February 2009

Three Small 45 Autos: The New Sig Sauer 1911 C3 Is Superior
An the opinion of many experienced shooters, the 45 Auto is the caliber of choice in self-defensive pistols. However, most of these guns, like the classic 1911 Colt, are big and heavy. Therefore, they often get left behind for a lighter piece, which generally is of lower power. If you still want the power of a 45, why not go to a smaller and lighter gun? We found three such pistols for this test, and gave them a wring-out. They were a Colt CCO, no longer in the Colt stable but available on the used or new-old-service market for about $1250, depending on condition; the recently introduced Sig Sauer 1911 C3 No. 19GS0031, $1143; and a new PM45-series pistol from Kahr, the PM4543, $855. The Kahr was not quite the same setup but clearly had the same intent as the other two, to deliver big power in a smaller, lighter package. Both the Sig and Colt had aluminum frames, and they featured the old Colt Officer’s Model handle with the Commander-length slide. Most of our test group believes this is the ideal setup for a 1911-type 45 auto, but those with large, wide hands might prefer a gun like the lightweight Commander, which has a bigger grip. The Kahr had its usual ergonomically designed polymer grip with stainless slide, and of course was DAO. We tested with three types of ammunition, Federal 185-grain Hi-Shok JHP, Federal 230-grain ball, and with Cor-Bon 185-grain JHP. We also tried a few groups with Federal Gold-Medal Match, 185-grain TC bullets. Here’s what we found.

Turkey 12s: Browning BPS Pump Vs. Remington's 11-87 Auto
Turkey hunting in most areas of the country is a sport that is heavy on stalking, concealment and calling to bring the big toms into effective scattergun range. All of that work can be for nothing if the shooting tool brought into play does not produce a killing pattern with the first shot or cannot provide a rapid, effective follow-up shot. Testing a semiautomatic against a pump-action provided us with an interesting opportunity to see if there was a difference in ability to take a quick follow-up shot on a wounded turkey. In our timed tests with two targets attempted with two quick shots, we found there was virtually no difference in the follow-up shooting sequence. However, as noted in the individual reviews of each shotgun, we did find a difference in patterning performance. As preliminary requirements for our turkey gun test, both shotguns had to be decked out in camouflage; both had to handle 3-inch shells; and both barrels had to accept screw-in chokes—a handy accessory for helping produce the best killing shot at normal turkey-hunting ranges. We found a good match on the used gun rack at Dury’s Gun Shop in San Antonio, www.durysguns.com, with an older model Remington 11-87 semiautomatic and a fairly new version of the Browning BPS pump-action. Both shotguns also featured 26-inch barrels, which seem to be favored by turkey hunters who, in some situations, have to deal with close-quarter shooting conditions.

Three Small 9mm Pistols Redux: Sig Sauer, S&W, and Ruger
This month we take a look at three combat pistols that have graced our pages previously, to see if they improved from our previous evaluations. Since last reviewed in December 2007, the Ruger SR9 ($525) was subject to a massive safety recall. Despite its double-action design, the gun could go off when dropped, if the manual safety was not engaged. As a result, Ruger redesigned the entire trigger group. The most visible change was a twin-blade trigger, rather than its original single-blade design. The recall process was far from smooth, and was chronicled on our sister website, www.gunreports.com. We recently looked at the Sig Sauer P250 in the two-tone option back in April 2008. This time we had the Black Nitron No. 2509005 version ($699). Both models recently received a trigger-bar upgrade, said to increase its lifespan from 20,000 to more than 50,000 rounds. The last gun in our trio was the Smith & Wesson M&P Compact 9mm No. 209304, $656. A gun in this series posted a poor grade back in April 2007 when it failed to feed the last round from the magazine, locking open in the process. Other M&Ps had fared well in other tests, so we wanted to look at the Compact once more in hopes Smith & Wesson had fixed what ailed the gun. In the process of the doing the reviews, we found another test could be performed: both Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson had initial problems requiring factory attention. As a result we could now rate their responsiveness to resolve each gun’s problems.

Toss-Up: 22 WMR Bolt Rifles from CZ, Ruger, and Browning
Shortly before the Christmas holiday, members of our staff were contemplating a return to North Dakota for a prairie dog hunt. One of our concerns, however, was the cost of ammunition. The last time we traveled to the Bismarck-Mandan area, (discoverbismarckmandan.com), game was so plentiful we expended a huge amount of ammunition. Our .204 Ruger bolt-action rifles proved to be an excellent choice, but if we were going to make the trip again, we had to find a way to cut costs. We considered a change to rimfire rifles. Our first impulse was to load up on 17 HMR ammunition. But after checking prices and availability, we decided on a more traditional round that was cheaper and easier to find, 22 Winchester Magnum Rifle, or 22 WMR. It’s been a long time since we tested varmint rifles chambered for 22 WMR, so we rounded up a representative trio. The three rifles we chose were the $729 Browning T-Bolt Target/Varmint No. 025176204, the $527 CZ 452 Varmint No. 02041, and the $812 Ruger K77/22-VMBZ Target Grey Magnum Varmint Rifle. Each rifle offered at least one substantive feature that distinguished it from the others. Our tests would determine if one gun was superior to the others or simply more suitable for one individual or another. Our ammunition costs ran from $8.99 per 50-round box of Winchester 40-grain JHP from Walmart to $11.95 per 50 rounds of 50-grain Federal Game-Shok hollowpoints purchased at our test site, American Shooting Centers in Houston. The Winchester rounds were tipped with exposed lead, and we think they probably should be listed as semi-jacketed hollow points. We also shot some $9.99 CCI 40-grain Maxi-Mag JHP rounds that we found at Academy Sports and Outdoors. We could have purchased more exotic rounds, but we decided to stay within a price range that was more typical of readily available 22 WMR ammunition.