Specialty Handguns

For only the third time in more than 100 years, the NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships will not be held at Camp Perry, OH. Instead, the 2014 championships will move three hours west to the Chief Wa-Ke-De Range in Bristol, IN.

The National Rifle Association recently sold its one millionth copy of the NRA Guide to the Basics of Pistol Shooting. Known as the Basic Pistol handbook, the guide is a comprehensive resource on responsible pistol use and is the foundation of NRA’s popular Basic Pistol and FIRST Steps Pistol Orientation courses.

We tested three single-action revolvers suitable for Cowboy Action shooting in an August 2012 showdown. All chambered in the most common CAS competition caliber, 357 Magnum, the choices were the Ruger New Vaquero NV-34 No. 5107, $719; the Heritage Manufacturing Big Bore Rough Rider RR357CH4, $500; and Cimarron's Evil Roy No. ER4104, $770.

The UZI PRO semi-auto pistol designed for the American consumer market is now available. The $1100 UZI PRO UPP9S semi-auto pistol is based on the UZI sub-machine gun (SMG), designed and patented by Uziel Gal, who gave the production rights to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. IWI US, Inc., a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), imports the firearm domestically.

DoubleTap Defense will add new chamberings — 410/.45 Colt and .40 S&W — to its DoubleTap Tactical Pocket Pistol lines.

LaserLyte has introduced a compact version of the company’s full-size Trigger Tyme training pistol. The subcompact size is about the same size as the S&W Shield and the Springfield Armory XD-S single-stack 9mm pistols.

Three handguns recently tested in Gun Tests magazine are now listed for auction on GunBroker.com by the FFL owner, Winkle’s Great Guns of Houston, Texas.

The Professional is a complete rebuild, including the installation of a match-grade barrel and complete refinishing. Other parts listed for installation include match hammer and sear, speed trigger, titanium firing pin with extra heavy firing pin spring, beavertail grip safety, ambidextrous thumb safety, low mount Novak rear sight with matching dovetail front sight, 3-dot tritium inserts, magwell, 20-lpi checkering on the front strap, checkered cocobolo grips, beveling of all external parts, deburr complete pistol internally, apply a "Black T" finish to the complete pistol and ship with six Metalform seven-round magazines tuned to the pistol.

We thought the Daly was a pleasant option for the cowboy-action shooter or anyone looking for a fun gun that gives a taste of the old West. It was well made, looked good, and would probably last a long time. The front sight needs filing, but most cowboy guns have that problem. The Daly was significantly cheaper than the AWA. It had an excellent trigger, with no creep and a break at 3.3 pounds, lighter than that of the AWA. Though its hammer action was not quite as light as the AWA Ultimate, we thought the price difference didn’t justify the extra money. Also, because you’d have to pay extra for case coloring on the AWA, the Daly would be our first choice of these two.

Our first impression of the $679 S&W M&P 9mm was that it felt extremely comfortable in the hand. It was well balanced, not too heavy—at least without a magazine full of 17 heavy-bullet loads—and was pleasantly devoid of extraneous controls and levers. We note S&W also sells a version with a thumb safety, along with a host of variants in 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP, and with longer or shorter barrels or grips, and in a variety of colors. One even has a pink grip insert.Our test gun came in a large case with two different grip inserts to make the handle larger or smaller. We liked it as it was, so we left it alone.

(GunReports.com) -- The 9mm pistol was the breakthrough sidearm that ushered in today's massive popularity of the self-loading pistols. One of the ways in which the semi-auto has evolved is its variation in size, making it possible to conceal a smaller version of a full-size carry gun. One pistol with these assets is Glock's $599 Model 26.

The SW1911 operates with two functional variations on traditional 1911 design. The first variation is an externally mounted extractor. John Browning himself saw the extractor as the one weak point in the 1911 system and developed the external design to enhance reliability and maintenance.