http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/RSS.ashxAmerican Handgunner Jul/Aug 2010 PagesFri, 30 Apr 2010 17:15:47 +0200http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=1http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=1AyOOb FIlEs: sHOt FROM AMbUsH $5.95 OUTSIDE US $9.50 JULY/AUGUST 2010 ® ACP .4 5 Wilson Combat’s Customs! Canadian Cutters Venturino: Fighter Featherweight keep Your WiN A custom springfield Armory XD! commANDmeNts oF cleANiNg 10 FNH’s 5.7x28 Duo Focus: Polymer PuNcH Gunny sack: UZI Chopper, Wicked Grips better shooting: Making It Work Cool Carry Cutters Sixgunner: MaSSive MaStodonS WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=2http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=2Cowboy Up. .With the New PARA SASS Wild Bunch 1911 IPSC. IDPA. USPSA. COWBOY. Compete with www.para-usa.com/cowboy 10620 Southern Loop Boulevard Charlotte, North Carolina2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=3http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=3LADIES’ HOME COMPANION. The ergonomic FN Five-seveN® offers the lowest recoil, largest capacity and highest velocity of any centerfire pistol. For home security, personal protection, sport and competition, nothing else comes close to matching the performance of the FN Five-seveN®. ® 100 YEARS OF DISTINCT ADVANTAGE. www.fnhusa.com/FIVESEVENhandgun2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=4http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=4Cover Photo: Chuck Pittman, Inc. Volume 34 • Number 4 • Issue 206 2010 JULY • AUGUST Photo: Robbie Barrkman FEATURES 42 ROBAR SINGLE ACTION ROBRATHBURN IsthishowtheSAAmighthavemorphed? Ha!Dukesays“Keepitsimple!” 42 58 KEEP YOUR FANCY CUSTOMS MIKE“DUKE”VENTURINO 63 A VERY SPECIAL DREYSE J.B.WOOD Germanballoonsandpointedhelmets. 44 COOL CARRY CUTTERS JOHNCONNOR Connor’stakeonwhat’snewinpersonalblades. 47 GUILD GUN RAFFLE DUO WinastunningS&WBigBore! 44 64 BROTHERS IN STEEL PATCOVERT CanadianknifemakersLightfoot,TigheandLambert. 48 MINIATURE MACHO ROYHUNTINGTON FNH’sFive-seveNpistoland5.7x28PS90carbine. 66 TEN COMMANDMENTS Areyoudoingitright?Areyoudoingitatall? OF GUN CLEANING JOHNCONNOR 52 WILSON COMBAT’S ULTRALIGHT CARRY DAVEANDERSON Dave’saconverttolightweightcarrypower! ExclusivE: Available online only at americanhandgunner.com! EOTAC SHOOTING CLINICS 4 SharingKnowledgewiththeEOTACteam! MASSADAYOOB 63 66 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=5http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=5DEPARTMENTS 20 THE AYOOB FILES MASSADAYOOB ShotfromAmbush:TheJaredRestonIncident. 28 BETTER SHOOTING DAVEANDERSON ReliabilityResolutuions:Makingitwork. 32 THE SIXGUNNER JOHNTAFFIN ReedersBigBoomers:Mastodons. 48 94 GUNNYSACK ROYHUNTINGTON Woodman’sPal,UZIChopper,WickedGripsandTrailD-Vise. COLUMNS 8 SPEAK OUT 26 22 COP TALK MASSADAYOOB 24 SHOOTING IRON MIKE“DUKE”VENTURINO 26 GUNCRANK DIARIES JOHNCONNOR 30 PISTOLSMITHING ALEXHAMILTON 34 CARRY OPTIONS SAMMYREESE 36 WINNING EDGE DAVEANDERSON 38 TAFFIN TESTS JOHNTAFFIN 40 REALITY CHECK CLINTSMITH 68 HANDLOADING JOHNTAFFIN 70 HANDGUN HUNTING J.D.JONES 106 THE INSIDER ROYHUNTINGTON 68 47 40 HANDGUN OF THE MONTH Check Out Web Blast For More Info, Videos And Pictures About Articles In Every Issue. JUSTCLICKONTHEWEBBLASTICON! GOTO:www.amerICanhandgunner.Com/ ProduCtIndex FORCOMPLETEPRODUCTINFO ANDARTICLEANDMANUFACTURER’SLINKS! RESOURCES 93 CUSTOM CORNER 98 SPOTLIGHT STEVEEVATT 102 AD INDEX 103 CLASSIFIEDS 72 Win this custom Springfield Armory XD .45 ACP ! WIN! AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM AMERICAN HANDGUNNER®(ISSN0145-4250)ispublishedbi-monthlybyPublishers’DevelopmentCorp.,12345WorldTradeDrive,SanDiego,CA92128.PeriodicalpostagepaidatSan Diego,CA92128,andatadditionalmailingoffices.Subscriptions:Oneyear(sixissues)$19.75.Singlecopies$5.95(inCanada$9.50).Changeofaddress:fourweeksnoticerequiredonall changes.Sendoldaddressaswellasnew.Contributorssubmittingmanuscripts,photographsordrawingsdosoattheirownrisk.Materialcannotbereturnedunlessaccompaniedbysufficient postage.Paymentisforallworldrightsforthematerial.Theactofmailingamanuscriptconstitutestheauthor’scertificationoforiginalityofmaterial.Opinionsexpressedarethoseofthebylined authorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresentthoseofthemagazineorit’sadvertisers.Advertisingratesfurnishedonrequest.Reproductionoruseofanyportionofthismagazineinanymanner, withoutwrittenpermission,isprohibited.EntirecontentsCopyright©2010Publishers’DevelopmentCorp.Allrightsreserved.Titletothispublicationpassestosubscriberonlyondeliverytohis address.SUBSCRIPTIONPROBLEMS:Forimmediateaction,writeSubscriptionDept.,12345WorldTradeDrive,SanDiego,CA92128. POSTMASTER: SendaddresschangestoAMERICAN HANDGUNNER®,12345WorldTradeDrive,SanDiego,CA 92128.WARNING: Firearms are dangerous if used improperly, and may cause serious injury or death. Due to the inherent variables in the reloading of metallic cartridges, verify all published loads with manufacturer’s data. Consult a professional gunsmith when modifying any firearm. Be a safe shooter! WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 52010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=6http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=6board of directors Thomas von Rosen, CEO; Thomas Hollander; Randy Moldé; Marjorie Young PUblisher & editor Roy Huntington Managing Editorial Assistant Stephanie Jarrell Design Director Lisa Stahlhut Production Manager Kevin Lewis Web Site Manager Lorinda Massey Promotions Coordinator Elizabeth O’Neill Advertising Sales Director Anita Carson Advertising Sales Assistant Dana Hatfield Staff Photographer Joe Novelozo John Morrison Jeremy Clough Mark Hampton Mike “Duke” Venturino John Taffin Sammy Reese, BCP Massad Ayoob Dave Anderson Mark Hanten Dave Douglas Randy DeHay Clint Smith J.D. Jones Patrick Covert Alex Hamilton John Connor field editors contribUting editors fmg PUblications americanhandgunner.com Publisher & Editor: Roy Huntington Advertising: Steve Evatt, (800) 533-7988 e-mail: steve@americanhandgunner.com americancopmagazine.com Editor: Suzi Huntington Advertising: Denny Fallon, (800) 426-4470 e-mail: denny@americancopmagazine.com gunsmagazine.com Editor: Jeff John Advertising: Andrew Oram, (866) 903-1199 e-mail: andrew@gunsmagazine.com shootingindustry.com Publisher & Editor: Russ Thurman Advertising: Delano Amaguin, (888) 732-6461 e-mail: delano@shootingindustry.com Special editionS fmgpublications.com Editor: Sammy Reese Advertising: Scott McGregor, (800) 553-7780 e-mail: scott@americanhandgunner.com oNLiNE ADvErtiSiNG MANAGEr: Tracy Moore, (888) 651-7566; Fax: (858) 605-0205; tracy@fmgpublications.com CLASSifiED ADvErtiSiNG: Lori Robbins, (800) 633-8001, Fax: (858) 605-0247, classads@fmgpublications.com fMG EASt CoASt SALES: Sig Buchmayr, Buchmayr & Associates 28 Great Hill Rd., Darien, CT 06820; (203) 662-9740, sigbuch@optonllin.net. NAtioNAL ADvErtiSiNG: 12345 World Trade Dr., San Diego, CA, 92128; (866) 972-4545; Fax: (858) 605-0211; anita@shootingindustry.com www.americanhandgunner.com SuBSCriPtioN SErviCES: . (858) 605-0253 Express Service: www.americanhandgunner.com and click “contacts” EDitoriAL: . (858) 605-0243 e-mail: . editor@americanhandgunner.com ProDuCtioN: . (858) 605-0219 e-mail: . production@americanhandgunner.com BooKS/MErCHANDiSE: . (888) 732-2299 e-mail: . rachelle@fmgpublications.com General Counsel/Legal Affairs: . Steele N. Gillaspey e-mail: . sng@g-glaw.com CuStoMEr SErviCE ProDuCED iN tHE u.S.A. 6 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=7http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=72010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=8http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=8SPEAKOUT ACCURACY YOUR FORUM TO PONTIFICATE, PONDER AND PROBE Ijustfinishedreadinganarticleaboutaccuracy(“OnAccuracy,” the Insider, March/April2010).Ifyouwill please,tellRoy“thankyou.”IagreewithMr.Huntington’stake,andIgetalittlewearyreadinggunreviews andtheover-concentrationonjusthowtightagrouptheguncanproduce.Roy’seasytoread,refreshing attitudehelpspeoplelikemekeepfocusonwhat’sactuallyimportant. DickGilbert Columbia,TN And … more, and worrying less! You guys are Well hell, it’s about time somebody never afraid to go against the current! just came out and said it, and Roy did. Joseph Carber His Insider, on just how much accuVia e-mail racy do we really need, really helps to ground all of us. I’ve gotten caught up That one struck a chord, Joe. It seems in the, “But mine shoots 1.75" and I many of us get distracted with the minutia want it to be able to shoot 1.5"!” rat and forget we shoot for fun (mostly). If race; Roy’s article was like a bucket of your quest for accuracy is a hobby, or cold water over my head. Now, maybe goes with an accurate single shot pistol PACT_postxmas_09_fixed.pdf 12/16/08 9:04:18 AM I can concentrate on enjoying shooting for hunting, go for it. But if you have a commonly carried model handgun you use for personal protection, worry more about getting some training and learning to “run” the gun — and forget about “hair-splitting” accuracy quests. That’s not what it’s about. RH Jazzed On J-Frames Your article, by Massad Ayoob, on the J-frame S&W (“J! S&W’s Most Popular 8 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=9http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=9STOP THE THREAT TM Winchester® PDX1 410™ Ammunition For Personal Defense When it comes to the safety of you or your family, choose the shotshell load that delivers a threat-stopping combination of two distinct personal dfense technologies: PDX1 410™. Highly effective in both shotguns and 410 compatible handguns like the Taurus Judge®, the 410-gauge Supreme Elite® PDX1TM features a distinctive black hull and high-base head and combines three plated Defense DiscTM projectiles and 12 pellets of plated BB shot. The result is the ideal personal defense load for short range engagement with the performance needed to stop threats. STOP THE THREATTM www.winchester.com ©2010 Winchester Ammunition2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=10http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=10SPEAKOUT lu l il m N EW im pt f o th o i s en k. W m a Lu re 0 or b 6 1 ut o ® s ith 1 D w urn b R E t TL 4® L on’ C at w th um pe h rip er a (( R ST O )) E B ina tio n Handgun,” May/June 2010) has made many people on the Smith & Wesson forums very happy campers, indeed. I loved the article and I’m sure many others will express similar appreciation. Right now the two FMG publications, American Handgunner and GUNS Magazine, constitute the gold standard of American gun writing. In the last few years especially, you have all done great work. I hope you will continue to do so far into the future. Charles Hebble Via e-mail N EW 1s RL T e g. th min s i sa a re te tu cura a e t f ac ea for r ® s e g ht g -2 sam er si R s e L T ll th a la A ith w ith W And … (( R ST O )) E B What a great article, in the latest edition, about the S&W J-frame revolvers. These reliable companions have been around for a long time and are still very relevant, even in today’s high-tech, semiauto world. Thanks for the excellent work. Tim Kelly Newton, NC Glocken-Coverage New models TLR-1®s and TLR-2®s provide brighter light and strobe when you need it. ® ©2010 Streamlight, Inc. Ok, here’s my problem, guys. I’m a CCW holder, former military (just a swabbie, not some high speed low drag black ops guy), former Armored car guard, shooter, sometimes-martial artist and amateur sheepdog. All that being 1911#6 E! Ad_Half AH.indd 1 1911 said, I freely admit I like to buy and 10-SML-023 TLRE FamilyEverything 3/23/10 9:02:33 AM CATALOG read Handgunner in order to burnish FR my tough guy image. I often find myself Our Newest 1911 Catalog includes just what you need for building, maintaining and reading your mag in public, at a fast food shooting the most popular pistol in history. No rifle, shotgun, or “other pistol” stuff. joint or coffee or cigar shop. So how do I Packed with barrels, frames, slides, safeties, triggers, springs, grips, keep up the tough guy image when John and more, plus all the tools you need to install them. The highest Conner keeps making me cry in public? quality products from today’s most respected, custom 1911 suppliers. And, all the sights and scope mounts you’ll need for these fine pistols and The tale of the “Roaming Pony” the gear you need when you head to the range or field. (Guncrank, May/June 2010) is some of The Brands you know and trust: Ed Brown, Brownells, Caspian, Clark, his best work, and the fact that it’s a true Colt, Cylinder & Slide, EGW, Heinie, Hi-Viz, Kart, Kimber, Les Baer, story makes it that much better. I truly Masen, McCormick, Navidrex, Nighthawk Custom, Novak, Nowlin, love the synchronicity (not to get all new MGW, Milt Sparks, Pachmayr, Para-Ordnance, Rescomp, Safariland, Smith & Alexander, STI, Strayer Voigt, Trijicon, Truglo, age on you) of Roy and Terry Tussey (of Wilson Combat, Wolff, XS and lots more. Tussey Custom), coming to the same FREE to all 1911 enthusiasts. Discount pricing available. Everything we sell is 100% GUARANTEED - Period. conclusion at the same time — without discussing it. I guess you’re right, when Source Code: CJK 800-741-0015 brownells.com you’re dealing with good and honorable 30 Eagleville Road, Eagleville, PA 19403 800.523.7488 • www.streamlight.com/124 10 231.26901 Amer Handgunner JulyAug.indd 1 t ye . t, oz h 2 s ® rig .3 n -3 ely b nly 2 ndgun the R TL tens hs o re haght o sub ize. In eig o y li om ll s w its m an – fr fu F an et t to ls th ark pac de m m mo e. co P bl US aila av It has been a while since we’ve spoken, but I wanted to drop a note and say thanks for the recent Glock coverage by Ayoob (“Glock 22 RTF,” March/April 2010). It’s your willingness to report on all handgun models that makes Handgunner the best magazine in the industry. I eagerly look forward to future issues. Chris Hankins, BAT Instructor Black River Technical College Law Enforcement Training Academy Pocahontas, AR Connor Stuff WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010 3/19/10 1:48 PM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=11http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=112010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=12http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=12Get the edge Champion shooters like World and National tiltle holder Jerry Miculek choose HiViz sights. His Smith & Wesson is equipped with a HiViz, which he likes because of the quality construction and the brightness of the LitePipes that ensure quick target acquisition. Smith & Wesson thinks so too. So much so that they stock many models of their pistols with HiViz sights. If you own a Smith & Wesson, chances are HiViz has a sight that fits it. See your local dealer and get the edge the professionals have. SPEAKOUT men, “what goes around comes around.” I’m just glad it all came around for Connor’s dad. The last time Conner made me cry was, you guessed it, the story of Little Lizzie, which I have read enough times to give a decent paraphrasing of it when I’m asked why I carry. I would ask His Editorship to give you a raise, Conner, but stories that come from the heart like those two are priceless. I know I don’t have to tell you to keep up the good work. Keep moving forward, cause we’ve got your six. Matt Hooks Via e-mail Rat Patrol www.HIVIZSIGHTS.com 800-589-4315 S&W interchangeable sights available in three heights Take it from one of the leaders in the industry… “HiViz is one of my best kept shooting secrets! If you see me in competition I’ll always have a HiViz sight because it gives you a great contrast between the target and the front sight.” – Jerry Miculek, HiViz Pro Staff, Multi-time 3-Gun, IDPA, and Sportsman’s Team Challenge National Champion, 17-time IRC Champion, among others. EOTAC_Ad_March_Ver5:Layout 1 3/26/2010 10:30 AM Page 1 Don’t wear a Tuxedo to a gunfight. Be the Grey Man. Disappear. After reading Mike Venturino’s article (“The Ultimate 1911 Accoutrement,” March/April 2010), all I can say is: I hate you. Yes, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE you! What put me over the top was the restored 1943 Military Jeep — how can you be so cruel? Is your next article going to be a fully automatic machine gun (Rat-Patrol era) mounted in the back of your 1943 Jeep, driving along a dirt road with multiple stages of steel targets, randomly set up along the road? I can see where this is going. Well, you had better have a Web Blast to go with that next article, too. Keep up the good work. I must admit being most jealous of the Jeep. I would want to go groundhog hunting in the Jeep with my M1 Garand … but that’s a whole other story. P.S. I just renewed my subscription for three more years. Herman de Haan Via e-mail Commemorative Okay? EOTAC Discreet Carry…the next step in camouflage W W W. E O TA C . C O M 12 888-672-0303 Was wondering if any of you had ever actually fired a commemorative gun? Might they be dangerous, unreliable, inaccurate and short-lived? Would a pistol range allow you to shoot one? I’ve searched the Internet several ways and was unable to find any info. One guy on a forum said he was going to shoot one, but no result was posted. Maybe he can’t write anymore? I know about the resultant loss of value, don’t need any words about that. In a last ditch situation could one of these pricey guns actually save your life? Could they fire a magazine full if you needed ’em to? I am kinda looking for a real world answer from somebody who actually tried it. David Mehaffey Via e-mail Well, I can tell you the ones I’ve shot did fine. I don’t have any safe queens, and WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=13http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=13America’s Millionaire Patriot Wants YOU Armed and Trained! He’s Giving You a Free Springfield Armory XD Pistol When You Attend Professional Training! Front Sight Firearms Training Institute’s Founder and Director Dr. Ignatius Piazza Commits His Own Money to Help YOU Secure Front Sight’s Four Day Defensive Handgun, and One Day 30 State Concealed Weapon Permit Course! FREE GUNS ALMOST GONE! RESPOND TODAY TO GET YOURS… AmericA’s millionAire PAtriot Dr. IgnatIus PIazza FIVE DAYS OF TRAINING for Pennies-on-the-Dollar! PLUS (for those who act fast) America’s Millionaire Patriot Has Reserved a Brand New, FREE Springfield Armory XD Tactical Pistol in Your Choice of 9mm, .40SW or .45ACP. That’s Right! The Gun is FREE! So Don’t Hesitate on This Amazing Opportunity for AMERICAN HANDGUNNER Readers. Go to https://www.frontsight.com/free-gunah.asp for all the details to get your FREE Gun. Dr. Piazza Has Also Set Aside a FREE Holster, Magazine Pouches, Surefire Flashlight, SWAT Belt, Logo’d Stainless Steel Folding Knife, Armorer’s Mat, Front Sight Hat, Front Sight Shirt and the Entire Set of 7 Front Sight Dry Practice Training Manuals ALL FREE OF CHARGE If You Can Simply Act Fast and Go To: https://www.frontsight.com/free-gunah.asp All Totaled, You Get Over $4,000 in Amazing Value. It Can ALL Be Yours for Literally Pennies-on-the-Dollar. It’s Easy to Get! Go to: https://www.frontsight.com/free-gunah.asp TODAY! Grab YOUR FREE GUN Before It’s Gone! For your convenience, registration and delivery of your new Springfield XD pistol will be handled through the Local Federal Firearms Dealer of your choice. So make sure you take advantage of the Millionaire Patriot’s generosity before all the guns are spoken for! Time is Running Out! Thousands Are Already Securing the Professional Training Front Sight Offers and arranging for their FREE Gun to Be Shipped to Them! Find Out WHY America’s Millionaire Patriot is Willing to Train YOU for Pennies-on-the-Dollar and Give YOU a FREE Springfield Armory XD Tactical Pistol… (I’ll give you a hint WHY… It’s because he can! He leads the US firearms training industry by leaps and bounds and knows that once you attend a course at Front Sight, you will want to come back for more and will tell all your family and friends to come with you!) What are you waiting for? It’s Easy… Just Go To: https://www.frontsight.com/free-gunah.asp (Even America’s Millionaire Patriot has a limit to his generosity so don’t wait on this or you will miss the best course, gun and gear deal ever offered! Grab it before it is gone…) Don’t have time to take the 5 Day Handgun Course and get your Free Gun? Subscribe to Front Sight’s Free, e-mailed Gun Training Reports at www.FrontSight.com2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=14http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=14SPEAKOUT everything I own gets fired if I can find ammo for it. I’ve had a couple of Colt 1911 commemoratives, a single action one, a Winchester Model 94 and a pair of Ruger Super Single Sixes (Colorado commemoratives?), and they all worked just fine. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of them. They are offered as real firearms so the quality needs to be there. The biggest thing about the factory made “commemoratives” is they usually make too many of them to have any real value much beyond a standard model of the same gun, even though the initial selling price might be inflated a bit. The moral of the story is, if you like what you see, buy it, shoot it and enjoy it because you’ll almost always NOT end up with a collector gun “sure to increase in value.” I’d venture to say if you check out a neighborhood gun shop chances are good you’ll see various commemoratives gathering dust, with prices above a standard model. Once prices are lowered, they usually sell. But even then, it’s a crapshoot. After all, you have to find someone who really likes the phony “engraving” you often find, cheap “genuine gold” (or chrome!) plating, shiny spray stock finishes and other do-dads that um … uh … sometimes remind me of a pimp-mobile. Having said that, genuine, limited runs or editions, with high quality engraving, ivory or custom grips and obvious high quality often do, indeed, offer increased value. Shop www.gunbroker.com and/or use a value guide like the Blue Book of Gun Values and you’ll see both ends of the spectrum. RH .44 Special Stuff A good many years ago, I exchanged letters with John Taffin to the effect that when I about 13 years old, my Dad brought me to the NRA convention in New Orleans (that won’t happen nowadays!). While walking to the hotel it was being held in, we ran into three of my teenage years heroes. My dad proceeded to introduce himself and me to Elmer Keith, Bill Jordan and Skeeter Skelton. What impressed me was the fact all three treated me as an adult and answered all my questions on firearms. That was a special day I’ll never forget. Fast-forward to the early 1980s, and I read an article by Skeeter that S&W was bringing out a special run of the Model 24. I still don’t know how I managed it in a small south Louisiana town, but I got both the 6½" and the 4" model. With some shopping, I even found the Lew Horton 3" version. Can’t say I really liked that 3" gun, but I have always regretted letting those two other sixguns go. I’ve never forgot my dream, 14 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=15http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=15to one day own another .44 Special N-frame, and that dream finally came to pass today. At my favorite gun shop, I was told someone had traded in a S&W Model 24-4 Thunder Ranch Special with less than one box run through it! The price was more than fair so it came home with me. This one is going nowhere, and one day I’ll pass it down to one of my daughters or grandkid, if we get any! Could you extend my thanks to Clint for having a hand in S&W bringing back this fine wheelgun? And please thank John for helping keep the fire alive for .44 Specials, and kinda filling in where Skeeter left off, when he was called home. You folks keep up the great work. Best magazine out there, and I know because I’ve been reading it since issue #1. Keep your powder dry. Rick Holbert Baton Rouge, LA Centennial Safety To check a S&W Centennial (J-frame model) for high primers: unlatch the cylinder, move the cylinder back in to where the two inboard cartridges are in front of the recoil shield, pull backwards on the cylinder while rotating it through 5+1 rounds. You’re basically forcing the rounds to drag on the recoil shield. If any drag is felt, don’t include that cartridge in your carry or match ammunition. Better yet, lay a straight edge over the case head. This isn’t that much different than checking magazines and reloads for a Hi-Power match, or running handloads through the magazine of your rifle before going on that costly hunt. It’s a task that should be accomplished before loading up and riding out. David M. Croyle Georgetown, SC Broken Russian As a long time subscriber to American Handgunner (1978), I have enjoyed every issue and look forward to each new one. In January I corresponded with Alex Hamilton, who writes your Pistolsmithing column, about a problem I have with a S&W New Model 3 in 