Handguns

Due to reader requests, we’ve begun posting top-ten listings of various firearm categories that garner a lot of interest, such as 380 pistols for carry or other self defense. You can find all of those ranked articles on Gun-Tests.com by searching for the keyword “listicle.” A few months ago, we posted one of those best 380 ACP pistols lists, and we were informed by a reader and experienced shooter that his new Rock Island Armory Baby Rock did not live up to the promise of the pistol we tested nine years ago. Our pistol was delivered with a nice, crisp 4.5-pound trigger compression. That’s similar to one of the South Carolina test team’s Baby Rock, which has been in service for quite a few years as a backup to his 1911. That particular pistol features a trigger action breaking at 5.1 pounds. The reader measured the trigger action of his current production Baby Rock at more than 10 pounds. We corresponded with another reader who reported a 13.2-pound let off, and a third managed a 9.4-pound let off after considerable use and lubrication. Were these typical of current production? It would seem so, because the first reader contacted Armscor, intending to send the pistol in for adjustment. The company informed the reader that his Baby Rock was indeed in spec because there have been safety upgrades to the Baby Rock we tested and liked, and those safety enhancements included a heavier trigger. This gave us pause. What could have changed in the nine years since we tested the Baby Rock 380?

Some members of the Houston test group are involved in teaching the Texas License To Carry class. The instruction includes a great deal of information about requirements for carry in Texas and the law regarding usage of those firearms. We also get asked about the best guns for carry. We tell them 1) the gun has to go bang, 2) it has to hit what they point it at, and 3) it needs to be sufficiently powerful. We normally recommend a minimum of 380 ACP. We also strongly suggest carrying a defensive firearm larger than a mouse gun, which tends to be easy to carry but is often difficult to shoot and has limited ammo capacity. Because we’ve never heard anyone who survived a gunfight say that they wish they had had a smaller gun or fewer cartridges, we normally suggest that they select the biggest gun they can, and will, carry. 

Some members of the Houston test group are involved in teaching the Texas License To Carry class. The instruction includes a great deal of information about requirements for carry in Texas and the law regarding usage of those firearms. We also get asked about the best guns for carry. We tell them 1) the gun has to go bang, 2) it has to hit what they point it at, and 3) it needs to be sufficiently powerful. We normally recommend a minimum of 380 ACP. We also strongly suggest carrying a defensive firearm larger than a mouse gun, which tends to be easy to carry but is often difficult to shoot and has limited ammo capacity. Because we’ve never heard anyone who survived a gunfight say that they wish they had had a smaller gun or fewer cartridges, we normally suggest that they select the biggest gun they can, and will, carry. 

Some members of the Houston test group are involved in teaching the Texas License To Carry class. The instruction includes a great deal of information about requirements for carry in Texas and the law regarding usage of those firearms. We also get asked about the best guns for carry. We tell them 1) the gun has to go bang, 2) it has to hit what they point it at, and 3) it needs to be sufficiently powerful. We normally recommend a minimum of 380 ACP. We also strongly suggest carrying a defensive firearm larger than a mouse gun, which tends to be easy to carry but is often difficult to shoot and has limited ammo capacity. Because we’ve never heard anyone who survived a gunfight say that they wish they had had a smaller gun or fewer cartridges, we normally suggest that they select the biggest gun they can, and will, carry. 

When the FBI carried 357 Magnum revolvers between 1981 and 1991, the standard issue was a S&W Model 13 with a medium-sized round-grip K-frame and a 3-inch barrel. Consider the Model 13 a benchmark for a concealed-carry 357 Magnum revolver. It offers better shootability than a smaller-frame revolver with a smaller grip, yet doesn’t feel like a brick on your hip when you carry it.