HANDGUNS

YOU'LL FIND COVERAGE OF EVERY STYLE AND CALIBER HERE.

How I learned to stop...

“The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry,” said poet Bobby Burns. John Steinbeck took this as his theme for his novel Of Mice and Men. Unfortunately, it’s too often true.

The .38 WCF

People sometimes ask, “What’s your favorite gun?” Or sometimes it’s, “What’s your favorite cartridge?” I always reply, “You mean today? I change my mind about it often.”

Fit versus Feel

Ever since there have been gun writers, there has been the advice, “Choose the handgun that feels the best.” I may have been guilty of it myself in my early years, to which I can only say, Mea...

Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0...

The use of optics for personal defense has become increasingly popular in recent years. To meet the demand, Smith & Wesson has added new optics-ready variants to its M&P9 M2.0 4” Compact lineup.

Lipsey's Reintroduces...

Lipsey’s has teamed up with GLOCK for a reissue of the P80 with original features and style to allow modern GLOCK enthusiasts to acquire a piece of the...

New Heckler & Koch...

The mantra “bigger is better” doesn’t just apply to America. German small arms manufacturer, Heckler & Koch, has announced the latest variant of their...

GLOCK Introduces...

Introduced in July 2019, the GLOCK G43X and G48 were the manufacturer’s first compact-size Slimline handgun. One year later, the models are now available...

.41 Magnum Bisley &...

A modern version of a tried and true gun/load combination, Elmer Keith's .41 Magnum scratches the nostalgic itch we all get from time to time and is as...

.22 Magnum For Self-Defense

I’m a rootin’ tootin’ .45 shootin’ concealed carry practitioner and instructor — or, I was. For most of my years, I’ve been an adamant advocate...

Ruger Lite Rack LCP II

The new pistol sports the same 2.79" barrel, 4" height, and 8/10" width as its .380 sibling but the magazine holds 10 rounds, the same capacity as the big...

Mossberg At 100

In March, 1919, the nascent O.F. Mossberg and Sons Company was hanging on a thread. Harold Mossberg was the only employee in the rented loft on State Street...

New Products October 2020...

Real Avid’s Gun Tool AMP — AR15 is a compact kit loaded for, what else, an AR15. This multi-tool system will keep your AR15 up and running in the field...

Vetting the Defensive Handgun

As the boredom of the COVID-19 shutdown started getting to me, I felt the urge to change carry guns if only as a change of pace.

Remembering Walter Rodgers

I was still a junior in high school when GUNS Magazine first appeared in January 1955. The printed page had a major effect on me, especially some of the...

Korth NXR .44 Magnum

Birthed in Germany and offered on this side of the pond by the fine folks at Nighthawk Custom, the NXR .44 Magnum represents the absolute pinnacle of...

Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm EZ

Being on the Cutting Edge is a very good feeling. We have a long list of very powerful sixguns and semi-automatics available to us as well as...

Red Dot 101

There’s no faster sight than a red dot. However, some look like receiver sights, others like scopes. What gives?

Remington .44-Caliber New...

First Lieutenant Theophilus Millhouse was most thoroughly miserable. He had been born and raised in Connecticut where the world was cool and brisk.

SIG SAUER Launches...

With the SIG Custom Works P320 Fire Control Unit, you can build your dream pistol from the ground up, starting with the soul of the SIG SAUER P320.

Lapua and SK Rimfire Ammo

I tend to collect rimfire ammo like John Taffin collects six shooters. In recent years I’ve enjoyed shooting .22s more and more, and love to try different...

The Glock 44

Since the 1983 debut of the G17, GLOCK has sold 18 million auto pistols, all centerfires. Now, with the G44, they have finally brought out a factory .22.

The Orthopedic Holster

When illness or injury make it hard to carry your handgun, an alternate carry option may solve the problem.

The .44 Russian

In 1870 the United States Military purchased 1,000 Smith & Wesson .44 American revolvers. However, they were not satisfied with this first cartridge-firing...

Colt Frontier Six-Shooter

Recently on an Internet website a fellow asked the following question — “I bought a Colt single-action.

New Products September...

Protect yourself and your family with Rock River Arms’ compact BT92152. The BT-9 pistol with SBA3 arm brace in 9x19mm has a billet aluminum lower with a...

GLOCK Adds Gen5 Models,...

GLOCK has announced plans to expand the Gen5 line to include .40 caliber models and will subsequently stop production of 9mm and .40 caliber Gen4 pistols...

The First Forty-Fours: Part 2

Continued from last month — Life is full of trade-offs and while the Walker and Dragoon revolvers had plenty of power, their 4-lb. plus weight made most...

Springfield Hellcat Tops...

Introduced in 2019, the Springfield Armory Hellcat proved its mettle in a 10,000 round test, with every round documented. Now, that very same Hellcat pistol...

The Guns Of John Dillinger

John Dillinger was an inveterate career criminal who likely did more to promote the Federal Bureau of Investigation than any other single personality save...

Taurus Releases Compact...

Following last year's introduction of the full-size G3 9mm polymer-frame, striker-fired pistol, Taurus has introduced, the newest addition to its G-series...

The Trigger finger...

For decades, I’ve told left-handed students not to complain about this but to rejoice because it lets them dump an empty magazine faster than their...

Mossberg MC2C

In November of 2008 I was invited to attend the rollout of the Mossberg MC1sc pistol at Gunsite Academy in Arizona. Spelled out, the model is the Mossberg...

Smith & Wesson Model 67

The .38 Special has been one of America’s darlings for over a century. Most Smith & Wesson .38/.357 reviews focus on the .357 Magnums or snubby .38s. But...

New Products August 2020 Issue

Designed and tested in Alaska, the Denali Chest Holster is built to withstand challenging weather conditions. At the same time, the holster also provides...

The British L66A1

In the 1970s Northern Ireland was a tinderbox. The ongoing ethno-nationalist conflagration was called simply “The Troubles,” and it ultimately claimed...

Father's Day Gift Guide

As a certified Dad myself, I feel qualified to offer some insight into what might get your favorite dad’s attention this Father’s Day. Whether he’s a...

Round butts Are Best

Round-butted snubbies are the stuff dreams are made of, especially for nostalgic old Coppers. Compact, they have a comforting, familiar heft when loaded...

Hyskore Six Gun Speed Rack

So many guns, so little room! If you’re like me, struggling to keep my gun safe organized has been a challenge. Well, I finally found a solution.

Springfield Armory SAINT...

When Springfield Armory introduced its SAINT Victor and Edge pistols, they became immediately popular, and based on the public response, Springfield has...

Patriotic Guns

In the July issue of GUNS, we’re celebrating one of the most unique things about the United States of America — our right to keep and bear arms!

Wilson Combat X-TAC...

When testing a gun, I like to shoot it under pressure. This is where you really pick up the subtleties of how it handles and performs.

The Quest Never Stops

In my humble opinion a life should contain quests, or in more modern parlance, “bucket list” items. Mine have been rather humble.

The Tippmann Armory...

My fingers twitched nervously above my laptop. My breath came in furtive spurts. The intrinsic import of the moment threatened to cloud my vision.

The 9mm vs. .45 Debate...

In the handgun world, one long-standing debate is 9mm versus .45 caliber. There are arguments on both sides and I hope you’ll forgive me if I sound like a...

The First Forty-Fours

Mention “.44” today and most people immediately think of the .44 Magnum. However, the .44 Magnum did not just suddenly appear on the scene.

The Snake Eyes Have It

In the final moments of 2019, Colt proudly announced they would add the archetypal Python back into their stable of revolvers —

Colt US Model 1917 .45

When countries can’t supply the number of weapons needed by their armed forces for the wars in which they engage, most must resort to buying them from...

