Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2026 i Handguns

Production Correction I enjoyed Keith Wood’s article on the Beretta 92XI SAO Sabbia (December/January). His comment about use in USPSA was a bit off, though. Production division does not allow single-action only. The Sabbia is, however, suited for Limited Optics set up as he set it up. Without the optic, it would be Limited Minor. TOM CHESTERMAN, ARIZONA More Wheelguns! I’d like to see coverage on more revolvers—the single actions and the cap-and-ball era—at least once in a while. I’m sure many of your subscribers are old guys like myself who still take part in keeping this portion of the shooting sports alive. S. BROWN, GEORGIA One Last Oddball After reading your “Front Focus” in the June/July issue, I had to throw my favorite in the mix. Back in the…

IT’S HARD NOT TO LOVE A GOOD-SHOOTing, easy-carrying micro compact, and that describes the resurrected SIG P238. Chambered to .380 ACP, it’s a single-action semiauto that’s about as small as they come. Despite the tiny dimensions, it’s incredibly easy to shoot well. For one thing, it weighs nearly 15 ounces due to its alloy-frame construction, so it’s light but not too light. It also benefits from a crisp single-action trigger, which on this sample broke just shy of five pounds. The SIGlite sights are among the best out there. They are steel, set in dovetails and feature tritium vials set inside large white outlines—providing a great sight picture in any light or lack thereof. The Titanium Rainbow nomenclature stems from the PVD finish. It’s not for everyone. On the set…

AS A YOUNG COP IN THE LATE 1990S, I often carried my full-size pistol in a huge fanny pack while off duty. At the time, fanny packs were a popular means of carrying a wallet, keys, and back then, even a pager. Of course, fanny packs were also a great way to comfortably hide a gun in plain sight. But when fanny packs went out of style, the mere fact that you wore one was cause for suspicion. These days, fanny packs are popular again, and they remain well-suited for concealed carry. Since fanny packs don’t require a belt like a traditional holster, you can carry your gun when wearing sweatpants or shorts—clothing you couldn’t easily wear while carrying a gun. For many, a fanny pack is a comfortable and…

When Browning discontinued production of the Hi Power in 2018, it didn’t take other brands long to fill the vacuum left behind by the passing of this iconic pistol. The latest company to bring back the Hi Power is Inglis, which makes its Hi Power clones in Turkey and imports them to the United States at very reasonable prices. The Inglis name will always be synonymous with the P-35 pistol. However, the Inglis that imports P-35 pistols from Turkey today is different than the original John Inglis and Company of Canada. Following World War II, John Inglis and Company of Canada stopped manufacturing firearms and began making home appliances, and in the 1980s the company was acquired by Whirlpool. Inglis Manufacturing is owned by SDS Imports of Knoxville, Tennessee—the same…

If you’ve purchased a semiauto pistol in the last five years or so, odds are it came with a slide that was cut to accept optics. However, mounting an optic on your handgun isn’t always a straightforward process, and it’s complicated by the fact that there are so many different optic “footprints” on the market today. An optic’s footprint essentially describes the pattern of holes and sockets that are used to secure the optic in place on your firearm. If everything doesn’t line up right, your optic may not fit, or it might fall off your firearm while you’re shooting. Some pistols employ various adapter plates to fit these footprints, others have their slides cut to a single footprint. More recently we’ve seen systems of interchangeable, movable pins to accommodate…

WITH MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN BUSINESS, Ed Brown continues to be a good choice for a custom pistol, especially when it comes to the 1911. The company has made significant investments in all areas of metal technology, using state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the customer gets what he or she asked for. When it comes to special guns, the Ed Brown Kobra Carry Signature Edition fits that mold perfectly. The original Kobra Carry, a Commander-size gun that celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, introduced shooters to two Ed Brown innovations: the Bobtail frame and the Snakeskin pattern on key metal parts. The Signature version retains these elements and so would serve quite well as a carry gun, but it’s the relief engraving and attention to the finer details that make…

BACK IN 2024 I WROTE A PIECE ABOUT one of my favorite cartridges, the .44 Special. One reader responded that I should do a deep dive into the .44 Magnum. I liked his idea, but I decided to take a different tack and look at the various .44 caliber handgun cartridges. It’s not all-inclusive; I skipped more obscure ones like the .44 Remington, for example. I tried to track down current guns, ammo and reloading supplies, but it’s likely some sources got missed or availability has changed. .44 S&W American (1869-70) Our Army’s first adopted metallic-cartridge handgun was a Smith & Wesson Model 3 top-break revolver chambered to this round, which was loaded with a .434-inch heeled bullet similar in design to a .22’s. The cartridge, also known as the…

SUREFIRE’S X300 WEAPON LIGHT HAS been the standard for law enforcement and military personnel since 2005, and the release of the 1,000-lumen X300 Ultra in 2018 made that great light even better. However, while no one doubted the X300’s quality construction or retina-melting output, many shooters wanted a slightly smaller light with all the same features. That’s why SureFire introduced the XC3. While it can’t match the X300 Ultra’s output, the XC3 does manage 550 lumens of LED light, which is outstanding for a compact weapon light. The XC3 also produces 7,200 candela, a measure of luminous intensity in a given direction. That’s a lot fewer than the X300 Ultra’s 11,300, but while law enforcement may need that kind of power, for concealed carry all you really want or need…