44 Russian. My uncle obtained this as an occupation officer in Japan after the WWII. The firing pin is broken and needs to be repaired, if possible. I think it was broken as a condition of returning home with it. Alex went beyond the normal by trying to find a new hammer (not!), or someone who would TIG-weld the firing pin to specs. We corresponded for several days, each time with a possible solution, but to no avail. He could have blown me off after the first e-mail and that would have been the end of it from his standpoint. He did not though, and tried many avenues to solve the problem. A 15 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=16http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=16SPEAKOUT big thank you to Alex and American Handgunner! Your publication is definitely the best. Oh, and I’m still looking for a solution! Fred Dover Via e-mail Fred, I’m not surprised to hear that about Alex at all. As a matter of fact, I’ve found most “gun people” are always quick to help one another out like that. I was wondering, if you’re not too concerned about originality, how about getting someone like Alex to drillout the old firing pin, fit a new length of material in and either silver solder it or simply use Accraglas or Epoxy to hold it. Then reshape and presto, working gun. RH into stuff, which I can send down range, was a joy to behold! Let’s not leave out John’s excellent verbiage on the subject, as we all hope he has possibly found a genre that deserves increased attention in the near future. More articles on the bullets and brass (powder/primers?) industry please! I would be remiss then, if I did not also say thank you too the dogged efforts of all ammo manufacturers, for their Herculean efforts in these trying days of supply and demand. John R. Blair, Jr. Cpl. USMC 1977-81 Rifle Team 1979 NRA Life Member Via e-mail Lady Love Sierra And Starline During this temporary shortage of ammo of any sort, it’s somehow reassuring to see and read about the bullets and brass industry in John Taffin’s article (“Sierra And Starline,” March/ April 2010)! A picture is worth a thousand words, and Roy’s photos of all those natural resources being turned I love your magazine. I read it — admittedly John Connor first, and then front to back — as soon as it comes in; then I go through it again to see if I missed anything. As a female shooter, I have no problem with the females in the advertisements, and I think any woman (or man) who writes in and complains about the women (how weird is that?) in your ads needs to get a life. As to the product reviews, they’re all good; some like one product some like another. I don’t get all hyped up and upset about 1911 reviews, or anything else you wish to tell us about. If I like it, fine, if not, let someone else like it. It’s all sweet to me. Your articles are not a “specific audience” requirement. The variety is great, and not everything is for everyone. If people want to get migraines from a product review not tailored to them, so be it. What I would love to see though, is a female shooter writing for your magazine. One who could encourage other females to shoot, talk about the ins-andouts of shooting competitions, how to buy a gun and even how to clean a gun and the basic equipment — or advanced equipment. We need to get going, and maybe start into competitions. When I go to the range, I see women shooting, but sometimes I see women without much guidance as to how to buy the right gun. For instance, when I went to the range today, I saw a woman who had purchased an inexpensive chromed semiauto, with a brand in which I was not familiar. Range personnel told her the gun may work, but also it may not. This is something that should not happen. Women need to have more info tailored to women, and we need to have it in a reliable source that includes us as part of the shooters’ world. May I request seeing that happen in your magazine, please? Please tell John Connor I hope he’s proven here. INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING CHAMPION DOUG KOENIG depends on Leupold’s DeltaPoint Reflex Sight for the accuracy he needs to bring home the hardware. ©2010 Leupold & Stevens, Inc.2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=17http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=17feeling better and I enjoy his articles. It’s scary, but his sense of humor is similar to mine and he makes me laugh out loud, almost every issue. Thanks for a great magazine. Wish it were monthly. Your “centerfolds” always makes me drool. Linda McKinney Via e-mail What a nice letter for me to get, and I appreciate your well-grounded take on things. I too am always surprised when I see a man write in to complain about attractive women in our pages. The “woman” shooter writer is always a problem. It’s hard to find one who will stick with it, and who has a broad range of knowledge and experience. Some (most?) are competitors, so they have a great deal of knowledge about competition and the guns and gear there, but that’s it. No “general” shooting experience or knowledge base to draw upon. Most have a husband or boyfriend who got them into the game, so their focus is very vertical in the competition area, or strictly turkey hunting, or trap shooting, for instance. However make sure you check out the article (“Where’s The Grease?”) by Shari LeGate in our May/ June 2010 issue. Shari is an accomplished, world-class shooter, and a new face with FMG. You’ll be seeing more of her work. But, my wife Suzi (recently retired San Diego cop/detective, shooter, hunter and editor of our American COP title) says it best: “I don’t need a woman to write about the things I need to know, I simply need someone (anyone) who knows their stuff to write about it. I don’t care if they are a man or a woman.” And she’s right. She hates a “woman’s only” class, of any sort, and always says, “Why should a woman’s expectations be any different than a man’s, when it comes to being taught?” And I think she has a very good point. The only time she may differ is when a man writes about a woman’s needs regarding holsters, etc. and it’s obvious he knows nothing about it. I would recommend you look at Women And Guns (www.womenshooters.com). It’s a smaller magazine, but offers solid advice geared toward women shooters. RH radio, none of the resources available to officers, there is no place for non-lethal weapons, in a lethal situation. A gun (or two guns) is the only survival answer for the lone private citizen. My thanks, for the years of good reading. Don Chambers Campbell, CA Ayoob Files I read Massad Ayoob’s article (“The Okaloosa County Cop Killings,” Ayoob Files, May/June 2010), then reread it. For uniformed officers, I don’t know what they could have done differently, and wouldn’t presume to offer. As a private citizen, there seems to be a lesson. For a citizen, with no cover/backup, no I have a commercial government model stamped inside the slide on the flat: “A.D. Swenson Gardena, Calif.” along with the last two digits of the frame serial number engraved just behind the stamping. This stamp is very small and precise. Notice spelling in my gun is “Gardena” not Gardenia. I became familiar with Mr. Swenson’s work in the early 1970s and eventually acquired mine in the early 1980s. Ever since I started reading about his work, I’ve learned a few things about him. He didn’t squeeze slides. He bought new Colts, fitted the slides to the frames, keeping the best fits for his accurized guns, and sold the other as stock guns. I’d heard he believed squeezing stressed slides, and wouldn’t do it. Could it be that engraving the S/N in the slide kept the slide he wanted with the frame, or was it to just keep multiple Swenson trusted here. The all-new Deltapoint. Faster target acquisition so you can protect what's yours. TM 26mm Trophies. Property. Family. No matter what’s at stake, count on Leupold‘s DeltaPoint Reflex Sight for quick, always-on-the-mark TM accuracy. From the company that pioneered red dot technology comes a 22% larger field of view, two reticle options, and the edge-to-edge clarity of an exclusive aspheric lens. For versatility, the DeltaPoint kit provides 11 mounts that fit most popular handguns, as well as Weaver/Picatinny rails and bases. DeltaPoint: buil2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=18http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=18USA PROUD ©2010 0 B E N C H MA D E KN I F E CO. C O. OR E GON C I TY, T Y, OR , US A . B E N C H MA D E . C O M SPEAKOUT guns separate; I don’t know. My gun does not have the “barrel positioner.” My built-up barrel looks more like John Harrison’s custom gun than on the picture of the original on page 49 (“A Swenson Tribute Gun,” March/April 2010). Even after all these years of shooting, it still requires a barrel wrench to remove the bushing. My gun’s rear sight slot is welded, and then re-contoured, before the S&W site installation machining took place. Everything else is the same as on your Swenson. One more thing I have remembered over all these years is is that he kept one of his .45s by his shooting bench. He shot 200 gr. H&G bullets over 7.5 of Unique. His gun at the time I heard about it had 50,000-recorded rounds through it. He would shoot the new rebuild alongside his gun, and if the new one could not match his, it didn’t leave the shop. I do suppose his work progressed over the years, and changes were made, but this is the one gun that never leaves the family. Larry Ferek New Salem, PA 7 4 1 O N S L A U G H T™ a thing of beauty I would have to agree with Mr. Anderson’s assessment (Winning Edge, May/June, 2010), that using a single plane sight system makes it easier to hit your target than using iron sights. The same would hold true for putting a bullet into the black at 100 yards using a rifle with optics instead of the iron sights. I have a red dot system on a couple of my fun guns, but not my daily carry one. What I don’t understand though, is his statement: “With dot sights there’s no need to align three objects (rear sight, front sight and target) all at different ranges. Just place the dot on target and make the trigger break you’ve worked so hard to develop.” What’s “. all at different ranges” supposed to mean? He also alluded to that in his opening statement. Is talking about bullet drop? If he is talking about bullet drop, does having a red dot sight on a gun keep that bullet from dropping at the same rate as with iron sights? I’m confused! Anyway, I’m not sure I want to take the time to find that dot when shooting at five feet, anymore than I would take the time to align my sights. Can you help? Bob Wright Via e-mail I think Dave is talking about the fact with a red-dot type sight, our aged-eyes don’t have to try to focus on three different planes at the same time (rear sight, front WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010 Red Dot CCW CONTOURED G1 0 H A N D L E AXIS® LO CK 182010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=19http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=19sight and target). With a dot sight, the red dot “magically” seems to float on the same plane as the target. So, your eyes only need to focus on one plane, and you can keep them both open easily. And I agree in a close-in fight, I doubt anyone will focus on sights, but you’ll lose if you don’t at least “index” them and apply careful trigger control! Make it a point to read my Insider column (May/June 2010) for a few tips on trigger control. RH My Handgunner came today. I really like the Fletcher Custom CCW 1911 (Handgun of the Month, May/June 2010) but I’m a bit concerned with its 404.25 lbs trigger! Think you should fix that before you give it away? Charlie Via e-mail Charlie, in our on-going quest to make sure our giveaway guns are always safe, we’ve instituted a policy of trigger pulls of at least 400 pounds. So, as you can see, Fletcher’s talents have delivered a pull within a couple of pounds of our goal. We think that’s a terrific skill, and certainly something to be proud of. Okay, just kidding. How about it should be a 4.25 lbs pull? Sorry Mr. Fletcher! RH Heavy Pull I’ve been on the Internet and catalogs for days and my head is spinning from information overload and I still can’t find the answer I need. I finally bought one of those Para GI Experts and I really like it, but it shoots really low. They have the dot front sight so I can’t file it down and make it look like anything. Plus, I don’t think it would even be enough. So the answer seems to be an adjustable rear sight and here’s where things get complicated. Para doesn’t make one to fit, but Para says it has a .375" x 30-degree dovetail cut and a sight should be easy to find. I found adjustable sights at Brownells and Dawson Precision as Para suggested, and they had sights listed for Para-Ordinance and Springfield but didn’t say which Para model, and didn’t give the cut size. On the Internet forums they say the Para GI Expert has the same cut as the Colt 1911A1 (the GI is kind of a clone), but NATCHEZ catalog has some “XS Express Big Dot Sights” listed (just for reference) for the Colt 1911 and the Springfield 1911A1 with two different item numbers, as in different sizes? If I could just figure out what popular pistol has the same rear cut I could order an adjustable rear sight that fits mine. I thought if anyone knew the dovetail cut size of the original Colt 1911 it’s Continued on page 101 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 19 Sight Savvy2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=20http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=20massad Ayoob Shot From AmbuSh, returning Fire: the JAred reSton incident Situation: Aseeminglyroutinearrestturnsintoadeadly “hastyambush,”andyouareshot intheface atpointblankrangewitha.45automatic… Lessons: Courage,determinationtoprevail,andtraining plusskillarewhatwillgetyouthroughwhen you’vebeenshot. On January 26, 2008, Jared Reston was approaching his 30th birthday and had served about six years in the organization known as Office of the Sheriff/Jacksonville Police.It’sacombinedcounty/municipal“metro”lawenforcementagencyservingacommunityinwhichsometimeagosurpassedMiamias,statistically,themostviolentcityin Florida.Duringeveninghours,Restonwasworkinginfullpoliceuniformonhissecond job,Department-approvedsecurityattheBelkdepartmentstoreinRegencySquareMall, apopular“workingclass”shoppingcenterinJacksonville. Reston and his partner, Officer Chris Brown, were notified of a shoplifter trying to exitthemall,acombativewhitemale.BrownandRestonrantoassist.Thesuspectwas quicklyrestrainedandtakenintocustody.Theofficersweretoldtherewasanothersuspect,ablackmale,whohadn’tbeencaughtyet.Theyspottedhimabout50yardsaway acrosstheparkinglot. Restonwouldrememberlater,“Hesawmeseehim.”Thesuspectran,straightacross an expressway. Reston and Brown gave chase on foot. Reston later recalled, harkening back to an old video game, “We were doing a little bit of Frogger going through the traffic.Itwasabout7o’clock,notpackedbutgoodandbusy.” Thefootchasewasalongone:hundredsofyards.Investigatorslaterdetermineditto have gone roughly a quarter of a mile, into another shopping center. During the marathonfootpursuit,theyoungmalesuspectwaslookingoverhisshoulderattheofficers, whowereclosingthegap.Reston—abitoversixfeetandtwohundredpounds—wasa physicalfitnessenthusiastwhoworkedoutconstantly,anddidnotatthemomentrealize hehadgainedmoredistancethanhispartner. Thesuspectmadeitaroundacorner,andsloweddowntoawalk.ItseemedtoReston as he grew closer his quarry was tiring, and also was trying to act nonchalant, so as nottodrawattentiontohimself.“WhenIsawhiskneeswobblealittleandslowdown,I increasedmypace,”Restonwouldrememberlater.“Wethoughtwewereonlystoppinga shopliftingsuspectresistingarrest,anddidn’tthinkitwasgoingtobethatbad.” As the suspect slowed his pace, Reston stopped 15 feet away from him with his X26 TASER drawn. Reston identified himself as a police officer, and commanded, “Stop running! It’s all over!”The stocky young suspect, dressed in black jeans and black “hoodie” raised his hands in the air, walked backward without stopping still … then turned and ran.Restongavechaseandshoutedhewould“TASE”himifhedidn’tstop.Itdidn’twork, sotheofficerraisedtheelectronicrestraintdevice,activatedit,andpulledthetrigger. Butitdidn’t“fire.”Therewasnotimetothinkaboutwhathadgonewrong;RestonholsteredtheTASER,andsprintedtocatchupwiththesuspect,to“gohandson.” Continued on page 74 20 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=21http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=212010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=22http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=22COPTALK Massad Ayoob . resulting in unitended discharge. We keep our trigger fingers in register on the frames even in gunpoint situations, because . OPINION AND FACTS FROM THE MEAN STREETS . if the finger is on the trigger, any of several stimuli can cause a muscular convulsion . Pistol is Springfield Armory XD45 ACP Tactical with SureFire X200 light. hen I was a young puppy with a shiny new badge, we were taught to have our fingers on the trigger if danger beckoned. Heck, if we were going to need to shoot, we’d need to shoot quickly, right? Back in the day, a great many duty holsters and concealment scabbards alike were cut to expose the trigger guard so that the “booger hook” could get on the “bang switch” all the sooner. But one officer would shoot himself in the butt on the draw when his trigger finger got faster than the rest of his hand; and one more would accidentally shoot a surrendered suspect when he was startled; and another would plug the dashboard with his prematurely drawn gun when his partner stopped the patrol car more suddenly than expected in a hairy situation. The time came when America’s Of Fingers And Triggers W police standardized on a doctrine of keep your finger out of the trigger guard and “in register” on the frame until you are intentionally firing the weapon. Sometimes, the dictum wasn’t worded as well as it could have been. It’s not, “finger on trigger when you’re ready to shoot.” Hell, in at least one sense, we should be “ready to shoot” any time we strap the damn thing on. Some used the phrase “on target, on trigger; off target, off trigger.” Fine for the range, but a cop (or armed citizen, for that matter) taking a criminal at gunpoint was on target both semantically and psychologically, and therefore tended to go on trigger, setting the stage for an unintentional shooting all over again. In my own teaching, I tightened the rule to: the finger will be outside the trigger guard unless and until you are in the very act of intentionally firing the weapon. The rationale for keeping the finger outside the guard is one that has been written in blood and tragedy — good guys and unarmed, surrendering bad guys alike, shot and sometimes killed or permanently crippled, when they shouldn’t have been. Careers destroyed. Charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide filed. Massive lawsuits. The pioneering work of physiologist Roger Enoka showed the unintentional discharge with finger on trigger could happen in many ways. Inter-limb response: when one hand tightens, the other sympathetically tightens with it. Startle response: the flexor muscles in our hands tighten when something startles us. Postural disturbance: when we lose our balance or slip and fall, our hands reflexively clutch. hat we give up when we keep the finger “in register” on the drawn gun is a very tiny sliver of time. Veteran trainer Manny Kapelsohn proved it many years ago. Retired cop Lance Biddle, now active in IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Associaton, www.idpa. com), proved it yet again in November ’09 at one of the creative and educational matches he runs monthly at The Gun Shop in Leesburg, Florida. When Lance was told by recent graduates of two different police academies they’d been taught to take suspects at gunpoint with fingers on triggers, he went back to an object lesson he had been teaching for many, many years. Biddle created a match stage with multiple strings of fire, all electronically timed. Half the time the shooter began on target with trigger finger on frame, and half the time on target with the finger actually on the trigger. They were instructed to fire “on the beep,” and their times were meticulously recorded. A third of the firing was headshots, the rest aimed at the torso, but all shot at five yards. The results? With relatively precise headshots, the average time to get one shot on target was 0.437 seconds, with finger starting on trigger. Biddle’s group recorded a low of 0.21 and a high of 1.24 seconds amo2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=23http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=23SR9c Ruger SR9c Pistol 9mm Luger ® ™ THE COMPACT ™ “The SR9c obstinately refused to malfunction.” Patrick Sweeney, Guns & Ammo Ruger LCP Pistol .380 Auto ® ™ LCP LCR THE REVOLUTIONARY THE ULTRALIGHT AND COMPACT ™ “The LCP seems right on target for today’s personal protection needs.” 2008 Handgun of the Year Dennis Adler, Combat Handguns Magazine Ruger ® LCR™ .38 SPL+P ™ 2009 Handgun of the Year “Rewrites the small-frame revolver book.” Roy Huntington, American Handgunner Magazine WWW.RUGER.COM/COMPACTS ©2010 Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. VISIT W W W . R U G E R. C O M / S A F E T Y FOR L C P™ R E C A L L INFORMATION 0226102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=24http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=24SHOOTINGIRON Mike “Duke” Venturino Drift adjustable front sights, such as found on Duke’s German Luger and German P38, are moved in the opposite direction to where you want the bullet to impact. Note both of these are a bit off-center after Duke zeroed the pistols. TM Photos: Yvonne Venturino THUMB BUSTIN’ MUSINGS FROM THE DUKE Duke’s Luger hit left of center, so the front sight was moved to the left. Sighting-in SecretS O ne of the most frustrating experiences I had as a fledgling gun’riter was caused by a nitwit editor. He rejected an article of mine about sighting in fixed sight handguns saying, “It’s no big deal to hold off.” If you actually want to hit something with a handgun, yes it definitely is a “big deal” to have it sighted in. Later after I gained a “name” that same editor wrote me asking for articles. I threw his letters in the trash. All handguns should be sighted in to hit point of aim at some distance determined by its owner and its specific purpose. Personally I use 50' for mine, and here’s a tip: sight them in by shooting them in the manner in which they are likely to be used. That is one handed, two handed, or however. Quite often a handgun sighted in from a solid sandbag rest will have a different point of impact when fired unsupported. Handguns with adjustable rear sights are sublimely simple; merely move the rear sight in the direction you want the point of impact to move. Say the handgun’s point of impact is to the right. Then move the rear sight to the left. If it is hitting low just raise the rear sight. It’s no more difficult than being able to manipulate a screwdriver. he next level of complication is sights that are what I call “semi-adjustable.” With my current fiddling with World War II handguns I’ve run into a few of these. The German Luger makes a fine example here. Its rear sight is a simple blade mounted on the toggle. Into it is cut a V-shaped notch. There is nothing remotely adjustable about that rear sight. BUT, the front sight blade is dovetailed into a barrel stud near the muzzle. My personal Luger hit right on for elevation at 50' with 115 grain FMJ factory loads but it printed several inches left at that distance. No problem there either. I put the Luger in a padded vise, took a small brass punch and whacked its sight blade in the dovetail so it was left of center. That brought point of impact to the right and so now it’s sighted in. And I can shoot it pretty darn good even if I do say so myself. Now let’s carry things one step further. After buying the Luger I just had to have a German P38 as well. Those clever Germans also saw fit with that model to put the front sight blade in a stud near the muzzle. My “new” P38 not only printed left but shot way low too. I prevailed on my gunsmith buddy Tom Sargis (28 Lake Drive, Livingston, MT 59047) to order in a small array of P38 sight blades from Numrich Arms. We picked out one that looked substantially lower than the issue sight, and dovetailed it in so it set slightly left of center. Bingo! After our first attempt some shooting showed the P38 now hit right on at 50', again with 115 grain FMJ factory loads. T sorta’ Adjustable 1911 Foibles U Screw adjustable rear sights such as this are a no-brainer. Simply move the rear sight blade in the direction you want the bullets to move. S Army Ordnance officers were not as smart as the Germans when developing the US Model 1911 and Model 1911A1. On those pistols the rear sight is dovetailed into the