Handguns

The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed poised to require state and local governments to obey the Second Amendment guarantee of a personal right to a gun, but with perhaps considerable authority to regulate that right.

An item on BUSINESS WIRE was laughable if you favor civil rights for gunowners:The release was from the so-called Legal Community Against Violence, publicizing an event entitled, McDonald v. Chicago: Stakeholders to Discuss Upcoming Supreme Court Handgun Case. Notable for their absence, of course, was any pro-2nd Amendment balance, including the person with the most direct stake, Otis McDonald himself.

The Ruger GP100s grips were black rubber without grooves, but the sides had decorative inserts of brown wood-like material (which some actually found attractive) that give the gun a distinctive look. The grips felt just great in both aimed single-action fire and in rapid-fire double action. Recoil was spread over a large area of the hand and that made for good shooting comfort, even with the heaviest loads.

The controls all functioned well and positively, and we found this to be a pleasant gun to handle and shoot. The trigger was well curved and smooth, and the double-action cycling was just slightly heavier than that of the Smith & Wesson. Trigger movement was even and smooth enough to permit good accuracy when shooting it slowly in the double-action mode.

It could be said that the Browning 1911 pistol has evolved more than any other design. The operating principal remains the same, but alternate configurations have been applied to nearly every facet of its execution. In fact, it is now commonplace to buy over the counter what not long ago would have been considered a full-blown custom pistol. We all know about beveled magazine wells, frame checkering, undercutting the trigger guard for a higher grip, high-arch memory groove grip safeties, extended magazine releases, aluminum triggers adjustable for overtravel, light rails on the dust cover, extended and/or ambidextrous safeties, checkered slide stops, skeletonized hammers, titanium firing pins, front and rear serrations on the slide, weight reducing slide cuts, lowered and flared ejection ports, full length guide rods, bull barrels, multi-spring recoil systems, external extractors, spring-loaded internal extractors, ramped barrels, adjustable sights for target, adjustable low-mount sights for carry, light-gathering-filament sights, or self-illuminating modules for front and rear sights.

In this test we will evaluate three full-size 1911-style pistols that include several of the above-mentioned features. A few years ago we would have called them factory customs, but that term is obsolete. The most distinguishing characteristic of our trio was that all were chambered for 9X19 shells, aka 9mm Parabellum or simply 9mm. They are the $1299 STI Duty One, Springfield Armory's $1277 Loaded Full Size Stainless Steel 9X19 No. PX9130LP, and the $1277 Kimber Custom Aegis II. All three guns shipped with and fed from identical 9-round MetalForm-brand single-stack magazines. Otherwise, there were significant differences between the pistols. Each gun represented a different viewpoint of what a 9mm 1911 should be. As a result, each gun had a slightly different personality, which we took into account in our grading.

The holiday season was upon us and the radio was playing old favorites like "Baby It's Cold Outside." So we accepted an offer from Houston's Top Gun Training Center to conduct our test indoors. The range was under renovation, so while the ActionTarget.com folks were working their magic on one shooting bay, we set up targets at the other end of the building. Test distance was 15 yards and Black Hills ammunition was used exclusively in our tests. For break in we opened a case of 124-grain FMJ ammunition packed in blue boxes (remanufactured). Both our 115-grain FMJ and 124-grain JHP rounds were new manufacture (packaged in red boxes). We brought in a portable shooting bench and went to work firing five-shot groups. Here is what we learned.

The .40 S&W is the leading round chosen by today’s local and federal law-enforcement professionals. Compact .40s (3.5- to 4.25-inch barrels) bridge the gap between plainclothes duty and civilian concealed carry, and of these, the lightweight “plastic” pistols lead the way. And the Glock line of pistols is perhaps synonymous with the word “polymer.”In this report we take a look at the latest .40-caliber compact model from Glock, the GL23.

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (GunReports.com) – C.O. Arms, a West Tennessee manufacturer of high-quality 1911 pistols, has introduced the Scorpion and the Stinger models.

(GunReports.com)--Gun Tests magazine is selling two of its recent test guns on GunBroker.com--a Glock RTF2 and a Stag 2L AR-15.

BRASELTON, Ga. (GunReports.com)--MasterPiece Arms has introduced a Mac-10 type pistol in 22 LR.

The all-steel Ruger flat top 50th Year Blackhawk had remarkably clean lines and comfortable Colt-size grips. The Micro sight didn't need to be touched. The Ruger laid 'em in there a touch better than two others, and looked great doing it. The front of the cylinder was beveled to ease holstering.

A man apparently inspired by Open Carry gun activists strolled into an East Palo Alto supermarket with a handgun on his hip Wednesday and began shopping for groceries.