New Life

Barrel reboring is one of those obscure but vital services to the gun trade that gives life to all manner of restoration, repair and custom gunmaking...

Purty Popguns

Looking back over my 50-plus years of shooting sixguns, I saw a long list of heavy-duty cartridges introduced: the .44 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .454 Casull, .475...

“This Gun Won’t Shoot!”

I recently received a call from my friend Jim Martin. Jim is an even older guy than I am, an expert in fast draw and gun spinning, a top-notch tunesmith...

Resurrecting The Roper Grip

The decline in manufacturing in America has put many a man out of work, but in a few instances has initiated a second career in the firearms...

Shorty Forty-Four

Much of my high school class time was spent dreaming over gun catalogs. Anyone from that era will remember the breathtaking pictures of custom rifles in the...

True Grit?

I have carried a handgun in one form or another for 40 years and—without reservation—95 percent has been for protection either in the military or as a...

Cast Bullets & World War...

In building my shooting collection of World War II firearms I’ve accumulated most of the handguns considered “standard issue” by the major combatant...

Thrivin' Thumbusters

William Mason, chief engineer at Colt, came up with one of the grandest sixguns of all time, the 1873 Single Action Army.

Trail Bustin' Power

Today we have all manner of chopped and channeled sixguns and semi-automatics as well as a large selection of excellent leather for concealed carry.

The Resurrection

As part of the continuing program of resurrecting older and popular models of Smith & Wesson revolvers, the Model 58 .41 Magnum has been brought back into...

All-Time Favorites

More shooters handload the .38 Special and .357 Magnum than any other handgun cartridges, despite the .38 being 108 years old.

The Moonclipper

The Model 625 S&W, a stainless steel 6-shot N-frame, is the latest evolution of the 1917 military revolvers designed to use rimless .45 ACP cartridges,

Deep Cover Magnums

Most of the CCW stuff I read is great for off-duty cops and wannabes, but pretty irrelevant for us working stiffs. It just doesn’t apply to the real world...

Seriously Seeking Someday

How are your Somedays coming along? Someday I am going to go there; Someday I am going to do this. Most of us spend much of our lives contemplating Somedays.

The .38 Pink Lady From...

If anything, today’s firearms have become less and less aesthetically pleasing and especially so to women shooters. We certainly can’t fault currently...

A Half Century With...

The year was 1953. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, known to everyone as Ike, is inaugurated president on Jan. 20; Stalin our enemy, then our “friend” in...

Springfield Armory XD-M...

Now Springfield Armory has taken everything righteous and wholesome about the XD-M and amped it up to the next level. This new apex predator is the...

New Life For A New Service

Starting in 1976 I have been to Gunsite more times than I can remember. Besides meeting life-long friends, one of the best things is the networking always...

Ruger Charger Now Offered...

When it was first introduced a few years ago, the Ruger .22 LR Charger — built around the proven 10/22 action — was a fun semi-auto pistol with which I...

Charter Arms ...

Let’s think outside the box here. Pocket revolvers are swell — you bet. Most are five- or six-shot and we’ve always thought of that as “enough.”...

Tips & Tales on the .480...

For many, 2015 became a colossal year when Ruger relented, finally releasing the long awaited 5-shot, single-action Bisley.

S&W Prototype 1911

It was 2006, well within striking distance of Smith & Wesson’s at-long-last decision to offer its own M1911.

The Sheepdog Barks!

“Humanity is divided among sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs,” I wrote in the mid-1980s. The great Col. David Grossman popularized it but philosophers said...

KRISS Vector 22 SDP-SB

The history of the .22 Long Rifle cartridge is both storied and uniquely American, dating back more than 130 years when it was developed by the Union...

Remington Model 1890

In my gun’riting career I’ve tried to experience all of the Old West sixguns and their most noteworthy cartridges.

Diamondback DBX57 Pistol

Less than 26″ long, a modest 1.25″ wide and just 3.7lbs. with brace, it’s clear the DBX57 packs a punch in a small, versatile package.

The King of Sixguns

If the truth be told, I would not be afraid to bet there are more .44 Magnums sold than all the rest of the more powerful sixguns combined.

Pistol Cartridge Carbines

Almost simultaneous with the appearance of metallic cartridges there came a firearms genre popular to this day — the pistol cartridge carbine.

Colt Python

The advertising people at Colt must have known just exactly how much I could stand. In 1956, I was straight out of high school and a Colt Python and the...

The Colt Police Positive...

Ask Colt revolver fans to list as many D-Frame models as they can and chances are the results will include fairly well-known names — many decidedly snaky.

Cheap pistols

Gun writers collectively tend to forget something — we all want to carry a $5,000 custom defensive pistol but sometimes a large soft drink at the local...

Springfield Armory Hellcat...

The world shifted just a bit on September 25, 2019. Did you feel it? It wasn’t one of those silly Instagram events like Kim Kardashian brushing her teeth...

Changing Platforms

My old friend John Bianchi, the master holster-maker, quantified Bianchi’s Law — same gun, same holster, same place, all the time.

‘Cordially, Gordon Boser’

A few weeks ago I received a packet of information from one of our readers. As so often happens, this proved to be a gold mine of information.

The Guns Of The Wild Bunch

It has been 50 years since the movie The Wild Bunch hit the silver screen.

Nighthawk Custom’s Colt...

No matter what anyone thinks of the basic Model 1911 pistol, its track record is the gold standard.

Mix-N-Match Shooters

In Mary Shelley’s timeless novel, Dr. Frankenstein created his eponymous monster from body parts stolen from the grave and reanimated.

75 Years Young

To come up with a better revolver for city, county and state police officers, Smith & Wesson took their 3rd Model Hand Ejector .44 Special and chambered it...

The Golden Years

That wonderful year was 1959. Ike was in the White House, Hawaii and Alaska became states, and Charlton Heston won Best Actor for Ben Hur, which was also...

Lucky 7

There are three grades of shootability in the shootin’ irons available from Smith & Wesson. The standard production grade has set a standard of excellence...

Pride of Ownership

Jack Pender was a very special friend who died of lung cancer in the ’90s when he was much too young. If we are blessed we make a few very close friends...

A Half Century With...

The year was 1954. The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance and the Dow reached an all time high of 382.74. Elvis was telling us...

Honoring Larry Kelly

More than hunks of machined steel, guns bond us with the past like the proverbial time machine.

IWI US MASADA Pistol

Combining IWI’s legendary reliability with design input from military, LEO and civilians, the MASADA is a high-performance handgun that can stand strong...

The Timberwolf Subcompact 10mm

Lone Wolf Distributors cut their teeth designing and producing top-quality aftermarket accessories for GLOCK pistols.

The HK VP70Z

Each Heckler and Koch VP70 sported a detachable shoulder stock and a radical polymer frame.

Mantis X10 Training System

“I can help 94 percent of shooters improve in 20 minutes.” Sounds pretty presumptuous and smacks of those Get-Rich-Quick or Lose-50-pounds-in-two-weeks...

Clerke First Revolver

In the 1970s the hair was long, the gas was rationed, the interest rates were astronomical and the prevalent fashions could foment blindness if unduly gazed...

Keep Shootin’

In Part I last month I explained change is inevitable and as we grow older, things we do not necessarily desire are forced upon us.

Changeover Challenges

Hey John Taffin, remember a couple years ago when I told you in a column I was sort of eating crow?

Dan Wesson Model W12 Revolver

Even the most jaded handgunner will perk up a bit when he gets his hands on the new Dan Wesson revolver that embodies some radically new and yet sound...

