Handguns

While some people are struggling to explain a gun buying surge reported on 'Black Friday,' the day after Thanksgiving, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms suggests there are several plausible explanations, all reflecting the times in which we live.

Getting into Cowboy Action shooting can be an exercise in frustration, considering only the selection of the handguns needed for that lively game. There are hundreds of them to choose from. So Gun Tests magazine chose three likely six-shooters that promise to do everything needed, and do it well. The three are chambered in .45 Long Colt, which they felt offered a lot more than just an historic viewpoint. The big .45 is a versatile caliber in a good revolver, and was their first choice.

Colt’s has introduced a new version of the classic Colt Mustang chambered in 380 ACP.

When a shooter asks, 'Which is the best gun for deep concealment?', or 'Is there a good self-defense gun out there with limited recoil?', minds often turn to guns chambered for 32 Auto (32 ACP). Many, or most, would wonder about the 32’s power, or lack of same. Gun Tests magazine addressed that concern in one part of a recent test. Beside bench-shooting for accuracy, they also created an action test that focused on what these guns would most likely be used for—that is, rapid fire at little more than contact distance.

Here's a look at the 2011 new products from Taurus.

(GunReports.com) --- Smith & Wesson has been awarded firearm contracts in Texas from the Austin Police Department and from the San Antonio Police Officers Association.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has begun an investigation into a central-Texas concealed-carry-instructor who said in a recent radio advertisement that he wouldn’t teach the handgun course to a “socialist liberal,” people who voted for the “current campaigner-in-chief,” or to a “non-Christian Arab or Moslem.”

In March 2005 we looked at the FN FiveseveN IOM model pistol (hereafter referred to as the 5.7). At the time, there was nothing else on the market to compare it to, so Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine covered it as a one-gun "Range Bag" report. In that review, he said, "Designed as a companion to the FN P90 Submachine gun, the FN Five Seven pistol is a lightweight polymer pistol chambered for 5.728mm ammunition. The 5.728mm round features a necked-down case similar to but smaller than the 223 Remington round…." That report continued, "Initially, sales of the Five Seven pistol were intended to be limited to military and law-enforcement [IMGCAP(1)]personnel because the 5.728mm ammunition is available with armor-piercing bullets. However, the FN Five Seven pistol is now available to civilians.

"We loaded our 10-round magazines with the FN-supplied 31-grain open-tipped FMJ rounds and headed to the range. We found the FN Five Seven to be a very lightweight pistol, weighing only 21 ounces unloaded. To house the overall length of the rounds, the grip was longer front to back than those found on most pistols, making it a little harder to connect the hands when using a two-hand grip. Right-handed shooters had to work a little harder to get their thumbs around to press the magazine release. In fact, the safety release and the slide-release levers were in opposite positions from what we are used to. The slide release was to the rear, and the ambidextrous thumb safety was located above the trigger so that the shooter had to use the weak-hand thumb or trigger finger to operate the safety. All levers were polymer, just like the frame and top-end shroud."

And the money graf from the original report: "Buy It. We're not entirely settled on the fight-stopping capability of the civilian-issue 5.728mm ball ammunition, but we feel FN did an excellent job of bringing together design features such as a fine trigger, manual safety, a first-class accessory rail, ease of maintenance, and foolproof accuracy in an ultra-lightweight package."

Well, that was then, and this is now. In the last year, Kel-Tec CNC Industries of Cocoa, Florida, has brought out the PMR-30, chambered in 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, a gun influenced by Swedish designer and Kel-Tec founder George Kellgren's Grendel P30 22 Magnum autoloader. But even the P30 was predated by earlier 22 WMR autoloaders by AMT (the AutoMag II is now made by High Standard) and Excel Industries (MP-22, www.ExcelArms.com). All in, the PMR-30 is slightly lighter than the 5.7, and it has a 30-round magazine, 10 more than the FN's 20-rounder. They both fire 40-grain projectiles of nearly the same diameter, but at different velocities. Before we get to the guns, let's examine how the cartridges compare.

Heizer Defense LLC, a new firearms company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, has introduced the DoubleTap tactical pocket pistol built on a titanium or aluminum frame.

The concept of a revolver chambered for 45 ACP goes back to WWI, when Colt and Smith & Wesson brought out their Model 1917s to fire the semiautomatic-pistol cartridge through the use of half-moon clips. With the more recent introduction of full-moon clips, these six-shot revolvers can be reloaded very quickly as long as you have a supply of loaded clips. The original S&W Model 1917 had a detent to hold the cylinder fully open, which helped expedite the reloading process. Recently, revolver maestro Jerry Miculek proved just how fast a 45 revolver can be reloaded. He fired six shots from his gun, dumped the empties, reloaded, and fired six more—all in less than three seconds.

It is reasonable to expect that any pistol-evaluation piece covering 'options in self defense' would focus on a range of semi-automatics that combine power with portability. In one such test, Gun Tests magazine chose to review the $1059 Kimber Stainless Target .38 Super.

MasterPiece Arms (MPA) Defender series of Pistols has been tested and has met with all of the State of California’s requirements on the sale and ownership of a single-shot pistol.