News

Franchi’s new Affinity Sporting is an Inertia Driven 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun featuring a brushed nickel anodized receiver and 30-inch barrel. The Affinity Sporting weighs in at a little over 7 pounds. The Affinity Sporting’s 30-inch barrel sports a stepped, ventilated-rib, red fiber optic front sight and a set of three extended choke tubes.

Small semiautos that match the physical dimensions of pistols we tested recently - such as Para-Ordnances $740 P12-45 - are usually referred to as compacts or sub-compact. But when pistols of this size class are miniaturized 1911s, the tag of "Officer's models" is hung on to them, even though they may not exactly fit the mold of the original Colt's Officer's model.

Manufacturers are taking a fresh look at the Officer's model for a number of reasons. For one, the 1911 pistol has legions of fans inside both competitive shooting and law-enforcement circles. Also, many military and ex-military personnel recognize the .45 ACP's superiority over the 9mm Parabellum, a cartridge choice often perceived as NATO's intrusion into American affairs. Traditionally the Officers model offered a six-round magazine, like the 945s. However, the Para Ordnance P12 integrates a double-stack or staggered-round magazine that holds ten rounds.

The P12 has been around a while and is essentially bug free. It fits the hand surprisingly well and points easily. Function was 100 percent despite warnings from some gunsmiths who seem weary of semiautos fitted with short slides. The P12 action also includes a Series 80-style firing pin block. This mechanism is not a favorite with 1911 purists, and some gunsmiths have a difficult time refining the action with this feature in place. But the P12 did not suffer any malfunctions because of it.

The National Rifle Association’s 142nd Annual Meetings & Exhibits opens tomorrow at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Kowa Sporting Optics is pleased to introduce the next generation in the iPhone digiscoping family, the TSN-IP5 iPhone adapter for the iPhone 5. Just like its predecessor, the TSN-IP4S, the TSN-IP5 adapter comes with two standard rings, one for the Kowa 880/770 series scopes and one for the Kowa BD/SV/YF series of binoculars.

The San Antonio Police Department has selected the M&P40 as its new service firearm and has begun to convert officers to the new handgun platform. Gun Tests has its own rating of the pistol.

Aimpoint is now offering new optical mounts to give hunters and sport shooters the same advantages employed by military end users.

How much does it cost to get a decent .22 'plinker,' or whatever you'd like to call a .22 pistol for shooting fun in camp or on the trail? Can you get one for under $150? Or will you have to spend many hundreds of dollars? The answers may depend on your proposed use for the gun, but Gun Tests limited the use to simply having low-cost fun with a semiauto handgun, the ground was laid for the current test.

National Rifle Association programs have experienced significant growth since 2008, thanks to increased national interest in the shooting sports, personal safety, and hunting.

Barnes Bullets L.L.C. has become an inaugural sponsor of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Woman’s Outlook, a new online presence for NRA women.

Leica Sport Optics invites shooters to stop by booth #3811 during the NRA 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibits to see and handle some of its newest products. Leica is officially unveiling the new Leica ER i riflescope models during the NRA event to be held in Houston, Tex., May 3-5 2013. Get a close-up look at the ER i 2.5-10x42 and the ER i 3-12x50 riflescopes, as well as the new Geovid HD-B laser rangefinder binoculars.

TrackingPoint, creator of the world's first Precision Guided Firearm (PGF) system, today announced that Marsha L. Osborn has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Operations. Osborn has more than 25 years of executive experience in operations, supply chain, quality, logistics and organization management.

You have probably heard that the private ownership of machine guns, suppressors, and 'sawed-off' rifles and shotguns is against the law. Many state penal codes calls these items prohibited weapons. For example, possession, manufacture, transportation, sale and repair of these weapons is a third degree felony punishable by up to ten years in the Texas Department of Corrections, writes attorney Michael D. Wisdom, president of the Texas Law Shield, a firearms legal defense retainer program developed by Houston-based Walker, Rice & Wisdom, P.C., Attorneys at Law.