Rimfire Memories

The year was 1962. My friend Bobby Norman got a Remington Nylon 66 for his birthday. We rode our motorcycles out to Hurricane Creek Bottom to shoot it.

Identical Shooting Twins

The lady was being stalked. Encouraged by her husband, she made an appointment with me to learn how to shoot a gun.

The First Engraved Colt Python

An exclusive look at the first engraved new-production Colt Python, beautifully hand scroll-engraved by Dale Bass of Tyler Gun Works.

The Wedge Hold

In 47 years as a handgun instructor, I’ve noticed more bad shots go low and to the shooter’s “weak hand” side than anywhere else. It’s often due...

How to keep shootin’...

We live in an ever-changing world. Everything around us is always changing and we ourselves are always changing.

Heckler & Koch SP5 Pistol

Designed to closely resemble the “look and feel of the legendary MP5 submachine gun,” the new Heckler & Koch SP5 is a civilian semi-automatic 9mm pistol...

SHOT Show Sights: Show Day 2

A daily photo dump of the best sights from the range and show floor of the 2020 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

SHOT Show Sights: Show Day 1

A daily photo dump of the best sights from the range and show floor of the 2020 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

SHOT Show Sights: Range Day

A daily photo dump of the best sights from the range and show floor of the 2020 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

Guns We Want to See at...

Just days away from the 2020 SHOT Show, we can't help but drool thinking about all the new guns we'll get to shoot, handle and see throughout the week.

Taurus G3

On the day Taurus officially announced their new G3 pistol, one of my grandsons was turning 16 and put together a shooting adventure with some of his...

Ruger's LCPII .22 LR

If you’re looking for a back-up gun, you’ve found it. If you just want a handy .22 for the trail, your pocket around the farm or to teach kids to shoot,...

.45 Colt Double-Action...

While loving the simplicity of the strong and reliable single-action thumb-cocker, I’m savvy enough to also appreciate its swinging sidekick, the...

Black Hills Ammo

Over the span of about three decades, Black Hills Ammunition has grown from a small part-time operation to one of the most respected manufacturers of...

Kimber Raptor...

Full disclosure: The first Kimber pistol I ever tested was the Compact Custom with a 4" barrel, shortened grip frame (Officer’s Model), bushingless...

SIG Sauer P320 XFive Legion

The standard SIG SAUER P320 is the basic platform the company used to enter the U.S. military trials to select a new pistol. As a result, the P320 was...

SilencerCo Omega 36M...

While the ill-fated Hearing Protection Act, which would have taken sound suppressors out from under regulation of the National Firearms Act, didn’t become...

Ruger Wrangler

America still loves its cowboys. This is reflected in the number of single-action revolvers offered by current gunmakers. Ruger’s single-actions have long...

.40 S&W: Dead Duck or Best...

There’s a popular meme on the Internet today — “Is the .40 S&W dead?” It comes from the tidal wave of police departments trading in their .40s for...

Desert Eagle 429 DE

Armed with killer good looks, the Desert Eagle’s sex appeal has only increased over the years. The legendary gun continues to make appearances in some...

Springfield Armory Saint...

Pistol-length ARs are undeniably “hot” right now. Some people prefer to build (actually assemble) their own AR pistol but if quality parts are used the...

Percussion Revolver 101

Shooting pre-cartridge black powder revolvers is solidly ensconced in worldwide shooting culture.

TMT Tactical Glock Makeover

It’s been said — and even sung — “Everything old is new again.” In this issue we’re taking the sentiment to a new level with an old gun given a...

Smith & Wesson 686 Revolver

In 1981 a real workhorse galloped out of the Smith and Wesson stable in the form of the company’s model 686 — a stainless version of their model 586.

Hard To Pin Down

If there is a firearm using metallic cartridges that operates without a firing pin, I’m completely unaware of it. In fact, the firing pin is the most...

Smith & Wesson .45 ACP Shield

Back in 2016 Smith & Wesson introduced the .45 ACP Shield and I tested it for a feature article in this magazine. I already owned the 9mm and .40 S&W...

Classic Shots From Classic...

We thought it might be fun to recreate a few of our favorite gun scenes from some of our favorite action movies to see how they played out here in the Real...

Kahr Arms K9 25th Anniversary

For the anniversary model, Kahr took 500 of their iconic K9s and tricked them out with (amongst other things) an engraved,

Flattop "Influencea"

Driving past New Mexico’s Florida Mountains, traveling over 2,000 miles by plane and hard road, I know it won’t be long. It’s far, but well worth the...

Century Arms Draco NAK9X

The Century NAK9X is what would happen if a Kalashnikov rifle had a baby with a GLOCK handgun. The end result is just stupid-reliable while remaining ugly...

Taurus G3: A New 9mm That...

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to test and evaluate a number of Taurus handguns, including revolvers from .38 Special to .44 Magnum, and...

Lumbago and the Armed American

I hurt my back when I was 27 years old and a soldier. I wish I could tell you it was fast roping into some evil despot’s lair to rescue the Dallas Cowboys...

Bucket Lists

I would’ve been all of 10 years old when Tex Ritter sang the mournful lyrics: “Oh my buckets got a hole in it; Yes my buckets got a hole in it;

The Non-Slip Grip

Every year I compete in Richard Davis’ seminal bowling pin shoot at Central Lake, Michigan (pinshoot.com). This year I saw some things to inspire this...

Colt 1903 Pocket...

1903 — Henry Ford launched his motor company but the first models were still a few years away. Automobiles on the road were still a novelty if not a...

Rock Island XTM

Rock Island Armory — sometimes they create a niche, sometimes they fill a niche. There wasn’t a 1911 in .22 Magnum but now there is. I can just hear the...

Taurus .357 Magnum Raging...

As closely as I can count, I’ve had extensive experience with over 75 .357 Magnums. This includes single and double action revolvers, semi-automatic and...

Handguns Of WWII Part 13

My attitude is the major handgun cartridges which saw significant combat in World War II in the hands of infantrymen number seven.

Mossberg MC1SC 9mm

Slim, subcompact 9mm concealed carry pistols are one of the hottest things on the firearms market today and Mossberg, most famous for its functional,...

The ABDO Concealed Carry...

Phasmids are insects designed to look like something they are not. The walking stick bug is the archetypal example. Such camouflage is an effective survival...

Peacemaker Specialists...

After 50 years of buying Colt Single Action Army revolvers in many calibers and all generations, I had never actually had one custom-made to my specs.

Revolver Requiem?

When they first pinned a badge on me in 1972, the service revolver was the standard law enforcement sidearm, and most private citizens with licenses to...

To Refinish or Not Refinish?

Want to know something that’ll set my teeth on edge just like chalk squeaking on a blackboard? It’s when someone says they bought a mechanically perfect...

EDC: Striking a Balance

There’s a cliche on the gun-related internet and “around the cracker barrel at the gun shop” which, in effect, says, “Anyone who carries more...

THE SAA'S MOST PROMINENT...

Research has shown the Colt SAA (Single Action Army) has been chambered for about 30 cartridges ranging from .22 to .476 Eley during its on-again/off-again...

The 3rd Generation Of Colt...

In the fall of 1976 when reading an article by writer Skeeter Skelton, I got both good news and bad news. The bad news was Colt had quietly discontinued...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 11

It’s perhaps true more people were killed by Soviet handguns in World War II than by those used by any other combatant nation. At least eight, and perhaps...

COLT SINGLE ACTION LEATHER

For me one of the most enjoyable adjuncts to Colt Single Action Revolvers of all types is their leather gear. It comes in a bewildering variety of styles...

Cimarron’s Colt...

Charles Richards was an assistant factory superintendent at Colt and was awarded three major patents for breech loading firearms, including the Richards...

