Handguns

While older designs, such as the double-action revolver and the 1911 semi-automatic pistol, continue to prosper through new materials and manufacturing techniques, the polymer-framed pistol may be at the forefront of pistol development. The .40 S&W is the leading round chosen by today's local and federal law-enforcement professionals. Compact .40s (3.5- to 4.25-inch barrels) bridge the gap between plainclothes duty and civilian concealed carry, and of these, the lightweight "plastic" pistols lead the way. And the Glock line of pistols is perhaps synonymous with the word "polymer."

Fourteen hundred feet per second from a pistol in 1930? Make that 1896! In the late 1800s Hugo Borchardt designed a pistol, and a cartridge for it, that became the Model 1893 Borchardt pistol. Borchardt was an American, but his pistols were made by Loewe in Germany. (The Borchardt pistol evolved into the Luger pistol, which used a shorter, less-powerful .30-cal. cartridge.) A hotter loading of Borchardt's cartridge was adopted by Mauser for his 1896 pistol, known as the "broomhandle." Velocity was in the 1,400 fps realm, and it was the fastest handgun cartridge around for many years.

With so many new compact and subcompact semi-automatic pistols on the scene, we are not hearing as much about the snub-nosed revolver as we used to. A snubbie is generally defined as a revolver with a barrel length of 3 inches or less, and, traditionally, this term is applied to smaller-framed guns.

There was a time when a self-defense handgun meant nothing less than a big-bore double-action revolver. While many favored the friendlier .44 Special over its rowdy big brother, the .44 Magnum, popularity of another wide-body cartridge, the .41 Magnum, never quite took off. It was just about this same time that the semi-automatic pistol began making a dent in the self-defense market, and the search for the ultimate revolver cartridge for police use was nearly called off. Although .45 ACP is rarely thought of when considering the purchase of a wheelgun, this venerable round has been filling the chambers of revolvers for longer than most people think. In fact there are characteristics of today's .45 ACP revolvers that in one regard make them a throwback to the 19th century.

At Gun Tests we often speak of features and modifications that push the performance of a given design further up the pyramid. What is this pyramid and why is it so important? Atop the pyramid is where all parts combine to produce the greatest possible results. Often the ability to climb the pyramid is linked directly to money. Most guns hover about midway up the pyramid in performance, function and appearance because they are priced in terms of available markets, i.e. your pockets and mine. But what if a firearm was produced without a price point in mind? How much would such a gun (in this case a 4-inch combat revolver) cost?

In our view, these limited-capacity pistols have limited usefulness for most shooters. Reviewed: American Derringer DA 38 and Model 1, and Bond Arms' Texas Defender and Cowboy Defender.

One of our representatives recently spoke with a fellow who has, to put it gently, a vanilla outlook on the world. That fellow declared his chances of getting in a gunfight were around one in a million. He thought the chance was so remote that it would do him no good to either prepare himself with proper gunfighting training, nor to begin to understand what constitutes a suitable and properly set up fighting handgun.

As the sport of competitive shooting progresses, the latest trend does not always supplant or erase what came before it. In terms of smallbore pistol competition, Bullseye, one of the oldest forms of competition, is still alive and well despite the increasing popularity of rimfire practical shooting sports such as those fostered by the USPSA. But with new games comes changes in equipment.

First manufactured in 1907, a John Browning-designed pistol was forever christened the "1911" when it was chosen in that same year to be the sidearm of the American armed forces. Another name for the unit that sports a 5-inch .45 ACP-chambered barrel is the Government model. Since then the 1911 has also been available in 9mm Parabellum, but with much less popularity. Said simply, the mating of the 1911 and .45 ACP was perfect. The big nose of the .45-caliber bullet slides forgivingly when feeding from a wide-mouthed chamber set in a narrow frame and slide. Fully loaded, the heavy bullets counterbalance the mass of the big steel pistol and the slide. Also, not being asked by this lower-pressure round to move terribly fast, the slide is able to cycle with glove-like precision.

We think Ruger's $453 "K" gun takes the P-series pistol another step forward, but HK's $699 USP and Springfield Armory's new $489 XD pistol offer more successful combinations of features.

Smith & Wesson's 629 Classic DX has the edge over Ruger's New Model Super Blackhawk Hunter and Taurus's latest Raging Bull, but with the right ammo, each can be a winner.

If surplus guns make you antsy, three proven .357 Magnum revolvers from Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and Colt offer power and accuracy on any budget.