Handguns

Taurus USA has acquired Heritage Manufacturing, Inc. of Opa Locka, Florida. Terms of the transaction are undisclosed.

With apologies to Chet Atkins, a guitar string makes a fine substitute when you need a replacement spring in a hurry.

Gun Tests Magazine recently tested a 9mm 1911-type pistol in the SW1911 Pro Series (No. 178017, $1683).

One reason to produce rimfire replicas of military weapons is to help familiarize the shooter with how each gun operates at a fraction of the price of buying and feeding the corresponding centerfire model. If this isnt fun enough, then consider the history and the innovation that each rifle offers the shooter ahead of simpler rimfire designs. We last tested military-replica semiautomatic rimfire rifles in the February 2010 issue (Tactical-Style 22 LR Carbines: Ruger, S&W, Legacy Duke It Out), with the majority of the roster being taken up by the AR-15 design. In this test we will evaluate only one such rifle, Mossbergs $276 715T Tactical 22. Our second replica rifle represents a bygone era and the third a modern design. Our old-timer was the $399 Citadel M-1 22 Carbine made in Italy by Chiappa. The $609 German-made ISSC MK22 Desert Tan rifle with folding stock was a replica of the SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle). Both the MK22 and the M-1 Carbine are imported by Legacy Sports International of Reno, Nevada.For accuracy tests, we fired from the 50-yard line with support from the Caldwell Tack Driver sandbag rest. Test ammunition was the same 40-grain assortment we used the April 2012 test of more traditional semi-automatic rifles. Two rounds featured copper-plated bullets. They were CCIs Mini Mag and CCIs AR Tactical 22 ammunition. We also fired Federals Auto Match rounds, which launched a lead solid bullet. We also tried a variety of hollowpoint ammunition to assess versatility, but elected to fire shots of record with our roundnosed selections so we could compare results directly with our earlier tests.Each one of our test guns arrived with open sights. In fact, the MK22/SCAR offered two aiming solutions in one set of fold-down sights. We wanted to know how well all of these sight packages worked. In addition, each rifle offered a way to mount a scope. We wanted to know how efficiently this option could be accomplished and its effect on accuracy. We began our accuracy tests using only the supplied open sights. Then, we mounted the same variable power 1-4X power scopes used in last months rimfire rifle tests. Firing only the most accurate round per each gun, we then recorded additional 5-shot groups from the 50-yard bench. All three rifles fired at least 300 rounds over three days of testing with no more maintenance than an occasional spray of Rem Oil into the chamber and on the bolt. Lets see how they scored.

In the gun world there's no shortage of 1911-type 45 autos. However, when an old company which made a few 45s during drastic times of national need around 1918 — but has made none since — brought out a fresh, U.S.-made 1911, it got our attention. Remington-UMC made a few 1911s long ago for WWI use, as did Singer Sewing Machine Co., and a few other companies. Remington apparently made something over 21,500 copies of the 1911 for WWI, and then quit — until now. After a very long wait we acquired one of the Remington Model 1911 R1 Enhanced 45 ACPs ($940 MSRP). We wanted a similar-priced gun to compare it to, so we went to another company not commonly known for producing 1911s, Taurus. Our test Taurus PT 1911 ($900 MSRP) was stainless, the only one we could get at the time. It had a forged slide and frame. Remington claims "precision machined" slide and frame, but we don't know if they began life as castings, forgings, or bar stock. At any rate, when we wrung ‘em out, this is what we found.

Smith & Wesson’s new M&P Shield is a slim, concealable, lightweight, striker-fired polymer pistol. Available in 9mm and .40 S&W, the new M&P Shield has an easily concealed 1-inch profile and an optimized 18-degree grip angle.

Alex Zimmerman has a great idea. Gun Tests magazine first experienced it in a review of one of his Guncrafter Industries’ 50-caliber 1911s, which they found to be a well-made handgun, if a bit on the costly side. Zimmerman’s idea is to give the shooter something more without the cost of broken hands. Rather than a bang-up, hot and heavy blaster, the 50 GI is a throwback to older times when big bullets traveled at low velocities and got the job done at least as well as any small-caliber, high-velocity round.

In any case, the available calibers are not the only things I like about the EMP from Springfield, Inc. It's no larger than a compact 9mm. It's a Series-70 M1911A1, so it's not cluttered internally with a collection of additional parts dreamed up to put a firing-pin block in a pistol that can't fire unless it is gripped firmly in the hand. As this is written, the EMP is being produced in 9mm using a hard-coat aluminum-alloy frame. When it comes out in .40 S&W and .45 GAP, the frame will be of steel. Those initials behind the ".45" stand for Glock Automatic Pistol, a round developed in cooperation between the Austrian pistol maker and Speer.

The market for 22s that feel like big-bore guns continues to grow as shooters seek to cut ammo cuts but maintain proficiency. One of the guns in this segment is a triple-named semiauto listed in Featured Auction #10989722 by “JacktheDog.”

A member of the New Black Panther Party -- a felon -- who went on national television to offer a reward for the capture of George Zimmerman was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and charged with possession of a firearm.

FPS Russia has a lot of fun with a fully-automatic Glock 17 and a 100-round drum magazine. There’s also some incendiary ammo that goes hot too soon.

The AF2011-A1 Double Barrel Pistol is the first industrial double-barrel semiautomatic pistol that the GunReports.com staff can recall. The original idea came to Swiss armourer Vivian Mueller about ten years back, who at the time cut and welded together multiple parts of the famous Sig P210. The result was a long slide, double barrel 9mm, highly decorated collector piece, which indeed shot very well.