slide and drift adjustable for windage. However, the front sight is a tiny blade staked into the slide. It cannot be easily replaced with a higher or lower one, as the case may be. Unless you are a talented gunsmith the elevation you get with an issue 1911 is what you must live with. There’s an “unless” that can go with that last statement. Elevation in handguns can be manipulated to a modest degree with ammunition. Simple physics cause the following: heavy bullets impact higher than lighter bullets with a2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=25http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=25The Team Match II™ is chambered in both .45 ACP & 9mm. Slide & frame are machined from stainless steel to exacting dimensions. Heavy Medal Kimber. The Choice of the USA Shooting Team. Team Match II pistols feature an adjustable sight with positive steel-on-steel clicks for match-winning accuracy, ambidextrous thumb safety & Premium Aluminum Trigger™ that breaks clean at 4-5 pounds. USA Shooting Team logo grips, 30 lines-per-inch front strap checkering, beavertail grip safety & extended magazine well have a striking appearance and speed operation. www.kimberamerica.com For information on products and dealer locations please send $2 to: Kimber, Dept. 278 One Lawton Street, Yonkers, NY 10705 Information is also available at (800) 880-2418 The Choice of America’s Best. ©2010 Kimber Mfg., Inc. All rights reserved. Kimber names, logos and other trademarks may not be used without permission. Names of other companies, products and services may be the property of their respective owners. Kimber firearms are shipped with an instructional manual and California-approved cable lock. Copy of instruction manual available by request.2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=26http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=26John Connor GUNCRANKDIARIES TM EXCUSES, ALIBIS, PITHY OBSERVATIONS & GENERAL EPHUS Because crazy is the new “smart.” protruding splintered bones? Thugs and suicide bombers soaked in stimulants and painkillers are already epidemic in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We had all had to shoot some whacko right down to the deck and keep shootin’ ’till his clothes caught fire; delivered guaranteed-fatal wounds on loony-goons who were clinically dead but hadn’t got the telegram. “Jeez,” Canfield muttered, “We’ve been fighting zombies for years and … and it’s gettin’ worse all the time.” They all looked at those targets a little differently then. Oh, they were still funny in a silly laugh-your-butt-off way, but as the guys thought more about the protozombies in their pasts — and the more they mused on What’s next? from the rapidly-mutating, intertwining worlds of drugs, pathogens and social psychoses, those targets got “funny” in a dark, slittyeyed black-chucklin’ way … Chuck, Bob and Steve — you’ve seen ‘em on the street, right? I broke out some of Joe Quinlan’s Just a buncha regular guys when Zombie Targets and got exactly the blastin’ targets and battin’ reaction I expected. the breeze. I’d guess that’s what They Already Knew ’Em . others saw on a crunchy-cold day at the Rat Canyon Range. I dunno; maybe they could sense something different in our gimpy movements, stiff with old wounds. Under the heavy clothes they couldn’t see the tapestries of scars. “What a bunch,” I thought; “Brokedown ex-cops, an’ shot-up old soldiers — with four outta six of us gettin’ it both ways.” I guessed between us, we had enough metal, plastic and scar tissue to make a whole ’nother dude. But it was good just to have us all together in one place — and cool that in this group, I qualify to be called “the kid.” During breaks in the range-house warming frozie-fingers around the woodstove, naturally we yakked about Been & Done stuff. I figured we had worked, fought, operated on about every sizeable land mass except Madagascar and Antarctica, and scrapped with everybody from the Soviet Army to Sendero Luminoso; the Pathet Lao to the PLO, plus domestic dirtbags and miscellaneous multi-national mutts. “We prob’ly killed more men than smallpox,” Uncle G observed kinda pensively, creaking on his artificial knees and massaging the hand pierced by a ChiCom burp-gun slug on the Yalu in ’51. “Well, they all needed killin’, didn’t they?” MacKenzie chirped brightly. Uncle G laughed then, but the group had gone quiet, seeing old sights, old fights inside their eyes … They were bored, too. The actionshooting bays were under repair, so we’d just been bustin’ bullseyes. That’s 26 “Hey!” Van Zyl chortled, “I know these guys! I fought them in Congo!” The others agreed. “San Diego, below Broadway after midnight, these ghouls come outta the gutters,” said Uncle John. “I think they eat winos and runaways.” “Nah,” Canfield cracked, “Them’re Somali skinnies for sure; right outta Mogadishu; just cleaner. They take a lotta killin’.” Everybody had their own tale and place, from Baltimore to Basra. But Zombie goes beyond ugly … The guys knew a little about zombies, but after meeting Joe, who was a zombie-movie freak as a kid, I actually did some readin’: The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, both by Max Brooks, leading authority on the Living Dead. I explained — they have no fear, feel no pain; the only way to slow them down or stop ’em is by bustin’ structure; spine, shoulders, hips, knees; and the only way to kill ’em is by destroying the brain. Otherwise, they just keep comin’ and they will kill you. Then it hit them. “Wait,” said VZ. “Seriously, we have fought these guys.” It’s true. We’d fought people stoned outta their skulls on everything from khat to crack, hash to meth; wild-eyed religious fanaticism to Wild Turkey with an LSD chaser. And who’s more dangerous than a scumbag so brain-fried on PCP he’d snap the links of handcuffs, fracturing his wrists in the process, a2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=27http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=27GENTLEMAN’S TACTICAL FOLDER • Stainless steel frame lock build. • Fast flipper opening action. • IKBS internal ball-bearing pivot system. • Titanium nitride black or blue coating. • Acuto+ stainless steel blade. • Available in two sizes. K405BXP Columbia River Knife & Tool Ripple 1/3 page Vertical Ad, 2.125 x 9.5” CMYK www.crkt.com 12/9/09 10:58:15 AM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=28http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=28BETTERSHOOTING Dave Anderson Reliability Resolutions Even with a high quality pistol such as this FNP .45 the first couple hundred rounds will smooth up operating components as the parts cycle. i t concerns me to read of customers having reliability problems with new handguns. I handle quite a few new handguns every year. Test guns for articles and others bought for personal use. I rarely encounter reliability problems. There seems to be a suspicion magazines get specially prepared and tested samples. It’s ego pleasing to think of a factory preparing a “special” just for me, with everyone from the company president to the file clerk fretting over the test gun, and anxiously awaiting for the article to appear. In reality it’s more like this: I send my request and FFL to the media contact of a company. The media person sends a note to whoever handles shipping saying “send a SKU#44756-A2/3L to this FFL on a 90-day consignment.” The president has never heard of me; most likely the file clerk hasn’t either. Nonetheless these standard production guns generally function reliably. One reason is most handguns these days are pretty good. Modern CNC manufacturing makes for close tolerances and good parts fit. The other reason is I give them a chance to work. hen un-boxing a new gun I first check it’s the model I requested, and all the parts and accessories listed in the instruction manual are present. Then I’ll fieldstrip the pistol, wipe it down with a soft cleaning cloth and run a few patches through to ensure the chamber and bore are clean. Some guns arrive dry, others arrive practically swimming in oil. Disassembly and cleaning provides an opportunity to examine internal machining and parts fit and start forming impressions of quality of workmanship. Before reassembling, I lube the gun, usually using some form of gun grease (e.g. Montana Extreme, Wilson Ultima Lube, Brian Enos’ Slide Glide, etc.). During extended shooting sessions I generally apply a bit of lube every 250 or so rounds. Check the Web Blast feature at American Handgunner online for a video of how I apply lube to a 1911 style pistol. Of course the procedure may differ a bit for other designs, but I do want lube on operating components such as frame/slide rails and locking lugs. With autopistols, number each magazine for identification (a marking pen works fine). If the maker includes extra magazines with the gun I’ll use those. If not, I’ll use spares I have available (of known reliability). An autopistol needs at least one extra magazine, and two is better. A Fighting Chance W Shown here is Federal’s American Eagle brand and “blue box” remanufactured loads from Black Hills — excellent quality and great value. Handguns are (left) Ed Brown Massad Ayoob Signature Model .45 and (right) Springfield Armory EMP 9mm. Holster is by Milt Sparks. t the range I start out using factory ball ammunition, loaded with FMJ-round nose bullets. Freshly machined steel has microscopic (sometimes not so microscopic) burrs and imperfections from the machining process. It’s similar to a new automobile engine and transmission. It needs a bit of use to smooth-up parts’ fit. And use a solid shooting stance, with no limp-wristing, as that can contribute to malfunctions. Ammunition isn’t cheap, and I appreciate the temptation for handloaders to use their reloads. I know you and I are competent handloaders, but the manufacturer doesn’t. Makers also know there are a lot of handloaders who aren’t quite as good as they think. Protect the investment you’ve made in a new handgun by investing in a couple of boxes of FMJ factory loads from a reputable maker, not some gun-show cheap reloads. Often ball ammunition from major makers is considerably cheaper than high performance defensive ammo. I’ll fire at least a few groups over a sandbag rest for accuracy testing. I admit I also rip off a few mags at close-range targets. I like shooting fast. If the first 50 rounds are trouble-free I’ll switch to factory lo2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=29http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=29Khaki Digital Foliage Camo Khaki Main compartment and hydration compartment can accept CCW accessories #0431 SITKATM GEARSLINGERTM NEW Main compartment and hydration compartment can accept CCW accessories #0432 KODIAKTM GEARSLINGERTM NEW Khaki Foliage Green Digital Foliage Camo Foliage Green Black #MX0413 S-TYPE JUMBOTM #MX0412 JUMBOTM Better for left-side carry Better for right-side carry Khaki2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=30http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=30PISTOLSMITHING Alex Hamilton FAMCO’s “Colt” cylinders have made caliber conversions more affordable for the average shooter. THE INSIDE SCOOP ON PISTOLSMITHING TECHNIQUES CALIBER CONVERSIONS And A New Kid On The Block C aliber conversions have always been popular with shooters. The most popular conversion I would guess would be machining a .45 ACP cylinder for a .45 Colt or Ruger single action. There are other conversions, such as converting Blackhawks to .218 Bee, or .38 specials to shoot 9mm, and many more. These conversions, especially ones requiring machining a cylinder from scratch, such as a .30 carbine or an off-the-wall wildcat, are expensive. They start at around $1,100, so you gotta really want it. Simple conversions where the barrel does not have to be changed, like reaming a .357 cylinder to shoot .44 special in your .44-40, start at around $650 and go up rapidly. Most expensive caliber conversions do not add any real value to your revolver. When you spend $1,100 turning a .357 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk into a .44 WCF (.44-40) all you have is a Ruger Blackhawk chambered in 44 WCF. What you have for a possible future sale is a Ruger Blackhawk in .44 WCF worth what you originally paid. Ideally, what you want is to have your conversion completed the very cheapest way possible so you can have your fun and not have to worry about blowing your wife’s inheritance. Cheaper Is Good A FAMCO’s elegant Hi-Power frame and slide duo is made to tighter tolerances than factory. Alex wishes they made the Beavertail more upturned and elegant. new kid on the block, FAMCO — and hopefully a rising star in the firearms industry — will help you with your caliber conversions, and will do it for any revolver for a flat fee of $500. If you have a Ruger Vaquero or Blackhawk, any S&W, Taurus, or any other revolving contraption, Florida Arms Manufacturing Co. (FAMCO) headed up by Jim KinkopfPresident, Gared Von Benecke- VP, and Stan Meacham- VP of Manufacturing, will make the cylinder for you for $500. If you would hire me or another custom gunsmith to make a cylinder for your beloved revolver the cost will be around $1,100 and up. Either way, you gotta’ “really want” the conversion. All three FAMCO men have experience ranging from metallurgy, tool design, business, mechanical engineering, weapons engineering and firearms production. If you do not have an interest in caliber conversions, but would just like to replace a worn or damaged stainless, carbon steel or titanium cylinder, Florida Arms can make that for you too. Their fluted or non-fluted stainless steel cylinders are made from properly heat treated 17-4 PH stainless, a firearms industry standard, and their carbon steel ones cut from 4140 tool steel. Another product FAMCO creates is a “tight” frame and slide set for the Browning Hi-Power pistol. The set shown has a slide cut from 17-4 PH stainless and a receiver machined from 4140 tool steel. These major parts are manufactured from a solid piece of billet steel and machined on new, CNC machining centers to exacting, close tolerances. Original Hi-Power parts begin life as castings. As you can see, an extended beavertail is machined into the rear of the frame, which eliminates the infamous HiPower hammer bite. I personally do not like the shape of the FAMCO beavertail and would prefer it to be a little shorter and have a stylish upswing in the rear similar to the custom 1911 beavertail. When I weld a beavertail on a HP frame I always like to add a little style by sweeping it up in the rear and bringing it to a rounded point. nother area that should be improved is the front of the frame grip. The corners and front of the grip could use about .035" more metal so the grip could be checkered, fish-scaled or stippled without cutting through or denting the inside of the magwell. I have always thought, “If you are going to build an existing product design, you might as well make it better,” and although the John Browning’s Hi-Power is a near perfe2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=31http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=31MEPROLIGHT. The right sight in any light. Meprolight night sight systems are 20% brighter than other brands and backed by the strongest warranty in the business. Fixed and adjustable sets are available tactical shotguns. Different color combinations are offered for some are minor. A complete selection of Meprolight night ® sights and optical sights are available from Kimber. Meprolight. If you can see the target, you can see your sights. Available from Kimber, Dept. 275 One Lawton Street, Yonkers, NY 10705 (800) 880-2418 www.kimberamerica.com Kimber and Kimber of America are registered trademarks of Kimber Mfg., Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies. © 2010 Kimber Mfg., Inc. ®2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=32http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=32THE SIXGUNNER John Taffin Groups shot by Taffin indoors are still more than acceptable even though he was handicapped by poor lighting. Mastodons Oh to be young again! Target shot with the .510 GNR by Kase Reeder. Reeder Custom Guns Mastadons: Two-Tone .510 GNR and satin stainless .455 GNR. The Return Of The T Boomers in the early 1970s, .44 Magnums from both Smith & Wesson and Ruger were easy to find. In fact it was not that unusual to find a like new specimen for sale with a box of cartridges with 44 rounds left. In those days when the .357 Magnum and .45 ACP were considered extremely powerful weapons, the .44 Magnum was more than many could handle. Then came Dirty Harry and those who had never even shot a gun suddenly wanted a .44 Magnum. The demand was incredible, with Smith & Wesson working around the clock trying to supply the imagined need. I was one of the fortunate ones having purchased my Ruger .44 Blackhawk in the 1950s, and my Super Blackhawk as well as both a 4" and 61/2" Smith & Wesson in the early 1960s. Something had to be done to relieve the demand and that something was the Ruger Redhawk. Arriving in 1979, the Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum was stronger than any double action sixgun ever offered, and I still regard Reeder Big The .455 GNR and .510 GNR. here was a time when elephants roamed North America. Mastodons had tusks up to 15' in length and were found in Africa, Europe and both North and South America. The woolly mammoth had longer and shaggier hair with tusks up to 13'. This creature was a cold-weather animal found mostly in Siberia and Alaska. Both the mammoth and the mastodon disappeared 10,000 to 11,000 years ago and both for the same reasons — climate change and hunting pressure. We definitely know it was not man-made global warming that killed them off! If elephant hunting today is the ultimate hunting experience imagine going after one of these prehistoric creatures with nothing but a spear. The mastodon may have disappeared over 10,000 years ago, however it has now been resurrected, but I’m getting ahead of the story. From early 1956 until the arrival of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies Mongolian stag grips on the reconfigured Redhawk grip the frame of the Mastadons. it as a brute of a weapon — sturdier than the Smith & Wesson and Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnums. I don’t believe it’s possible to make a stronger double action revolver, which is at the same time portable and pack-able. Modern Mastodons .44 Magnum Mania 32 Now we’ve taken the long way around the barn talking about elephants and Redhawks so let’s pull it all together. Gary Reeder of Reeder Custom Guns, has long offered custom Continued on page 91 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=33http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=33New Loads for 2010! A stunning breakthrough in personal defense ammunition design. • The patented FTX® bullet will expand reliably EVERY SINGLE TIME! • Optimized propellants burn quickly, reduce recoil and limit muzzle flash to protect night vision. • Shiny nickel cases resist tarnish and greatly enhance low-light chamber checks. Concealed carry and personal defense ammunition is redefined with the introduction of Hornady Critical Defense ammunition. You may have never thought about the effects of fabric and clothing on the performance of personal defense ammo. But clothing — especially heavy clothing — has a lot to do with how the bullet expands upon impact. Conventional hollow point bullets clog with fibers and fabric as they pass through clothing which diminishes expansion and causes unreliable bullet performance. Hornady Critical Defense ammunition eliminates clogging with the use of their patented Flex Tip® bullet. Upon entering soft tissue, the tip swells and imparts equal pressure across the entire circumference of the bullet cavity. The result is UNRIVALED bullet expansion and performance EVERY SINGLE TIME! Flex Tip ® technology guarantees 100% reliable performance in every situation. Hornady Critical Defense ammunition is available in these calibers: • 380 Auto • 38 Special • 38 Special +P • 9mm Luger Conventional hollow point bullets perform unreliably when encountering heavy fabric or layers of clothing. ! NEW For 2010 • 357 Mag • 12 ga 00 Buckshot • 40 S&W • 45 Auto PO Box 1848 Grand Island, NE 68802 308-382-1390 www.hornady.com2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=34http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=34CARRYOPTIONS Sammy Reese FROM CLASSICS TO CUTTING EDGE IN CARRY METHODS Grizzle’s Countryboy GrIzzle leatHer r Hard Working Country Boy I ’ll never forget the first time I heard the expression “When the Corps gives you a big bag of lemons you can either make lemonade or let ’em rot. The choice is yours.” The grungy old Mustang Captain continued, “Sometimes you get planted in fertile soil, other times you get planted in 29 Palms. I say grow in the rocks like a weed and piss ’em off.” Captain “F” was on a roll and a few beers deep, as well. I was a boot 2nd Lieutenant, so I just kept my mouth shut and my ears open and made sure the boss didn’t run out of beer. These words of wisdom have been rattling around in my head for almost 18 years. I’ve even passed them on to a few buddies when they found themselves in a position they really didn’t want to be in. I told the above story so I could tell this one. A friend of mine who carries a big gun concealed every day suggested I take a look at Ryan Grizzle’s holsters. He had purchased a belt, holster and mag pouch, and was very impressed with the quality and at what he thought was an outstanding price. After seeing his rig, I too was impressed with the look and craftsmanship, so I sent Ryan an email. Grizzle Gear Grow Where Planted D uring our email exchange I asked Ryan how he got into making holsters. What Ryan told me, made me sit back and take a breath. This guy is the poster child for growing in the worst possible soil imaginable. Ryan’s story is not unique, but what is, is what he did in the face of adversity. Ryan and 365 others lost their jobs when the mill closed. He found out rather quickly, Grizzle’s being a long haul trucker looks better Workin Man when watching BJ and the Bear or Smokey and the Bandit reruns, compared to when you do it for real. A devoted family man, Ryan hated being away from home. His small town was out of jobs and he had mouths to feed. Ryan told me he has carried a concealed handgun for the past 10 years. He liked the holsters he bought, but thought he could do it better. The $300 investment in tools and supplies was all money well spent. With no formal training, Ryan made his first holster and posted pictures of it on a gun forum. As the saying goes, the rest is history — or history in the making. As you can see from the photos of Ryan’s holsters, a picture is worth a thousand words; but in this case, the pictures can only tell a little bit about Ryan’s gear. You have to pick them up, feel them, put them on and wear them for a while to really appreciate them. I have the privilege of owning holsters made by some to the greatest holster makers — Lou Alessi and Milt Sparks to name just a couple. Ryan may be new, but he’s got that “it factor” all the greats have. He has the ability to create simply designed, highly functional gear. The proof is in the wearing, as I like to say. After some talking, it was agreed Ryan would send me his “Countryboy” holster, and a single mag pouch for my XD. Later that same day, Ryan sent me an email informing me he was also going to send me his favorite 1911 holster — the “Workin Man,” and one of his belts. he Countryboy design, as well as the Workin Man holsters, make for all-day comfort while carrying a pistol in a duty rig. I’ve said it before, but this warrants repeating: The belt is the foundation of your carry system. I don’t care if the holster is a $1,000,000 custom rig with diamonds and other precious gems — if your belt is of poor quality, you’ll be miserable and blaming the holster. This would be like blaming the horse for a bumpy ride … when you’re the one riding bare back! Ryan got it right with his belt — his well made holsters work better because of it. I’m a big fan of what some call sweat guards on concealed holsters. I prefer to call them “ouch” protectors, especially with 1911s. My home turf is usually pretty warm, so I end up often having to hide my guns under loose T-shirts. If you haven’t been “bitten” 2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=35http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=352010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=36http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=36WINNINGEDGE Dave Anderson SOLID ADVICE TO KEEP YOU AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION Signature d Brown Products is a company well known for high-grade boltaction rifles and 1911 autopistols. Recently Ed Brown announced the Massad Ayoob Signature Model. Massad Ayoob hardly needs an introduction to Handgunner regulars. