Handguns

(GunReports.com) — Southwick Associates has announced the brands hunters and shooters purchased most frequently in 2010. This list has been compiled from the 41,923 internet-based surveys completed by hunters and target shooters who volunteered to participate last year in HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com polls.

(GunReports.com) -- International Training, Inc. (ITI), a subsidiary of Wackenhut Services Inc., and providers of benchmark security training programs to the U.S. Government, U.S. Military and corporate America, will be hosting a 3-Day Advanced Pistol Course taught by M. Anthony Marshall of LOT X CORP March 14-16, 2011 at the ITI-Texas Campus in Dilley, Texas.

(GunReports.com) -- New GunReports.com Videos: 1: Reservist John Buol Jr., editor of American Gunsmith magazine, introduces the ACOG TAO1 battle sight, and how to use it in the field. USAMU Reserve Combat Shooting Team MSG Lance Espinosa shows how he maintains data on this sight to maintain its effectiveness. 2: Kevin Winkle of GunReports.com gets the lowdown on introductions that Crimson Trace is making in 2011 handguns. Sig, S&W, Ruger, and others. Talks about G10 custom grip lasers, infrared lasers (sadly, military only), and a buncha other cool stuff. 3: GunReport.com's Kevin Winkle handles the Glock 17 25th anniversary model in this Product Minute.

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(GunReports.com) -- Certain lots of recently manufactured 45 Auto ammunition may contain an incorrect propellant charge. Use of product from these lots may result in firearm damage and possible serious injury. DO NOT USE PRODUCT FROM THE FOLLOWING LOTS:

GunReports.com aggregates important gun news of the week. Bookmark this page to check back often for new items added weekly, daily, or hourly, or on your Facebook page, search for 'GunReports.com' and click 'Like' to get the newsfeed pushed to your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

For more years than I'd care to recall I've had a gun secluded on my person somewhere. No, I didn't always have a CCW permit. During all those years I've never had to present the gun to stop a fight, but many times along the way I was mighty glad I was armed.

When it comes to 1911-type handguns, most of us think of personal defense or tactical versions of the old warhorse; however, many are used for recreational shooting and informal target shooting. Recognizing that fact, our paper-punchers wanted to burrow down into the details of target-grade 1911 pistols to see what target sights, very tight slide-to-frame fit (some Army gunsmiths weld the barrel, slide, and barrel bushing to create a new standard of tightness, an option not available to most civilian shooters), and better trigger and barrel can produce in terms of accuracy. The goal was to choose which handgun was the most accurate and best suited for informal shooting and as a base gun for upgrades to more demanding competitions.

What we learned generally is that the primary advantage of such handguns are their adjustable sights. Adjustable target-grade sights allow the shooter to adjust his sights for a wide range of bullet weights. (The 45 ACP may be useful with bullet weights of 152 to 260 grains, but the 180- to 200-grain bullets are generally the most useful for target shooting.) Also, target-grade pistols offer a fine sight picture necessary for firing good groups at longer ranges.

We tested three target-sight-equipped pistols from Colt, Kimber, and Springfield. One was the Colt Gold Cup Trophy 05070X 45 ACP, $1050 MSRP, but which we found at a counter-retail price of $963. Kimber's Eclipse Target II was the next gun, priced at $1345 MSRP and counter price of $1160. The third gun of the trio was the Springfield Loaded Model Target P19132LP, MSRP $1069 and retail price $973.

We were lucky to be able to obtain two loads especially designed for accuracy, the Federal 185-grain full-metal-jacket semi-wadcutter and the Cor-Bon 230-grain Performance Match. We also used a handload worked up just for this project, using the Oregon Trail 180-grain SWC. With these rounds we used an established method to zero a pistol with adjustable sights. If the pistol is close to the zero you want from the factory, minimal effort is required to zero the sight. If not, more work is needed. First, however, the shooter must determine click values, which will vary from sight to sight. To measure click value for each gun, we took a good benchrest position and fired a three-shot group. Next, we clicked the rear sight wedge notch five clocks to the right, then fired another group. We then measured the amount of adjustment, allowing us to precisely calculate the exact number of clicks needed to zero the piece, or the exact movement made by a single click. It doesn't matter whether you do the vertical or horizontal clicks first, but both directions need to be measured.