Handguns Of WWII Part 10

Some folks hold the Webley Mk VI .455 revolver in near reverence. I’m not one of them. To me it’s big, clunky, ugly, underpowered and worst of all I...

THE SECOND GENERATION COLT SAA

In the last few years of 1st Generation SAA production only about 100 were shipped every 12 months. Then World War II brewed up requiring all of Colt’s...

The .44 Magnum Opus

The .44 Magnum has now been around for well over 60 years and it seems like a good time to look back at this excellent — perhaps even all around —...

The Nighthawk Custom Agent 2

Fifteen years ago, Mark Stone bumped into a couple of guys at church who built 1911 pistols. They were firearms artisans struggling to find their niche and...

Smith & Wesson .44 Combat...

In November 1955, Smith & Wesson presented Bill Jordan with the first .357 Combat Magnum. This 6-shot medium-frame revolver weighed 1/2 pound less than the...

Handguns Of WWII Part 9

Perhaps the British could claim at least a small amount of credit for the advent of Smith & Wesson’s Model 1917 .45 Auto revolver. Just into World War II...

When A Great Gun Guy...

In May of 2019, we lost Denny Reichard after a valiant battle with COPD. We’d been friends and colleagues for well over 30 years. Let me tell you about him.

S&W’s Model 610 This...

After searching for a good used S&W Model 610 for quite some time, I discovered a couple of things. First, they are not hiding behind every bush —...

The First Generation Colt...

Now we get to what can (arguably) be called the “World’s Most Famous Handgun.” Is it? I think so because American western movies have made it to about...

Semi-Auto Handguns Of WW2

World War II handguns ranged from the poorly thought out single-shot “Liberator .45s” to General Patton’s iconic brace of engraved, ivory stocked...

Colt's Cartridge Conversions

With this installment we reach a fascinating type of Colt single action revolver — the Cartridge Conversions. That’s a misnomer because it implies this...

Handguns Of WWII Part 8

Starting in grade school my primary passion was World War II history and the firearms used. Therefore it was an amazing day when around age 12 my father...

Old West Hi-Tech

A funny thing happened in 1878. A sleek, futuristic single-shot rifle offering breeching strength beyond the needs of the day’s cartridges debuted just as...

Performance Center Shield 2.0

The Smith & Wesson Shield has now become the 2.0 version and the Performance Center mod shop has added enhancements with a ported model. The gunsmiths at...

COLT’S LAST THREE CAP &...

We’re going to lump the last three Colt cap and ball revolvers together in one article because they were simply modifications and adaptations of...

THE 1860 ARMY .44

For about a decade Samuel Colt was quiet as far as introducing new revolver models. Obviously they were using all their factory’s production capacity just...

Rolling-Block Thunder

While the American Civil War was raging, the U.S. Navy was already casting about for a metallic cartridge replacement for their cap-and-ball revolvers.

Dan Wesson’s New DW ECP...

My first experience with a Dan Wesson handgun was with one of the old modular revolvers, in .357 Magnum, belonging to a small-town police chief friend of...

BELT PISTOL

By the late 1840s America’s westward migration was in full swing, spurred along a great deal by the California gold rush of 1849. People by the thousands...

CPX-3 .380 ACP

SCCY is a remarkable gun company with a strange name. Their defensive handguns are pacesetters in the modern firearms market and the newest SCCY CPX-3 .380...

Glock G48

The 2019 introduction of the G48 9mm finally answers the yearning of three decades of GLOCK users. Introduced in the late 1980s, the very popular G19...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 4

Without a doubt the U.S. Army’s adoption of Model 1917 .45 ACP revolvers was a “make-do” situation. And also without a doubt it “made-do” very well.

THE BABIES

As early as 1848 Samuel Colt realized the military market was going to be finite. After all, the U.S. Army was a relatively small organization and those...

SB Tactical FS1913 Side Folder

Do you have the perfect PDW-style pistol but want to make it an even more stable firing platform?

Tyler Gun Works Blackhawk

Last year, Ruger — in conjunction with Lipsey’s — released their single-action Blackhawk in 10mm/.40 S&W. The dual-cylindered cyclone was met with...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 3

A statement I’ll make about the British Enfield No. 2 Mk I .38 revolver is one I’m not willing to make about any other British weapons of World War II....

Now Available: Les Baer...

The late Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC (Ret.) will be remembered not only as the “father of the modern technique,” but also as the man who got the most out...

THE DRAGOONS

As pointed out in Part One of this series, in U.S. Army parlance of the 1840s/1850s the word Dragoon referred to horse mounted troops. It’s also the term...

AR-Alternate Calibers

Sometimes it seems nobody really likes the .223 Remington. Ever since the inception of the AR15 60 years ago, this little round has been under a magnifying...

Revolver Rasslin' 101

I’ve been doing an informal survey in classes lately and it’s sort of surprising the number of students who have never fired a revolver.

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 2

As with so many Americans during most of my life, I felt nothing but disdain for Japanese firearms. In fact in the pages of American Handgunner I’ve...

THE COLT WALKER .44

We’re excited to begin this exclusive on-line series by Duke on the Genesis of the Colt Single Action revolver.

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 6

When Britain jumped into World War I and dragged Canada along, as usual their military outfits were woefully short of weapons. In those days the United...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 5

Next to the Luger, Germany’s most recognized World War II handgun was the Walther-designed P38. It’s credited as being the first military pistol with a...

Guns And Aging:

One of the most senior shootists I’ve known was John Hansbury, who had two careers including chief armorer of the U.S. Coast Guard. I got to know John...

Rangemaster Tactical...

For a score of years now, master instructor Tom Givens and his wife Lynn have hosted the annual Rangemaster Tactical Conference. The program is a 3-day...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 11

It’s perhaps true more people were killed by Soviet handguns in World War II than by those used by any other combatant nation. At least eight, and perhaps...

HANDGUNS OF WWII PART 7

American fighting men anywhere in World War II could have been issued one of two basic .45 caliber pistols. The primary one was the Model 1911A1, and its...

Black Rain's Ion 9

Its sexy-looking, ventilated fore grip has Picatinny bases for front and rear sight mounting. It also has Picatinny bases on the fore grip’s left and...

Colt King Cobra .357

Last January Colt announced the new King Cobra, not their first revolver to bear the name, so a brief history is in order.

The .41 Magnum Story

When black powder drove patched balls, frontiersmen saved lead by reducing bore size. Rifles on the Ohio and the Cumberland had slender barrels, commonly...

Springfield Armory 911

Springfield Armory has been a significant player in the concealable handgun arena and the 911 is their first .380 — and smallest handgun — in the...

GLOCK’s G45 Modular...

It didn’t take long after making its debut at the 2019 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, for GLOCK’s new G45 Modular Optic System (MOS)...

Value Over the Years

You know something has value when you use it over and over again — over years of time. That's true of a few gun accessories I own, including a particular...

Why Not Pack A Pair?

I’ve always carried two flashlights, knives and two pistols — one on my side and the second in a pocket or ankle holster. For the past few months,...

The Fixer

A few years back I got a call from my good friend Jim Martin — a single-action sixgunsmith in Arizona. He’d called to tell me he had a .44 Special New...

Understudy Guns

My predecessor as Handgun Editor here at GUNS was Jan Stevenson, who the late George Nonte called the most articulate of gun writers. I think George was...

S&W SW1911SC E-Series

Some of us were carrying slim pistols before slim was cool. Before the S&W Shield, Springfield XD-S, G43 and SIG P365, there was the … dare I say it? The...

Magnums? No Thanks!

