Handguns

I enjoyed the article on 38 Special lever-action rifles, but I think you missed a very important warning. The 38 Special and 357 Magnum are not interchangeable, for reasons other than the strength of the action. I have a Marlin lever action in 357 caliber. I decided to sight it in with 38 Special rounds and then change to 357 and adjust the sights. After about 20 or 30 rounds of 38 Special, I switched to 357. When I tried to rack in the second round, it wouldn't seat. The problem was that the 38 Special rounds carboned up the chamber, and when the 357 round was extracted, only about half of the cartridge came out. I had to have a gunsmith remove the front half of the casing. I only shoot 357 rounds in my rifle and revolver since then. I have never seen this in any article which discusses using 38 Special ammo in a 357 chamber.

I enjoyed the article on 38 Special lever-action rifles, but I think you missed a very important warning. The 38 Special and 357 Magnum are not interchangeable, for reasons other than the strength of the action. I have a Marlin lever action in 357 caliber. I decided to sight it in with 38 Special rounds and then change to 357 and adjust the sights. After about 20 or 30 rounds of 38 Special, I switched to 357. When I tried to rack in the second round, it wouldn't seat. The problem was that the 38 Special rounds carboned up the chamber, and when the 357 round was extracted, only about half of the cartridge came out. I had to have a gunsmith remove the front half of the casing. I only shoot 357 rounds in my rifle and revolver since then. I have never seen this in any article which discusses using 38 Special ammo in a 357 chamber.

Close in importance to the most basic needs - food, water, and shelter - is the ability to protect yourself from threats. Concealable, compact, and powerful handguns give us peace of mind in a dangerous world. There is no doubt there are more effective cartridges than the 9mm Luger, but the 9mm is far more powerful than any 32 ACP or 380 Auto cartridge, and it holds more rounds than a compact 38 Special revolver. The 9mm is a powerful cartridge with good performance that will get the job done, given adequate shot placement. A compact handgun with good sights, a decent trigger, and ergonomic controls is a stalwart companion in difficult times. So we tested a quintet side by side to get an idea about what we would buy, then relay those impressions to Gun Tests readers. The pistols tested are unique in many ways, but they share a few common features. Takedown, trigger action, and slide-lock designs differ. Each may fit your needs more than the others, but there are a couple at the top of the heap. Our test handguns chambered in 9mm Luger were the following.

The 1911 Commander is basically a full-size pistol receiver with a shorter 4.25-inch barrel and slide. These 1911 variants are more compact than the full-size issues, yet they offer all the features of the standard 5-inch-barrel variant, albeit with a bit less velocity. Some members of our team like the Commander format with the full-size grip and shortened slide, which makes the pistol easy to hang onto when firing 45 ACP as well as more comfortable to carry concealed due to the shorter barrel. One issue when carrying concealed, though, is the grip, which can print under clothing.

To see which pistol best fit our testers' everyday-carry needs, we procured three 1911 Commander models for testing: the recently introduced Taurus 1911 Commander ($459), a Metro Arms MAC 1911 Bobcut ($746), and an American Classic Commander ($568). The Taurus is manufactured in Brazil, and the Metro Arms and American Classic pistols are manufactured in the Philippines and are both brought into this country by Eagle Imports.

All three showed great fit and finish and chewed through 45 ACP ammo as fast as we could load magazines. All featured the classic GI-style domed slide, long skeletonized triggers and hammers, straight rear grip straps, dovetailed combat-style sights, flared ejection ports, extended beavertails, extended thumb safeties, textured grips, and 8+1 round capacities. In short, these pistols have all the features a modern 1911 shooter expects in a concealable package.

The Bobcut and AC came in hard-plastic cases and included one magazine. The Taurus included a plastic bushing wrench for ease of takedown. At first glance, these three Commanders looked the same in terms of features, if not cosmetics, and it was the value-added items in each that eventually allowed us to judge one over the other.

In this offer, Ed Brown is allowing customers to send old magazines of any make to upgrade to an Ed Brown Performance Magazine of their choice for only $10! It is a one-to-one exchange, so for every single magazine sent in, the customer can select one Ed Brown magazine of his or her choice, up to 20 magazines per exchange.

Beginning September 17, 2018, all repairs and product returns must be sent to the new location in Greeley, PA. The service department can be reached by email at service@kahr.com or by phone at 508-795-3919 Ext. 1. The new shipping address for Kahr and Auto-Ordnance repairs and product returns is stated here.

Among the most popular revolvers is the double-action 357 Magnum, and shooters can confirm this because Smith & Wesson recently reintroduced the Combat Magnum and Ruger has introduced a seven-shot GP100 357 Magnum. Those companies wouldn't (purposefully) add a couple of dogs to their inventories. Shooters like the 4-inch 357 configuration because these revolvers make for excellent all-round hunting, personal defense, and target guns. Some revolver fans also favor them for concealed carry. Also, they will stand up to long-term storage and come up shooting. It is interesting that a number of special teams in Europe and the U.S. Military keep the 357 Magnum in inventory for this reason.