Also, before we get into the guts of these guns, it's worth noting at this point that some target pistols get battered to death by firing full-power ammunition—an easily avoided problem. The oft-repeated advice of fitting a full-power Government Model recoil spring to the Gold Cup is a non-sequitur. The recoil spring is full power. It is the hammer spring that is clipped and lightened to provide less resistance so that the slide will cycle with lighter loads. The Gold Cup is also supplied with a second lightweight recoil spring. Hardball or 230-grain FMJ loads usually break 830 fps. It is possible to work up a load using a 185-grain bullet at 750 fps with a proper lightweight recoil spring. Naturally, a handgun sprung in this manner would quickly batter itself into a rattling wreck with hardball loads.

(GunReports.com) -- For 2011, Uberti is offering the Cattleman in matching .357 Magnum two-gun sets. Historically, matching sets of single-action army revolvers were most often presented to high-ranking military and government officials, presidents and other heads of state. The matched sets share the same serial number, but are distinguished from each other by an R or an L preceding the serial number.

(GunReports.com) -- Rossi's Wizard Pistol uses a break-open interchangeable barrel system chambered for 243 Win. or 22-250 Rem to make it a suitable handgun hunting, target shooting or plinking pistol. The Wizard Pistol's break-open barrel system changes quickly by unscrewing the front swivel, with no tools needed.

The Tokarev pistol replaced the old Nagant revolver in Russia in the 1930s, and what a change it was. The new semiauto zinged out an 85-grain bullet at close to 1500 fps, and was the speed king for handguns until the advent of the 357 Magnum in the 1950s, which could sometimes equal, but seldom exceed, the speed of the Mauser-designed cartridge.

The 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge originated before the turn of the 19th century as the 30 Borchardt, which didn't quite make the velocity of the Mauser or Tokarev cartridges, though the bullet weight was the same. It then was adopted by Mauser and was loaded hotter for his Broomhandle. The Russians copied the 1896 Mauser round essentially exactly, but put it into a much simpler handgun. While somewhat similar to the Colt 1911 design, the Tokarev was a simplification in some ways, and an advancement in others. The big thing about the Tokarev is the original design of both the TT-30 and TT-33 lacked a safety. There was a half-cock position on the hammer, but no easy way to lower the hammer once it was cocked, nor to keep it in the cocked position.

We acquired two Tokarev TT-33 variants for this test report. One was a Yugoslavian version, marked as the Model M57. It featured a well-made and cleanly installed thumb safety that permitted normal and confident cocked-and-locked carry. The other gun was from Romania and had a crude safety that had been added to permit importation into the U.S. There were other slight differences between the two that we'll get into later.

Because the takedown is identical for the two, we'll discuss that first. One of the nicer aspects of the Tokarev is a much easier takedown than that of the 1911. You don't have to wrestle the slide all the way back and hunt for a notch to get the cross pin out. And once the slide is removed toward the front, the hammer/sear group comes out as a unit for easy cleaning or replacement. The slide spring remains in the gun until you pull it out, which then permits removal of the barrel.

The Tokarev was a clean design, we thought, with an easily cocked hammer and excellent sights, though the rear one was on the high side to properly match the front blade. None of our shooters disliked the vertical grip angle of these two pistols. We all thought the grip felt natural.

The Tokarev has a barrel bushing, but turning it is not required to remove the slide. The slide spring keeps the barrel bushing in place, and once the slide spring is removed, the barrel bushing can be rotated 180 degrees to free the barrel, which comes out of the gun toward the front.

The barrels of the two guns had locking rings machined completely around their circumferences, though only the top portion locked into the slide. The benefit is much easier manufacture than that needed for a typical 1911 barrel.

Both guns exhibited a semi-gloss blued finish, and both had plastic grips that were held in place by hidden clips, accessible via the mag well. Both had lanyard rings, and both had fixed sights. The handling differences between the two were minimal, and the range results were similar. The Romanian version had a shorter grip, permitting eight rounds in the magazine instead of nine for the Yugo version. We tested them with two types of low-cost surplus ammunition, Romanian and Polish. Here's what we found.

(GunReports.com) -- Auction Arms, the official auction site of the NRA, and GunReports.Com have announced a letter of intent to establish the Auction Arms News Bureau, a weekly E-Letter that will deliver gun news, pricing trends and other information for the serious shooter.