Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. READY, AIM . . . SQUEEZE! Better Recoil Control! Captains of Crush® Grippers - 10 strengths www.ironmind.com For a complimentary copy of Ron Avery’s grip Special program for shooters, please enter AH-RA09 in the offer! key code box at View Basket when placing an order. IRONMIND - AMERICAN HANDGUN 2.25 X 5 MAR 2009 ’em if I want. The rugged fixed rear and front combo seems to shoot up to the gun’s ability (look at the target) so what more could you ask for? I called upon another magician, that gripmaker extraordinaire, Esmeralda, of Grips by Esmeralda, for some handsome Cocobolo “boot” type grips and they are both lovely and functional. I put the genuine white plastic ones back on for some shooting and a few pics since I didn’t want to knock Esmeralda’s around, but they are back on the gun as we speak. I was honestly hesitant about the ports. I think you don’t need them, but they can be nice — and they can be nasty — so you have to keep your wits about you. They certainly keep the muzzle flip down when using hot loads — and just as certainly produce “portblast” which could, in some cases, get in your face, as it were. Shooting .357 Magnums in this gun is something you can actually do, unlike most non-ported J-frames. Being steel makes a big difference too. A .357 in a Scandium gun equals curse words, stinging hands and “hell, I won’t do that again” comments. But still, a shot from close to your body, where the blast from the ports may strike your face might confuse an already confusing situation. Keep that in mind when you train. Having said that, I don’t carry .357 loads in this gun. There’s simply no need to with today’s high-performance ammunition. With a good quality +P 125- to 158-grain load, it offers all the protection you can get from a package this small. And the combination of porting and weight makes it a real fighting pistol. The port-blast is tamed somewhat too. The 640 is fast, sure, easy to shoot and control and very, very accurate. It feels like a real gun, not a plastic toy, and that translates into confidence, the ability to hit the target and a reload that is within the realm of possibility — and reality. A fumbly reload with a speed strip is something you should only imagine you can do, rather than think you actually can. Try it. Did we accomplish a goal here? I think so. An ultimate version of an idea is certainly here in wood and steel. It performs as advertised, I do rely on it to protect my skin and I do recommend it to others. If it was lacking in one of the triad of my points there, you wouldn’t be reading about it now. Honest. An Ultimate? * For more info: www.geminicustoms.com, (502) 226-1230, e-mail: yoda1911@ hughes.net; www.tkcustoms.com, (217) 893-1035; e-mail: tom@tkcustom.com; www.delfatti.com, e-mail: delfatti@tds. net; www.esmeralda.cc, (760) 949-1645. 82 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST 2009