Readers have asked us to revisit the category with an eye toward picking a used wheelgun that could save them a couple hundred bucks — that is, they wanted us to go bargain hunting. So we purchased a quartet of used revolvers from major brands that included adjustable sights with 4-inch barrels capable of serving for some types of hunting and for home and auto defense. In other words, we wanted the best go-anywhere do-anything revolver, not a specialized concealed-carry type, such as the Ruger SP101. The 357 Magnum is a great defense cartridge and also a fine pest and varmint round in accurate handguns. With the proper loads, the cartridge is versatile and will take deer-sized game at modest distances. Also, a major advantage of the 357 Magnum is the ability of the revolver to chamber 38 Special +P or stouter cartridges, but as important, softer-shooting loads as well. A practice regimen of twenty 38 Specials for every Magnum is recommended by most trainers. We elected to test the revolvers with both 38 Special and 357 Magnum loads and also to include handloads that have proven themselves. Interestingly, the two Ruger GP100 revolvers, one in stainless steel and one in blued finish, showed practically the same firing line and absolute accuracy performance. However, the two Smith & Wesson revolvers, also one blued and one stainless, had considerably different characteristics.

The test firearms started with the Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat Magnum, $800 used. This particular Combat Magnum came with a display case and a knife with matching serial number — pretty neat, but also pricey. The Combat Magnum name gave way to the Model 19 designation in 1957, the year when Smith & Wesson changed from names to model numbers. It has always sold well with a 4-inch barrel, in either bright blue or nickel finishes. Other barrel lengths have appeared as well, with 6-inch (1963) and 2.5-inch (1966) barrels showing up as mainline production guns. There is also a rare variation of the Model 19 with a 3-inch barrel. The Model 19 was dropped from the line in 1999 as police agencies migrated to semi-autos, but Smith & Wesson reintroduced the Model 19 Classic (4.25-inch barrel) at the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits (Model No. 12040, MSRP $826). There's also a Performance Center Model 19 Carry Comp No. 12039 (MSRP $1092) with a tritium front night sight, custom wood and synthetic boot grips, and a 3-inch PowerPort vented barrel for recoil management. The revolver features a trigger overtravel stop and Performance Center tuned action. We previously tested a less-expensive Model 19-4 nickel-finish variant in the March 2015 issue, giving it an A grade.

Next up was a silver-skinned copy of Model 19, the stainless-steel Smith & Wesson Model 66 Combat Magnum 38 Special +P/357 Magnum, $420. In July 1971 Smith & Wesson announced its first stainless-steel 357 Magnum, the Model 66. Like the blued Model 19, the Model 66 was a favorite of everyday cops who wanted a Model 19 that was rust resistant. The 4-inch-version, like the one we tested, was the most popular. It stayed in continuous production until 2005, when Smith & Wesson dropped the Model 66 at its 66-7 iteration. Then production on the handgun was restarted in 2014, with the 66-8 unit, which is still in the catalog as Model No. 162662, with a suggested retail of $849. In the June 2001 issue, we tested a 2.5-inch-barrel M66, saying of it: "Even with the small problems we encountered, this is a superior weapon, and few revolvers can match this incarnation of the snubnosed K-frame." In the April 2002 issue, we tested a 4-inch Smith & Wesson M66-2, $219. That Smith & Wesson Model 66 was gauged to be in 95 percent condition, which would bring a Blue Book price of $300 at the time. It earned a "Buy It" recommendation.

When we began testing the 4-inch 357s, we wondered if a longer barrel, such as the 6-inch Taurus 66 357 Magnum, might give us the best of both worlds. It is a K-frame revolver like the Combat Magnum, but a 6-inch barrel might give us good velocity and accuracy. We were disappointed in its performance. Still, we would have got our money's worth for a modestly priced recreational and home-defense revolver.

We recently published a news item that updates our readers on legal troubles the SIG Sauer P320 is encountering. Most recently, the Loudoun Times-Mirror website is reporting that a Loudoun County (Virginia) deputy has filed a lawsuit against SIG Sauer alleging that her fully-holstered P320 duty weapon discharged and sent a bullet into her leg. According to the newspaper's account, the incident occurred this year on Feb. 7, "… when 37-year-old Loudoun County Deputy Marcie Vadnais went to the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy to attend a general instructor course." The Times-Mirror further reported, "In accordance with academy policy, Deputy Vadnais began removing her firearm from her belt when she arrived." According to the lawsuit, as she fed the belt through the holster's first tooth, her SIG Sauer P320 somehow "fired one nine millimeter bullet, which hit her in the upper right thigh."

While the 45 Long Colt could be considered big medicine in a single-action revolver, single-action revolvers chambered in 44 Magnum really up the ante. The 44 Magnum is a substantial cartridge, so a substantial and strong revolver is required to fire that round. We took a look at three single-action revolvers chambered in 44 Magnum — the EAA Bounty Hunter, Cimarron's Bad Boy, and the BFR Short Cylinder housed under the Magnum Research (Kahr) name — and found all three of these powerful revolvers had good attributes, managed recoil well without causing carpal-tunnel syndrome, and were accurate.

Prior to testing, we ran range rods down the barrel to check chamber and bore alignment and found everything was in spec on all three revolvers. Because the 44 Special cartridge can be fired in revolvers chambered in 44 Magnum, we tested all three with Hornady's Critical Defense 44 Special ammo loaded with a 165-grain FTX bullet. For 44 Magnum loads, we chose one of our long stand-by rounds from Black Hills loaded with a 240-grain JHP and a newer load from SIG loaded with a 240-grain V-Crown JHP. All rounds provided excellent accuracy. Because the EAA had fixed sights and the BFR and Cimarron had adjustable sights, we leveled the playing field and tested the EAA at 15 yards and the BFR and Cimarron at 25 yards. The sight picture with the adjustable-sight revolvers was far superior than the sight picture with the fixed sights, though the fixed sights of EAA were a modern take on the classic fixed sights. The EAA and BFR were also drilled and tapped to mount a scope.

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