrees to the left when gripped as described to allow gravity to lend a helping hand. JACK DAVENPORT JASPER, TX Two things going on here, Mr. Dav- enport. Richard first describes the traditional method of rotating the pistol to the right—the slide grasped with palm over the top of it, thumb pointing toward the body. It’s easy to rotate the gun to the right…

LIKE MOST OF YOU, I’VE GOT MY FAIR share of holsters. None of them is fancy. The Predator Pancake that Wright Leatherworks sent me for review isn’t fancy, either, but man is it one good-looking rig. Wright is a five-year-old company, started, as Brandon Wright told me, because the founders had a “do-it-yourself” mentality and wanted to make what they thought was a good holster. Today those efforts have culminated in a line that includes nine styles encompassing inside-the- waistband, outside-the-waistband, shoulder and pocket holsters—plus belts, magazine pouches and more. All are made at Wright’s Fremont, Ohio, facility, and the company car- ries its “made in America” ethos to include its raw materials: All holsters are constructed from 100- percent domestic steer hide that’s tanned here in the U.S. The…

THE BEST WAY TO HIT WHAT YOU’RE aiming at with a handgun is to peer through the sights and smoothly press the trigger rearward until the shot breaks. The farther or smaller your target, the more critical these marksmanship fundamentals become. However, in some cases, sighted fire is not a viable option. When facing a deadly threat at punching range, your handgun’s sights are of little consequence. You don’t have time to align your sights, and trying to extend your arms increases the chances the attacker could take away your gun. At arm’s length, you need to keep your gun close to your body for optimal retention. Since retention shooting positions require the gun to be positioned well below your line of sight, you need an alternative aiming solution. When…

Ever wonder what type of car Matt Kenseth drives to the grocery store or which restaurant Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck choose to meet for a business lunch? Perhaps you’d be interested to take a peek at George Strait’s workout playlist, or maybe you’d like to know where Kevin VanDam launches his boat when he’s headed out for a personal weekend on the lake. It’s very telling to know the behind-the-scenes secrets of the pros, and when it comes to building custom 1911 pistols, it’s safe to say the team at Ed Brown are among the elites. And while I can’t offer any insight into Andrew Zimmern’s favorite antacid or Dwayne Johnson’s secret bicep workout, I can tell you what kind of carry gun the Ed Brown family likes. It…

PRECISION SHOOTERS HAVE NEVER had it so good. Whether you are into Bullseye or other competitive sports, picking a handgun to do the job is easier than ever. In the past, you had to purchase a gun, pick a good gunsmith and have him tune it for you. Today, manufacturers like SIG take all the drudgery out of tricking out a handgun for competition. Take, for example, its Model 1911 Super Target pistol. Right off the shelf this gun is ready for the range and your favorite sport. Caliber is .45 ACP with all the standard features that a good competitive gun would have. First, I have to say this is one very handsome handgun. Made from stainless steel, the finish on the gun is a high gloss, satin finish,…

In developing the Identilock, owner and inventor Omer Kiyani had one goal in mind: Keep kids from pulling the trigger on their parents’ guns. Period. The Identilock will not prevent guns from being stolen, but it’s a technologically advanced trigger-guard lock that will prevent unauthorized access to your pistol. Basically, the model-specific Identilock (you can find gun fits at GETIDENTILOCk.COM) “clamshells” around the trigger guard and unlocks via a single scanner pad on the right side of the unit. There’s also a key lock that’s part of the fingerprint enrollment process as well as a manual override. Enrolling a fingerprint is super easy, and the process is fully explained in the instructions. Kiyani did tell me it’s a good idea to hit the sensor at different angles so the software…

Okay, a philosophical question: Is there such a thing as an everyday carry pistol that is too small, too light and too easy to shoot? The last one, absolutely not. But the other two, now they are matters of opinion. I feel it is possible to get an everyday carry pistol that is too small and too light, and if you have it chambered in a full-power cartridge, it can be a bear to shoot. I found the new Kahr S9 to be a Goldilocks pistol: just the right size, just the right weight and just the right amount of 9mm ammo. If you’re not familiar with Kahr, the company makes single-stack pistols with double-action trigger mecha- nisms. The firm started off with steel-frame guns but eventually switched to polymer.…

