Viewpoints

Thanks for all the great reports this month. You featured my beloved 44 Special in glowing terms and tested a recent variant of my favorite 9mm subcompact, but the pice de rsistance was the timely follow-up on your June tests of the Just Right Carbine in 45 ACP. That first report arrived just a few weeks after I bought my JRC and prompted me to refill all my magazines with round-nose FMJ fodder. Your new report says all the things Id hoped to read in the first one, but there is one glaring omission, in my opinion. You tell of sending the JR back to the makers, but there is no mention of what they had to do to make it right. Personal circumstances keep me from getting in a rigorous range day with my JRC to see for myself, but even if I do have feeding problems, I dont know where to tell my gunsmith to start. Were there problems in the feed ramp, bolt, extractor, or elsewhere? Other than casing damage, what should I look for? Please keep up the good work and forgive my former belief that you were never again going to report on anything of real interest to me.

Smaller guns have always had a certain appeal. In some cases it was just the aspect of miniaturization that captures our imagination. In other cases it was the reassurance of a highly concealable weapon. One niche of such guns were semi-auto .380s, which have long been popular sidearms because of their flat, short footprint and sufficient, if not outstanding, power. Even in the small world of 9mm Shorts there is a pecking order in terms of size, with the Beretta 84LS being one of the largest.

A significant court ruling happened in late December 2014, in the case of Tyler v. Hillsdale Co. Sheriffs Dept. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that a prohibition on firearms possession for persons who have been committed to a mental institution was unconstitutional. In its opinion, the court examined the Gun Control Acts categorical prohibition on firearms possession for persons who have sought or received mental care.

I very much enjoyed the article on the Luger versus the Broomhandle Mauser. My Dad had a Luger with both uppers, artillery and short barrel, which my brother has now. It was, and is, a great shooting weapon. Dad was in the 483rd Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force and remained in Europe with the occupation until the Japanese surrender. He had the chance to pick through a warehouse of weapons and recounted how the late Lugers would blow the toggle bolts when submachine-gun ammo was fired in them. He settled on a 1917 Crown, which would digest anything. I can recall that he picked up several thousand rounds of really hot German 9mm out of Canada in the 1960s, which we fired up. I recall firing some at a concrete block about 100 yards away, which was about 1-foot square, and hit it with regularity. The hold was 6 oclock with the artillery barrel, two-handed offhand hold. My recommendation for ammo is a bullet weight of 124 grains as hot as you can get it for pre-WWII Lugers, loaded with military ball-type bullets. The Luger never malfunctions with the German military ammo of the time, at least not the submachine-gun ammo. It would malfunction with American ammo that was not hot enough.

Remington is voluntarily recalling Remington Model 887 shotguns manufactured from December 1, 2013 to November 24, 2014. The company has determined that some Remington Model 887 shotguns manufactured between those dates may have a defect causing the firing pin to bind in the forward position within the bolt, which can result in an unintentional discharge when chambering a live round.
While Remington has the utmost confidence in the design of the 887 shotgun, the company is undertaking this recall in the interest of consumer safety, a statement said.
Remington has also corrected the manufacturing process to eliminate this potential firing-pin problem in shotguns manufactured after November 24, 2014. Shotguns manufactured after November 24, 2014 will also have the distinguishing punch mark on the bolt like models repaired under the recall described below.

I couldn't help but notice you picked the cheaper Kahr to compare to two other near-$700 guns, which is a little more than the P380 typically costs. I haven't fired the CW380, but the P380's trigger is incredible: very smooth, and though long, its pull is consistent with no grit at all. Very nice trigger and it's capable of incredible accuracy for a gun that small, much more accurate than I can shoot! It is also very comfortable to shoot. I've previously owned a Kel-Tec P3AT, which you indicated you would buy over all of the four you compared. Hogwash! It hurts to shoot, and its trigger is absolutely terrible, both heavy and gritty. I would never shoot more than one magazine at a range session with it, but the Kahr I can shoot all day. Maybe the review would have been different with the P380. Thanks for the unbiased reviews, and keep up the good work.

I stayed up late on November 4 to watch the election returns come in. In particular, I was watching the Senate races because if the Republicans took control of both houses of Congress, then the chances of national gun-control legislation passing would drop to nil for the next couple of years. Things went very well.

As a result of the NRA's efforts in the 2014 elections, candidates endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund won hard-fought victories in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. The NRA was likewise pivotal in re-electing pro-gun governors in Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin, and in ousting a Bloomberg-backed anti-gun governor in Maryland. In addition, the NRA had great success in races for the U.S. House.

Readers Scorza and Wisniewski think a review of costly aftermarket handgun sights is worth a few pages. We agree. Reader Phil wants more wheelgun reviews. Okay with us.

Gun Tests wants to give our readers some background information on changes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made to Form 4473 in April 2012. You may have noticed the changes yourself and wondered why the new questions suddenly appeared. On the form, two questions added in 2012 break down the buyers ethnicity and race in parts 10a and 10b. First, in 10.a., buyers must identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino or Not Hispanic or Latino. Then, in 10.b., the buyer is directed to check one or more boxes, with the choices being: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or White.

Readers Schick, Marcus, and Katz ask about the status of this evaluation. Reader Gerstner opines about the reliability of pistols versus revolvers. And what did Campbell mean by rail gun?

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an opinion in August holding that Californias 10-day waiting period for nearly all firearm sales violates the Second Amendment, at least as applied to individuals who have already purchased firearms.

Reader Petty wonders how Rugers new concealable handgun will fare when pitted against a small Springfield 9mm. Were working on it. And reader pros and cons on the Phoenix HP22A.