Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2018-19 i Handguns

UNEDUCATED PURSE CARRY IS, AT BEST, akin to driving around with a spare tire in the trunk but not knowing how to fix a flat. At worst, it’s like driving on a busy highway while texting. So for those who are considering this carry style, here’s an introduction. First, get a proper purse—one that has a dedicated compartment and sleeve or holster for the gun. A handgun should never be carried loose in a purse along with other objects, and these sleeves or holsters will prevent objects from entering the trigger guard, where they could cause the gun to discharge. A dedicated holster compartment within the purse offers more than just trigger protection. When the position of the inside-purse holster is chosen correctly, it positions the handgun in a manner…

MARTIAL ARTS LEGEND BRUCE LEE SAID fighting styles should be tailored to suit the individual. For instance, a big, lumbering person might not have the speed or stamina to engage in a protracted stand-up fight with a smaller, faster opponent. In this case the big man’s best bet may be to grab hold of the smaller fighter and take him down, negating the latter’s speed advantage. A shorter fighter might close the gap to strike and then evade a taller fighter’s punches and kicks. Conversely, the taller fighter’s strategy should be to use his or her reach to keep the shorter fighter close enough to hit but too far away to counter. I bring this up to make the point that it’s foolhardy to think one style of fighting—or shooting—fits…

The CZ 75 was introduced—not coincidentally—in 1975. This double-action/single-action 9mm was robust, with a low bore and great ergonomics, and none other than Jeff Cooper really liked the gun because you could carry it cocked-and-locked. CZ’s Shadow 2 is its veteran, time-proven CZ 75 design specifically adapted for both competition and the 21st century. Before we jump into the Black and Blue Shadow 2, a tiny bit of history. I started shooting competitively in 1993. Back then, if you weren’t running a 1911, you weren’t interested in winning. But there was also only one division. In the late 1990s the USPSA introduced Production division, which was designed to be the home for non-single-action factory pistols. For years Glock pistols filled the hands of most match winners in Production division—but not…

The new Spectrum from Taurus is a subcompact automatic I consider to be a mix of old school and new cool. As for old school, in the era of subcompact wonder-nines it is chambered in .380 ACP, the original subcompact workhorse cartridge. It features a double-action-only trigger system, and the sights for this subcompact piece are small and machined in one piece with the slide. New cool? It is a striker-fired gun with a polymer frame, and this polymer frame features overmold inserts of “soft-touch proprietary polymers,” otherwise known as rubber. Plus, it is available in a whole spectrum of colors. Spectrum. See what they did there? Before we get distracted by the pretty colors, let’s look at the specs of the gun. The Spectrum sports a 2.8-inch barrel. Unlike…

OVER THE YEARS, I’VE HANDLED JUST about every type of .38 caliber snubby revolver. For the most part, they were all working guns, something you would have on your hip just in case the night turned bad. The newest one to come into my gun room is the classy Kimber K6s Classic Engraved revolver, all decked out in bright stainless with full coverage engraving. For those who simply want the best in a concealment weapon, it’s hard to beat this one, with its scalloped frame, small cylinder and well-defined sights. Checking in at 23 ounces sans ammunition, it’s a double-action-only that will chamber a full six rounds of either .38 Special or .357 Magnum. With a width of only 1.4 inches and an overall length of 6.6 inches, the K6s…

WINCHESTER WINCLEAN 244 IS A RELAtively new powder, one produced under license by Hodgdon. Out of the blue, the company sent me a can to try, and, hey, I never look a gift horse in the mouth. While this powder is supposed to be ideal for 9mm, .45 ACP and .38 Special, I was in the process of developing a .44 Special load using Oregon Trail’s Lasercast 240-grain-ers for my Ruger GP100, with the Smith & Wesson 629 in there so I could compare speed from a three-inch barrel versus a five-inch. I’d already tested IMR Red and IMR Target, so when the Winchester showed up, I added it to the test and included Alliant Bullseye, too. WinClean powders have a copper-fighting agent, which I didn’t test here, and also…