WHEN I WAS COMING UP THROUGH THE ranks in competitive target shooting, the .38 Special in a souped-up double-action revolver was the norm. High sights, a bull barrel and a holster that looked like it came out of “Star Wars” were the equipment of the day, and, yes, this combo actually brought home some trophies for me. Then one day I was invited to see an IPSC match, and that sold me on the .45 semiautomatic handgun. The thought of running a course—as opposed to a static position on the firing line—complete with reloading while moving with targets at various ranges brought a new dimension to my shooting experience. I still shoot matches here and there today, and my preference is the 1911, so when Ruger came out with a…

IF ONE HANDGUN DESERVES THE TITLE of “classic,” it certainly has to be the Browning Hi Power. It’s been in use now for more than 80 years, and with more than 1 million produced, it has seen service since World War II by more than 50 countries. The Hi Power was chambered for the 9mm Luger, the 7.65x21 (the precursor to the 9mm cartridge designed by George Luger) and the more modern .40 Smith & Wesson. Currently, Browning is producing it only in 9mm. It is based on a design by John Browning, although he passed away before the design and patents were were finalized. Fabrique Nationale had commissioned him to design a new handgun with the specifications laid down by the French military in their quest for a new…

SOME OF THE FEATURES WE TAKE FOR granted today were true innovations in their day. Colt’s Police Positive was quite a revolver when introduced, one that gave all others stiff competition because it incorporated a positive internal hammer block that allowed six cartridges to be loaded safely. The Police Positive was somewhat lighter than either the Smith & Wesson Military and Police or the Colt Army Special, and with its mild-mannered cartridges (.32 Colt New Police and .38 Smith & Wesson), the revolver was easy to shoot. And it shot well indeed, thanks in part, Colt claimed, because the cylinder rotated toward the frame, to the right, enhancing lockup. The Colt revolvers also had among the best sights of the day, with a wide-open notch in the topstrap and half-moon…

Pop quiz. Why did Ruger come out with the Mark IV semiauto rimfire? Was it A) because IV is greater than III, B) because they love Roman numerals or C) because the Mark III and previous versions were bears to reassemble? Owners of Mark III and prior guns know the answer is C. But what if you’re happy with your Mark II or III pistol and don’t want to buy a IV? Enter HSS Corp. The company has come up with a support that keeps the pesky hammer strut from getting underneath the lower cross pin/ sear spring stop pin. If that happens, the gun won’t operate when you reassemble it, and you’ll have to remedy it just to remove the bolt when you try to disassemble it to figure…

THE CENTERFIRE IS A NEW COMBINATION light/laser unit for compact handguns from LaserMax ( LASERMAX.COM ), but the real news to me isn’t the unit itself but LaserMax’s new GripSense activation technology, first available on this model. Previously, to activate a light or laser, the shooter had to do something after grabbing the gun—hit a button or squeeze a pressure switch. The only near-exception to this that I know of is the Viridian “instant on,” where the pistol-mounted unit is turned on, then when the pistol is holstered in Viridian’s special holster it shuts off until it is drawn. But the Viridian unit doesn’t just require a holster, it requires that company’s holster. What if you wanted that kind of automatic activation without using a holster? Enter the LaserMax GripSense.…

The Smith & Wesson M&P semiauto pistol was introduced more than 11 years ago, and by any measure it has been an unqualified success. Late last year S&W debuted a product- improved version of the M&P, the 2.0, which offered from the factory the most commonly done aftermarket tweaks to the platform. The M&P 2.0 (technically the M2.0 but no- body, not even the people from S&W, call it that) was offered in the standard 4.25-inch-barreled model, and a long-slide 5.0-inch, but what you didn’t see from S&W was a compact version of the M&P 2.0. That has now changed: Enter the new Smith & Wesson M&P9 2.0 Compact. But don’t confuse this 2.0 Compact with the original M&P9c (compact), because the changes, while small, make a huge difference. The…

Two things I know about the state of firearms in America: 1911s chambered in 9mm are currently very popular; and lots of people like owning unusual guns, something no one else at the range has. Rock Island Armory checks off both those boxes with its 9mm/.22 TCM combo packs. I know many of you just read that sentence and have no idea what I’m talking about. Let me explain. If you haven’t heard of Rock Island Armory, it is a division of Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) and one of the biggest arms and ammo producers in Asia. If you own two or more 1911s, chances are Armscor made one of them, even though its name might not appear anywhere on it. While the company started out making GI-clone…