I’m not saying I never used magnum rifles. I’ve owned and hunted with such magnums as a 7mm Remington, .300 H&H, .300 Winchester and .308 Norma to name...

The Bisley Revolver

She was bred from rugged stock to fill the demand for a refined tool in a challenging contest. Her lines and curves were familiar to countless men and women...

Ruger Mark IV Competition...

I’ve not had a lot of experience with Ruger .22 pistols so I jumped at the chance to spend a little quality time with Ruger’s Mark IV Competition, built...

The Bull Is Back

The round, black bulls-eye target with tight scoring rings comes from traditional one-handed target shooting. It has long since fell into disfavor with...

Browning’s ComBloc...

Unless you’re hopelessly enamored of Germany’s P38, any list of WW2 service pistols would have Browning’s 1911A1 and Hi-Power as top contenders for...

A “Special” Love

Like so many shooters my age, I began handloading with the .38 Special in 1966. Throughout life I’ve been a “lister” — my made-up word for someone...

Behind the Shirts

I can't say what the best gun and holster for concealed carry is for you. It depends on a lot of factors. But I will offer you this:

Introducing The Newest...

Officially introduced at the recent NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, the latest entry in the Taurus Raging Hunter family is ready for action...

Voices From The Past: Part 2

Last month we looked at thoughts on semi-auto pistols made five generations ago or so. Now as we turn to double-action revolvers we need to set the stage....

Ruger SA Spruce-Up

We all have our favorite shooters — you know, the ones we keep handy and holstered, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. After years and thousands of...

Auto Ordnance 1911GCH

The email from GUNS editor Brent T. Wheat was short and to the point. “Tank, I’ve got an assignment for you. It’s kind of a rush job. Don’t let us...

Trijicon SRO (Specialized...

Spring has sprung and in addition to all the flowers and pollen, the firearms industry is seeing plenty of new products popping up at the National Rifle...

Well-Established Snubbies

Gun makers still make snubbies. That’s because people still buy snubbies. And people still buy snubbies because they have learned that snubbies do a lot...

Carry that J-Frame Inside...

While pocket carry has distinct advantages, it isn’t, of course, the only place to carry a J-frame. I’m going to argue that a J-frame carries just as...

Pocket Pistol Shootout!

I recently tested a Kel-Tec P-3AT .380 ACP (three-A-T, get it?) and was impressed with how far pocket pistols have come. I liked the pistol so much I got...

TangoDown Magazine...

Now here's a handy tool... TangoDown® Inc. announces the latest addition to the lineup – the TD Magazine Floorplate Removal Tool for GLOCK®...

Perfecting The GLOCK Grip

As Americans we like to modify things; it’s practically in our DNA.

Is 8 Enough?

Man has long been faced with difficult decisions. Is it hereditary or environment? Form or function? Ginger or Mary Ann? One we can mostly answer when it...

Voices From The Past

History has been a passion of mine ever since grade school days and I thank the excellent teachers who instilled this love within me.

Guns Of The Guides

Curled up in our favorite easy chair, perhaps sipping a distilled beverage, an outdoor show flickers on the flat screen featuring Alaska’s coastal brown...

Ideal Conceal IC380 Cell ...

On several occasions in recent memory, Americans have found themselves under fire from murderers while exercising their religious freedom.

Taurus Curve

Back in 2014 the Taurus Curve was introduced. At the time it was at the forefront of what could easily be described as a “New Wave” of .380 ACP pocket...

Fluted Ammo: Great Or Gimmik?

I first became acquainted with the new fluted bullet designs for defensive ammo in the latter part of 2015 with the introduction of ARX ammunition,

Springfield Armory XD(M) 10mm

If we ignore the constraints of the physical universe, what might be the particular attributes of the ideal defensive handgun?

The Ugly Truth

So there I was in one of my favorite gun shops, when something a couple of shelves down in the “used” showcase caught my eye. I did a double take and...

A Slicker Snubbie

After a lifetime of shooting medium and large-frame revolvers, developing a crush on S&W J-Frames late in life brings with it a steep learning curve. A...

Hunting Shack Cowboy Loads

HSM has a full lineup of Low Recoil loads normally known as Cowboy Action Shooting loads. However, they are not relegated to simply Cowboy Action...

Hold Tight To The Past

In any discipline we revere the old masters because we learned from them. “Old” does not equal “obsolete,” not for firearms and not for shooting...

Colt SAA Four For Four

In 2018 I managed to achieve a goal of mine: gathering at least one Colt SAA chambered for each of the cartridges for which the Second Generation of...

Powerful, Tough & Handy

To this day I am surprised by the number of gun enthusiasts who have not heard of BFR revolvers. Perhaps this is one of the best-kept secrets in revolver...

Past Masters of the...

Walter Roper’s books are still worth reading; Keith Brown replicates the Roper stocks. This S&W .357 Magnum from the 1930s is stocked with Roper grips.

A Bull of a Pup

It appears to be yet another 9mm sub-compact pistol, and this one is very nicely made. There’s a visible pivoting hammer at the rear, so it’s obviously...

Ready to Serve: The FN 509

FN’s 509, essentially an improvement over the FNS introduced about 3 years ago, joins the legion of polymer Parabellum pistols vying for the market...

Double-Action Dash

There was a time not too many years ago when it was possible to find small gun shops every few miles. There’s still one about 20 miles south of town and I...

A Generational Advance

There has been much discussion about the new Gen5 GLOCK 9mm pistols. They don’t derive from the military’s MHS (Modular Handgun System) testing.

Colt’s Greatest Generation?

As reintroduced, these brand new Peacemakers were exactly as they had been made in the last few years up to 1941.

2nd Chance Smith

Those who have followed my writings over the years will know I’m an auto-pistol person. So, they may be startled to learn my first handgun was an old...

The Final Touch

My growing collection of Old West guns from Cimarron have proven accurate and fun to shoot. Cimarron-imported arms have long been known for their higher...

Past Masters of the...

There is no doubt we are living in the age of the semi-automatic pistol. However, this was not always the case and during the last century, especially from...

A Commanding Commander

Without fear of repeating myself (which I never do), GUNS provided much inspiration and information especially in my formative shooting years. I was a...

Beer Or Champagne?

For 2017, my training year ended in mid-December with a third-level class requiring the lead instructor (me), to demonstrate a triple-speed pistol...

TX22 semi-auto pistol is...

Let’s go back maybe a half-century, maybe a bit more, to the time when I got to first-fire a .22-caliber semi-auto pistol — an original Ruger Standard...

Behind the Scenes at...

Editors tend to spend a fair amount of time at a desk, hovering over a keyboard, wrangling text, photos, and videos. But every now and again we get out to...

Can Women Outshoot Men?

We showed in 1955 the answer was yes — and it's still true today. Enjoy a fun look back at K.D. Curtis' article in the July 1955 issue of GUNS Magazine....

The Mauser C96

The old pistol mounted in the orange, felt-lined wooden box overhanging my grandfather's basement bar always fascinated me.

Apologies to Gaston Glock

Behold, my unfailing Glock 19. Carried for years, shot regularly, field stripped and detail stripped countless times, and hand stippled by yours truly —...

The NAA Ranger II

As I write this, in my pocket resides a tiny, solid-frame, 5-shot, spur-trigger revolver from North American Arms. It’s their updated version of an...

Faxon Firearms Pistol Barrels

A gun has become a standard when you can build one entirely from parts manufactured by someone other than the original manufacturer—for example, Ruger’s...

The .357 Magnum Part 2

In the 1950s when the sixgun was still supreme among peace officers, there were many who asked for a less expensive .357 Magnum. The 1954 result was the...

Smith’s “Special-K”...