The concept of shooting 22 LR ammo in centerfire handguns goes back a long way. The Germans had a system for the Luger when centerfire ammunition was mighty scarce between the two World Wars. These conversion units consisting of an insert barrel, a different toggle mechanism, and suitable magazines. Insert barrels were also used on the Walther PP at that time to fire a low-power 4mm round, presumably for indoor gallery use. These 4mms were one-shot deals, the round not having enough power to run the slide, so you had to work it by hand. Also pre-WWII or shortly thereafter were some conversions for the 1911 45 autos involving a lightened slide, which predates the Colt Ace conversion with floating chamber. Then the Ace system came along, and it let 22 LR rounds give the same kick to your 1911 as when firing 45 ACP rounds, thanks to a flying breech that essentially amplified the kick of the rimfire rounds to cycle the normal slide. Even more recently a few 22 LR units were made in Germany for the P-38, apparently for police/border-guard units. Like todays units, these consisted of slide, barrel, and magazines suitable for rimfires. Of course there have been many other 22 conversions along the way and were sure we forgot some, but our focus here is on only a couple modern ones.Todays centerfire shooter who wants to save ammo money, or just plain wants to shoot a lot more for the same money, can buy 22 conversions that replace the slide with a more appropriate one, generally of lighter weight. In the case of our two test units for this report, the slides were fitted with excellent adjustable sights and excellent barrels. Changing centerfire to rimfire involved only taking off the original slide and replacing it with the 22 conversion unit, securing it in place with the normal cross pin, plugging in a 22-caliber magazine, and bang, youre done. In a non-exhaustive search we found modern conversions for 1911s by at least four U.S. companies, Kimber, Ciener, Wilson, and Marvel. There are several 22 conversions for the 1911 made in other countries, notably Italy, but we have not seen those here yet. CZ makes one for its Model 75, called the Kadet Adapter, and Ciener also offers one for the Hi-Power. Note that 22 conversions are available for only a tiny fraction of todays vast assortment of auto pistols.For this test we secured conversions for the CZ 75, called the Kadet Adapter ($412), and the Kimber Rimfire Target conversion for 1911s ($330). We have been promised conversions for the Hi-Power by J.A. Ciener, and a new unit from Wilson Combat, but as of our deadline they hadnt arrived. We plan to follow this test report with another, at a later date, featuring the new Wilson, Cieners Hi-Power, and one of the Marvel units. However, all makers report very high sales and relative scarcity of these units, so we wont make any promises as to how soon youll see that next test.We tested with three types of rimfire ammunition that included light target loads, normal 22 ammo, and one of the hotter types with an odd-shaped bullet. They were Eleys XTRA pistol ammo, Federal Classic RN, and Remington Yellow Jacket with truncated-cone, hollowpoint bullets. Heres what these two units gave us.

The concept of shooting 22 LR ammo in centerfire handguns goes back a long way. The Germans had a system for the Luger when centerfire ammunition was mighty scarce between the two World Wars. These conversion units consisting of an insert barrel, a different toggle mechanism, and suitable magazines. Insert barrels were also used on the Walther PP at that time to fire a low-power 4mm round, presumably for indoor gallery use. These 4mms were one-shot deals, the round not having enough power to run the slide, so you had to work it by hand. Also pre-WWII or shortly thereafter were some conversions for the 1911 45 autos involving a lightened slide, which predates the Colt Ace conversion with floating chamber. Then the Ace system came along, and it let 22 LR rounds give the same kick to your 1911 as when firing 45 ACP rounds, thanks to a flying breech that essentially amplified the kick of the rimfire rounds to cycle the normal slide. Even more recently a few 22 LR units were made in Germany for the P-38, apparently for police/border-guard units. Like todays units, these consisted of slide, barrel, and magazines suitable for rimfires. Of course there have been many other 22 conversions along the way and were sure we forgot some, but our focus here is on only a couple modern ones.Todays centerfire shooter who wants to save ammo money, or just plain wants to shoot a lot more for the same money, can buy 22 conversions that replace the slide with a more appropriate one, generally of lighter weight. In the case of our two test units for this report, the slides were fitted with excellent adjustable sights and excellent barrels. Changing centerfire to rimfire involved only taking off the original slide and replacing it with the 22 conversion unit, securing it in place with the normal cross pin, plugging in a 22-caliber magazine, and bang, youre done. In a non-exhaustive search we found modern conversions for 1911s by at least four U.S. companies, Kimber, Ciener, Wilson, and Marvel. There are several 22 conversions for the 1911 made in other countries, notably Italy, but we have not seen those here yet. CZ makes one for its Model 75, called the Kadet Adapter, and Ciener also offers one for the Hi-Power. Note that 22 conversions are available for only a tiny fraction of todays vast assortment of auto pistols.For this test we secured conversions for the CZ 75, called the Kadet Adapter ($412), and the Kimber Rimfire Target conversion for 1911s ($330). We have been promised conversions for the Hi-Power by J.A. Ciener, and a new unit from Wilson Combat, but as of our deadline they hadnt arrived. We plan to follow this test report with another, at a later date, featuring the new Wilson, Cieners Hi-Power, and one of the Marvel units. However, all makers report very high sales and relative scarcity of these units, so we wont make any promises as to how soon youll see that next test.We tested with three types of rimfire ammunition that included light target loads, normal 22 ammo, and one of the hotter types with an odd-shaped bullet. They were Eleys XTRA pistol ammo, Federal Classic RN, and Remington Yellow Jacket with truncated-cone, hollowpoint bullets. Heres what these two units gave us.