9mm Showdown: Can The Bull Outflank Pietro?
[IMGCAP(1)] Old sayings like "The original and still the best," or "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," can lead to self-admiration to the point of destruction. Witness what happened to Colt's Manufacturing, as clones stole the 1911 market out from under them. Could the same thing happen to other manufacturers as well?
For years Taurus International has been offering a Beretta knock-off that emulates the Italian firm's Model 92, a civilian gun cast from the same lineage as the U.S. M9 military 9mm sidearm. Beretta, of Brescia, Italy, began offering the series 92 in 1975, and in 1981 Taurus began producing its version of this pistol, the PT99, at the plant the company bought from...
Compact Alloy 9mm Sidearms: Too Heavy, Too Big, Too Slow?
[IMGCAP(1)] When we think of a compact pistol with an alloy frame, we tend to think of a gun that is light in weight and small enough to conceal without excessive compromise in grip area. However, some pistols that are advertised and categorized as compact are not necessarily diminutive nor are they especially easy to conceal. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines compact in terms of "automobiles smaller than intermediate but larger than sub-compact." In the world of handguns, the compact benchmark seems to be built around the 3.5- to 3.8-inch barrel.
Likewise, this same dictionary defines alloy ten different ways and never once refers to weight, but uses variations on the word mix...