In 1971 S&W introduced a stainless-steel version of their Model 19 .357 Magnum. Without rehashing the history of Bill Jordan’s K-Frame M19 dream gun, the...

Walther’s PPQQ4 TAC

The Walther PPQ Q4 TAC is a polymer-frame striker-fired combat handgun with literally all the bells and whistles. Sporting three interchangeable backstraps,...

Ruger Doubles Down

Two on two: OK. Here’s the deal: We turned two of our sneakiest shootists — Mike Humphries and Roy Huntington — loose on two new Ruger handguns. These...

The Magnificent Steyr M1912

When I think of the Steyr M1912, I think of comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s immortal line: “I don’t get no respect at all.” Here was a magnificent...

Past Masters of the DA...

There’s no doubt we’re living in the age of the semi-auto. This wasn’t always the case and during the last century, especially from the 1920s to the...

Power Couple

Bill Ruger’s self-taught mechanical mind was genius-level. Although he had an eye for the classics, his ability to know what people wanted before they...

The Good Old Days?

In 1968 pickings were slim for new handguns. In the “US Pistols And Revolvers 1967-68” section, Jay Charles and the Gun Digest technical staff wrote,...

Volquartsen’s .22 WMR...

When you can uncrate a new handgun, drive to the range and place the first five Federal Premium 30-gr. Sierra loads into 0.41" at 25 yards, you just might...

Optical Delusions

Somewhere between target and brain are your eyes and front sight. It’s pretty straightforward but sometimes along this line, things get misinterpreted...

The Buddy System: Sixgun Style

Mom was dying of cancer and I’d recently learned how to log on the Internet. After discovering “gun forums” I kept returning to one in particular....

Skeeter-ize Your Smith

Skeeter Skelton was born in 1928, served in the Marine Corps and joined the Amarillo Police Department in 1949. In 1951 he joined the Border Patrol and...

Two Top 10s

It took a while. But patience has been rewarded and the 10mm is now alive and well. Two of the latest offerings in this excellent chambering come from...

S&W's Model 340 PD

“Well,” said my shooting buddy Thomas Mackie, massaging his right hand with only a slight grimace, “now I can say I’ve done it….”

Dear John ...

Hey, John Taffin! I’m about to eat some crow here so I want you to pay attention. Some years back you got a mite upset at an article I wrote saying the...

Why the Flex is Best

Tim Smith, editor of Airgun Hobbyist, was devoting a whole issue to safety and asked me why I teach a flexed trigger finger position up on the frame at low...

An Influential Smith &...

During the day-to-day grind of content production for our magazines and websites, I like to keep an eye on the daily press releases we receive to stay on...

You’re a Mean One, Mr....

You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Fliiiinch...!” Dr. Seuss nails it with this Christmas favorite when describing the...

Ruger's Perfect Packin' .357

Built just like, yup … a tank, the Ruger GP100 .357 Magnum has made a lot of friends over the decades.

A Flash Course In Physics

In 1686 Sir Isaac Newton published his Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis, a seminal treatise on physics that included his three laws of motion.

S&W M&P .380 Shield EZ

If you have trouble working today’s semi autos, look no further than the S&W M&P P380 Shield EZ 2.0. The key thing to look at is the “EZ” — because...

The Case For Big Butts

On January 22, 2018, GLOCK released its newest pistol to the public — the 19X. It’s essentially the company’s entry into the recent competition for...

Springfield Armory’s...

Well, Saint’s galore! Springfield Armory recently announced what it calls “a new tier” in the SAINT family: The Victor series of rifles and pistols...

What I Carry: Glock 19 Gen5

For this writer, “personal primary carry gun” is a fungible thing. I’m constantly testing firearms, mostly defensive ones, so how they carry is a test...

Colt’s King Cobra DA...

At the recent SHOT Show in Las Vegas, a fair amount of attention from revolver aficionados was focused on the Colt exhibit because another snake is back in...

Behind the Scenes: How I...

Easily one of the top five questions I get asked as an online editor for FMG Publications is something along the lines of, "So, what are you carrying...

What I Carry (And How And Why)

Regular readers of GUNS know my first concealed carry sixgun in 1956 was a then-brand new 2nd Generation 7-1/2" Colt Single Action .45. It was chosen very...

Go For The Glow: New DXT2...

I’m a big fan of tritium night sights because they work, as I’ve personally experienced on a few occasions over the year. I prefer them to a gun-mounted...

Payton's Daily Carry

Mine started off life as a dead-stock, pinned-barrel S&W Model 49 Bodyguard .38 Special. I like J-Frames, so it was an easy choice. I got the gun new back...

Handguns In Africa

The early morning mist evaporated quickly as the sun beat down on the Zambezi River. As we launched the boat, two women were washing their clothes in the...

The Single-Six

After I got the Marlin 39A Mountie I talked about last month, I soon wanted to add an appropriated companion piece — a really good .22 sixgun. A young...

Lipsey’s Lightweight...

In 2014 Lipsey’s released the all-stainless steel, Ruger-made Single-Seven revolver. Chambered in the mightiest .32 caliber round — the powerful .327...

Brownells Reduced Power...

If you have a fetish for DA revolver shooting, you’ll eventually run across an “out-of-print, price-is-right” Smith you simply can’t live without.

SIG M17 9mm

Countless rounds fired … untold man-eons of Research and Development … the inevitable, relentless post-competition acrimony. After a long, twisting...

The .357 Magnum: Part 1

Since the .357 Magnum arrived in 1935 — heralded as the most powerful sixgun in the world — it has been followed by plenty of other hard-hitting cartridges.

Gabe White Pistol ...

When Gabe White first trained with me in the early 2000s, he was already well along the way to mastering the handgun. Gathering much training in a broad...

HandALL Beavertail Grip...

I’ve always had high regard for Hogue grips, with their trademark “Cobblestone” textured surface that helps prevent slippage in wet weather or when...

Cops ’n Revolvers

Significant dates are forever etched in our brains. September 23, 1985 is one of mine. On this day I entered Maryland’s Montgomery County Police Academy...

Aegis Elite Pro 9mm Vortex...

The ageless 1911 marches on, even managing to stay on top of newly emerging trends as it goes. Case in point: The Kimber Aegis Elite Pro, coming direct from...

GP100 .44 Special

There’s no doubt today’s revolvers are stronger, made of better steels with closer tolerances, and almost always shoot better than those from the...

Safe Holstering

When I started teaching cops in 1972, they weren’t actually bad at quick draw. But Lord! Some of them looked like Barney Fife when they went to re-holster.

SIG SAUER’s New MPX...

Nowadays it seems everybody on the map is cranking out some sort of semiautomatic modern sporting rifle in .223 Remington/5.56mm NATO. So when SIG SAUER...

Three For The Defense

What happens when a Ruger American, Ruger 9E, and Ruger LC9s all land in our home at the same time? A gentlemanly family feud, of course.

GLOCK Announces New...

It’s a new year, which calls for a new handgun or two, and the engineers and designers at GLOCK have come up with a pair of 9mm sidearms sure to capture...

Federal HST Micro 38...

Okay, the .38 Special may no longer be the dominant law enforcement sidearm it was back in the days when Colt and S&W were locked in mortal combat for the...

Dan Wesson ECP

Dan Wesson continues a history of innovation with the 1911 and their latest offering — the 9mm Enhanced Commander Pistol — is no exception.

Remington RM380 Executive:...

Handguns are accepted as a compromise in terms of lethality traded for portability compared to rifles or shotguns. Remington’s latest introduction in the...

Backyard Battlefields

Homo sapiens is an intrinsically predatory species. It’s tucked someplace within our DNA. One need only survey male kindergarteners on a playground to...