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms authority, instructor, competitive shooter, handgun hunter, reserve police officer, and much sought-after expert witness. At the SHOT Show recently I had a chance to talk with both Mas and Ed about the pistol. This Signature Model is based on the very popular Executive Carry Model, with a few custom features recommended by Ayoob — actually not many, as the Executive Carry is very Ayoob E 1911 Based on the Ed Brown Executive Carry Model, the Massad Ayoob Signature Edition is extremely well made, accurate and reliable. Pistol has a “Commander length” slide with 4.25" barrel. Features include: Checkered frontstrap (25 lpi), “Bobcat” grip, night sights, Brown grip and thumb safety, an ambidextrous thumb safety and minimum 4.5 pound trigger pull. well equipped. Ayoob feels the shorter 4.25" barrel length of the Carry Model improves handling, especially from an inside-waistband holster, while retaining the reliability of the full-length gun. The most obvious external feature is the ambidextrous thumb safety, a custom option available on most Ed Brown models. Ayoob likes the option of having full control of the pistol with either hand. Also, as an instructor, on occasion he has to lend a pistol to left-handed students. The standard trigger pull of Brown 1911s is in the 3.5-4.5 pound range. Ayoob specified a minimum 4.5 pound pull, to avoid allegations of a “hair trigger”causing an unintentional discharge. In fact his personal Signature Model has a fivepound pull. He also specified an extraheavy firing pin spring as added assurance against discharge should the pistol be dropped on a hard surface. 2" Average T Final Thoughts he Signature Model I’ve had on loan for the past few weeks is a superb pistol. It has been 100-percent reliable through the firing of some 500 rounds, from 230 gr. ball, 200 gr. lead SWC to JHPs of different weights from 185 to 230 gr. from Black Hills, Federal and Winchester. Twenty tries with the Lyman electronic trigger gauge gave an average of 4 lbs. 9.9 ounces, with a variation of no more than two ounces either way. This is heavier than what I personally prefer, but weight is just one quality of a trigger, and not the most important one. The pull is clean, crisp, free of creep and “steps.” Overall: a very good pull. Five shot groups at 25 yards from a sandbag rest averaged right around 2", the best just over 1" (with Black Hills FMJ-roundnose ammunition). Such accuracy is hardly essential on a defensive pistol but is an indicator of the overall quality you’re paying for in a high-grade pistol such as this. The fixed sights (with tritium night sight inserts) couldn’t have been sighted better for me. With the 230 gr. JHP loads I prefer, the pistol shot dead center at 25 yards. This by no means happens all the time, and I appreciate it when it does. A fter I had enough rounds through the pistol to be confident of its reliability, I wore it as my CCW for a few weeks — mostly in my well-worn Sparks Summer Special IWB holster. It’s a bit heavier than the Springfield EMP I usually carry, but still comfortable. The popular Ed Brown “Bobtail” grip helped to prevent “printing” through the covering garment. Overall quality is outstanding. Fit and finish is excellent, and all operating controls (thumb safety, magazine release, grip safety, trigger) functioned crisply and positively. The Signature Edition package includes a copy of The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry by Massad Ayoob. It’s full of information on choosing equipment (firearms, holsters, ammunition, accessories), carry techniques, state laws and regulations, firearm safety, and defensive tactics. The pistol com2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=37http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=37From The Beginning, Les Baer Custom Has Been The Performance Leader! Still #1! Baer 1911 Premier II©, 5” or 6” Les Baer’s Premier II© is still the industry standard to which all other 1911s are compared. The 5” long Government Model (pictured here) is the best single stack duty, defense or competition pistol you’ll find in America – the best quality, the best value and the bgest performance. It’s the flagship of our line of custom 1911 pistols and includes more special features as standard equipment than other pistols at twice the price. Guaranteed to shoot 3” groups at 50 yards! Nothing Like It! Baer 1911 Monolith Patent No: US 6,345, 463 Baer Custom’s MONOLITH is a real monument in steel and truly one of a kind. The steel frame has an extra long dust cover (the only 1911 in the business) that matches the length of the slide. That gives the five-inch slide an awesome look plus some extra heft on the front end which helps reduce muzzle flip. Two MONOLITH models and three calibers available. 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It’s Everything. 1804 Iowa Drive • LeClaire, Iowa 52753 Ph: 563-289-2126 • Fx: 563-289-2132 Email: info@lesbaer.com Office Hours: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Central Time www.lesbaer.com2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=38http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=38TAFFINTESTS John Taffin THE SIXGUNNER HIMSELF: GUNS, GEAR AND MORE Perfect Packin’ Pistol everal years (decades?) ago I coined the phrase Perfect Packin’ Pistol, or as it has come to be known by many readers, PPP. I originally defined a PPP as a DA or SA sixgun with a barrel length of 4" to 51/2" and chambered in a cartridge which could be counted on to handle any situation arising. This means a PPP could be chambered in anything from .22 up to one of the various .500s depending upon one’s environment. It has to be easy to carry, accurate, quick into action and ride just as easy under a pillow or bed roll as it does on the hip. The joy in a Perfect Packin’ Pistol is the search — not the finding. We just get closer and closer to absolute perfection. If the absolute PPP was ever found we would no longer have an excuse to experience so many possibilities. Several times a week I hear from readers sharing what their quest for the PPP has led them to, and this year the American Pistolsmiths Guild has joined the quest. APG is a group dedicated to practicing pistolsmithing not just as science but also high art. Some of the greatest craftsmen who ever lived will be found listed as members of APG. Each year, as a fundraiser, a special handgun is created with several ‘smiths doing various aspects of the finished product. This year it’s a top candidate for the title of Perfect Packin’ Pistol. The Weigand Combat DX front sight and McGivern gold bead is classic. APG-STyle S This APG custom raffle gun (in this issue!) is a candidate for John’s “Perfect Packin’ Pistol” category. Topstrap work is simply stunning. John stuck with factory loads to test the APG raffle gun. The N-frame proved to be outstandingly accurate with factory loads. Field Gun N ormally, each year’s offering is a one-of-a-kind fancied up museum-style piece, which is raffled off. However this year is different. There’s not one, but two, identical (except for finish) APG pistols, both of which will be raffled. One is engraved and ivory stocked while the other is an everyday working sixgun. I have been given the high honor and privilege of shooting the latter. I have had custom sixguns and semiautos built by a dozen or more of the world’s best, however this is the first time I’ve ever experienced a group effort. Five different craftsmen combined their best to produce a .45 Colt as has never been seen before. Not only does APG come up with a grand idea each year, they also have to deal with the logistics of passing it from pistolsmith to pistolsmith, in this case five artists, to complete the project. This year an N-frame Smith & Wesson was chosen as the base gun. The finished product has a 4" heavy underlugged barrel, beautifully Continued on page 80 38 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=39http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=39-Doug Koenig2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=40http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=40Clint Smith REALITYCHECK The final result — the old girl better than ever. TM FIRST-PERSON THOUGHTS ON SURVIVING IN THE REAL WORLD Resurrection A Commander Returns To Life by I forgot who. I shot the pistol as a competitor in 1979 and 1980 in the I.P.S.C. National Championships, and I carried it on- and off-duty as a cop. I had it at Gunsite as a student, later as an instructor, and even later on as the Operations Officer, all with Cooper. The Colt Engraving Shop engraved my initials on the dust cover when I was a student at Colt Armorer’s school in 1976. I have broken two slides, with cracks through the ejection port area all the way to the rail slots. I ripped the lugs free from the original barrel. The frame has cracked, and it has a relief hole in place in the frame. I can remember twobarrel bushings broken and I cannot remember the number of slide locks and ejectors I have replaced. But most importantly the pistol has only broken down one time in 39 years when it seemed sort of important. I was real young then, and it was, in the end, just a goofy competition thing. Today that incident means nothing to me. The little fourdigit pistol has been rock-solid, and I can only poorly guess at the number of rounds I’ve fired through it. I pulled it down not long ago to carry for a social function, because the pistol still “functions” perfectly, and I remembered back to how it looked when I got it off the shelf at the gun store. Remembering the spring of 1970 when the big Hemi’s of the Plymouth Road Runners ruled, and recalling the original appearance of that clean 1911 coming off Dillon’s gun store shelf into my hand, I knew just the guy to redo this old pistol — just one more time. have a few guns that are special, above the others I own. The few guns I own now basically all are something I want — or need — by fit or function. The S&W engraved guns I own, all factory lettered, and the ones cut by Tony Miele are extra special, as he is my friend. My dad’s service revolver (previously featured on the pages of Handgunner and carried by him as a police officer for 25 years) is special. I’m sure you understand. My first pistol, purchased in 1970, was a like-new .45 Colt 1911 Lightweight Commander, manufactured by Colt in 1949. It’s special because it’s the year of my birth — and my first pistol as well. The Commander has gone through a lot of changes, while I did the same in my careers, and otherwise over the years. The lightweight was my off-duty carry gun when I started a law enforcement career in 1973, when 1911s (in fact, all auto pistols) were not widely accepted. At one time or another the lightweight pistol has had an Austin Behlert grip safety, sights by MMC and then new sights by Robbie Barrkman, a Swenson thumb safety and the front strap was checkered sort of crooked, I A classic slide found for a classic pistol. T he big thing was a correctly marked slide that Jason, after a “story of its own,” got from a guy in the mid-west. In my opinion the slick part is the fact he took the crooked checkering off the front strap of the aluminumframed lightweight Commander and did so perfectly — think about it. The new smooth frame looks and feels like the original grip of the pistol. After that he detailed the frame and slide, cleaned up the magazine well ramps, and placed a very clean lanyard loop ring built into the mainspring housing on the pistol. The retro stuff fitted to the pistol is very functional, yet still adds clean and cool looking detail. The grip safety, the Yost-designed rear sight, the front ramp sight with gold inlayed vertical bar, the whole package is, well, perfect for me. After that, the “kid” just bulletproofed the pistol with solid new parts, and a new Kart barrel, and of course — as it should be no other way — finished off with a set of ivory stocks. Jason’s work shows he is truly a master in his world. I’m grateful he builds guns for me. Jason brought the gun back from the old guy rest home and placed it into a2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=41http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=41EQUAL Reliable Feeding Reduced Penetration Excellent for Close Quarter Security Perfect For Civilian Use Are Not Created ALL BULLETS We can’t begin to show all of our cool knives and tools here, so just log on to our expanded web site to browse and get a free 92-page catalog. TOO MUCH TO SHOW HERE. www.crkt.com Columbia River Knife & Tool Web 1/6 page Vertical Ad, 2.125 x 4.625” CMYK Version D Revised 4/2/10 Premier Products from 605.347.4544 • 800.626.7266 corbon.com Do you need A Gun Belt? THE BELTMAN’S HAND MADE BELTS ARE TWO LAYERS OF TOP QUALITY BULL HIDE (NOT COW HIDE) FOR FIRMNESS AND DURABILITY, AND WILL EASILY SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OF A FULL SIZE FIREARM AND ACCESSORIES. SUITABLE FOR CONEALED CARRY, COMPETITION, OR DRESS WEAR, OPTIONS INCLUDE: VELCRO LINING, TAPERING, STIFFENERS, BUCKLE SELECTION ETC. AVAILABLE IN THREE WIDTHS, FOUR COLORS, AND EDGED TO PERFECTION FROM $69.95. ALSO OFFERED IN HORSE HIDE, SHARK, AND GENUINE ELEPHANT. If you carry a gun, YOU DO! (919) 387-1997 www.thebeltman.net2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=42http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=42Photos: Robbie Barrkman Rob Rathburn A Robar single Action CCW Goes RetRo 42 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=43http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=43seed was planted in my brain over 13 years ago. In December 1996 I was invited to participate in a unique class conducted at Thunder Ranch, then located in Texas. The purpose: to explore the defensive capabilities of firearms in general use prior to 1900, using current techniques and range technologies. Participants included firearms instructors, gunsmiths, holster makers, historians, working cops (hence my invite) and gen-u-wine gun-riters (including His esteemed Editorship). It was a serious class made up of fun and knowledgeable people. What I learned from that class was the over-a-century-old single action Colt was still a viable defensive handgun, designed as such by people who knew way back then what they were doing. History has proven the great merits of the single action army design. Its production run is unequalled in length by any other firearm, whether handgun or rifle. Many myths were busted and truths rediscovered during that week. The single action revolver is simple, and that’s a good thing in a defensive handgun. Cock the hammer, pull the trigger; no de-cockers or safeties to operate, no slide to rack. There is one simple failure to fire drill, cock the hammer again and pull the trigger. No failure to fire, feed or eject drills to master through repetition, and unlike WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM A its cousin the double action revolver, there is no ejector star for fired cases to get stuck under. More Virtues The single action is ergonomic, the butt a graceful curve flaring to fit any sized hand and under recoil moves deeper into the shooter’s grip, allowing the thumb to easily cock the hammer for follow up shots. The single action is reliable. Each class participant — with no breakages, fired almost a thousand rounds. A few ejector rods fell off due to recoil-loosened screws, but nothing that would take the gun out of a fight or a drop of Loctite wouldn’t fix. We also learned to keep a screwdriver in our pockets and periodically tighten screws! Continued on page 88 432010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=44http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=44Cool John Connor Photo: Roy Huntington CuTTers TOPSandBuckhaveconspiredtobuildatank-tough foldercalledtheSCAR-T.It’sgotG-10handlesandaTOPSdesigned3.75"modifiedTanto-blade,reversibleclipand beltpouch.Icouldn’tbreakit—andItried! he Memsaab Helena and I ain’t much on “dressin’ up.” But if the occasion calls for something dressier than faded bush shorts or cargos and old worn-soft field shirts, we go straight for the circus suits: a classic black tux for me, and for her, either the short scarlet drop-dead dancin’ number or the long white gown I call her “Avenging Angel” outfit. Hey; I figure, if you’re gonna go, go for the gold, right? A coupla weeks ago, that kinda event came up, and I thought I looked pretty spiff; almost proto-human, y’know? So I was kinda dumfoozled when she got a look on her face like she was suckin’ a lemon and asked, Carry The755MPR—“Mini-PocketRocket”—isBenchmade’slatest winner,featuringa2.9"bladeofM390 steel,titaniummono-lockandpocketclip, andnicelytexturedG10handlescales. Here’samateforyourfavoriteSureFiretacticallight:Built forfightingandfunctionality,theEW-09Edgehasa 154CMblade,7075aluminumframe,anintegral titaniumlinerlock,andmachined-inhex wrenches;kindofatoolbox withabite… T FromAlaskatoAfrica,warriors,wizardsandtacticaltrollsarebettingtheir livesonGraymanKniveslikethisfoot-longplusDefender.Simplystated, they’resomeofthetoughestknivesI’veeverhandled,folks. 44 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=45http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=45There s a Knife for every need. You’veseenthepractical-tacticalversion ofKirbyLambert’sInfernofolderinads, butthisiswhatitlookslikeatthenext level,withDamascussteelandexotic materials—stunning! Closedinitscircularsheath,noonewillknowa2"blade lurksintheuniqueMU-5JyrofromMantis Knives—untilyouflickitopen! ’ Ifyou’regonnauseamoneyclip,why shouldn’titalsocut,drivescrews,openbottles andlookcooltoo?CheckoutCRKT’slittleGekkota! Pumahasbeenmakingworld-class bladesinGermanysince1769. Theyhavelotsof“Americanlook”knives,butdon’t overlookbeautieslike thistraditionalstaghandledJagdtaschenmesser huntingfolder —superb! she Tapped The big banged-up TaCTiCal folder Clipped “Are you really going to wear that old thing? I thought she meant my tux! Then she tapped the big banged-up tactical folder clipped to my pocket, rolled her baby-blue eyes and sighed. She rummaged through her knife rolls — yes, she has padded, pocketed knife rolls — clipped an Al Mar Eagle UltraWitha7mmthickbladeandfull-tangconstruction, thebrand-newPry-MatefromBokerUSAis atough,compactcuttin’ toolwithclass. “ To my poCKeT , rolled her baby-blue eyes and sighed. light in my pocket and an SLB (Stout Little Backup) in my cummerbund. The glossy black micarta scales and polished bright pins were, well, perfect! And the point was made … Yeah, I get in a rut sometimes, and maybe you do too. Maybe no one knife “fitz all,” but happily, if you look hard enough, there’s a knife for every need. So check out this Buffet of Blades and shake your imagination a little loose, okay? Be sure and hit Web Blast too, for more cool cutters! ” * For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 452010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=46http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=462010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=47http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=47RaFFle Gun Duo! Roy HunTinGTon Win This American Pistolsmiths Guild Two Prized Guns — Two Winners! or the first time, the American Pistolsmiths Guild has elected to submit an “ultimate” duo of custom handguns from member pistolsmiths for their yearly raffle. This “Field Gun” and “Museum Piece” are a matched set, both in .45 Colt caliber and both with the kinds of custom touches only the talents of the APG can deliver. While both could defend your family, take game or simply be enjoyed for what they are, we think the “field” gun will see the most use! For a test of the field-grade gun (on the left) please see Handgunner’s own John Taffin’s Taffin Tests in this issue. John ran this Guild gun through its paces to see just how it performs in the real world. So you get a bit of addedvalue if you win — an elegant working sixgun, and one John Taffin had and shot for Handgunner! Among the custom features of the engraved gun are: • S&W Model 25 and full under-lug barrel for a Model 29. • Roy Fishpaw’s elegant handmade ivory grips, carefully fitted to this handgun. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM F • SDM Fabricating’s Scott Mulkerin shortened and crowned the barrel, installed the front sight and modified the rib to match the receiver. The factory receiver was fitted with an 1950-style skinny rib barrel while the M29 barrel had the target-width rib. Scott also supplied the fixed rear sight, McGivern bead front sight blade and the thumb-piece. • Jack Weigand of Weignad Combat Handguns supplied the DX-Style front sight base for hand-detachable blades. • Turnbull Restorations mangaged their stunning color case on the hammer and trigger. • Delta Gun Shop, ACGG member Jim Dubell, did the rebore of the Model 29 barrel to.45 caliber. • Accomplished engraver and artist Brian Powley applied his magic on the engraving. • The shop of Hamilton Bowen (Bowen Classic Arms) fitted the barrel and applied the markings, tuned it, applied the black powder cylinder Photo: Robbie Barrkman chamfer, regulated the sights and dignified the big revolver with their proprietary blued finish. * To win, make out a check or money order or send cash ($20 per ticket) to: The American Pistolsmiths Guild (buy more to increase your chances to win!), then mail it to: American Pistolsmiths Guild, 3775 Foskett Road, Medina Ohio, 44256. Please include your complete return address, phone number and e-mail address if you have one. The drawing will be held on September 15th, or sooner if all the tickets are sold out before that date. The first winner has first choice of gun. 472010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=48http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=48MiNiATUre FNH USA’S 5.7x28 VArMiNT BlASTerS W 48 hen Elaine Golladay, who does PR work for FNH USA, phoned and said, very nicely I might add: “Roy, we’d like to send you a PS90 carbine and a Five-seveN pistol in 5.7x28 to ‘wring out,’ as you magazine people say. Are you interested?” Elaine can be particularly convincing and I found myself saying, “Why of course, Elaine,” before I realized what I was doing. While “plastic” guns don’t exactly endear themselves to me, I see their value and worth as historical icons and tools. But as I hung up, I realized rather than farming this one out to one of our staffers, I’d take it on myself to better understand the ilk. I thought of it as a “two-fer” since it would not only be a chance for me to WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=49http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=49MAcHo roy HUNTiNGToN At 25 yards, the Five-seveN was consistent, but tended to string groups vertically, often plopping three or four into a neat 2.5" to 3" group before tossing one out. Roy found the 5.7x28 dimpled his steel targets at 25 yards from the Five-seveN, about what the .22 Magnum did when fired from a rifle. The PS90 carbine was a laser-rifle and 1.5" to 2" groups were fun and easy at 100 yards. The FNH USA duo — the PS90 at top and the Five-seveN, represent an unusual new idea about adapting military and law enforcement platforms for sporting and fun use. The new sporting ammo for the 5.7x28 is loaded with Hornady’s 40-grain V-Max bullet at about 1,750 from the pistol! Sights are fixed on this model, and that slide is steel with a polymer covering. get hands-on with a modern version of a, well … let’s just say it, synthetic gun duo; but it would also allow me to learn more about that strange little cartridge, the 5.7x28. I’m no SWATologist, have been retired from patrolling the streets for about ten years now, and frankly, while I have a couple of ARs, they tend to collect dust. I’m not even sure I remember WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM how to take them apart. I like them, have been known to shoot them, but they are simply implements to me. Think: wrench, chainsaw or ATV. And don’t get me wrong, I like implements. And, I have a confession to make. I’ll declare I gravitate toward not cleaning the polymer guns I have, and lending them to people who say, “Hey, can I try that?” “Oh, you dropped it in the mud? That’s okay, I never clean it 492010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=50http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=50What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing actually, as either gun would be great fun in the hunting field, as long as you kept their limitations in mind. anyway.” And maybe there’s a lesson there — the not cleaning it part? So What Gives? The mag release on the PS90 is on the top and can be activated by either hand. It releases the mag upward for removal. The guns arrived and I have to admit, other than a few rounds at an FNH USA event, I had never even handled a 5.7 auto. And, blush, had never actually handled a PS90 in the flesh. I’d seen them, heard people fuss lovingly over them, had even assigned stories to writers on them, but nope, never shot one, never held one, not even once. So you see, I’m hardly an expert on the topic. But maybe that’s a good thing. I’m not all pre-formed with hysterical allegiance to one platform or another. So, what you’ll get from me is the honest, not-invested-in-the-outcome-in-the-least, truth. I chatted with Elaine some more. Basically, FNH USA is the “doing business in the States” arm of the brand, and what we all actually mean when we refer to “FN” when we see the guns. The two test guns are actually made in Belgium by Herstal. The only guns manufactured in the states (machineguns, autopistols and rifles) are made by FN Manufacturing in Columbia, South Carolina. There’s going to be a test later, so pay attention. Although the Five-seveN pistol began life as a military and police handgun, it has now evolved into a sporting and competition gun too. Even the NRA has given its blessings by allowing 5.7x28 caliber guns into Tactical Police Competitions. There’s even a new ammo specifically made for sporting users. It’s marked “5.7x28mm SS197SR Sporting Cartridge” — imagine that. It uses a 40-grain Hornady V-Max bullet at Reach to that trigger is about 2.75", about what it is on a Beretta M9 and reachable for even modest-sized hands. Left to right: The .22 Hornet, .22 Magnum, 5.7x28, .221 Fireball, .223 and even the .30 Carbine are a “family” of rounds. Roy would place the performance of the 5.7 somewhere between the .22 Mag and the .223, favoring the .223 side of things. 