Home Defense

For carry purposes, a short-barreled (snub-nosed) revolver has many welcome attributes, including ease of concealment, maneuverability, ease of presentation, and comfort. The short barrel makes the gun easy to hide and handle, and having smooth surfaces can help minimize incidental contact during carry that can irritate or scrape one's skin. One such gun is the .38 Special +P Taurus CIA, which has an enclosed hammer like the Centennials.

The basic 625 revolver was introduced in 1989, and has largely retained its basic design — it's a stainless-steel N-frame revolver with full-lug 5-inch barrel, adjustable sights and a tall plain Patridge blade up front. However, the input of competitive shooters and the rules under which they compete has reportedly fostered the arrival of the "dash-eight" model 625.

The 21 was Glock’s biggest gun until the arrival of the models 34 and 35, which feature a longer slide and 5.3-inch barrel. The .45 ACP 21 incorporates a 4.6-inch barrel, but at about 27 ounces unloaded, it is still the heaviest pistol in the Glock lineup. This is the result of beefing up the original design to handle the pounding of .45 ACP ammunition. For example, the current 9mm Model 17, which is similar in dimensions to the GL21 and closest in design to the original Glock pistol, weighs only about 22 ounces. Our GL21 arrived with two 13-round magazines.Palm swells and finger grooves with helpful checkering molded into place have helped the Glock pistols become more shooter friendly, and adding a rail to the dustcover allows accessories to be added easily. The magazine release is prominent, making reloading faster. The extractor offers plenty of surface area to the case rim and serves as a loaded-chamber indicator, sticking out just enough to tell the shooter visually or by touch when the gun is charged.

A gun that breaks in half? Well, this shouldn’t really be much of a manufacturing problem. After all, shotguns have been hinged for years with precision. What about the polymer and steel construction, and the orange plastic front sight blade? The skepticism that polymer once rang up should be well faded by now and besides, the Sub Rifle 2000 feeds from Glock magazines, synonymous with reliability.

Like most Beretta’s we’ve opened a box on, the Teknys Gold Sporting is immediately eye-catching. Our sample sported a chocolate-cherry piece of wood that while not fancily figured, showed some very handsome striation. With an oil finish that’s polished enough to look like a lacquer finish, this stock is nice enough that it justifies the gun’s steeper price tag.

DoubleStar Corp. is selling the DS-420 Handguard, which is 12 inches of aircraft-grade 60-61 T6 aluminum.

Charter Arms has released an explanation about why the company’s new rimless-ammunition firing revolver is not yet out.

Below are examples of operations performed on firearms and guidance as to whether or not such operations would be considered manufacturing under the Gun Control Act (GCA).

What does Fulton put into a carbine? How about: Original USGI receivers; all USGI parts, all checked with applicable gauges; an excellent-condition (refinished) original USGI stock and hand guard; a period sling and oiler; plus “The M1 Carbine Owner’s Guide,” a 140-page book by Ruth & Duff (autographed by Duff). This book was so filled with intensive details about the M1 Carbine that after reading portions of it, we had to rewrite portions of this report. Also in the Fulton package was one 10-round magazine. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, which gives you ample time to fall in love with your new purchase, or to find some good reason to reject it, which we don’t think you will.

Buffalo Bore now offers a round that was designed to be similar to the old FBI-standard round that featured a soft-lead 158-grain bullet at very good velocity.

Heckler & Koch is marketing a variant of its G36 assault rifle as a heavy-barrel accuracy rifle for the U.S. market. What struck us as unusual was the marrying of a heavy barrel or other heavy componentry to what was originally a lightweight field rifle configuration. The SL8-1 is a grey polymer-stocked unit that sells for $1,249.

The reason many shooters should prefer 20s for home defense over a bigger 12 gauge is that they’re noticeably lighter than 12s. In the September 2005 issue, we tested the Remington Model 870 Express Synthetic 12 Gauge Magnum No. 25077, $345, which weighed 7.25 pounds, and the Mossberg Persuader Model 590A1 12 Gauge Magnum No. 51411, $443, which weighed 6.9 pounds. The 20 we tested weighed three-quarters of a pound to nearly 2 pounds less than the counterpart 12s. But they don’t give up much in terms of hall-clearing power or capacity.