Handguns

Whether you love them or hate them, you've got to admit that pistols with polymer frames are becoming very popular. There are a number of good reasons for this trend. A polymer frame is lighter and more corrosion-resistant than a steel frame. Furthermore, it doesn't conduct hot and cold as well as metal. Have you ever picked up a gun that has been exposed to extremely hot or cold weather for a couple of hours? Ouch!

A polymer frame on a compact pistol makes a lot of sense. Carrying a lighter handgun is certainly easier than dragging around a heavier one. During the heat of the summer, sweat won't cause the polymer parts of your carry gun to start rusting. Also, a polymer-framed pistol's i...

Subcompact pistols, those which are small and light enough to ride in an ankle holster or carry in a large pocket, have been around for several years. Many of these handguns are reduced versions of already existing handguns. Typically, they cost as much as the original or maybe even a little more.

Within the last couple of years, a new kind of subcompact pistol has emerged—which we shall refer to as an SMPD. The SMPD is a subcompact with a moderate price (in the $300 range), a polymer frame and a double-action-only (DAO) trigger. The combination of a low price, polymer construction and a DAO trigger is not accidental. The ease of making a polymer frame and the simplicity of a double-act...

The versatility of the .44 Magnum cartridge is often overlooked. Yes, this is perhaps the finest hunting handgun cartridge ever devised, beaten only by recent hot loads in the .45 Long Colt and in handguns chambered for the .454 Casull, in production guns. The .44 Magnum is a hot cartridge, but that's only the beginning of the story. There are some lighter loads, not just in the .44 Special, that tame the gun considerably. These are the loads usually fired in the shorter-barreled versions, such as the four-inchers tested here.

The usual barrel length for the .44 Magnum is around the six-inch mark, because most shooters want to be able to get all the performance they can out of such a powe...

Sig's P229 Sport pistol seems to us to be more of a ‘Make It and They Will Buy It' creation than one resulting from market pressure. We suspect it was designed to appeal to the recreational shooter who enjoys having something different to show off during occasional visits to the local club range. The P229 Sport, although not a mainstream competition pistol, is worthy of attention as an example of what a major player in the firearms industry can do to advance the art of gun making.

The standard Sig P229, with its aluminum frame and blackened stainless steel slide, was considered a pistol with a limited lifetime. The new P229 Sport, modified with a machined stainless steel frame and slide,...

If you have found the full-size pistol you bought is just too big and heavy to carry around for hours at a time, you are not alone. Fortunately, most of the manufacturers are way ahead of us on this one. Chances are you can buy a compact model in the same caliber and from the same company that made your big service-type pistol.

This can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing, depending on your expectations. If you think you are going to shoot the smaller pistol as well as you shoot the larger model, you will probably be disappointed. It isn't that short-barrelled handguns are less accurate, per se. Quite often they are not. But, for the compacts to shoot as well as their full-size coun...

For whatever their reasons, some folks aren't happy with the ballistics of a .22 LR and want just a bit more horsepower in their handgun.

Not wanting to reload, and rejecting the cost of the available loads for the little .32 revolvers, these good folks have the option of the .22 Magnum. One of the more useful barrel lengths on a small revolver is 4 inches, and while you're at it you might want adjustable sights on the handgun. A 4-inch adjustable-sighted .22 Magnum is getting pretty near the ideal trail gun; all that's left is to make it of stainless steel, and we've arrived.

Before we get into our test session, let's consider how we might use this .22 Magnum revolver. Yes, it'll do...

Without question, there are more pre-owned .22 rifles, pistols and revolvers occupying table space at guns shows, rack and counter case space at dealers and house space than any other caliber firearm. Based on the popularity of the cartridge, the guns that shoot it and the number of years both have been around, such abundance isn't in the least surprising. Due in part to that abundance, the prices attached to other-than-collectable .22s can be irresistible to the uninformed. All too often, many of these "bargains" become nightmares of additional expense once its discovered they don't function very well or not at all. You can be reasonably certain of one thing. A used .22 rifle, revolver or p...

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Almost ten years ago, I purchased a North American Arms .22 Magnum Mini-Revolver. I carry it when I jog or rollerblade and as a backup to the .45 Colt Officers Model I routinely carry.

Three weeks ago, while disassembling the Magnum Mini-Revolver for cleaning I lost the $3 hand spring. Upon calling the factory, their representative (Mr. Wayne Martin) suggested I return the gun for replacement of the part and reassembly.

In less than three weeks, the gun was...

One shot, well placed, at great range: this is perhaps the ultimate shooting test. If the target is a varmint or a distant rock, the flat-shooting .22-250 will do the trick nicely. This is the realm of the precision rifle — or is it? Why not do it with a handgun? A bolt-action or break-open single-shot pistol might be lots more fun and is certainly more of a challenge to the shooter. Such handguns naturally require the use of a scope to get the most out of them, and also to help you to see small targets at extreme range.

Make no mistake, such a handgun is capable of at least as good accuracy as a comparable rifle. All barrels vibrate when you shoot a bullet through them, and the longer an...

When the .357 Magnum was introduced in 1935, it was the most powerful commercial handgun cartridge available. Since then, that title has been passed on to several other rounds, such as the .44 Magnum and the .454 Casull. Nevertheless, the .357 Magnum is still a very good round.

In our opinion, the .357 Magnum is one of the most versatile handgun cartridges. When loaded hot and topped with a 125-grain jacketed hollow point, it is an excellent self-defense round. With heavier bullets, it is capable of taking varmints and other animals smaller than deer. CCI even makes a shotshell round that can be used to dispatch snakes and birds.

The .357 Magnum utilizes a rimmed case and is intended for use in revolvers. Although there are several technical problems associated with feeding and headspacing a revolver cartridge in a semiautomatic handgun, a few companies currently make .357 Magnum pistols. Two such guns, the Magnum Research Desert Eagle and the Coonan Arms Model B, are the subject of this head-to-head test. Also, a separate evaluation of the Coonan Arms Cadet compact .357 Magnum pistol is included on pages 14-15.

The Cadet is Coonan Arm's response to those who have called for a compact version of the company's Model B pistol. The Cadet is about 1 inch shorter and 7 ounces lighter than a standard Model B, and has a 1-1/4-inch shorter barrel.

Like the original, the Cadet is a single-action .357 Magnum pistol made of stainless steel. Its 3-3/4-inch barrel has a fixed locking lug. There is no barrel bushing. Walnut grip panels and fixed sights are standard equipment. This $850 compact comes with one 6-round magazine.

Click here to view the Coonan Cadet features guide.

The Coonan Cadet we acquired for testing looked like a beefy Officer-size 1911 pi...

The Colt Bisley was introduced in May 1894 as a target handgun intended for competition in England. The first name the gun had was the "Special Target Model of 1894." The gun performed so well at the famous Bisley Commons shooting grounds in England over the next year or so that Colt redesignated it the "Bisley Model Target."

The Bisley design altered the grip-to-barrel angle and hand position so that the bore would be lower in the hand, and also at nearly a right angle to the gripping axis. Together with the altered grip came a lower and wider hammer, enabling the shooter to cock the gun without shifting his grip. A third main difference is the wide trigger, curved and brought closer to...