Viewpoints

We publish reader feedback every month to answer questions about last month's featured firearms. See what subscribers have to say about Derringer handguns, the Springfield M2 Bolt rifle, how bullets penetrate home materials and more.

Why did you not include a Bond Arms derringer in your shoot-out, or at least reference the earlier article? I think it's a better gun than either of the others (the DoubleTap and Cobra Enterprises guns were not in the 2002 article). It's very solidly made, stainless steel throughout, has easily interchanged barrel sets, and is comfortable to shoot with 38s and cowboy 44-40s. Optional grips are available that are longer and have rubber panels to further ease recoil. It's as safe as any very short gun, with a rebounding hammer and a simple crossbolt safety. In the 2002 article, you rated the Bond Texas Defender as "Our Pick" for Cowboy Action shooting, and the American Derringer 38 Special as a Conditional Buy for self-defense because it was a double-action design, unlike the model you tested here. Finally, I would guess that Bond Arms is the largest manufacturer of derringers in the country.

In the midst of our nation's unrest over gun rights, NRA approval is thriving and so is shooter's enthusiasm.

There's been a lot of positive-trending news on how the gun-rights debate, despite setbacks, may be shifting our way. First, we took note of a recent Gallup poll that showed 58% in the U.S. have a favorable opinion of the NRA.

This comes despite gun prohibitionists blaming NRA for illegal uses of firearms, constant media criticism, and attacks by politicians. I credit the NRA for helping stop many ill-advised and possibly unconstitutional laws across the country. Apparently, many citizens agree. In a Gallup poll from Oct. 7-11, a solid majority of Americans (58%) say they have an overall favorable impression of the NRA. According to the Gallup article on the poll, "This includes the highest recording of ‘very favorable' opinions (26%) since Gallup began asking this question in 1989."

That's because normal people don't blame the gun-civil-rights group for crimes committed with firearms — most people blame the criminals instead. What a novel idea.

See reader feedback on pistols, rifles, handguns and more! Reader John S. took our list of 380 ACPs to his local gun store in the Golden State, but his results were far from golden. Mare's Leg pistols are in fact legal for sale in California. Not all home building materials take bullets equally. And pistols that look like rifles. Lots of them.

There's a whole lot of new products coming out at the end of 2015, well in advance of the massive outpouring that's introduced every new calendar year at the S.H.O.T. Show. Here's a look at just a few of the new products I've seen that may be interesting to gunnies:

ARES Defense Now Shipping MCR Sub-Carbine. ARES Defense Systems is now shipping its MCR Sub-Carbine. The ARES MCR Sub-Carbine is a lightweight, semi-auto 5.56 NATO-caliber firearm featuring gas-piston operation, a 3-second quick-change barrel system, and a left-side folding stock assembly that telescopes for adjusting the length of pull. The charging handle is ambidextrous and interchangeable with standard AR15/M4 charging handles, to suit user preference. Suppressor capable and able to be fired with the stock in any position, the MCR has an edge on many of the folding-stock and telescoping PDWs. The internals are billet machined from aircraft-grade alloys and heat-treated. Aluminum components are Type III, Class 2 hard-coat anodized to MIL-A-8625F for maximum corrosion and wear protection. Also available to complement the MCR Sub-Carbine is an optional SKB briefcase with custom-cut foam insert that holds the firearm, six 30-round magazines, a cleaning kit, operator's manual and storage space for a suppressor or other accessories.

The Curve's lack of sights should not necessarily be an unsolvable problem. With sufficient practice, one need only see the silhouette of the rear end of the pistol to make accurate, close-range shots. But it requires lots of practice, and it also requires a fairly accurate pistol. Evidently, the Curve isn't one of those. Also, the Curve's belt clip is very much in the wrong place. It buries the pistol so deeply into one's pants as to make a quick, effective presentation almost impossible. The quickest, most effective self-defense presentation requires that the pistol user establish a full firing grip on the gun, before beginning the draw stroke. You can't do that with a clipped-on Curve. Finally, one must be very careful how one uses the Curve's light. A gun-mounted flashlight must not be used for searching, for instance before entering a dark room. Imagine your dismay when, as you illuminate the "bad guy" with your pistol's muzzle, you find that you are about to shoot at your daughter, returning late from a date.

Walmart said recently that it will stop selling semiautomatic rifles, including AR-15s, in what the retail giant says is a decision related to slumping demand.
In a June 23 interview with CNNMoney, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon said as much: "Our focus in terms of firearms should be hunters and people who shoot sporting clays, and things like that. So the types of rifles we sell, the types of ammunition we sell, should be curated for those things."

I'm a subscriber from the beginning, and I much appreciate all that you guys do. I was very glad to see R.K. Campbell's well-written review of the two 9mm Springfields, mainly because I took the plunge on the Range Officer 9mm earlier this year, and have previously owned the 9mm Loaded Target model it was compared to. One of my sons has it now.
I was tickled to death with my 9mm R.O., and I got just about the same results as you guys did, which were good. I think the extra attention to detail on the R.O. definitely showed, but not so much on the overall comparison at the range. Not sure why yours had a 7-pound trigger; mine came in at 5.5 pounds. But as regards the "match" barrels in both, particularly the R.O., and the bushing fit at that, over the last few years I've come to the conclusion that the term has lost whatever meaning it once might have had. To me, a "match" barrel and bushing means this: Oversized and gunsmith fitted. A call to Dave Williams up at the Springfield Custom Shop pretty much confirmed what I was thinking about the R.O. barrel, and to tell you the truth, this was one of those guns that I knew could do better. Okay, it became an obsession. I used to be a shrink for my last 12 or so years in the Army, but don't ask me how this happens. It just does, sometimes.

Kudos to Contributing Editor Robert A. Sadowski for his new book, Shooter's Bible Guide to Tactical Firearms, which will help new and experienced shooters make smart equipment purchases that range from rifles and optics to ammunition and gear. He's also the author of the Shooter's Bible Guide to Combat Handguns and the Shooter's Bible Guide to Firearms Assembly, Disassembly, and Cleaning, some of which are available through Gun-Tests.com.

As an old Rochester, New York boy (left when Hillary was elected senator), I can expand on Ray Ordorica's comments on B&L scopes and mounts. I have owned 50-plus of them.
The BalVar 8a you used is a fine scope, but in my experience, it has one major failing versus the original BalVar 8. When you change power in the 8a, you are rotating the whole ocular assembly. If you do it a lot, slop will develop in the assembly, and the point of impact will change at different magnifications. The original model had a ring that changed just the power. It was far better, as my BalVar 6-24 will attest.

Gun maker Forjas Taurus SA has agreed to settle a $30 million class-action suit with plaintiffs who claim that some Taurus handgun safeties, even when engaged, may allow the gun to fire if it is dropped, according to a review of court documents.

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