A LOT OF GUN MAGAZINES ARE WRITing up the “brand new” Black Belt ammo line. Um, no. Remington introduced the Golden Saber Black Belt line of ammunition in 2014. I know because I was there at the big rollout at Gunsite Academy in Arizona. So why are you just hearing about it now? Initially, the Black Belt ammo was sold only to law enforcement, which is why it didn’t get much press in commercial gun magazines. This line of ammo was originally supposed to be offered for commercial sale in 2015, but the timetable got pushed back, and it is now on sale to the general public. Remington’s original, standard Golden Saber ammunition line gets surprisingly little attention. First introduced in 1991, it features what is considered a modern premium…

THE KIMBER MICRO WAS INITIALLY offered in .380 ACP caliber, and a year later Kimber added a 9mm Micro lineup. It’s a line of pistols Kimber has been aggressively expanding—it currently encompasses 14 models—and one of the newest is the Nightfall D/N (Day/Night) version. It’s one of five Day/Night models in the Micro 9 family. The gun stands out from its stablemates thanks to its Hogue rubber wraparound finger-groove grips. These sport the Kimber name, and they provide a comfortable fit and soften the felt recoil of even the stoutest 9mm +P rounds. That’s right. The Micro is rated for +P, although Kimber notes extensive use of this high-pressure ammo will shorten the pistol’s service life. If you’re wondering about whether the size and the stickiness of the rubber grip…

TWO YEARS AGO FEDERAL INTRODUCED its Syntech ammunition. I wrote a review of it in our June/July 2016 issue, and I was impressed by what it had to offer: a polymer-coated bullet that delivers less fouling, less friction (and therefore less barrel-killing heat) and less splash-back when firing at steel targets. And with its Total Synthetic Jacket and lead-free Catalyst primer, the ammunition meets lead-free restrictions in force at some ranges. I was impressed, but after the much-ballyhooed introduction, nothing happened. To be honest, I thought the trail had gone cold, that shooters hadn’t responded to this innovative new ammo. Not so. The lack of attention was due to market factors: Federal was so busy churning out standard ammo to meet demand that the Syntech project was basically shunted aside…

Walther is one of those European gun companies that gets it. Historically, many overseas firms have taken a “my way or the highway” approach to the American market—introducing guns with features Europeans prefer rather than catering to shooters in this country. Case in point: When Walther’s excellent PPQ made its U.S. debut, shooters here shrugged it off—largely because it featured a paddle magazine release on the trigger guard instead of the button behind the guard we’re all used to. But Walther wised up, and it didn’t take too long for the company to introduce the PPQ M2 for the American market with, you guessed it, a button release. With the new Concealed Carry Pistol, or CCP, the new M2 version doesn’t have quite such a major change, but it does…

Any list of the top American gun designers really must include Bill Ruger. Some of Ruger’s designs—like the Blackhawk, 10/22 and Mark I—set new standards for accuracy, safety and reliability in their respective classes. Ruger knew how to dress up a firearm to make it both eye-catching and functional—guns like the M77 Mark II Safari rifle that combined the look and feel of London’s Bond Street big bores with the functionality of a controlled-round-feed action at a fraction of the price of Rigbys, Purdeys and the like. The No. 1 falling block, which some called outdated at the time of its release, has developed something of a cult following. But perhaps the most overlooked of all Ruger’s contributions to the world of modern firearms are his developments to improve the…

SOME FOLKS FIND IT HARD TO TAKE THE .380 ACP seriously since many .380s are inexpensive pocket pistols. On the other end of the scale, full-size 1911s are hard to conceal. What if you could have the best of both worlds? The 1911-380 Black Label from Browning is a line of functional, 85-percent-scale, 1911-platform handguns chambered in .380 ACP. Unlike the several 1911-style miniatures on the market, it is a “real” 1911, one that mostly functions and handles like the original .45 ACP. I took on a copy of the Black Label Medallion Pro Compact for testing. As a compact, it’s the Commander-size version of the series, with a barrel of just 3 5/8 inches. The full size 1911-380s have 4.25-inch barrels. This little dandy is carry-friendly thanks to a…