High-Tech Airgun Training

“You can train at home with airguns” is one of those pithy comments passed along like the eggplant soufflé at a family reunion dinner but it’s true.

LONE STAR SUMMIT

I’m writing this shortly after returning from the Texas Firearms Law Seminar hosted annually by the State Bar of Texas. It’s a CLE (Continuing Legal...

XS Sights Introduces New...

XS® Sights is pleased to introduce the new DXT2™ Big Dot® Night Sights for exceptional front sight visibility in all lighting conditions. Available in...

Springfield Armory RO...

Forget what you may have heard about the M1911 being an anachronism that should be retired to a museum. When the chips are down and the pros need a...

One Wicked Wheelgun

The first time was more than frightening. I was standing behind a badge and pointing a gun at another human. The only comfort I could find was in the 40 oz....

60 Years of Concealed...

As I mentioned last month, when I was teaching I felt protecting my students was much more important than any regulations. Of course, I had to be able to...

Searching for a Purpose

We all have our reasons for buying guns. Sometimes our biggest hurdle is convincing ourselves why we need it. I’ve debated myself so often I consider...

High-Volume Help

A group of friends and I once ran 10,000 rounds through a single Battle Rifle Company AR in eight hours. We pushed ten 30-round magazines through the gun,...

Remington RM380 Executive

Remington introduces Model RM380 Executive, an all-metal, micro pistol designed for concealed carry.

Make Mine A 1911

In 1911 the airplane was less than 10 years old, Henry Ford was making cars and Chevrolet had tooled-up to compete with him — but when is the last time...

FN 509 Tactical

In the beginning there was the 1911 and the P-08 Luger. These two iconic combat pistols represented Good versus Evil through two World Wars.

Stevens Single-Shot Pistols

There is an elegance to the single-shot pistol not reflected in revolvers or semi-autos. They’re sleek, simple in action, easy to tune and nicely balanced.

Viable In A Square World?

Amidst a tsunami of polymer-framed autoloading pistols we’re seeing a groundswell of renewed interest in double-action revolvers. Some of the most popular...

Smith & Wesson Adds .45...

When it comes to fight-stopping muscle in a concealable handgun, it’s my humble opinion the .45 ACP is top dog. Put it in a full-size semi-auto sidearm,...

5 Tips To Better Shooting

How to shoot accurately is simple to explain. In reality there are only two things necessary: (1) Stabilize the muzzle in the proper perspective to the...

Make Mine A .45 Colt …

Picking your favorite handgun is a tough proposition. Narrowing down to a favorite caliber can be almost as frustrating for some folks.

SIG AIR M17 ASP Air Pistol...

Training with an air pistol — one that is an exact duplicate of the “real” gun carried — has the advantage of being less expensive and less dangerous.

The Silent Legion Direct...

I finally found it. After a lifetime of searching I’ve stumbled upon a sound suppressor that’s as effective as the fake ones they use in the movies. The...

Ruger’s Stainless...

About 66 years ago, Bill Ruger took a serious look at how popular Western movies and TV shows were. Then he realized the fact there were no single-action...

Dovetail DIY

It’s alarming to see some of the home-brewed “gunsmithing techniques” we come across on the Internet and various social media channels. Many might...

At Home On The Range

The most fun I’ve had shooting lately has been working with and shooting older surplus military handguns. These “issue” pistols usually have tiny...

Dominant Players

In the June 1968 GUNS, the legendary Col. Charles Askins Jr. wrote an article predicting the future of firearms development in America. Noting a generation...

Big Gun, Little Gun

In 1955, Smith & Wesson introduced the .357 Combat Magnum which would become the Model 19 two years later when the company went to a model-numbering system....

Three Nines to Beat

As basically a .38 Special/.45 ACP guy when it comes to handguns, I’ve always looked on with a bit of fascination — perhaps mixed with primitive metric...

Slugging It Out

What does a fellow do to alleviate boredom when it’s 20-below outside and you’re recovering from a full knee replacement? This was my question when the...

60 Years Of Concealed Carry

I didn’t have to try to decide whether or not a single action was suitable for defense; it was simply all I had to choose from. My choices in that first...

Custom Compromise

Enter Hamilton Bowen, the custom revolver maker who was one of the early ’smiths building the big Linebaughs in the days when you couldn’t just buy one...

The Wraith 10mm

Webster defines manliness as “the traditional male quality of being brave and strong.” Proper manliness carries along with it an implicit ruggedness.

Ruger Observes 10th...

When Ruger first introduced the pocket-sized LCP (Lightweight Compact Pistol) a decade ago, it got a lot of attention from law enforcement and armed...

Cops n’ Revolvers II

After telling you about my police academy introduction to revolver shooting back in the September issue, I’m going to tell you what our thoughts were...

Quiet Zone

The CZ P-10C is the latest iteration of a long line of superlative Czech combat handguns hearkening back decades. Featuring state-of-the-art materials science,

Pin Busters

Old gunnies remember — and younger shooters have heard the stories — of the Second Chance Shoot that ran from the mid-1970s to 1998. It was resurrected...

Parts for Peacemakers

With my renewed fascination (more like obsession) with the Colt Single Action Army came a renewal of a friendship developed over 20 years ago with Eddie...

Hodgdon’s Clays And Your .45

The .45 Colt arrived in 1873 and for the next 60-plus years it was the most powerful factory loaded cartridge available. The original load consisting of...

SIG’s C02 1911

I live in rural Mississippi and can shoot off my back porch whenever I want (something for which I’m thankful daily). However, if you reside in a city or...

A Sixpack Of .22s

There are millions among us who still love revolvers. But buying centerfire ammo can take a significant chunk out of the family budget. Reloading helps, but...

Springfield’s New XD(M)...

When the rage broke out over striker-fired, polymer-framed pistols several years ago, I recall one of the main complaints about many of those guns was they...

SIG NEW-NICHE 9

The goal was to create a pistol the size of a 7- or 8-shot super-slim pocket 9mm. Something in the S&W Shield, GLOCK 43 or Ruger LC9 category — but with...

Apex Tactical Specialties...

Apex Tactical Specialties is now offering a 9mm threaded replacement barrel for the Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 compact pistol: The company promises it is a...

Big Bore For Big Boars

At the risk of enraging millions of American deer hunters, I will boldly state my favorite big-game quarry is wild boar. Without debating all the...

The Five-Yard Roundup

For 20 years now, master trainer Tom Givens has run his value-packed Rangemaster Tactical Conference. In tandem he offers the Polite Society defensive...

S&W .22 Victory Target Model

Every new shooter, whether using rifle, sixgun, or semi-auto pistol should start with a .22. The reasons are obvious and all of them promote practice —...

Germany's Great Pistole...

“Epiphany,” according to Mr. Webster, refers to the moment when a previously mundane item or event takes on a new and unexpected significance. It was an...

Pushing The Precision Envelope

It was a freezing cold December morning as I sat in a deer blind wondering if I’d lost my mind. With temperatures below zero, I wasn’t having much fun....

Pachmayr Pair

When I was younger I spent many a happy hour at Pachmayr Gun Works on South Grand in Los Angeles. It’s a long-gone memory, but Pachmayr is still a revered...

When Less Is More

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts,...

Airsoft — The Ultimate...

The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the rise of airguns in the role of firearm trainers. At the forefront of this training wave are...

Why Airguns? Power!...

You know it’s gonna be a great day when the ring of freedom sounds an awful lot like your front doorbell. The other day when mine rang, I answered the...

New From FN: 509 Tactical...

When it comes to firepower, the new FN 509 Tactical produces. Here’s a striker-fired semi-auto that cannot be described as “just another 9mm.” One...

