Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2018 i Handguns

Carjacked! As a retired federal lawman and certified firearms instructor, I must compliment you on an excellent April/May issue. Regarding the letter about the ATF destroying handguns, during my working days at a large federal agency, I had the sad duty to oversee the destruction of bushels of fine handguns—the destruction mandated by agency policy. Second, Richard Nance’s article, “Carjacked” is a real winner. I will provide it to my handgun class students. His article covers all the bases in concise text and points out how merely having a handgun is not enough. Keeping your “head on a swivel” and being aware of one’s surroundings is the litmus test for survival in a carjacking. RON BENJAMIN MANSFIELD, PA I had to say thank you to Richard Nance for his excellent…

I AM FAR FROM A COLLECTOR; ALL OF my handguns are used rather than stored or displayed. But I suppose there is something of a collector in me because vintage Smith & Wesson revolvers call to me, and one such example is the Smith & Wesson Heavy Duty. During the period after the Great War, there was much handgun experimentation as shooters looked for longer range and increased accuracy. Outdoorsmen were looking for a powerful cartridge that was accurate and economical to use. The police were also in search of a different type of handgun because a new breed of mechanized bandit was making it difficult for them. The common .38 Special with a 158-grain roundnose bullet at 800 fps was not capable of penetrating the steel doors of vehicles.…

WE LIVE IN AN ERA OF WEBSITES, BUT back when catalog shopping ruled the earth, the Galco Gunleather catalog was one of the best-looking catalogs of gun-related products on the planet. Beautiful glossy shots of holsters in exotic locations with amazing and unusual props—like one of the first civilian-owned Humvees—just took your breath away. Galco Gunleather no longer makes a print catalog. Not only because everybody does their shopping online, but also because since its founding in 1969 as The Famous Jackass Leather Company, its product line has continued to expand so quickly. In addition to holsters and magazine pouches, the company now makes belts, slings, gun-totin’ handbags, buttstock shell holders and rifle cases. Note the word “leather” in both The Famous Jackass Leather Company and Galco Gunleather, yet fully…

According to Greek mythology, the aegis was the protective shield or breastplate handed down from Zeus, ruler of the Olympian gods, to his daughter Athena. It is referenced in Homer’s Iliad , and according to popular accounts, the aegis was adorned with golden tassels (or, in some cases, writhing serpents) with the head of the Gorgon Medusa at its center. This gruesome artifact, according to legend, granted universal protection to its bearer regardless of the strength or number of enemies encountered. In modern culture, the term aegis refers to anyone or anything that offers protection or support in the face of danger. Though none of us modern mortals will likely face an enemy as dangerous as a chimera, the world in which we live is not without peril. Our defense…

One solution for carrying a speedloader concealed is the Second Six speedloader holder from DeSantis. It is a leather speedloader pouch that wraps around the belt and snaps in place. The rounds in the speedloader straddle either side of the top lip of the belt. A security flap covers the unit and incorporates a large center hole for the protruding knob if you are using HKS or Kimber speedloaders. (This unit also works quite well for carrying the seven-shot moon clips for the Smith & Wesson 986.) It’s made to fit all sizes of loaders up to the big S&W N frames. Safariland’s Speed Loader Holder (shown) is a skeletonized spring steel design that clips over the belt and holds the speedloader in place via friction fit. While I have…

DAN WESSON WAS THE  GREAT-GRANDson of D.B. Wesson of Smith & Wesson fame, but decided to go it alone—designing a revolver with many innovative features to include interchangeable barrels, sights and grips. He worked for the company that bears his name for about 25 years and left when it was sold in 1963. He passed away in 1978. Dan Wesson’s facility is close to me in New England, and I got to know Mr. Wesson and watch the company grow. Today it is owned by CZ-USA and is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a limited-edition 1911—and it’s a beauty. The finish is extraordinary, with every part perfectly polished. This perfection is especially noticeable on hard-to-reach places like inside the trigger guard, the beavertail safety and more. It almost looks like…

Simple is good. Why carry around a bunch of jags, patches and brushes for calibers other than the one you’re shooting—especially if the focus of your shooting typically revolves around one caliber? This kit from Tetra Gun ( TETRAGUNCARE. COM ) has everything you need: rod with handle, slotted tip, bronze brush and patches—plus a small tube of grease and a bottle of the company’s excellent cleaner, lubricant and protectant. Toss it in your shooting bag or keep it handy for home cleaning, and you’re all set. I used the .40-.41 caliber kit when shooting a pair of 10mm pistols, and it worked great for keeping the guns clean and running like they should. It’s available in calibers from .20 to .45, and it costs just $17.…

