August 2010

Short 45 ACPs from Sig Sauer, Kimber, and Springfield Armory
Some of us who know that there’s no substitution for bullet mass when it comes to stopping power prefer the 45 Auto for self defense. But no one likes to pack a heavy handgun, so most makers offer some solutions to that problem in the form of lighter-weight 1911s. These generally utilize aluminum frames, with shorter grips and slides. Any 45 Auto requires good management by the shooter, so these lighter and shorter-grip guns are not for everyone. One of the better 45 compromises is the use of a full-size aluminum grip frame combined with a short slide. Colt calls this setup the Lightweight Commander. In this test comparison one of the guns had a configuration that was similar to Colt’s LW Commander, but lacked a barrel bushing. The shorter 'Officer’s Model' grip, to use another old Colt name, is undoubtedly easier to conceal, and two of the guns in this test use that setup.

9mm Compact Pistols: Ruger, Springfield, CZ USA, and Glock
Recently, we received a letter urging us to test more deep-concealment guns, claiming that they are the most popular gun of the day. Checking with one of the larger distributors (www.camfour.com), confirmed that it is the subcompact and micro guns that are currently driving the market. In this test we’re not going to evaluate pocket guns, but we are going to shoot four compact pistols that in are just one step larger than the smallest model available from each manufacturer. The first test gun we chose was the $697 XDM 3.8 from Springfield Armory. Since the first XD pistol to hit our shores from Croatia was the Four-inch Service Model, we were tempted to refer to the XDM 3.8 as belonging to a 'sub-service' category.

Economy Pump 12 Gauges: Maverick 88 Vs. H&R Pardner
The pump action is a very popular shotgun type, mainly for its ease of operation and its ruggedness. While a self-loader may be a bit faster in trained hands, the point is debatable. Expensive autoloaders are reliable, but in the end a dirty or well-used pump is always more reliable than a dirty autoloader. We recently tested two affordable pumps—the Mossberg Maverick is a cut-down version of the Mossberg 500, and the H&R Pardner is a basic copy of the Remington 870 design beneath the humpback receiver. Our raters are familiar with the Mossberg 500 shotgun and the Remington 870, but we had to cast aside any preconceived notions of the base platforms because the Maverick and Pardner we were testing were completely different from their stablemates. They were made to sell and to offer reasonable performance. The shotguns tested had similar features, and there was little to recommend one over the other as far as the specification sheet went—even the length of pull and drop are similar. But once the shooting began, we began to form opinions on each shotgun.

Personal Defense 45 Colt Loads: Some Are Sedate, Others Sizzle
When we speak of big-bore handguns and the calibers that begin with a ‘4,’ the 45 Colt cartridge is among the most respected. (Sometimes the 45 Colt is called the 45 Long Colt, we won’t rehash that one here.) The 45 Colt in its original loading was introduced in 1873. This hoary old cartridge is the oldest centerfire handgun cartridge still in common use. The 45 Colt was designed as a martial cartridge. While we usually view handguns as short-range personal defense tools, the 45 Colt cartridge was often used at longer range in fighting aboriginal opponents. The cartridge was reputed to be capable of taking down an Indian war pony at 100 yards. The 45 Colt cartridge earned its reputation as a defense cartridge the hard way—not through opinion, but through front-line use. Aside from the Army and Marine Corps, the Texas Rangers, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the New York State Patrol were just a few users of the 45 Colt cartridge.