50 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=51http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=51Just for fun, I found out the 5.7x28 will dig a nifty hole in some damp dirt. What’d I prove? It was fun to do. Roy’s easy-to-use Competition Electronics chrono showed an average of about 1,750 fps from the pistol. This was a low range reading. The Five-seveN comes apart into three main groups with one simple “snick” movement. You can go from complete carbine to these components in about five seconds. around 1,850 fps according to data, and seems to retail for about $24 a box of 50. Performance? I’ve always been partial to the .221 Fireball and had an old Remington XP-100 for years. As I recall, it would deliver about 2,600 fps with factory loads, which is pretty fast out of that 10.5” barrel. But it was basically built on the .222, and the 5.7x28 is its own m o n s t e r, w i t h a smaller capacity and such. Still, a 40-grain bullet at 1,850 from a handgun is attention-getting. And the same round is rated at about 2,100 fps from the PS90 carbine. That’s certainly stepping out. I wondered though, that’s close to some .22 Magnum performance levels in rifles, so how would this be different? I did some research and found basically due to the construction of the Hornady bullet, the SS197 has a better ballistic coefficient and the bullet performs more effectively on impact than the .22 Magnum bullets. So you get higher velocities at longer ranges and better bullet performance. The mag on the PS90 carbine is, um … unique. It loads from the “back” and the rounds rotate to fill the mag body — and it installs on the top of the carbine! Also, you can get that 1,650 to 1,850 fps or so from the handgun’s 4.75" barrel and only have to tote a 20 ounce (empty) pistol. Most .22 Mag handgun velocities hover around 1,300 to 1,400 fps. And, the Five-seveN comes with either 20- or 10-round magazines. Since bullet construction is also significantly better in the vast majority of cases, the win is clearly with the 5.7. I’m tending to classify Continued on page 81 The “action” group on the PS90 carbine comes out in a group making cleaning easier. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 512010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=52http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=52Wilson Combat’s Ultralight Carry 52 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=53http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=53I n the beginning the 1911 autopistol had a 5" barrel and slide of corresponding length on a steel frame. When Colt first developed the Commander pistol back in the 1950s it featured an alloy frame with a shortened barrel (4¼") and corresponding slide. For certain old-timers resistant to change (yes, I’m being autobiographical) this is the natural order of things. Fulllength gun = full-weight gun with steel frame. Lightweight “carry gun” with alloy frame = shortened barrel and slide. Others may be open to change but I cling to my guns in their traditional form. Back around 1980 I overcame my dislike of change enough to buy a steelframed Colt Combat Commander. It later got traded off to support my need for IPSC competition pistols, but I really liked its balance and handling. Today I own several steel-frame Commanders and Commander-length 1911s from other makers, and like them very much. See, I can change. The “Ultralight Carry” from Wilson Combat is something different. Once again my natural and reasonable resistance to change is being tested. It pairs a light alloy frame with a full-length slide and barrel. When I received the test gun on consignment I had mixed emotions. One thought was: this ain’t right; another was: it’s from Wilson Combat. In the 30+ years since Bill Wilson built his first custom 1911, he hasn’t made many mistakes. If Wilson thinks it’s a good idea, odds are it is. The idea arose from customers (mainly military and police) who like Dave’s Tested WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Something Different This Way Comes … Dave Anderson • Photos: Chuck Pittman, Inc. 532010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=54http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=54Wilson Combat’s Ultralight Carry2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=55http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=552010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=56http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=56wilson combat Ultralight Carry Wilson pistols, and who dislike carrying more weight than really necessary. Their work requires them to carry a lot of equipment, none of it optional. They appreciate any weight reduction but also want full-sized pistols. The main advantage of the fulllength gun is reliability, and this issue needs some explanation. Take three 1911s, a subcompact, Commander-sized (mid-sized) and full-sized. Assume all three are well-made and tested, with correct recoil springs, good magazines, good ammunition and properly lubed. All three are likely to be reliable. But the full-length gun will remain reliable longer. In extended shooting sessions it will run longer without cleaning or re-lubing. In dusty, dirty conditions it will remain reliable longer between cleanings. Also its recoil spring will last longer before it needs replacement. The reason is not so much because the slide is longer but because it’s heavier. An object at rest wants to stay at rest; an object in motion wants to stay in motion. The more weight (all right, mass) an object has, the more energy it takes to either move it or stop its motion. The heavier slide takes more energy to get moving, and has more momentum once it is in motion. Anyone who does much off-road driving knows the value of momentum. Hit a muddy or snowy patch and momentum will get you through, even when horsepower and traction fail. Let’s say we hit the same mud hole at 20 mph, a 2,500 subcompact might get stopped while a 5,000pound vehicle rolls right through. More Science Stuff When a 1911-style pistol is fired the slide and barrel, powered by the energy of gas pressure from the fired round, move back together, with the locking lugs of the barrel locked in the 56 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=57http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=57lug recesses in the slide. At roughly from 0.100" to 0.125" of movement the barrel link pulls the barrel down, unlocking it from the slide. It’s critical the barrel not unlock until the bullet has exited and gas pressure has dropped. The timing of slide movement and barrel unlocking is determined by the weight of the slide and by the mainspring (the spring which powers the hammer). Once unlocking has occurred, momentum keeps the slide moving back to eject the fired case. The recoil spring doesn’t have much influence on timing but it does on slide speed. A heavy recoil spring slows rearward travel and increases forward travel. High forward slide speed isn’t necessarily a good thing. The magazine spring needs a certain amount of time to raise a fresh round into feeding position. I’ve seen 1911s with heavy springs force the fresh round forward so fast there wasn’t time for the case head to slide up the breech face, with its extraction groove engaging the extractor hook. Instead it rams the cartridge into the chamber ahead of the extractor. Sometimes the extractor hook then snaps into the extraction groove (hard on the extractor) or it fails to snap over the case rim and we have a feeding failure. The compressed recoil spring now provides the energy to move the slide forward. In the 1911 design the slide has about 7/16" of free movement forward to pick up speed and momentum before it strips a fresh round from the magazine, feeds it into the chamber, and returns the barrel to its locked position. With its heavier slide the fulllength gun doesn’t need as much energy from the recoil spring. Fulllength 1911s typically have a 16-18 pound spring. Commander-size pistols Continued on page 85 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM specifications: That’s about one inch at 25 yards with 200-gr. SWC loads from Black Hills. Can’t argue with them apples. Caliber: .45 ACP tested, also available in 9mm and .38 Super Magazine capacity: 8 rounds in .45 ACP Barrel length: 5" Overall length: 8.5" Height: 5.6" Width: 1.3" Weight, empty: 32 7/8 ounces Weight, loaded: 39.5 ounces (8 + 1 rounds with 230 gr. bullets) Trigger pull: 3½ to 3¾ pounds (test pistol, 4.0 pounds) Accuracy guarantee: 1" @ 25 yards MSRP: $3,250 as tested 572010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=58http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=58Duke did give engraved handguns a try as with this Colt SAA .45 and Colt Model 1877DA, but ended up selling them. Customs! “ Keep Your FAncy Duke feels these 1873-1973 Peacemaker Centennial .44-40s fitted with grips of bison bone satisfy his entire need for any flashiness in his shooting life. Duke doesn’t despise engraved handguns. In fact he got a couple of USFA .44-40s for he and Yvonne, but they are shooters first and “art” second. Mike “Duke” Venturino Photos: Yvonne Venturino Regular Make MINE ” Editor’s Note: It seems Taffins article (“I Gotta’ Be Me,” May/ June 2010) about his penchant for customizing handguns struck a chord with Duke — and Duke doesn’t necessarily agree. “ gotta be me.” That’s good. We all should do that. Don’t just say it — do it! But know your “do it” attitude might not be someone else’s cup of tea. And in this case, customizing just isn’t for me … but read on before you start writing letters to His Editorship. John you need to quit worrying about what Elmer did nearly 100 years ago and what he would think. Elmer was 58 I a grand old guy. I know because in 1973 I spent a couple hours at his home visiting with him. He was gracious and kind to a fledgling gun writer with only a halfdozen printed articles to his credit. But he’s been gone nearly three decades now. Accept it. Move on! My opinion isn’t that custom handguns are bad; and believe me, I appre- ciate the talent and metal working skill that goes into making them. I just don’t have much need for them. Way back in the ’70s I did not “customize” that Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum like you mentioned. I merely had its barrel cut off 2" so it WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=59http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=59At left is a custom Colt SAA .45 with Bisley hammer spur and special 3¾" barrel complete with shortened ejector rod housing. Duke sold it because the standard 3" Sheriff’s Model is more practical. wouldn’t poke the saddle when I rode. It was the same reason I had Smith & Wesson cut back my 6½" Model 29 .44 Magnum to 5". Back in those younger and much skinnier years I rode horses thousands of miles around the mountains of Montana and Wyoming. That’s not customization: those were simple alterations. Even though I haven’t been on a horse now in nearly 20 years I still have my hand-made saddle, but that shortened Super Blackhawk is long gone and nearly forgotten. The 5" Model 29 is still here. It hasn’t been fired in years though. Duke’s feeling is if someone needs a handcannon then they are in dire need of a rifle! The Difference Personalize a handgun, especially with custom grips? You bet! Again that’s not customizing, because heaven knows most factory issue handgun grips are near worthless. However all but a few of my grips are practical. That is, they are wood, and with Colt SAAs they are usually one-piece as the US Army chose to use, because they are super strong. Fancy ivory grips? I’ve a few but for me they are just too fragile. The only really fancy ivory grips I have are those made for me by Paul Persinger of El Paso. Those went on a Colt Custom Shop SAA .45 presented to me by Hank Williams Jr. It has factory letters as a special order by him, but with my name engraved on the back strap. I felt it deserved something special. I have one other handgun with extremely fancy grips. Clint Smith and I were born on the same day, in the same year, no less. For one of our birthdays Clint presented me with one of those fine Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special 1911 .45s. Then the next year at birthday time he gave me a set of custom engraved silver grips for it with my initials inlaid in them. It is indeed a “special” handgun. Those two .45s are among my most prized possessions. The only other non-wooden custom grips, I’ve ever been excited about, are made of a bison’s thighbone as crafted While Duke didn’t put the wear on this pre-war S&W .357 Magnum, he still appreciates it because Gene Henslee must have been a true American Handgunner to have built it with the special sights and offset hammer spur, with which it factory letters. by a friend no longer in the business. They are attractive but much, much, tougher than ivory. I could easily live without more ivory grips, but if I could get them I definitely would have more of bison bone. Ornamentation such as engraving, initials inlaid in gold, brands, or even a name on your handguns? Once again, you bet, but with a proviso: don’t thereafter turn the darn thing into a closet queen because it’s so fancy. I went the engraved route on a few handguns, but then didn’t use them much, if at all. Who in the world was I saving them for, some other fellow down the road? So I sold them because they were just gathering dust. A few years back I even bought Yvonne and myself a pair of US Fire- Bangles And Beads arms’ beautiful .4440s with a modicum of engraving, but they’re for shooting first not for just looking at. I have been truly impressed with precisely one engraved handgun seen a few years back at a gun show. That was a 1890s vintage Colt SAA that had 100-percent coverage. Much of the engraving was worn almost smooth because somebody carried that big .45 an extreme amount — as in many hundreds or perhaps thousands of days. To me 59 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=60http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=60Never let it be said Duke doesn’t appreciate fancy grips. That is, as long as they don’t turn the handgun into a pampered “play-pretty.” One of the most practical revolvers Duke currently owns is a Colt SAA “Sheriff’s Model.” He sticks it in his hip pocket in warm weather because his Montana land has its share of rattlesnakes. that handgun-totter was a true American Handgunner! I wish I’d bought that one. One handgun I do have with a name on it impressed me too. It’s a pre-war S&W .357 Magnum with the name Gene Henslee engraved into the side plate. It also has special sights, a special offset hammer spur and factory letters with those additions. It shows a bit of holster wear. Old Gene was also a true American Handgunner too. What I don’t want to see on handguns are useless do-dads. Back in my younger years, my goal was to own every Smith & Wesson built on either the K- or N-frame; I came darn close. Conversely, I never looked seriously at a Colt Python. Why? Because although it had a beautiful blue finish and extremely smooth action, somebody decided to saddle it with that useless ventilated rib. The same goes for those ridiculous full under lug barrels Smith & Wesson puts on so many revolvers nowadays. They just add weight and serve no purpose … at least in my humble opinion. And John, I have to say the same goes for that barrel band front sight that is part and parcel to that Keith Number Five .44 Special. It took wonderful skill for those guys to machine that from a block of steel, but as far as I can see it just adds weight to an already heavy handgun. Sight Silliness Here’s something else about that Number Five. For a safe queen those Smith & Wesson adjustable sights are fine. Back in the days when I did roam around the outdoors with a handgun on my hip, I quickly learned that adjustable sights were a liability. Throw a stirrup up over your saddle to adjust the cinch and if it plops back down guess what it will bash 90 percent of the time. Duke has two treasured .45s. One is a custom shop Colt SAA presented to him by his bud Hank Williams Jr. The other is a Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special 1911 Clint gave him on their mutual birthday, then had the special grips made for it on their birthday the next year. Right! It will likely hit the sights on your holstered handgun. Even when I drove my old 1951 Willys Jeep station wagon around Montana’s logging roads, I came to feel adjustable sights were a nuisance. You see, that old jeep’s door would try to close before I was fully out. Many times it also bashed my holstered handgun. Furthermore, shooting showed my adjustable sighted handguns were forever becoming un-adjusted. With fixed sights that wasn’t a problem. Being able to see a handgun’s sights is absolutely necessary for decent shooting. At age 60 now, my un-spectacled eyes don’t see any handgun’s sights well enough perform good shooting. Instead of adding custom bigger sights on my handguns, my remedy was to visit an eye doctor accompanied by a Colt SAA. I told him to make me a set of glasses that focus perfectly on that revolver’s sights. I also told him I didn’t give a flip what the rest of the world looked like through those glasses as long as the sights were clear. He did a bang-up job and when wearing those I can see any handgun’s sights, and the targets aren’t overly blurry either. That money was better spent that putting it into some custom handgun feature. Thusly, I can still use the tiny blade and groove on my favorite Colt SAAs to perfection. Those are the .44 WCF 1873-1973 Peacemaker Centennials Colt put out back in 1975. I can also clearly see the tiny sights on original Colt 1911s; hence my excitement, in 2009, about finding a wonderful shooting-one made in 1918. It came complete with the original owner’s name carved into the holster, plus the year “1931” and with the US Army’s Signal Corps’ insignia. His name is also 60 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=61http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=61Back when Duke pounded his skinnier butt in a saddle he started out carrying revolvers with adjustable sights such as this S&W Model 27 .357 Mag. Eventually, he gave them up as too fragile for the purpose. Duke certainly did have Smith & Wesson shorten the barrel on his Model 29 .44 Magnum from 6½" to 5". He says that’s not customizing — it’s simply an alteration. etched on the base of the original magazine. Now those are “custom” features I can get excited about. Customs Good-Bye A while back I decided to sell off a portion of my handgun collection. One that went was a custom Colt SAA having a Bisley style hammer spur and special 3¾" barrel, with likewise shortened ejector rod housing. One that stayed was an ordinary Colt Sheriff’s Model with a 3" barrel, sans ejector rod housing. Why keep it and not the custom gun? Loaded with shot cartridges it’s my packing-in-the-hip pocket revolver used for the rattlesnakes common here Duke’s pre-war S&W .357 Magnum came with this name engraved on the sideplate. on my Montana property. It’s lighter and shorter than the custom .45 and hence more practical for that purpose. Also, I would like to stress just how unimpressed I am with all the wildcat cartridges and especially the ultra big bore ones, whether they are wildcats or factory issue. My take on things like .475s and .500s is that if you need a handgun that big, brother you are in dire need of a rifle! While I don’t live in grizzly country now, my home does set in prime black bear habitat. I don’t keep some hand-cannon handy by the door. Instead there is a pump 12 gauge with 00 buckshot. With that said, I do see the point in someone packing a big bore handgun in case of bear trouble. In fact, an elk hunter right in this very county a couple of years back saved his life with a handgun. A grizzly had him face down and was chewing on his back. He got his handgun out pushed it back over his shoulder in the general direction of the grizzly’s mouth and pulled the trigger. The bear left him then and game wardens found it later dead with a severe wound to its jaw hinge. Unfortunately the newspaper stories didn’t tell what sort of handgun the fellow was packing. Personally, if I was roaming about in grizzly country again I’d likely pick one of those S&W .500s with 4" barrel and I’d carry it in a holster strapped across my chest. Custom Finishes? My personal idea of a handgun with a “custom” finish is one that shows considerable wear from being used but not abused. Preferably — but not necessarily — that use all came from me. That means that said handgun was a reliable companion as I (or someone) went through life’s trials. That also means it wasn’t just a play-pretty that set in a drawer. What I want from a handgun is function over form. That is it must work every time the trigger is pulled, hit where it’s pointed, and isn’t a nuisance when it’s packed around. I have such ranging from an inexpensive Hungarian made PA63 9mm Makarov to my beautiful US Firearms and Colt single actions, and on to my Colt, Kimber and Les Baer 1911s. All of them can be bought right off the shelf. PS: John, you really hurt my feelings with that comment, “… you have to get away from the idea that a matte blue rusty old Nagant is really something to get excited about.” Heck John, play fair. Roy asked me to check them out, so I did, and wrote the Russians were idiots to adopt such a clunker. Now, maybe a Japanese Nambu might be just a bit different though! * Duke gets excited about this 1918 vintage Colt 1911 .45 with the previous owner’s name and the year “1931” carved in the holster. The name is also scribed on the bottom of the 1911’s original magazine. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 612010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=62http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=62Experience Counts. Issue 1 • January 1955 Issue 649 • January 2010 GUNS Magazine Celebrates 55 Years Early retirement — not an option Get One Full Year (12 issues) GUNS has been a part of young, budding shooters’ lives for 55 years. Through the years, GUNS Magazine has remained the“go-to”shooting sports publication for first-timers as well as seasoned gun enthusiasts. That’s not about to change. A team of writers that includes Dave Anderson, Clint Smith, John Taffin and Mike Venturino make sure the new content in each issue appeals to all ages and skill levels. They’ve spent a lifetime moving from grip to trigger, to bring you maximum enjoyment every month. Hopefully you’ll enjoy time with your favorite writers for a long time to come too. The year ahead will include features you’ve been waiting for. Subscribe today so you won’t miss an issue. FREE 2009 Digital Edition CD with your paid order BONUS! ONLY $24.95 Call toll-free (888) 732-2299 M-F 8am-3pm PST ($64.95 outside U.S.) Visit: www.gunsmagazine.com P.O. Box 509094, San Diego, CA 921502010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=63http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=63Artist: Roy Pelz t was the last handgun offered at a local auction, and my modest bid was successful. It was a German Dreyse Model 1907 without grips or magazine, and was missing two screws. I knew I had a magazine and I figured I could get grips from Vintage and the screws from Numrich. Rebuilding this early .32 auto would be fun. When the auctioneer said “Sold!” my friend Dan Duffy reached across and nudged me. “You got a goody,” he said. “What? It’s just an old Dreyse.” “Did you look at the front of the grip frame?” he asked me. No, I hadn’t. During the pre-auction examination, I had just glanced at it on the table. Afterward, when I paid for it and picked it up I noticed the markings were definitely interesting, to say the least. