Viewpoints

Apex Tactical Specialties has announced its new Apex Flat-Faced Action Enhancement Trigger, about $45, for the popular SIG Sauer P320 series of pistols.

It was one of the odder gun-company announcements to have come across my desk in years: Las Vegas-based Arsenal, Inc. released a statement saying that international military-delivery commitments have caused a halt in production of commercial versions of the company's SLR-107FR and SLR-104UR rifles:

I was wondering if you have compared the Taurus Judge to the Smith & Wesson Governor, and if you did, what were the results?

Gun owners dodged a bullet — metaphorically, of course — when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it intended to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as "armor-piercing ammunition" and then later withdrew the proposal.

When BATFE released its "Framework for Determining Whether Certain Projectiles are ‘Primarily Intended for Sporting Purposes' Within the Meaning of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(c)" edict, that meant the M855 round's exemption to the armor-piercing ammunition prohibition null and void, and even worse, make future exemptions nearly impossible.

Being a fan of Commander-Sized 1911s, I was pleased to see your review on the Remington R1 versus the Colt Commander. I'm wondering, however, why you didn't choose the R1 Carry Commander for the comparison, as that would have been more of an apples-to-apples comparison. The R1 Carry Commander has a number of features that rival those of the Colt, among them: ambi-safety, bobbed and skeletonized hammer, three-hole trigger, slimmer grips, and better sights, including a Trijicon night sight front. It also has a melded treatment all over. Comparing the basic R1 with a Colt 1991 Commander might have been a closer comparison, as well.

I admit I was miffed when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) opened a computer case I checked as baggage to Las Vegas for the SHOT Show back in January. The case and contents were a load — a 38-pound Pelican 1730 transport case with a 27-inch iMac in it. I prefer to use a desktop machine to update the Gun Tests Facebook page, YouTube page, website, and new-product files when I'm at SHOT for a week. I've done the jobs with a laptop before, and I admit, it's much easier to carry-on a smaller machine. But once it's set up, the full-size iMac is heaven while we're processing words, photos, and movies for our various media in a hurry. In previous years, I had shipped my back-up iMac 27 in its original box a few days prior, so I hadn't had to wrestle what I lovingly refer to as the Pig Box through airport check in. I call it that because the Pelican is big enough (37.5 x 27.1 x 14.4 inches) to hold a whole pig. Oh yes, extra weight and size charges apply.

I was extremely pleased when my issue arrived and on the cover was the comparison of the three new striker offerings I had asked about. All three are quality, but I am extremely happy to have purchased your consensus winner, the VP9. I don't know if you had the options I did. The VP9 choices for me were the three-dot white sights with the photo-luminescent paint that can be charged with a decent high-power flashlight and gain a few minutes of pretty bright night sights, along with two magazines. My FFL put a $560 price on this one. The option I choose was the LE version that came with Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights and three HK magazines for $614. The prices do not reflect the $30 transfer fee mandated by the state of Delaware. So, throw in the background check and my tip to him, and it came out to just about $670 completed. On Meprolite's IDF holster site, the sights were $139, and the mag I have seen for as much as $50 to $70. I feel very good about this purchase.

Dury's Gun Shop, which supplies FFL services and guns for Gun Tests Contributing Editor Ralph Winingham in San Antonio, has partnered with Tom Gresham of Gun Talk Radio to create a limited run of 1,000 GT20 pistols, which are SIG Sauer P220 10mm handguns. Price is $1400. All GT20s will come with a SIG Sauer hard case and two eight-round magazines. Additional accessories can be purchased from Dury's and shipped directly to you with the purchase of your one-of-a-kind GT20 pistol. Shipping will only be $25 for the GT20 and free for all additional accessories ordered.

Thanks for all the great reports this month. You featured my beloved 44 Special in glowing terms and tested a recent variant of my favorite 9mm subcompact, but the pice de rsistance was the timely follow-up on your June tests of the Just Right Carbine in 45 ACP. That first report arrived just a few weeks after I bought my JRC and prompted me to refill all my magazines with round-nose FMJ fodder. Your new report says all the things Id hoped to read in the first one, but there is one glaring omission, in my opinion. You tell of sending the JR back to the makers, but there is no mention of what they had to do to make it right. Personal circumstances keep me from getting in a rigorous range day with my JRC to see for myself, but even if I do have feeding problems, I dont know where to tell my gunsmith to start. Were there problems in the feed ramp, bolt, extractor, or elsewhere? Other than casing damage, what should I look for? Please keep up the good work and forgive my former belief that you were never again going to report on anything of real interest to me.

Smaller guns have always had a certain appeal. In some cases it was just the aspect of miniaturization that captures our imagination. In other cases it was the reassurance of a highly concealable weapon. One niche of such guns were semi-auto .380s, which have long been popular sidearms because of their flat, short footprint and sufficient, if not outstanding, power. Even in the small world of 9mm Shorts there is a pecking order in terms of size, with the Beretta 84LS being one of the largest.

A significant court ruling happened in late December 2014, in the case of Tyler v. Hillsdale Co. Sheriffs Dept. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that a prohibition on firearms possession for persons who have been committed to a mental institution was unconstitutional. In its opinion, the court examined the Gun Control Acts categorical prohibition on firearms possession for persons who have sought or received mental care.

I very much enjoyed the article on the Luger versus the Broomhandle Mauser. My Dad had a Luger with both uppers, artillery and short barrel, which my brother has now. It was, and is, a great shooting weapon. Dad was in the 483rd Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force and remained in Europe with the occupation until the Japanese surrender. He had the chance to pick through a warehouse of weapons and recounted how the late Lugers would blow the toggle bolts when submachine-gun ammo was fired in them. He settled on a 1917 Crown, which would digest anything. I can recall that he picked up several thousand rounds of really hot German 9mm out of Canada in the 1960s, which we fired up. I recall firing some at a concrete block about 100 yards away, which was about 1-foot square, and hit it with regularity. The hold was 6 oclock with the artillery barrel, two-handed offhand hold. My recommendation for ammo is a bullet weight of 124 grains as hot as you can get it for pre-WWII Lugers, loaded with military ball-type bullets. The Luger never malfunctions with the German military ammo of the time, at least not the submachine-gun ammo. It would malfunction with American ammo that was not hot enough.