I STRUGGLE WITH RAPID TARGET TRAN- sitions and achieving a proper trigger press while doing same. That’s where a plate rack can really help, but unless you belong to a range so equipped, or you have your own private Idaho where you can set one up and leave it, it’s not a practical option for most of us. Until now. MGM Target’s Steel Challenge plate rack ( MGMTARGETS.COM ) is a portable rack that’s affordable at only $299 (delivered!) and easy to set up. It arrives in a metal bucket with six plates, six hangers and two end brackets. All you need to add are 2x4s. I use four four-footers for the legs and an eight-foot cross piece, and the whole kit and caboodle fits easily into my 4Runner. The…

IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT PERCEPTION IS reality. I beg to differ. Just because you perceive yourself to have good shooting technique doesn’t mean you actually do. If you want to improve a particular skill, you need to start by honestly assessing your current ability level. One of the most effective ways to do this is through video analysis. For decades, professional athletes have studied film to identify their opponent’s tendencies for later exploitation. But in addition to looking for chinks in their opponent’s armor, the dedicated athlete watches himself or herself with a critical eye, hoping to diagnose and remedy problem areas. These days, you don’t have to be an elite athlete with a huge training budget or have your own film crew to watch film of yourself. All it…

Because of watching too many episodes of “Miami Vice” as a teenager, when I was in my early 20s I found myself the owner of a Lightweight Colt Officer’s Model. It was the closest thing I could afford to the Detonics Combat Master detective Sonny Crockett carried in his ankle holster. New 1911 in hand, I headed to the range—and sold the gun a short time later. Small, light 1911s chambered in .45 ACP are painful and abusive to shoot. Even if you’re a true believer in the magical stopping power of the .45 ACP—as I was in my youth—you find reasons not to shoot small, light guns chambered in that cartridge. The problem is, if you’re not shooting you’re not practicing. The new CCO LW—Concealed Carry Officer’s, Lightweight—from Ed…

Most people who regularly carry a handgun for self-defense choose a small, light handgun that is easily concealable—and gun manufacturers know it. If you took a bunch of experts and told them to design a subcompact .380 ACP 1911 with all of the best features they could think of, I’m not sure if the end result would be any different than the Springfield Armory 911. In fact, Springfield believes the 911 is the perfect pistol for everyday carry. Those are some big words for such a small gun. Let’s look at the 911 and see if it measures up. First, this is a small gun. It has been shrunk in every way to fit the .380 ACP cartridge. It sports a 2.7-inch barrel, and overall it’s 5.5 inches long by…

THE FIREARM INDUSTRY IS PRACTIcally doing backflips to meet the whims and needs of female carriers, and the number of options increases every year. But that doesn’t mean every option is a good one. To be acceptable, a holster must cover the trigger guard so nothing can get in there. That means testing, or if you’re shopping online, envisioning yourself carrying or wearing the holster on a typical day. Is there anything on your clothing or in your environment that could get inside the trigger guard and cause the gun to fire? For example, an economical soft-sided, belly band holster with stretchy elastic around the firearm, worn around the waist, is a safe setup for a day at the office. But when carrying my wiggly dog with his stiff toenails,…

In the mid-1800s, Samuel Colt’s revolver was a revolutionary concept: the first practical multi-shot handgun. Revolvers from Colt and his competitors ruled both the defensive and sporting handgun scene for nearly 150 years—until law enforcement made the switch to semiautomatics in the late 1980s and the handgunning public moved the same way. However, there continues to be a strong demand for revolvers among seasoned shooters and beginners alike because a lot of people prefer the wheelgun’s simplicity and reliability. The downside, some argue, is revolvers take too long to reload. But with the right loading system and practice, a shooter can keep a wheelgun up and running in minimal time. Options for reloading your revolver include single loose rounds, half- or full-moon clips, speed strips and speedloaders. Each has its…

Every year or two a product is introduced that completely captivates the marketplace because of a unique design or feature. Last year that product was the Hudson H9 from the previously unknown company Hudson Manufacturing. Debuting at the 2017 SHOT Show, the all-steel Hudson H9 was marketed as having the best features of striker-fired guns while having a 1911-style trigger pull—the standard against which all other trigger pulls are judged. When a completely new product is launched, there is always uncertainty whether it will make it into production, especially if it’s from an unknown company. (Bren Ten anyone?) However, by the end of the year, Hudson Manufacturing had started shipping its H9, and what draws the eye of everyone who looks at this pistol is the big hunk o’ metal…

WHEN BILL RUGER DESIGNED AND BUILT  a new gun, he clearly had the shooter in mind. The Redhawk and Super Redhawk double-action revolvers, for example, are powerful, strong wheelguns—with the latter carrying the design to its logical conclusion for outdoor enthusiasts and those who simply like big double-action handguns. The Super Redhawk features an extended frame, heavy barrel and rubber overmolded grips to help tame the recoil of magnum calibers, and those same traits are right at home for the newest version, which is chambered in 10mm Auto. The 10mm is on a rebound after years of so-so existence, and it’s very handy in a revolver when combined with a full-moon clip. It should appeal to those looking for something a little softer than chamberings such as .44 Remington Magnum,…