Packrat Confessions

The technical appellation is Neotoma lepida. The debris piles they construct are called middens. Some can be the size of an institutional refrigerator and...

.38 Long Colt

Without a doubt the most denigrated American military handgun cartridge ever is the .38 Colt (aka .38 Long Colt). It is said to have been the cause of death...

A Return To Single Life

Okay, full disclosure: I didn’t grow up shooting Colt Single-Action Army models of any generation. By the time I was old enough to thumb-crank a hammer...

Glocked-In Solid

Okay. I admit to being a hidebound dinosaur, especially when it comes to handguns (and pickup trucks). I prefer those with a real soul, which mainly equates...

Smith & Wesson N Frames

Growing up in Mingo County, W. Va., along the border with Kentucky, my early exposure to double-action revolvers was considerable. That area was the site of...

All In The Family

I don’t know a lot of folks still driving their ancestors’ Model A Fords. But I’ve met lots of folks who still own and use the guns of their...

.38 Wadcutters

Just this past week a young woman who already carries concealed asked me to recommend a CCW revolver. Up to this time she’d been packing a small semi-auto...

Rock River’s New RRAGE...

Let’s get this up front: the semi-automatic modern sporting rifle (MSR) is easily the most popular rifle platform in the United States today, and one...

Check Out Mossberg’s...

Mossberg has taken another step forward in the evolution of the Shockwave pump-action firearm with the introduction of the 12-ga. 590M Shockwave, which...

Good Guns Gone

One of the most difficult things about getting older is losing old friends. Only a very small percentage of my high school graduating class still survives;...

If You Like The 1911, You...

For years, I didn’t care for the Model 1911 pistol for a combination of reasons. The specimens I had a chance to fire as a much younger fellow weren’t...

If Guns Could Talk…

We’ve all come across a particularly interesting classic gun we wished could talk. But sometimes they do talk — at least a little.

Ruger’s Officer-Style...

The guys at Ruger make me crazy — it’s probably not that difficult — because it seems every time I turn around, they’ve lifted the cover on another...

Here’s A Keeper: FN 509...

When the National Rifle Association (NRA) met earlier this month for its annual meeting in Dallas, the timing for FN could not have been better. Days...

Kahr's Black Carbon Beauties

From its beginnings in the late 1980s, Kahr Arms has been a dynamic innovator in the realm of concealable handguns. The compact, finely engineered models...

Compact Carry Option:...

Chambered for the potent 9mm cartridge, which has gone through a serious phase of evolution over the past two decades thanks to advances in propellants and...

Pop-Down “Pinky Perch”

A couple of issues ago, I made this somewhat embarrassing observation about concealed-carry J-Frame grips: “If maximum concealment’s your goal, a...

SIG’s New P210 Target...

I shot the new SIG SAUER’s 9mm P210 Target model, and in my all-too-short visit, I managed to get a very favorable impression of this slick semi-auto.

Keep It Simple

My attitude about fixed sight handguns being good choices came shortly after becoming a Montana resident. Often I drove my pickup or an old ’51 jeep off...

Hammer Time!

One of the Big Things at the 2017 NRA Show in Atlanta was Springfield Armory’s new polymer-frame XD-E, the company’s first double-action semi-automatic...

Past Masters Of The...

During the last century, especially from the 1920s to the 1970s, the double-action sixgun was definitely the King. There were many men who raised the use of...

.22 Caliber Cross-Training

When the Summer Olympics took place in Rio de Janeiro the entire world focused on the myriad of sporting events on display. One of the techniques many of...

“Reasonable” Handgun...

I am Uncle Mas, and I am one of you, so don’t try to fool me. You know there’s at least one handgun you’ve bought, or maybe just really, really wanted...

A Cool Twenty-Twofer

The revolver vs. auto argument is as old as dirt. Well, older maybe. No, older most definitely. So why revisit it you may ask? Well, OK. Here’s my excuse,...

Accurate Versatile Reliable

The HK VP9 is a full-size pistol in 15-shot 9mm and .40 S&W (called the VP40, capacity is 13). Ours is basic black, but other versions have frames in grey,...

No Limits

It always warms my shooting spirit to see things turn out the way they are supposed to. The good news is the 10mm has seen a real rejuvenation of interest...

S&W Performance Center...

I think the first time I saw a Smith & Wesson Model 686 “Plus”—because the cylinder holds 7 rounds instead of just 6—was on a gun range near my home...

Doomsday Defense

There isn’t any real reason why anybody would need to pack a .300 AAC AR pocket howitzer in a shoulder rig for personal protection. However, you also...

Fickle On Favorites

Upon learning I have spent my entire life with firearms starting with my first .22 rifle at about age 8, people often ask interesting questions. Interesting...

A Shotgun In Your Holster

Well, not quite, but handgun shotshells have come a long way and have greatly expanded the utility of that handgun on your hip. I’m sure creative...

Grasping A Concept

The interface between operator and machine is critical, as you know if you’ve ever sat behind the controls of a vehicle whose seat was set for someone...

Snake Snubbie

It is said St. Patrick ran all the snakes out of Ireland. However, he has nothing on whoever removed the “sixgun snakes” from the Colt stable.

On Guard Always!

Our editorial director Roy Huntington first called my attention to the Honor Guard pistol at the 2016 SHOT Show and introduced me to the guy responsible for...

The “Harlem Hellfighters”

Outpost 20, May 14, 1918, 2 a.m. Pvt. Henry Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts were manning the forward observation post in the Argonne Forest in the...

SIG’s Service Stand-In

My first “pistol” was an air-powered .177 Benjamin smoothbore with a wooden “Tootsie Roll” pump handle and a grayish plastic set of grip panels. It...

Pachmayr Expands G10...

Being the proud and delighted owner of a Ruger Mark IV pistol, introduced in 2016, it was with no small amount of interest I immediately read about...

Pyrite Pyrotechnics

The well-dressed gentleman is wending his way home late at night, or rather, early morning. He has spent an enjoyable evening; good food and drink, success...

The Home-Carry Handgun

These days, burglars seem to be less concerned about breaking into an occupied dwelling than they did in the past. Doesn’t sound very smart, does it? With...

Hot Concealment Trends

Concealed carry trends change over the years. Back in the 19th century it was common for men to stuff a small pistol into a boot top. Fortunately, such a...

Harpers Ferry Armory Snubbies

There are several manufacturers offering 2-inch .38 Special snubbies or belly guns—whatever we wish to call them. With nearly every state now providing...

3rd Gen 2nd Thoughts

A bad reputation is a tough thing to overcome, and the 3rd Generation of Colt Single Action Army production quickly gained one upon reintroduction in 1976....

A Single Action For The Ages

Several decades ago I came up with the idea of a Perfect Packin’ Pistol. The joy of a PPP is not in the actual finding of such an elusive creature but in...

Exclusive: A 14" 12 Gauge...

The National Firearms Act (1934) restricts an individual’s ability to own full-auto firearms, and rifles and shotguns with short barrels. The law did...

Comfort & Concealment

Let’s face it, carrying a concealed handgun can be inconvenient. Maybe it requires one more garment than you want on a hot day.

It's An X-Ring Christmas

Christmas comes but once a year they say. But if you do it right, once a year is more than enough. To use an overworked, semi-obnoxious piece of...

Truly Tiny Handguns

It’s embarrassing to admit, but my first concealed carry pistol back when dinosaurs roamed the plains was an FIE Titan in .25 ACP. We had no money and my...

Having Fun With The .41

Like most things in my life, I’m usually late to the party. Take the .41 Magnum for example. I’ve just recently jumped on board and become a convert.

A Death In El Paso

John Wesley Hardin was a villain of the first water. Born n