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM On the right side near the ejection port there was a tiny crowned “W,” the military acceptance mark. The front of the grip frame was filled with markings: “P. A.C.H.,” a large “116” and across below, “L. G.” This stands for “Pioneer Abteilung Chevauleger,” weapon number 16, and “Luftschiff Garde.” Translation: Front-line unit, mounted cavalry — and airship guard! So, imagine this: Sometime in 1916, Hans is standing there at the edge of the airfield, making sure some peasant doesn’t herd goats across it. The spike on his Pickelhaube has a ball attached (can’t have sharp points around a blimp you know); and in the holster on his belt, this very pistol! Collector’s often say “I wish it could talk.” Well, this one did. Many thanks to my old friend, Roy Pelz, for the artwork showing just how it might have been. * 632010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=64http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=64TIGHE 64 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010 LIGHTFOOT BrOtherS in2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=65http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=65Steel Pat cOvert PhOtOS: chuck Pittman, inc. thiS canadian triO haS earned their metal. ou might call them the “Big Three” of Canadian tactical knife makers. Greg Lightfoot, Brian Tighe and Kirby Lambert have all set high marks individually for their tactical knives but, interestingly enough, they’ve done it together. Though they all compete with each other for the same customer; attend any big knife show where all three are present and you’ll see them hanging out like brothers. In their free time they swap ideas, techniques and trade secrets openly among themselves. If there is power in numbers, this tactical triad is a force to be reckoned with. Lightfoot, Tighe and Lambert each have their individual styles and all offer their knives in basic tactical versions as well as upscale fare. It’s interesting to see how their styles vary; yet they all have their own appeal in the tactical knives niche. Y Lightfoot Zen Greg Lightfoot is the elder statesman of the Canadian trio, having gotten a jump on making knives a couple of years ahead of Tighe. Greg tells us, “I have been making knives full-time for 22 years. I started in 1986 playing around in a small shop and then went full-time in 1988. My mentor was Rod Olson, who is from High River Alberta. I would make some knives, go to a small local show and he would give me tips and feedback. I made my first folder in 1992.” Although he still makes fixed blades, it was Greg’s folding knives that put him on the tactical map. Lightfoot has a clean and purposeful Zen to his designs that flow from tip to tail. According to Greg, “What I strive for in a knife is great design and, that said, the knife has to work in the real world. I have knives that I designed 18 years ago that are still selling in my catalog.” LAMBERT Lightfoot’s most popular folder is the Bull Whip, 8.25" of graceful curves terminating in a tip that warns not to take lightly. The knife’s blade has a subtle back grind to enhance penetration and a deep bellied re-curved edge for maximum slice-ability. Lightfoot tops off the Bull Whip’s curvaceous handle with his trademark shark-tooth Continued on page 78 65 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=66http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=66Photo: Roy Huntington 10 COMMANDMENTS Suggest ions “Action Blaster” by TetraGun is great for de-greasing guns, blasting grit out of tight places. THE Even though in some thirdworld countries this may qualify as a good gun lube, Connor has other ideas. OF BY ONE WHO HAS BROKEN ALL OF ’EM – AND PAID FOR IT. John Connor I Combat-proven Sentry Solutions offers a complete lineup of excellent gun, knife and tool care products. t ain’t braggin’ to say I’ve cleaned and cared for guns under some of the best and worst conditions on the planet, including working with one foreign security unit whose only available “gun cleaner” was diesel fuel, and a group of nomads whose “finish protectant” at the time was animal fat. I’ve also been in armories equipped with sonic cleaning bays, electric dehumidifiers and volatile corrosion inhibitor emitters. What I learned was this: No matter what you’ve got, if you don’t use it, it doesn’t work. * For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex And go to www.americanhandgunner.com and click on Web Blast to get Connor’s step-by-step outline of how to clean your roscoe. It’s even printable, if you think he makes sense! Shooter’s Choice products are a far cry from “Fitz” oil from the early 1930s, bottle courtesy of reader Bruce Wagner (think: Fitzgerald of Colt, the creator of the famous “Fitz” special revolvers). We tossed the Hoppes box in for the good old days. 66 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=67http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=67HANDGUN CLEANING A lotta post-shooting cleaning doesn’t get done becausetheshooter“doesn’thavetimetodoa complete job” – and guns suffer for it. One swiftpassofasolvent-soakedpatchthroughthe boreanddabbingafewcarbonbuild-upareas will save headaches later. “Half a cleaning” is notonlybetterthannone,it’stentimesbetter. Over-lubingandtoomuchscrubbingare common errors, and both can lead to bigproblems.Thereareveryfewplaces where lube should be visible. Most scrubbing simplymeansyoursolventeither(a)hasn’thad timeenoughtodothejob,or(b)sucks—and shouldbereplaced. Dump those slotted bore-cleaning tips and use properly-fitted jags. Onetenth the strokes can yield ten times theeffectiveness. Don’t mix “families” of petroleum-based products and synthetic solutions. A few play nice together; others turn the mix into clabberedweaselsnot. 1 8 2 No matter how well you think you know a handgun,thereain’tnosubstituteforagood manual, with schematics and parts illustrations. I’m not much on learning exactly how the dingle-wabbitengagestheplungerator,butagood graspofthebasicdesignmechanicscansaveyour time,moneyandpossiblyyourlifeinatightspot. Get’em!Put’emwhereyouhavetolookat’em! Wheneverusinganewchemicalproduct,test itfirstonanon-criticalsurface;notjustthe materialorfinishyouplantouseiton,but anyothermaterialorfinishyoumightaccidentally slopiton.Here’sanothertestforlubes:Squeezea fatdropontoapieceofsteelandleaveittherefor two weeks. Then poke it with a dirty finger. If it’s turnedtocrud-clutchinggum,imaginewhatitdoes toyourRoscoe. 9 3 4 OGRE Enviroclean is effective on your gun, light on your nose, and easy on the environment. Many guns have unique “sweet spots” where a tiny drop of lubeiscritical–likewheretherearofthetriggerbartouches theconnectoronGlocks–andmosthave“sourspots”;heavy frictionpointsneedingadabofgreasetopreventgallingandexcess wear.Find’emandtreat’em.Remember:Putlubewhereyouneed it to flow and migrate, like inside slide rails. Put grease where you wantittostayput,likewhereabarrelhoodscrapestheinsidetopof aslide. 5 Here’s the toughest one: Keep an open mind, and try new products — initially limitingusetoonegun,NOTyourdailycarry piece. I discovered TetraGun Products only when Roy-Boy assigned me to try ’em — and they’re great! I tripped across Sentry Solutions’ stuff in a random chat with some high-speedtrigger-pullersinAfghanistan,andtheyareterrificforuse inhot,dustyandgrittyorsalt-waterenvironments.Ididn’tknowOGRE Envirocleanexisteduntilapalmentionedit—anotherwinner!Hey; youcanalwaysgobacktodieselfuelandyak-fat,okay?ConnorOUT. 10 6 7 All-in-One solutions are a “summer” thing: Summer Good, SummerNotSo.Eventhebestmulti-missiongoopbelongsonly in your “mobile kit.” At home base, use dedicated solvents, cleaners, lubes, greases and protectants. You and your Roscoe will noticethedifferenceandbenefitfromit. With very dirty guns, and especially action and trigger groups you shouldn’t disassemble, first blow out what you can with compressed air, follow up with a dry brush, and only then use aliquid-aerosolactionblaster—don’tsprayfirstandmakesludgy mud to muck out. Some action blasters dry and leave a light-lube coating;othersleaveactionssosqueaky-cleanthey’llneedtreatment. Knowwhichwayyoursworks. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM A neat, complete pocket-size cleaning kit from Otis Tech makes a great “range companion.” 672010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=68http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=68John Taffin HANDLOADING Blast From The Past Part Deux: SAGE ADVICE FROM THE HANDLOADING GURUS Sectioned .45 Colt brass shows difference in balloon head construction (left) and modern solid head brass. LOADING WITH OLD #2400 he past two decades or so, mainly since Hercules #2400 became Alliant #2400, there has been a mild debate over whether #2400 is hotter than it used to be. That is, can a smaller amount of powder of the “new” #2400 give the same results as the original amount of “old” #2400. Several of us have come up with a conclusion it takes about 6-percent less #2400 today as it did before the change; if such a change actually occurred. Other factors could also be considered such as heavier brass, better primers, even tighter barrel/cylinder gaps. Only if one has excellent recordkeeping from say 20 years ago, along with a well preserved amount of then-produced #2400 and the same sixgun, same brass, same primers, and same powder scale could we really come to a definite conclusion one way or the other. Gary Reeder recently told me he purchased an estate with lots of reloading equipment and old powder. He was kind enough to give me a very old can of Hercules #2400. I can’t date this can perfectly but I do know I have been using #2400 for more than 50 years and not only is this can’s label different, removal of the lid reveals a pull up spout much like we find on a box of kitchen salt … I’ve never seen this before. Since #80 (from the same estate sale) was discontinued in 1939 it’s posContainers for sible this can of #2400 #2400 down dates back to that same through the years. era. It’s at least older than the 1950s, and since the label appears to have a pre-war look I would say the powder in question may well be at least 70 years old. T Old and New #2400 loaded in modern .45 Colt brass and fired in the Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk fitted with Herrett’s stocks. LeT THe GAMeS BeGin F ince I now had a can of very old #2400 in what appeared to be good condition, it was my plan to run it against the latest #2400 and see just how much difference there really is. Reloading manuals have certainly changed in their recommendations for #2400 in both the .44 Special and .44 Magnum down through the years. Elmer Keith’s original load for the .44 Special in balloon head brass only was 18.5 grains of #2400, first reported by him in 1936. In the Speer Manuals from 1962 and 1970 the top load is 18.0 grains of #2400. Phil Sharpe also recommended the Keith .44 Special load in his book in 1937. With the coming of solid head brass Keith lowered the charge to first 17.5 and then to 17.0 grains. The Keith loads of 18.5 grains and 17.0 grains are 26,682 psi and 24,873 psi respectively according to the Speer laboratory. A look at Lyman Manual recommendations for the .44 Magnum and #2400 (over a 50 year period) shows 23.0 grains in 1960, down to 22.0 in 1970, up to 23.4 for 1982 to 1992, and then down to 20.6 in 2002, which still remains today. 68 s old Vs. New or my experimenting I decided to try both the really old #2400 and new #2400, in balloon head and solid head brass, in .44 Special and .45 Colt and also R-P brass to check both types of #2400 in the .44 Magnum. I especially wanted to check Keith’s .44 Special and .45 Colt original loads with old powder and old brass. However, not knowing exactly what I had, I used only very strong sixguns for this experiment, all Rugers. A look at the chart with loads fired through the 71/2" sixguns shows no difference with the .44 Special load using both powders in balloon head brass. Muzzle velocity for the former clocked out at 1,229 fps while the new version came in at 1,228 fps; no difference whatsoever. Switching to the .45 Colt and balloon head brass the same charge gave 998 fps and 1,030 fps for difference of only 3 percent. Transferring to modern brass and dropping the Keith load to the recommended 17.0 grains revealed a gain of 4.5 percent from 1,136 fps to 1,192 fps. For the .45 Colt 18.5 grains of both 2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=69http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=692010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=70http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=70J.D. Jones HANDGUNHUNTING TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND POLITICALINCORRECTNESS J.D.’S REALLY, REALLY AWFUL, TERRIBLE, VERY BAD DAY W hen I was a kid living on a farm one of my jobs was predator control. Yep, we had them; foxes, coons, possums and a lot of cats and dogs dumped by those city folk who thought taking care of an unwanted pet was dumping him in the country for a farmer to adopt. I grant you that happened once in awhile. The rest of the time they learned to live off the land, and that included raiding the chicken house and anything else they thought they could handle. When a bunch of them formed a pack they were quite formidable and often took down sheep, pigs and calves. Chasing cows was great sport. The cow’s udder would swing wildly as it ran and the teats were great targets to bite. This often resulted in a horrible injury and infection which resulted in the cow having to be put out of it misery, which created a significant loss to the farmer he could not afford. Over a half century, I’ve saved countless cows’ lives. Interestingly Artist: Warhooper I recently read the greatest numbers of nuisance animals in the country are still wild dogs and cats. Yesterday a client purchased a silenced 300 Whisper for coyote control. It seems they are playing hob with his cash crop — watermelons! I became quite proficient at handling the problems with traps and firearms. A 6" High Standard Sport King .22 was pretty much a constant companion. she accepted my bumbling invitation! The big day finally arrived. Wow … she really looked great as she lightly tripped down the steps of her house with a great big smile on her face. The seven-mile drive across county on back roads to get to the movie passed way too fast. After the movie started she leaned against me and I put my arm round her and she snuggled right up. Progress! Can’t remember the movie, but I’ll never forget Mary. Afterward we went to a drive-in for snacks and laughed ourselves silly. On the way back to her house driving through the country she snuggled up with my arm around her. Wild visions of a few goodnight kisses parked in her driveway danced in my head. J.D.’s Affliction I went to grade school with Mary Potter. She lived a couple miles away as the crow flies, and several of us kids would go over to play since there was a railroad trestle over a creek a quarter mile behind her house. We found it great sport to climb all over the trestle and when a train came along we would stand on the trestle and let the engineer blow the train whistle at us. At the last second we would duck inside or under the trestle, as it was too high to jump off. That was really good sport and new engineers would throw on the brakes, which caused quite a commotion. Occasionally the railroad dicks would come out and threaten the neighborhood with what they would do if they caught us. Good Luck, Dick! As we grew older and got into high school, Mary Potter grew from a skinny tomboy to quite an attractive young lady. At about age 16, raging hormones and the beauty and wonderful personality of Mary Potter overwhelmed me. I was seriously infatuated … totally deeply in puppy love. If you have never experienced this phenomenon you have missed one of the great experiences of life. Finally, I got up the nerve to ask her to the movies and, surprises of surprises, A DreADful DeciSion S 70 uddenly a big feral cat darted from right to left in front of the car. I slammed on the brakes and swung the wheel left. As the Ford came to a stop with the running cat head-lighted I yanked the emergency brake on with one hand, grabbed the High Standard from under the front seat and bailed out as I shook the Lawrence holster off it. Knocking off the safety I lined up the sights on the running cat, squeezed the trigger releasing the firing pin to detonate the primer compound, ignite the powder, propel the Super X .22 LR hollow point at around 1,300 fps, which produced an end-over-end roll of the stone dead cat. And that, my friend2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=71http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=712010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=72http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=72WiN! HANDGuN OF THE MONTH 4 . 5 ACP From the Springfield Armory Custom Shop 72 Custom WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=73http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=73ENTEr ONliNE AT AMEricANHANDGuNNEr.cOM! XD TO ENTER CONTEST: Use a postcard (no envelopes, please) and follow the sampleshown.SendtoamerICan handgunner,Dept.H7,P.O.Box501377,San Diego,CA92150-1377.EntriesmustbereceivedbeforeAugust31,2010. ince the introduction of Springfield Armory’s XDseriessomeyearsago,thepracticalappeal ofthemodelwonshootersoverimmediately. Great value, top performance and reliability alladdeduptomaketheXDawinner.Astime passed,newmodelswereintroduced,fromSub-CompacttoCompetitionmodels,andthedesignchangedtomeetnewengineering methodsandthedemandsofshooters.Withtherecentintroductionofthe“enhanced”XDmodelcalledtheXD(m),andnowthe XD(m)3.8,theXDseriescontinuestoevolve. From riding in police duty holsters, citizen’s concealed carry rigs, to blazing a trail on the competition circuit, the XD and now the XD(m) 3.8 is a proven platform. Our give-away gun this month started life as a stock XD and was then massaged by Springfield’s Custom Shop. So you notonlygetthefeaturesoftheXD,youalsogetthecustom touches and care given by the Custom Shop pistolsmithing gurus.Acustomhandgunofferstheperformanceyouwant, andthekindofowner-satisfactionweallenjoyfromahigh qualityproduct. S CuStom FeAtureS •CombatActionJob •Over-traveladjustmenttotrigger •SpringfieldArmory CustomMatchBarrel •Trijicon3-dotsights •ExtendedMagRelease •StainlessSteelFull LengthGuideRod OVER $1,200! FORMOREINFO: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex TOTAL VALUE: HOM JULY/AUGUST 2010 REadER SuRvEy QuESTiONS: 1. do you plan on spending more or less on your shooting hobby this year? a) More B) Less 2. what will your next firearm purchase be? a) Rifle B) autopistol C) Revolver d) Shotgun E) Specialty firearm 3. do you currently own or shoot? a) airgun B) air Soft C) Paintball d) an assortment E) None 4. do you wear Tactical Clothing on a regular basis? a) yes B) No Name ___________________________________ Address_____________City,State,Zip____________ EmailAddress_______________________ CiRCLE aNSwERS TO REadER SuRvEy: SAMPLE Question#2: (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) Question#4: (A)(B) Question#1: (A)(B) Question#3: (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) IfIwin,pleaseshipmyprizethrough: Dealer___________________________________ Address_____________City,State,Zip____________ Phone( )____-________ Storehours__am__pm Photos: Ogy Blazevic Limit 1 entry per household. ThiscontestisopentoindividualswhoareresidentsoftheUnitedStatesanditsterritoriesonly.AgentsandemployeesofPublishers DevelopmentCorporationandtheirfamiliesareexcludedfromentering.Contestvoidwhereprohibitedorrestrictedbylaw.Winnersmustmeetalllocallawsandregulations.Taxesandcompliancewithfirearmsregulationswillbetheresponsibilityofthewinners.WinnerswillbenotifiedbyCERTIFIEDMAILonofficialletterhead.ATTENTIONDEPLOYEDMILITARY:USESTATESIDEADDRESS!Nopurchasenecessarytoenter. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 732010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=74http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=74AYOOB FILES Continued from page 20 The two men made contact atop the edge of a four-foot deep dry retention pond, some 20 yards in circumference, behind the buildings. Officer Reston reached out with one hand and grabbed the back of the fleeing suspect’s hooded sweatshirt. Knowing that the closer the man was, the less able he’d be to throw a haymaker punch, Reston pulled the suspect in toward him as tightly as he could, with hopes of bringing him to the ground and putting him in handcuffs. That’s when it happened. Gunfight! He Taught You About Safety. For generations, fathers have passed on their wisdom to ensure you make the right choices and come home safe and sound. Insight has been developing illumination tools for over 20 years for military personnel for that same reason. This Father’s Day, make the right choice by giving him a durable LED Tactical Flashlight loaded with safety features like covert dim, blinding strobe, and a life-saving SOS beacon, all instantly accessible from an easy-to-use tail cap switch. ® 150 Lumens Output/180 Minutes Run Time Programmable and Rechargeable Limited Lifetime Warranty To find a dealer nearest you, call or log-on: www.InsightTechnology.com Toll Free: 866-509-2040 There is no flash he can see, no sound of a gunshot he can perceive, just an incredible impact smashing into his face, a bit below the lower lip at centerline. Falling backward into a dry pit more than a yard deep, he thinks, “Man, he hit me really hard.” The young cop rolls down the incline of the embankment, his hand reflexively going to his injured face. His thumb touches his mouth and he realizes that his lower front teeth are all flattened inward, and it feels as if his lower left jaw is no longer there. Rolling down the embankment, Reston looks up and sees his antagonist standing over him, aiming a pistol down at him … and firing. Reston’s dominant left hand reflexively goes to the service pistol on his left hip. He is aware of the gunman turning his body, moving away yet keeping the gun oriented on Reston, looking over his shoulder as he continues to fire at him, one hand only. Reston later recalls registering the fact that while he appeared to be aiming, the gunman did not have his body leaning into the gun, did not appear to be trained and was shooting like someone modeling off what he might have seen on TV. At the same moment this analysis was logging itself into Reston’s brain, another part of his mind thought, “I’ve got one of those too, and we’re going to get it on!” Reston’s department issue Glock 22 is out of the holster now, reflexively drawn and firing as he was trained. Fighting to stand back up, shooting with his dominant left hand and pressing his right palm against the ground for leverage, Jared Reston realizes his left leg is not working. Something happened to his thigh on that side, and there is also a burning pain in his right buttock. His brain processes the fact that he has been shot in these two places as well as in the face, but his overriding impulse is to keep shooting. He does. But the would-be cop-killer is still up and fighting, too. He has had the advan- 74 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=75http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=75tage in the first round of the fight: the initial ambush shot to the officer’s face, and the other shots he fired as he was moving away before the cop could get his own gun up and running. Now some ten yards away, firing, the perpetrator seems to realize he can’t outrun bullets, and suddenly he turns and comes purposefully and aggressively toward the downed officer. He moves to his left (the officer’s right) around the edge of the small dry pond, as if to escape the trajectory of the officer’s shots. The perpetrator is still shooting as he goes. But Jared Reston is shooting back. Reston is doing exactly what he was taught by Bill Strudel, his lead instructor at the Academy: he is putting the front sight on the target, squeezing off his shots … and he is hitting. This all happened in just a very few seconds. Reston is pinned in place by his injured body; his ambusher moving swiftly to his right, both men shooting at each other the whole time. The attacker reaches a point directly above the cop when Reston fires another aimed shot and suddenly the assailant pitches forward and falls, landing hard with full body weight on top of Reston. in the intensive care unit. He had been shot seven times with 230-grain hardball ammunition