Handguns

After testing .45 ACP and .40 S&W pistols from Para Ordnance, CZ-USA, and STI, we found that pistol companies are making great guns for this new classification.

Can .22-caliber LR/Magnum wheelguns offer twice the punch of single guns alone? We test Ruger's New Model Single Six, the Heritage Rough Rider, and EAA's Bounty Hunter.

Chambered for the potent .40 S&W round, the $616 GL27 offered a wild ride, but we liked it better overall than the Taurus PT140 and Kahr's K40.

In the August 2000 issue, the Pardini Nygord Master beat out the Hmmerli 208S and Benelli MP95E Atlanta target pistols for value received. Here we test two more high-dollar .22 LR pistols.

The .45-caliber S&W Model 625 Mountain Gun and 10mm Model 610 proved accurate and versatile. The titanium Taurus M415Ti .41 Magnum was a handful.

While it's true that a self-loading pistol carries more rounds than a revolver, a pistol is more prone to malfunctions. A single action revolver requires cocking of the hammer before each round can be fired and considerable time to reload. That leaves a double action revolver.

What kind and why? A double action revolver is easy to learn to shoot. It is totally reliable as long as it is decently maintained and the quality of its ammunition remains high. A short-barreled revolver is easily secreted in a bedside table drawer or on one's person in states that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed. Many think that it should hold six rounds rather than five. What caliber? A .22 isn't p...

Since statistics are so easily manipulated, well say neither yea nor nay to that purported fact, but we have published some pretty harsh words on budget-priced pistols in the past. For example, our report on the AMT .380 Back Up complained of the pistols lack of any visual means to determine whether or not its cocked, and we revealed that it jammed 20 times during our 300-round test. About AMTs .22 Automag, our bottom line recommendation...

We've been asked: Why would I want to buy a double action .22 revolver over a .22 semiautomatic pistol? The answer is: It depends. If targets are your point of aim, you're better off with a target pistol. After all, holding on a bullseye while cranking the average double action trigger isn't the easiest thing to do during a course of timed or rapid fire.

On the other hand, small-caliber double actions have long accompanied campers, hikers and fresh water fishermen as part of their basic survival equipment. The little wheelguns have been known to pick off many a squirrel or rabbit and even an occasional partridge in a pine tree. They also have the capability to take out or seriously discou...

As its name suggests, the Model 317 AirLite is extremely lightweight and compact. When equipped with a two-inch barrel, this small-frame double action revolver weighs in at 9.5 ounces with wood grips or 10.5 ounces with a rubber grip.

Why does this 8-shot model weigh so little? It has an aluminum alloy frame, barrel and cylinder. The cylinders chambers are reinforced with steel inserts. The barrel has a steel liner and forcing cone.

Reta...

Slowly but surely, the .45 ACP is regaining its preeminent position as a personal defense round. The fact that it always was the best got lost for a while when the Pentagon had to conform to NATO's use of the 9mm. Historically, anything adopted for the American soldier creates a lemming-like demand for the same in the civilian marketplace.

Forget that it was adopted primarily for political reasons. Forget that the 9mm never could compare with the .45 ACP as a stopper. A slew of DA/SA (double action/single action) 9mm platforms with high capacity magazines evolved and were gobbled up by an eager public. The magazines eventually begat gun laws limiting capacity, ergo the declining appeal of...

Most compensated .45 ACP pistol are designed for competitive shooting, so there arent very practical for defensive use. However, European American Armory offers a pistol that is suitable for this type of work. It is called the Astra A-100 Carry Comp.

This $534 model is a standard A-100 equipped with a single-port compensator that screws onto the guns 3 1/2-inch barrel. It features a double action...

Somehow believing the gun in their hand will instantly transform them into masters of the sport, far too many plunge into bullseye shooting by making an major, initial expenditure. This error is often compounded by making that investment in a caliber never intended to, and generally incapable of, deliver 10 rounds to the 10-ring at 50 yards. Were thinking specifically of the 9mm. Another foible is to spend the big bucks going in, then deciding you dont cotton all that much to paper-bu...