Handguns

At SHOT Show 2012, Gun Tests Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine covers the features of the Massachusetts-legal Kahr PM9 pistol.

Ruger has announced that Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Shooting Range of Newington, CT has been named the 2011 Ruger Retailer of the Year. Owner Scott Hoffman received an engraved Mark III pistol to recognize his support for Ruger and his success in the retail firearms industry.

Gun Tests’ Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine found Springfield’s brand-new XDS .45 at the Media Range Day at the SHOT Show a couple of weeks ago. The micro-sized XDS was secret, and no one knew that the gun, smaller than a Glock 36, existed until media members showed up and saw the 4-inch-tall .45.

Beretta USA introduced the BU-9 Nano as its entry into the pocket 9mm pistol category last September. Initial shipments of the American-made pistol left the Accokeek, Maryland factory beginning in November 2011, with a suggested retail price of $475. In this video, Gun Tests’ Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine gets a detailed explanation of how easy the Nano is to break down for maintenance. The Nano's modularity provides for simple disassembly and easy cleaning. Safely disassemble the pistol by first engaging the striker deactivator, a patent pending safety mechanism that eliminates the need to pull the trigger prior to disassembly.

In June 2010, Kahr Arms purchased Minnesota-based firearms manufacturer, Magnum Research, Inc., maker of the Desert Eagle Pistol and BFR Revolvers in .44 Magnum, .45 LC/.410 or .45/70. Kahr Arms offers a selection of other niche-type firearms, such as the “Tommy Gun” and Auto-Ordnance line of M1 .30 caliber carbines. In this video, Gun Tests Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine shows off two of the company’s big-hole BFR wheelguns.

Holster manufacturer CrossBreed Holsters, LLC has introduced a new OWB product for 2012, the SuperSlide.

Though most shooters know CheaperThanDirt.com as an online ammo and accessories seller, the company also has a sizable brick-and-mortar retail gunstore presence in Texas’s Dallas-Ft. Worth area. CTD recently released a list of its top-five selling handguns for December, and the company's top-sellers for the Christmas season show a decided tilt toward affordability and utility.

Not all 45 ACP pistols are built to feed from a single-column magazine or be ignited by a full-time single-action trigger. Gun Tests magazine evaluated a pistol that feeds from a double-column magazine and a trigger system that can alternate between offering a double-action first shot and single-action-only operation — FNH USA’s $780 FNP USG pistol.

Colt’s has teamed up with Crimson Trace Corporation to offer its first-ever Lasergrips, grip-integrated laser sights emblazoned with the Colt logo, which are now standard on the Colt New Agent pistol.

(GunReports.com) -- BAE Systems and Olin Corporation's Winchester Ammunition Division have formed a joint venture to pursue the U.S. Army's contract to manage, operate and maintain the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant.

Uberti’s Cattleman with a 3.5-inch barrel differs little from what other manufacturers refer to as a Sheriff’s model. In fact, without a good look at the bore, you can’t tell it apart from Cimarron’s New Sheriff. Moreover, the guns are closely related in areas other than configuration and caliber. The box our Cimarron Thunderer came in had an Aldo Uberti sticker on it covered unabashedly by a Cimarron sticker. We have heard that the parts for many of today’s cowboy guns are made in Italy by Uberti and assembled by differ- ent companies.

Gun Tests Magazine Publisher Timothy H. Cole recognized Kel-Tec’s PMR-30 22 WMR as the publication’s “Best in Class Pistol” for 2011 at the just-concluded SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Cole made a special award to Derek Kellgren, Kel-Tec CNC Industries’ Director of Marketing at the show.