from a .45 automatic. The first shot had hit him in the chin area, from only inches away, in a “hasty ambush” attack that happened so fast, he didn’t hear the shot or see the flash, and thought in the first moments of the fight he had just been knocked off his feet, down the embankment by a very powerful punch. The round-nose full metal jacket bullet apparently deflected from the curvilinear surface of his lower mandible, down into his neck where it exited, creating an ugly but non-fatal exit wound. Reston was hit with a bullet in his right elbow during the fight. At the time, he was not aware of it. He became much more cognizant of it later during long medical treatment. The bullets through his left thigh and right buttock interfered with his ability to push himself to his feet with his right arm, as did of course the wound to the right elbow, which he did not perceive at the time. He would say later with a smile, “Gunshot wounds don’t seem to hurt for the most part until the next day … but don’t get shot in the butt. That Reston looks up and sees his antagonist standing over him, aiming a pistol down at him … and firing. It is back to where it began, at touching distance. Reston knows what to do. He rolls over onto his right side, carrying his attacker with him, the armed bad guy’s back against the good guy’s chest. Reston realizes what he must do to survive. Grabbing the attacker with his right hand to hold him in place, Reston brings his pistol up with his left hand, presses it firmly against the man’s head, and pulls the trigger three times as fast as he can: POW! POW! POW! He feels the man’s body go limp. Reston pushes the man who shot him away. They are next to a culvert in the side of the dry bottom of the earthen pool, and as Reston tries to push himself up against the man’s body with his right hand, the movement forces the assailant into the culver’s opening. Reston’s partner, Chris Brown, had only been a few seconds behind Reston and the suspect, but those few seconds were all the time required for the gunfight to take place. Brown is there now, shouting Jared Reston’s name. They make eye contact. Both officers reach for their radio apparatus, to call in “shots fired, officer down.” It’s over. hurts!” That particular wound was the single most painful for him. Those four gunshots were also the “least lethal” hits sustained by the target that was Jared Reston. There included three more in the torso: upper left chest at the shoulder area, lower right ribcage on an angle to destroy the blood-rich liver, and one center in the chest in line with the heart. All three of these were stopped by Reston’s concealed body armor, an ABA (American Body Armor) Extreme model vest, rated at IIIa level, and reinforc2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=76http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=76Folding Fixed-Blades As tough as xed-blades, but carry like folders. These handy folding xed blade EDC tools are small but powerful! Weighing only 2 oz. and about the size of a car key when folded, each tool is engineered to deliver incredible leverage and cutting power in a tiny size. Every 888 Professional knife features a rugged pocket clip for discrete carry and is backed by a limited lifetime warranty. $ 34.95 $ 34.95 $ 34.95 S.O.L. Knife™ Folding CopTool™ WrightKnife™ large caliber gunshots before he began returning fire, Reston had been able to hit Abner in the side through the abdomen as he turned away, firing at the critically wounded officer over his shoulder, and two more times in the center of the back (these bullets only two inches apart at an estimated firing distance of ten yards). One of these bullets had caught the shoulder blade and skidded upward, exiting through the top of the shoulder and causing no serious damage. Another bullet broke one of his arms. The final three shots hit Abner behind the mouth, the cheek, and through the skull. Abner, armed with an early model Glock 21 14-shot pistol first reported stolen in 1993, had fired 13 shots at the time he was killed. Reston, armed with a department issue Glock 22 pistol, fired 14 of the 16 rounds in his gun to stop the murder attempt upon him. He told American Handgunner the ammo he used, department issue at the time, was .40 caliber Winchester Ranger SXT, 180 grain jacketed hollow point. Long-term Aftermath www.888professional.com Dealer Inquiries Welcome For more information, visit: $ 59.95 $ 34.95 $ 34.95 Kirkidashi Knife™ TalonKnife™ RhinoKnife™ Six months after the shooting, Detective Jared Reston returned to full duty, and he also still serves on his department’s SWAT team. He has undergone multiple surgeries, each taking weeks at a time from his working schedule counting rehabilitation therapy. He has not yet completed the surgical reconstruction his physicians say he requires. To this day, his face is numb in the chin area, due to nerve damage from the bullet wound there. He lost several teeth from that injury, as well. When he does physical training, his butt still burns, and after a while, so does the thigh. He doesn’t complain about any of it. He’s happy to feel it and be alive. As of this writing, no lawsuit has been filed against this officer or his department. The shooting was swiftly ruled justifiable by the State’s Attorney’s Office. Indeed, Florida State Attorney General Bill McCollum presented Reston with the AG’s Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award based on Reston’s courageous performance in this incident. At the time of the shooting, Jared Reston had a oneyear-old son at home, with his beautiful young wife. She stood on the stage with Jared — tears in her eyes — as he accepted the Safariland Armor Survivors’ Club award a little less than a year later at the SHOT Show. All of us who looked at the young couple — and the other saved officers there and their wives and kids — understood what the really important part of the outcome was. Courage matters. Jared Reston fought to return to his wife and infant- Lessons 76 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=77http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=77SHOW YOUR SPIRIT Add PIZZAZZ to your GOVERNMENT 1911 TAURUS PT 1911 and BOBTAIL 1911 pistols too! QUALITY MADE IN THE U.S.A. www.riograndecustomgrips.com 303-330-2812 Intensive personalized training in all aspects of practical shooting. Each course is designed to accommodate all levels; beginners, intermediate or advanced shooters wishing to increase their skill speed shooting. Each course will be taught by World Class Grand Master Shooting Instructors. The academy is located in the heart of central Florida near Walt Disney World. Courses limited to eight students per class. Classes available all year: Web site: www.universalshootingacademy.com son, against odds most would see as overwhelming, and he prevailed. He stayed in the fight and won, saving untold future victims from a man with an illegally-possessed gun who would murder a police officer over what turned out to be a shoplifted pair of jeans with a $20 price tag. Equipment matters. Without the body armor, the physical evidence shows Jared Reston would have died in that dry pond when he incurred three shots to the torso, with bullets that otherwise would have taken his heart and liver. When standing in harm’s way, realizing the other guy may (and, even, probably will) get to make the first move, it makes sense for you to have something more than a shirt and all that hair on your chest to stop his bullets. It took Reston 14 shots from his disadvantaged position to terminate the threat. Many years before, John Rutherford — now Reston’s boss, the Sheriff — led the training team that adopted the high capacity Glock pistol to replace the six-shot service revolver. It’s not the first time this adoption has been validated, and will certainly not be the last. Reston’s pistol was equipped with a Streamlight TLR-1 flashlight, already mounted, and carried in a Safariland security holster designed to accommodate that combination. There was no time for him to turn the light on one-handed, but it still may have saved his life: when he made the final presscontact shots against the head of the man who already shot him seven times, the “stand-off” effect of the light kept the hard contact between cop’s gun and would-be killer’s head from pushing it out of battery and preventing it from firing, which has happened in other instances of good guys fighting bad guys at muzzle contact distance. Be able to shoot effectively from disadvantaged positions. Flattened at the beginning of the fight, never able to rise to “one’s preferred two-hand stance,” Jared Reston fired every one of his 14 shots and scored every one of his seven hits one-hand-only from supine, on his side, or half-way-up-off-the-ground positions. He followed the basics — watching his front sight, controlling his trigger — and won the gunfight with a higher hit ratio per shots fired than most police departments have with uninjured personnel, and did so at distances up to ten yards. Never underestimate threat poten3/24/10 tial. Jared Reston wasn’t the first cop to fall victim to the mindset of “He’s only a shoplifter,” and sadly, won’t be the last. You carry your gun as a reasonable and prudent person, but you must remember, you do so to protect yourself from those who aren’t reasonable or prudent, and don’t think the same way you do. 12:58:30 PM * WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 772010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=78http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=78BROTHERS Continued from page 65 lanyard, a tribute to his logo sporting artwork of the evil of the deep. His H-XT Dog sports a palm-friendly handle bulged at the center with excellent finger protection on both ends. Large in size at 8.75", the H-XT’s blade has all the personality of a bulldog with one big, bad tooth. Unlike many knife makers, Lightfoot does not choose to favor just one blade-steel. “There are so many great steels out now, I can give a customer help on selecting but it comes down to what he or she wants,” says Greg. “Handle materials I prefer are in the man-made category like carbon fiber and G10. Both have good strength, are highly stable and they look great! My favorite natural materials would have to be ironwood, elk antler and mammoth ivory.” Tighe Style Brian Tighe (pronounced “tye” with a long “i”) has been a custom knife maker since 1989 and, like many of his fellow artisans, making fixedblade knives wet his feet. While most knife makers have a mentor who helps develop their abilities, Tighe literally taught himself to make knives, helped along buy his early career as a tool and die machinist. According to Brian, “I first started cutting metal at age 13. With my background as a tool and die maker I already knew how to cut and finish metal, so knife making was a natural progression.” Those technical skills, melded with an incredible sense of fluid design, have made Tighe a much sought after knife maker. Tighe’s knives can be summed up in one word — stylish. His fluted and wave blade patterns are incredible engineering feats further enhancing his already slick designs. Tighe is fanatic about technical details and carries that attitude over into the mechanics of his knives, as well. “For the last few years I’ve been making ‘Button Lock Flippers’ that are very smooth and easy to close with one hand,” Tighe tells us, and adds, “More recently I have developed a ‘Sealed Thrust Bearing System’ for my folders. In this system no dirt or debris can enter the bearings like other systems out on the market.” Brian’s top seller is 8.5" of knifehandling delight named the Tighe Coon. Tighe uses only top shelf materials such as titanium in his handles, and chooses BG-42 stainless steel for his blades, except for his upscale models sporting Damascus steel. “Damasteel stainless Damascus is the best I have ever used, it is made of two harden able stainless steels and 78 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=79http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=79holds and excellent edge and finishes up beautifully.” Just don’t pigeonhole Tighe as a fancy knife maker; he makes basic models of all his folders that can hang with the best of them in field and combat. Lambert Tough nicely balanced a design, as you’ll find in a tactical folder. Soundly based with a nicely curved, ergonomic handle complimented by a sleek, deeply ground re-curved blade design with a long back grind for added penetration, the Incinerator has all the right stuff. Youth is served in Kirby Lambert’s contribution to the Canadian gang. At just 34 years of age, Lambert has made a name for himself in record time, serving up overbuilt, bulletproof designs with aggressive attitudes. “I began making knives in 1994 and have been a fulltime knife maker since 2002. I built my first folder around the year 2000. While attending college at the University of Calgary in a fine arts program, I was introduced to a very talented knife maker named Brian Lyttle, who let me work with him for a few years. Shortly after I moved back to Regina I became good friends with Greg Lightfoot who has helped me out tremendously, as well. He taught me many other techniques with blade grinding and finishing too. I consider him to be one of my major mentors. Kirby is also active in promoting the art of the knife, currently serving as vice president of the Canadian Knifemakers Guild. Lambert’s two hottest sellers are his Incinerator and Justice models. The Incinerator, 8.6" in overall length, is as The H-XT’s blade has all the personality of a bulldog with one big bad tooth. Larger at 9.4" in overall length, the Justice lives up to its name by offering overbuilt construction with a bullish attitude that would make a hanging judge proud. The Justice’s handle features two deep finger grooves for excellent grip and a bowed backside that tucks right nicely into the palm of the hand. The knife’s modified clip point blade has a deep grind for extra slicing power. Lambert, like his Canadian brothers in steel, insists on using top-flight materials. “I use Crucible steel in the majority of my knives — usually CPM S30V and CPM 154CM — for a couple of different reasons. First off, when it comes to making a good, hard working functional knife that requires edge holding, corrosion resistance, toughness, wear resistance, it can’t be beat. Secondly, most all my customers ask for it,” states Lambert. “I also use Damascus on my dressier upscale knives. The majority of Damascus I use comes from a couple of different makers, Rob Thomas and Chad Nichols, whose work I really like. Other than those, I will use Damasteel on occasion as well.” It would be hard not to find a tactical you like among these three, but if you’re a true tactical knife aficionado it’s even harder to find one you don’t like. All three knife makers offer base folders in the price range of $525-$550 which is very typical for today’s upper echelon of tactical knife makers. These will have Titanium or carbon fiber handles, considered state-of-the-art in their own right. From there you can run the gamut, splurging on such finery as Damascus blades and a cornucopia of handle materials including exotic woods, fossil mammoth ivory and mother of pearl. Get Steeled * For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex The world’s mosT concealable TacTical flashlighT. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Backup-American Handgunner.indd 1 79 4/9/10 10:44 AM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=80http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=80TAFFIN TESTS Continued from page 38 blued finish, and custom stocks. Let’s take a look at who we did what. Scott at DSM cut and crowned the barrel, installed a Weigand Combat DX front sight base complete with a McGivern gold bead, and also narrowed the barrel rib to fit the profile of the Smith & Wesson receiver. Jim Dubell at Delta Gun Shop took a Smith & Wesson supplied .44 Magnum full underlugged barrel and re-bored it to .45 Colt. Turnbull Restorations color cased the hammer and trigger. Now for the finishing touches. Hamilton Bowen tuned and tightened the action, set the single action trigger pull at 3 pounds, furnished a black powder style chamfer on the leading edge of the cylinder, marked the barrel as to caliber, installed a Rough Country heavy-duty rear sight, and then finished the entire package in bright blue. Only one thing was left and that was the grips. I “discovered” Keith Brown a few years ago and purchased several of his beautiful stocks. Keith specializes in some of the pre-War designs found on Smith & Wesson sixguns. These include Roper and Kearsarge patterns, as well as early target grips provided on those old classic Smith & Wessons. To finish off the APG-PPP, Keith crafted a beautiful set of S&W Target grips complete with the diamond around the screw hole, except in this case the diamond is an ivory inlay. If one set out to design the Perfect Packin’ Pistol big bore double action style, this one would be is about as close as you could get. Shooting the APG PPP was pure pleasure! Normally when testing a new sixgun I like to try hundreds of rounds of my reloads. However, this being a one-of-a-kind sixgun I prudently decided to stay with factory loads only. I’ve never had a problem with any of my reloads in 45 years of testing sixguns, however I simply did not want to take the chance. Factory .45 Colt loads on hand, Black Hills 250-RNFP, Federal 225-LSW-HP, Speer 250-Gold Dot HP and Winchester 225-Silvertip, were all tried and all shot beautifully. What else would one expect from a sixgun touched by the above-mentioned craftsmen? The only thing wrong with this sixgun is I can’t buy it! It will go to some lucky ticket holder. * Note: Please see the APG Raffle Gun page in this issue to win this compelling sixgun! A dope buy. A rat infested flop house. A weird glance. The hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Are you burned? ¼ The SureFire® E1B Backup® was designed for serious undercover concealment. Depress the two-stage tailcap fully and it puts out 80 blinding lumens. The low setting offers 5 lumens; for reading a map, writing notes, or navigating for a staggering 37 hours. Reversible clip for bezel up or down carry. Cover your back. 80 Backup-American Handgunner.indd 2 4/9/10 10:44 AM WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=81http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=81“Try This.” MACHO Continued from page 51 Just because you can shoot, doesn’t mean she’ll want to learn from you. Getting involved in the shooting sports can be really scary for a lady. it between the .22 Mag and the .223, leaning toward the .223 side of things. The carbine PS90 weighs about 6.28 pounds empty and has either a 10-round or 30-round detachable magazine. With velocities of the 40-grain bullet hovering around that 2,100 mark, it would wreck havoc on a prairie dog town or a problem field of ground squirrels. And the nifty optical sight on the gun yields a clear, while somewhat narrow field of view, with a precise aiming dot/crosshair and circle arrangement. Both guns are lightweight, both fire a round at least effective for small game like coyotes, bunnies, squirrels and such, and seem to offer the kind of “fun” we all look for in a sporting gun. While some law enforcement agencies and military units use the 5.7x28 (with loads only available to LE and the military), we’re not about that here. I was interested in simply finding out what all the fuss is about, and is this duo from FNH USA and Herstal in Belgium worth adding to your fun-gun stash? The round itself was originally developed in the late 1980s to give cops and soliders a lightweight gun (full and semiauto) that could defeat some kinds of armor if needed. The ammo worked as advertised, and the carbine (P90) was adopted by a wide range of military and police groups around the world. Please keep in mind, that LE/Military ammo was never sold in the civilian market, and no cop has ever been harmed by a military 5.7 round, according to FNH data. The Five-seveN pistol was developed in the 1990s and went into service around the year 2000. The original 5.7x28 round had a 27-grain bullet and delivered around 2,600 fps from the carbine. The round was made shorter and heavier with a 40-grain bullet to work in the pistol version. Those initial pistols were DAO, but now-days the DAO has been discontinued and all handguns are single actions. The carbine loads via a unique (I seem to have to use that word a lot with these guns …) magazine clamping onto the rifle on the top. It feeds from the “rear” into the bull-pup rifle and the empties eject from below, where a normal guy would want to insert the magazine. The safety is easy to manipulate and is just below the trigger, and the front of the “trigger guard” is actually the fore-grip. There’s an, um, uh … unique pistoltype grip and interestingly enough, all the controls are ambidextrous. It shoulders fast and easily and the trigger pull is crisp, not what you’d inescapably brilliant Shari can help. Shooting champion Shari LeGate provides all the information needed for any lady to get started in shotgun sports through her new DVD, Women’s Guide To Shotgunning. Order Today! (800) 628-9818 (M-F 8am-3pm PST) www.gunsmagazine.com/ fmgvideo.html rice: Special P $24.95! WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Only VIRIDIANGREENLASER.COM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RED AND GREEN IS NIGHT AND DAY. 800-990-9390 81 Some Specs2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=82http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=82expect, once you get past a short but smooth take-up. It allows very precise shooting. Think: evil ground squirrels at 150 yards! More Pistol Stuff My handy trigger gauge showed the Five-seveN’s single action pull to hover around the 4.5 to 5 pound mark and it was manageable and consistent, breaking surprisingly cleanly. And, while we’re not concentrating on selfdefense with the gun or cartridge here, if you decide the 5.7 round is adequate for your needs, the pistol holds 20 of them, and can be safely carried with a round chambered and the safety on. The safety blocks the trigger from moving, the sear engagement on the hammer is full and shelf-like, and there’s a firing pin safety that has to be moved by a complete press of the trigger. So, if for some reason, the hammer should drop without a deliberate trigger pull, the firing pin safety would hopefully prevent the loud noise from occurring. The 2.75" trigger reach is about the same as a Beretta M9 so for we shortfingered types it’s doable, but I’d like to see the option of a slimmer backstrap insert if possible. You wouldn’t gain much, but I think enough to make a significant improvement for smallhanders. The rail was added in 2004 so now you can hang all sorts of keen stuff like lasers and lights on it. Take-down is simple, but first unload it — you know the drill. Then move the slide back a bit, pushing the take-down button on the port side backwards, then the slide slips forward and off easily. Barrel and whatnots come out easily. That barrel is chrome-lined and hammer forged. And since we’re inside, I thought you’d like to know it’s a locked-breech design, but not a tilt-barrel model, the barrel actually moves back in a straight line. Reassembly is easy, just fit the slide back onto the frame rails the way you took it off and run it once. Bingo, you’re in business. Oh, and that slide? While it looks like its plastic, it’s actually steel with a polymer covering, those sneaks. The PS90 is a miracle of modular systems. To take it down, remove the magazine and unload it. Keep in mind the last two rounds in the mag and the one in the chamber are not visible! There’s a black square button on top, behind the handle, push it and slide the barrel assembly forward, then tilt what you have in your hands down and the slide/bolt falls onto the ground at your feet with an embarrassing thunk (if you’re not ready to catch ’em). Slide the butt plate up, lift a lever and the entire trigger group slips out. That’s How-To Gunsmithing DVD '' '' V I D E O FREE Watch this exciting DVD and see video clips from over 71 different courses! AGI ©Copyright AGI 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this video may be copied, reproduced or transmitted for any reason without the written permission of the copyright holder. FREE DVD Discover gunsmithing secrets and get access to the information and knowledge you need! AMERICAN GUNSMITHING INSTITUTE Serial #0310VIDSAM VERSION 2.0 FREE Sampler DVD and Catalog Of: Firearm Disassembly & Reassembly, Gun Repair, Accurizing, Customizing, Tuning, Refinishing, Bluing, Shooting Techniques, Trigger Jobs, Lathe and Mill Operation, Welding, and so much more . . . www.agiahv.com/a07 or call us today at For Your FREE DVD go to: 1-800-797-0867 AGI AMERICAN GUNSMITHING INSTITUTE All BIG-BORES, All SUPER-BORES, All