Viewpoints

I realize most of you aren't affected, but there was big news in my home state in June. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed landmark open-carry legislation, making the Lone Star State the 45th to recognize the right of modern handgun open-carry. This common-sense law expands law-abiding citizens' right to exercise their constitutional freedoms. More than 800,000 Texans currently hold concealed-carry licenses, and they will be the ones who can take advantage of the new law beginning in 2016.

After reading your article on the Beretta A400 in 28 gauge, I ordered it the next business day. It was received two days later and I shot a 23 with it at skeet. This was my first-ever experience shooting a 28-gauge gun. Roger Eckstine's write-up was spot-on for this gun, now my favorite. I have added a color-coordinated bolt release and a mid-bead. Likewise, an earlier Gun Tests article prompted me to get an S&W M&P in 22 LR rather than the Walther that I originally was going to purchase. Your reviews are priceless. Thank you.— Darwin

Though most Gun Tests readers prefer getting their gun reviews straight up in the mail every month, I wanted to take a moment to let you know there are other options to get our unique take on gun evaluations, including some new products: videos, e-books, and electronic archive materials.

Re "The A-Team: 1911
Handguns & Gear" E-Book
Several years ago, I was fortunate to find an early Colt Delta Elite for a very reasonable price. It came with three 10mm magazines. After firing a box of 10mms and waiting for my eyebrows to grow back, I decided to drop a 40 S&W barrel into it. Ordered an appropriate Kart barrel, two Metalform mags, and Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on the gun from Brownells, and went to work. Everything worked out great except the mags. They fed sporadically and would not lock the slide back after the last round was fired. Apparently, the small platform on the followers did not make sufficient contact with the slide stop to push it up into its proper position. When I reordered with another mag, I had the same problem. What to do? I simply loaded up the original 10mm mags with the 40 S&W rounds and have been shooting both factory and reloads without a hitch ever since. They work great. By the way, I recall reading more than 40 years ago, if you are having trouble with 9mm mags in a 1911, use 38 Super mags instead. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your unbiased and objective tests.

Apex Tactical Specialties has announced its new Apex Flat-Faced Action Enhancement Trigger, about $45, for the popular SIG Sauer P320 series of pistols.

It was one of the odder gun-company announcements to have come across my desk in years: Las Vegas-based Arsenal, Inc. released a statement saying that international military-delivery commitments have caused a halt in production of commercial versions of the company's SLR-107FR and SLR-104UR rifles:

I was wondering if you have compared the Taurus Judge to the Smith & Wesson Governor, and if you did, what were the results?

Gun owners dodged a bullet — metaphorically, of course — when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it intended to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as "armor-piercing ammunition" and then later withdrew the proposal.

When BATFE released its "Framework for Determining Whether Certain Projectiles are ‘Primarily Intended for Sporting Purposes' Within the Meaning of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(c)" edict, that meant the M855 round's exemption to the armor-piercing ammunition prohibition null and void, and even worse, make future exemptions nearly impossible.

Being a fan of Commander-Sized 1911s, I was pleased to see your review on the Remington R1 versus the Colt Commander. I'm wondering, however, why you didn't choose the R1 Carry Commander for the comparison, as that would have been more of an apples-to-apples comparison. The R1 Carry Commander has a number of features that rival those of the Colt, among them: ambi-safety, bobbed and skeletonized hammer, three-hole trigger, slimmer grips, and better sights, including a Trijicon night sight front. It also has a melded treatment all over. Comparing the basic R1 with a Colt 1991 Commander might have been a closer comparison, as well.

I admit I was miffed when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) opened a computer case I checked as baggage to Las Vegas for the SHOT Show back in January. The case and contents were a load — a 38-pound Pelican 1730 transport case with a 27-inch iMac in it. I prefer to use a desktop machine to update the Gun Tests Facebook page, YouTube page, website, and new-product files when I'm at SHOT for a week. I've done the jobs with a laptop before, and I admit, it's much easier to carry-on a smaller machine. But once it's set up, the full-size iMac is heaven while we're processing words, photos, and movies for our various media in a hurry. In previous years, I had shipped my back-up iMac 27 in its original box a few days prior, so I hadn't had to wrestle what I lovingly refer to as the Pig Box through airport check in. I call it that because the Pelican is big enough (37.5 x 27.1 x 14.4 inches) to hold a whole pig. Oh yes, extra weight and size charges apply.

I was extremely pleased when my issue arrived and on the cover was the comparison of the three new striker offerings I had asked about. All three are quality, but I am extremely happy to have purchased your consensus winner, the VP9. I don't know if you had the options I did. The VP9 choices for me were the three-dot white sights with the photo-luminescent paint that can be charged with a decent high-power flashlight and gain a few minutes of pretty bright night sights, along with two magazines. My FFL put a $560 price on this one. The option I choose was the LE version that came with Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights and three HK magazines for $614. The prices do not reflect the $30 transfer fee mandated by the state of Delaware. So, throw in the background check and my tip to him, and it came out to just about $670 completed. On Meprolite's IDF holster site, the sights were $139, and the mag I have seen for as much as $50 to $70. I feel very good about this purchase.

Dury's Gun Shop, which supplies FFL services and guns for Gun Tests Contributing Editor Ralph Winingham in San Antonio, has partnered with Tom Gresham of Gun Talk Radio to create a limited run of 1,000 GT20 pistols, which are SIG Sauer P220 10mm handguns. Price is $1400. All GT20s will come with a SIG Sauer hard case and two eight-round magazines. Additional accessories can be purchased from Dury's and shipped directly to you with the purchase of your one-of-a-kind GT20 pistol. Shipping will only be $25 for the GT20 and free for all additional accessories ordered.