Surplus Collectible

Every December Gun Tests Magazine picks the best from a full year’s worth of tests and distills summary recommendations for readers, who often use them as year-end shopping guides. These “best of” choices are a mixture of the Gun Tests original evaluation and other information the staff compiles during the year.Additionally, the magazine selects the best type of firearm--pistol, revolver, shotgun, and rifle--for its “Best in Class” award.The “Best in Class” Revolver for 2009 was the Taurus Judge No. 4510TKR-3BUL 3-Inch 45 LC/410-Bore, $620. It was originally reviewed in the August 2009 issue.

The BFR 22H10, code name Little Max in the Magnum Research brochure, is a single action only gun. To load the BFR you first open the loading gate. No manipulation of the hammer is needed to free the cylinder. Much like the Ruger single-action revolvers, the hammer stays safely in a down position.

The BFR strikes a chord. We would have to rate the workmanship of the BFR superior to the Taurus. We recommend it if you need a hunting iron without the recoil of the harder hitting calibers meant for bears and large game.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation announced that James Debney has been named as president of S&W’s Firearms Business unit, reporting to Michael Golden, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has been presented with the Firearms Manufacturer of the Year award by the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers for the third consecutive year.

In support of the fight against breast cancer, GunBroker.com is hosting a charity auction of an unusual pink rifle. The auction ends October 25.

Many shooters want a lightweight, handy 223 carbine for self-defense—and that means reasonable accuracy, a good trigger, shooter friendliness, and ease of handling. In self-defense use, reliability is paramount, but the gun has to have enough accuracy to hit what it’s aimed at.There are several potential solutions to this firearms problem, one of which is the AK-based Arsenal SLR 106FR, $925. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov’s famous assault rifle is the basis for the Arsenal gun. Likely more than 75 million AKs have been produced by more than a dozen countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, China, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia.

Lynch Hummer, a $7.5 million Hummer facility in an upscale St. Louis suburb, has announced the opening of the world's first combined Hummer and firearms dealership.

The travel writer Arthur Frommer has authored dozens of Frommer’s Travel Guides, and he writes a blog called Arthur Frommer Online. Now he’s trying to organize a boycott of Arizona’s travel industry because he disagrees with its gun laws.

Houston-based B.A. Brooks Sports is a Federal Firearms License dealer who supplies firearms for Gun Tests evaluations. B.A. Brooks Sports sometimes has guns acquired for Gun Tests evaluation that readers might want to purchase. The following list describes those firearms and accessories.

There’s a new breed of action rifle in Cowtown. Instead of the diehard lever gun of old, many Cowboy Action shooters looking to shave the last seconds off their time will soon be using a pump rifle. In the quest for speed in that game, top shooters are posting winning scores with the old Colt Lightning design, or clones thereof. Because top shooters use them, that means everybody wants one, whether or not they work better than the ol’ lever action mainstay.The all-blue AWA Lightning is available in a variety of calibers including .32-20, .38-40, .38 Spl., .44-40, or .45 LC. If you want it with an octagonal barrel in either the test rifle’s 20-inch length or with a 24-inch barrel, the price is $890. Russ Simpson, president of AWA, informed us that there were many options available for original Colt Lightnings, so the crescent butt plate here, and the buckhorn rear sight on the Beretta carbine, might have been found on originals. No originals, however, have been found or documented with color-case hardened receivers.

The Polish TT-33 had a crisp trigger pull, which broke at 5.3 pounds. Its sights consisted of a dovetailed, U-notched rear and a small, narrow blade at the front. The front blade appeared to be integral with the slide. Although the sight picture was more delicate than we’d have liked, it was superior to that of the Chinese gun, on which we had trouble getting a clear sight picture. We would have preferred a wider front blade and a wider rear notch for faster sight acquisition.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that according to the most recent Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collection Report released last week by the Department of the Treasury, firearm and ammunition manufacturers paid more than $109.8 million in the first calendar quarter of 2009; up 43% over the same time period reported in 2008.