Springfield Armory probably has had to add a trophy room at its Geneseo, Illinois, facility to accommodate all the awards its micro-compact Hellcat pistol has earned since it was released five years ago. Until recently, the Hellcat was available only in 9mm, but the company recently announced it would add a .380 version to the family. The Hellcat 9mm and .380 are both made in Croatia and look very similar, and the dimensions of the two pistols are close as well. Barrel length is three inches for both, and the overall length, grip width and height are the same. But at 16.1 ounces, the Hellcat .380 OSP’s unloaded weight with flush-fit magazine is almost two ounces lighter than the 9mm version, which weighs 17.9 ounces. The barrel is hammer-forged steel…

In the handgun world, the name Kimber has been synonymous with the 1911 platform for a few decades, and while most recently the company has put a lot of focus on its full-size and compact double-stack 1911s, it hasn’t forgotten the traditional single-stack fans among us. With the new Next Gen models, the Alabama-based company is delivering a Government-size 1911 in both .45 ACP and 9mm Luger that is within the financial reach of most folks. There are two base models —a stainless gun and a two-tone—with suggested retail prices right at $1,000. For the more well-heeled there’s also an embellished custom .45 version selling for twice that. I tested the two-tone in 9mm, officially the Custom Two-Tone Next Gen (OR). It’s right up my alley because I have a…

THE FIFTH VERSION OF SMITH & WESSON’S Spec Series pistols has been in my stable of firearms for several months. It appeared in multiple episodes of “Handguns” TV and was a favorite of the cast, so when it came time to officially evaluate the gun for the magazine, I was no stranger to the Spec Series V. I knew it to be a smooth-shooting, stylish 9mm that stands out in a crowded field. The Spec Series V doesn’t stand out just because of its performance potential, although this gun certainly shoots and handles well (more on that later). It’s also one of the best-looking factory 9mms currently available. The steel frame and slide sport a matte gray Armornite finish. Other components—the barrel, steel optic cover plate, slide stop, magazine release…

THE ASTRA 400 PISTOL IS AMONG THE most important Spanish service pistols of the 20th century. A replacement for the Campo Giro pistol, it was designed by Pedro Careaga, and it was introduced shortly after World War I. It was in full production by 1921. The pistol was purchased in great numbers by the Spanish military, and some were exported to Nazi Germany, others to Chile. Total production run was just over 106,000. Production ceased in 1950. It was chambered to the powerful 9mm Bergmann-Bayard or Largo cartridge, which is midway between the 9mm Luger and .38 Super in power. Most pistols of this power are locked-breech design, but the Astra 400 is a direct-blowback gun. An especially robust recoil spring is used due to the blowback action. Racking the…

IF YOU SIMPLY CAN’T GET ENOUGH GUNS and shooting, the My Outdoor TV (MOTV) app is a resource like no other, a curated treasure trove of firearms- and outdoor-oriented television shows and videos. For example, MOTV offers nine seasons—102 episodes—of “Handguns” (formerly “Handguns & Defensive Weapons”) alone. The show focuses primarily on personal protection and includes plenty of recreational shooting activities such as plinking and action-shooting competitions. It features reviews of the latest firearms, ammunition and shooting accessories, as well as advice on marksmanship, gun handling, self-defense techniques and a host of other handgun-related topics. But wait, there’s more! There are 10-plus seasons of the popular “Guns & Ammo” television shows, encompassing more than 200 episodes available on the app. You can also check out past episodes of shows like…

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when handguns were bifurcated into two distinct categories: defensive handguns and competition handguns. Today, those lines are blurred to the point where one can scarcely be distinguished from the other. Optics, compensators, extended controls and other features that were once reserved for match guns are now at home on handguns kept or carried for protection. CZ’s new striker-fired P-10 C Ported, optic-ready and compensated, is just such a handgun. Introduced to the U.S. market in 2017 after three years of development, the P-10 was CZ’s entry into the striker-fired market. The compact P-10 C followed soon thereafter, and the new P-10 C Ported adds a compensated barrel and ported slide. The P-10 C Ported is built around a fiberglass-reinforced polymer frame. Unlike…

Walther is no stranger to firearms manufacturing. Carl Wilhelm Freund Walther started a rifle making business way back in 1886. Years later, Carl’s son Fritz Walther became interested in semiautomatic pistols and convinced his father that pistols should be the focus of their business. In 1908, the father and son team produced a prototype pistol dubbed the Model 1. In 1911, they received a patent and began production. Now, 115 years later, Walther is one of the most respected pistol manufacturers in the world. Yet far from resting on its laurels, the company continues to innovate. The latest example of Walther ingenuity debuted in 2025. It’s a feature-packed line extension of its PDP Pro-X family, of which there are 25 variants. The PDP Pro-X PMM is a collaboration between Walther…

WHEN RUGER INTRODUCED THE COMPACT, reliable LCP handgun in 2008, the company probably had no idea how successful it would become. A handgun that is small enough to slip into a pocket is incredibly handy, which means it is more likely to actually get carried rather than left behind. The LCP Max carries forward all the attributes that have made the LCP series of handguns a success, but with the added benefit of various upgrades, including better sights and a 10+1 round magazine capacity. And now it’s available with a manual safety, which will appeal to many buyers. The LCP Max is a single-action handgun with an internal hammer—the trigger does not cock the hammer, the slide does—a polymer frame and a stainless steel slide. The slide is available in…