BARREL LENGTHS - Only One Choice. ost The MHolster ™ us Famo e World! In Th from Lawman Leather Goods The Carbine 6 1/2” barrels or under: $239.95+ $18.00 S&Ins. (longer barrels slightly higher) Now Made For ALL Handguns ANY Caliber, ANY Barrel Length Lifetime Warranty! Fitted To Your Exact Gun Holster is 100% Heavy Bridle Leather - Fully Suede-Lined Harness is all Top-Grain Leather. For Information Call: (702) 227- 0072 ORDERS Call Toll Free: (877) 44 LAWMAN For Color Brochure Send $4.00 to: Lawman Leather Goods P.O. Box 30115, Dept. AH, Las Vegas, NV 89173 www.LawmanLeatherGoods.com “Beware of Imitations” ™ 82 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=83http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=83it, all done. Takes about five seconds. Pretty remarkable, actually. The barrel length is 16.4" and overall length is 26.23" with the total package weighing in at 6.28 pounds empty. The bore is chrome lined and it has an integral muzzle brake. Interestingly enough, the manual says to “Check the carbine every 10,000 rounds or once a year” for wear and such. That’s more use than the vast majority of these purchased for fun would ever see. They do appear to be built military-tough. Do They Shoot? I expected sterling performance on the targets from these guns and got it from the PS90 with no doubts. At a lasered 100 yards, I got drearily regular 1.75" to 2" groups from the nifty little carbine. That sight and decent trigger helped, but it was obvious the rifle itself shot well. I’d take on a ground-hog at 150 for sure. And a chronograph showed velocities hovering right about the 2,100 fps mark, plus or minus 50 fps. The Five-seveN pistol does have a decent trigger, and the non-adjustable sights were fine, but try as I might, I just couldn’t break the “about 3-inch” group sizes at 25 yards. They were often a bit low and to the right — I was advised by some friends the SS197 would shoot a bit low — but I would get three or four shots into about 3" then one or two would string up, often making the group into a 5" vertical string. And, sometimes the first couple of rounds would be fine, it would throw one vertically, then plop one back into the group. A chronograph showed velocities in the 1,650 to 1,725 fps range. I’m an old guy-guy and have expended hundreds of thousands of perfectly good rounds shooting at targets, and on a good day can hold pretty close to what a gun is capable of delivering. I’m confident this is actual performance for this particular gun. I did some internet forum sneaky-peeky and found some on-line postings that seemed to agree with my findings. However, I also found some astounding World’s Finest Magazines MEC-GAR is proud to offer “Optimum” - our new and unique series of high capacity flush-fit pistol magazines. The new design of the magazine housing and interlinked magazine components, together with a special Anti-Friction Coating offer far superior performance even in difficult operational environments. The increased firepower of MEC-GAR “Optimum” magazines can be further raised by an optional “Plus Two” adapter. “Plus Two” is a new set of hollow butt-plate and inner base to raise the capacity of the MEC-GAR “Optimum” magazine by 2-rounds and stick out only 5/8” from the butt of the pistol! Available For: Beretta 92FS 9mm 18rd / 20rd Beretta 96FS .40S&W 13rd / 15rd Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP 14rd SIG P226 9mm 18rd / 20rd SIG P226 .40S&W 13rd / 15rd Springfield XD 9mm 18rd Springfield XD .40S&W 13rd Taurus PT92 9mm 18rd / 20rd Taurus PT100 .40S&W 13rd / 15rd Mec-Gar USA, Inc., 905 Middle Street, Middletown, CT 06457 Tel: (800) 632-4271 Fax: (860) 635-1712 www.mec-gar.com “OPTIMUM”. THE WORLD’S BEST MAGAZINES WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 832010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=84http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=84groups, usually with other ammo types. I also called a friend I have who loves these guns and he agreed his performance with the SS197 to be dependant on the particular gun its shot in. Some love it and some don’t. So, while the carbine loves this new heavier ammo, I’m inclined to think there may be something about it my test pistol takes a dislike to. Am I picking-nits here? I think so, but it is what happened. I was hoping for sub-2" groups (or better?) but a 3", even with a stringer now and again, could make this a 25 yard squirrel/jack-rabbit gun, and doesn’t rule out self-defense use in the least. Not at all. And, after firing about 350+ rounds, they both ran like a clock. And that’s much more important for these kinds of guns for sure. I’ll bet if you scrounged up some other ammo or played with some reloading ideas (like virtually any handgun), you’d find the Five-seveN could break that magic 1.5" at 25 yards. My bud says his will, so there you go. What’d I learn? Lots, actually. I honestly don’t think the 5.7 round does anything magical or spectacular — physics is physics, after all. But the guns are interesting. At less than 100 yards, a good .22 Magnum rifle could accomplish just about the same thing the 5.7 can in the hunting field, which doesn’t demean either round, since the .22 Mag. (40-grain bullet at about 2,000 fps) is no slouch. Stretch the distance to 150 or even 200 yards and the 5.7 PS90 wins since it holds it hold its velocity better due to better bullet design. At those distances, it’s still a small game round at best though. I enjoyed the carbine once I understood it better. It is, indeed, a very fun gun to shoot! The pistol is a breed of its own. One thing it does do is deliver rifle-like .22 Mag. performance from a handgun. It has solid engineering features, is deadnuts reliable and has enough interesting performance to make it a candidate for small game hunting, plinking and even self-defense if you feel comfortable with the caliber. I think a bit of experimenting with ammo might be needed for some pistols if they don’t like the SS197 right off the bat. The peculiar controls (forward safety on the pistol, mag controls, safety, over-all ergonomics on the PS90) will take some getting used to for we U.S. shooters. Europeans live on another side of the world so think very differently about things than we do at times. These are two of those times — but keep in mind, we also like BMWs and SSKIndustries2010.indd 1 Mercedes autos. Whispers ® .302 ® .338 .375 .416 Euro-Style Whispers are developments of SSK Industries, which operate at sub-sonic and medium velocity modes. 22 through 50 caliber. Custom barrels for Contenders, Encores, bolt guns, semi-autos and the cans to keep them quiet are available. Over 400 calibers. Custom and production AR barrels, uppers and complete guns. Convert your guns or ours. SSK Industries 590 Woodvue Lane Wintersville, OH 43953 Tel: 740-264-0176 www.sskindustries.com * For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex 84 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=85http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=85WILSON Continued from page 57 usually have an 18-20-pound spring, while subcompacts run 22-24 pounds, often using dual springs. All recoil springs shorten and lose strength with use. The longer springs of the full-length pistol lose less length and power proportional to initial specifications than do mid-size and compact springs. This is why you often see recommendations to install new recoil springs in subcompacts every 500-1,000 rounds, on midsize 1911s at 1,500-2,000 rounds, and on full-length guns after 3,000+ rounds. The full-length 1911 is more reliable when dirty, and stays reliable longer. I shouldn’t admit this as it sets a bad example but I’ve kept the same recoil springs in competition 1911 .45s for 15,000+ rounds, at which time they were likely down to 13-14 pounds. Mind you I did lube the gun every 200-250 rounds and clean every 1,000 rounds. A Shooter Personally I have every confidence in the midsize and subcompact 1911s I often carry. The shorter length is a bit more comfortable in my Sparks insidewaistband holster, and a bit easier to draw. However, my lifestyle doesn’t place the extreme demands on equipment, which police and military users often face. My guns don’t get dirty except from shooting and I have plenty of time to keep them clean and well maintained. Well, say you, enough spring and slide talk, tell me about the gun already. I say, it’s a great gun. Carrying the gun regularly and shooting it on the range turned this skeptic into a fan. Reliability comes first. There was not the hint of a malfunction in the course of firing 500+ rounds, including 185 gr. JHPs, 200 gr. lead SWCs, 230 gr. ball, standard JHPs, and +P JHPs. In terms of accuracy … oh, I forgot … no serious gunfighter type cares about accuracy. Accuracy is irrelevant on a combat pistol as long as you can hit a pie plate at 7 yards, right? If you agree, skip the next line. Okay, for the two or three readers who do care, the Ultralight consistently put five shots under 2" at 25 yards, the best group was 1" using 200 gr. SWCs from Black Hills. But let’s keep this to ourselves. As with all Wilson Combat slides and steel frames, the aluminum alloy frame is forged and machined. Strictly speaking I suppose a steel frame is stronger, but the alloy frame is more than strong enough. Actually the frame of a 1911 is not a highly stressed component. I like a steel frame on my heavily used competition guns, but it’s more for the recoil-reducing weight than out of concerns for durability. The forged slide also has “Browning Hi-Power-ish” cuts in 85 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=86http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=86the front, which look good and reduce weight a bit. Other features are easier to evaluate using Chuck Pittman’s amazing photos. The only contact I’ve had with Chuck is through exchanges of e-mails to coordinate shipping of guns being tested, but he sends me copies of the photos appearing in the magazine. Dang, this guy is good! Some of the noteworthy features: check the very well done recessed muzzle crown. The beavertail grip safety is a “carry” version, smaller and trimmer than those often seen on match guns but still very comfortable and effective. Note how the back/bottom of the grip frame is rounded off, making it more comfortable to grip and reducing wear on the covering garment. It’s not as pronounced as the Ed Brown Bobtail but nonetheless very effective. The manual safety (left side only) is extended for ease of use without being overly large. The front strap is checkered 30 lines per inch, and the rear of the slide is serrated 40 lpi to match the serrations on the fixed rear sight. The top of the slide is serrated at 30 lpi. The ramp front sight carries a tritium night-sight insert. On my pistols with night sights the rear sight also has tritium inserts, for a “three dot” sight picture. Naturally I am suspicious of anything different. I did try dimming the indoor range lights. At any reasonable range (I tried as far as 15 yards) as long as I could see to identify the target I could hold the tritium dot of the front sight over the rear of the slide and shoot center hits. So it works, but it’s not what I’m used to so I remain surly and skeptical. Grumble, whine, and grumble. The slide stop pin is recessed into the right side of the frame, and that’s a feature I like. It looks good, is unlikely to get pushed accidentally, and doesn’t interfere with the laser beam of lasermounted grips such as those from Crimson Trace. The bottom of the slide is beveled so it won’t cut hands or holsters, plus it looks good. Grip panels are G10 “Starburst” design, inlet with a Wilson Combat medallion. I found they provided a comfortable and secure grip. Finish is a very tough, corrosion resistant, baked-on finish called Armor Tuff. Sometimes this type of finish will show wear on surfaces such as slide rails (though the test gun hasn’t so far), but as they actually penetrate the surface they continue to provide corrosion protection. Some features you can’t see: trigger pull is near perfect, with a bit of smooth take-up, a clean break and minimal over-travel. Weight of pull of the test gun was almost exactly four pounds, with a variation of no more than three ounces in 20 measurements. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010 Other Cool Things AR Uppers & Lowers Custom Revolver Cylinders Hi-Power and 1911A-1 Frames & Slides High Quality OEM Supplier 41 Lake Morton Drive Suite 25 Lakeland, FL 33801 ph: 863.602.1515 fax: 863.815.7287 jim@floridaarms.com www.floridaarms.com 862010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=87http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=87Internal fit and finish of slide, frame, and components is every bit as precisely done as the exterior. All operating components such as the safeties, trigger, slide stop and magazine release function crisply and positively. The test pistol came in a handsome soft carrying case with pockets for extra magazines. Wilson magazines are as good as any and better than most. Three magazines were included with the test pistol. Another feature the pictures can’t show is the test firing of the pistol before it leaves Wilson Combat. Every completed pistol is tested with at least 80 rounds of three different types of ammunition by an experienced shooter wherein the sights are adjusted. The test pistol shot center for windage for me. Elevation varies a bit with the ammunition used and how strongly the pistol is held. For me it shot a couple of inches low at 25 yards with the 185 gr. JHPs and 200 gr. SWCs, and dead center with 230 gr. JHPs. Overall quality of materials and workmanship is outstanding. The Ultralight Carry is beautifully made, reliable, accurate, durable, impressive in appearance — and in performance. Many custom features are available; ambidextrous thumb safety, grip panels, different finish colors (black, grey, o.d. green, and tan), and sight options for example. Wilson Combat is a true custom shop so you have the option of one of their well thought out packages, or you can choose the features you want. We see now the value of keeping an open mind and not fearing change. I was so impressed I sent a message to His most worthy Editorship, extolling the light frame/full-size pistol concept. Roy has serious faults as an editor, such as being insufficiently ruthless. He’s even been known to show mercy on contributors who miss deadlines. I bet during his 20-year police career he got reprimanded for issuing warning tickets rather than making the miscreants pay. On the other hand he has carried and used guns most of his life and actually can shoot. His e-mail back read, “Well duh! An alloy-framed Les Baer has been my favorite full-length 1911 for years. Congratulations on recognizing the obvious when it’s right under your nose.” Sarcastic, you see. The things I put up with. I may have to buy the Ultralight Carry just to prove my new openness to change isn’t just a passing fancy. ered by olff Power ed b y Wolf f! For over 50 years Wolff has been the name you trust for precision gunsprings - Recoil Springs - Magazine Springs - Hammer Springs - Firing Pin Springs - Other Springs - Performance Kits For hundreds of Semi-Auto Pistols, Revolvers, Rifles and Shotguns. Like oil in your car, springs need to be changed from time to time. P.O.Box 458, Dept. 381, Newtown Square, PA 19073 Toll-Free at 800-545-0077 or 610-359-9600 www .gunsprings .com www.gunsprings .gunsprings.com Isn’t it time to make sure your gun is Powered by Wolff! * For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex To see Dave’s video on the Ultralight Carry, go to www.americanhandgunner. com and click on Web Blast! CLICK ON THE “WEB BLAST” LINK WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 872010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=88http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=88ROBAR Continued from page 43 CALL 1(800)SA2-1911 “the MAG GUIDE people”™ when only the BEST will do! ORDER DIRECT and SAVE! $78.95 Government Model/ Officers’ Model Mag Guide Available: Flat/Arched SS/BL 20 LPI NEW: Flat now available in Smooth Also Available: Grizzly Flat-SS/BL $89.95 Single actions will fire upside down, touching a doorframe or barricade or shoved into an assailant’s gut. The single action will function with full power modern defensive ammunition, ultra wimpy cowboy action loads and any bullet design from wad cutters to hollow points or snake shot. Limp-wristing, the bane of polymer-framed semiauto shooter has no effect on the single action, and you never have to worry about bent magazine lips, polishing a feed ramp or replacing springs. The gun was a wonder when designed and still is. The lessons learned and the fun I had in that class have never left me, and now that I have retired from law enforcement and am no longer under department restrictions as to what I can carry for a concealed firearm I wanted something unique, different, custom, classy but capable. The seed planted 13 years ago began to grow into an idea and then a concept. What would my ideal concealed carry single action revolver look like? What features and modifications would be desirable? I wanted a single action that retained the traditional features and look of the originals but incorporating two very important modern features, the capability of handling full power defensive loads and the incorporation of what I consider a necessity in any combat handgun, a night sight. This led me to USFA. The United States Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, Inc. is a privately held company, which began operations in 1993 under the blue dome of the original Colt Armory in Hartford, Connecticut. USFA moved to a new Hartford site in 2001 and uses modern CNC technology to manufacture some of the finest Single Action Army revolvers, Lightning magazine rifles and 1911s anywhere. Despite the use of state of the art CNC tooling there’s still a touch of old world craftsmanship to revolvers coming out of the USFA factory. Every part of the revolver is individually fitted to a particular frame, resulting in flawless timing, exceptionally tight cylinder lock up and little to no end shake. Although faithful to the original Colt’s design there are important changes too. The cylinder, constructed from heattreated 4140 series steel, is .020" larger in diameter, and the top strap is thicker resulting in extra strength. Full power defense loads? No problem. A minor, but I feel equally important change, is to the front sight, straight instead of tapered and wider measuring .10". This makes the front sight easier to see and results in a more precise sight picture. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010 AL $36.95 Mainspring Housing Available in: Gov’t Model, Officers’ Model, all Para-Ordnance. 20 LPI Flat/Arched-SS/BL (P10/P12 flat only) (flat smooth available for all of the above) AL The Start $95.95 Full Para Mag Guide (For P14/P16 only) Available in: Flat/Arched-SS/BL 20 LPI AL $99.00 Ambidextrous Magazine Release Gov’t Model, Officers’ Model & Para-Ordnance. SS/BL $36.95 “E-Z Fit Hi Grip”® Safety .250 radius-Series 70 & 80 .220 radius S70 for Springfields “PalmSwel”/Standard (jig available) Prices starting at $17.50 S & A Custom 1911 Grips Exotic Woods & Micarta Standard & Slim Line DD, FC & Smooth available in Aluminum Color Catalog Available Same Day Shipping Appropriate shipping charges Dealers Welcome 100% Customer Satisfaction L A NEW–Slim Line Mag Guides & Grips w/screws & bushings available with Lanyard Loop add $10 P.O. Box 299 • Copeville, Texas USA 75121 (800) SA2-1911 • Fax (972) 853-0526 www.smithandalexander.com Hours: M-F, 9am-5pm CST 882010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=89http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=89However I wanted to modify the gun to incorporate a high visibility combat style tritium sight. The fit and finish of these guns is truly outstanding, with brilliant case coloring and rich bluing and I’m going to come right out and say it — these revolvers are superior to anything coming out of the Colt factory in recent years and equal to any second generation Colt single action. But I had something different in mind in terms of a finish. History has proven the great merits of the single action army design. USFA specializes in the custom gun and will build to your specifications. I called USFA’s Gary Granger. Gary is the point man at USFA for customer orders and I ran my ideas for the gun by him. Gary suggested a 3½" barrel to aid concealment, but retaining the ejection rod which is commonly absent from short-barreled single actions. This would facilitate faster reloads and would negate the necessity to carry a dowel to remove sticky fired cases. Gary also suggested a second cylinder in .45 ACP. Here is another area where the single action revolver shines. In the single action revolver the .45 ACP cartridge headspaces on the cartridge lip negating the need for full or half moon clips and there is a plethora of outstanding .45 ACP defensive ammo, on the market. Since the gun was destined to be finished after modification it was shipped in the white. Robar I contacted Robbie Barrkman at the Robar Companies and ran my ideas by him. Robbie had also participated in the pre-1900 class and was as excited about the project as I was. He agreed to take on the modification and finishing of the gun, using his outstanding Roguard polymer finish for the externals to provide corrosion protection, and NP3 for the internals. NP3 is very corrosion resistant, provides high lubricity and reduces friction and wear. The stuff works. Robar has now introduced NP3 Plus, which is even more remarkable. Robar built and finished my duty 1911 and after 10 years of hard police work and off-duty carry the gun looks and functions like it left his shop yesterday. I don’t think there’s a better finish for a firearm. Robbie also agreed to fit the night sight and, being the Renaissance man he is, took the photos 89 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=90http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=90you see here. Robbie and his craftsmen fashioned an elegant rib to the top of the barrel, which flows perfectly into the rear sight channel. Dovetailed into the front of the rib is the XS Sight Systems 24/7 Tritium Big Dot Express Sight; fast to pick-up and a top quality, fast system. Typical of Robar’s attention to small details the top of the hammer was also stippled. Next the frame of the gun was finished in Roguard. The internals, cylinder, hammer, trigger, ejector rod and screws were finished in NP3. As the saying goes, good guns deserve good leather. Next up was a call to master leather craftsman Thad Rybka, another veteran of that class 13 years ago. Thad needs little encouragement to make holsters for single actions, as he is as nuts about them as I am. Thad does not have advertising and stamps or logos on his products; his work speaks for itself. My instructions were simple, I wanted a strong side holster that would conceal the gun, and I wanted something that looked good. Thad crafted one of his signature Rhodesian roughout high ride holsters, which fits the gun like a second skin. Thad had also turned me on to a little trick years ago for single actions chambered for .45 ACP. Take a 1911 Officers ACP maga- zine, cut the spring by about a third and viola — you have an instant re-loader for the single action revolver. You just thumb the rounds right into the chambers from the magazine. A matching magazine pouch for the loader was crafted to match the holster. racy … I’ll say. Not only was the gun dead on for windage, it also shot to point of aim with the ammunition I used. The people at Robar do good work. Final Thoughts Does It Work? I brought a mixed bag of factory .45 Colt and .45 ACP loads to the range the first time, and since I’m no Sergeant York, shot the gun for accuracy off a sandbag rest at seven and 15 yards. Cocking the hammer, the 24/7-sight pops into view like a full moon clearing the horizon. No problem seeing this front sight. And I had no problem keeping five shots of Black Hills .45 Colt 250s within 1¼". Next up was Winchester .45 Colt Silvertip. The group shrank to 1". Moving all the way back to 15 yards the Winchester Silvertips stayed within 1" while the Black Hills opened up a bit beyond 1¼". Surprisingly where this little gun comes alive is with the .45 ACP cylinder. Shooting Blazer 200 JHPs I had no problem putting the shots on top of each other at the 7-yard line. But at 15 yards the Speer Gold Dot 230s gave consistent ¾" groups, with light recoil for a defensive handgun load, and were a joy to shoot. Defensive handgun accu- Just as I finished this article I got a call from Gary Granger and learned USFA is offering this gun with a Bisley style hammer which is lower and would allow you to see the front sight without having to first cock the gun. Also as part of their ongoing product improvement program the ejector rod housing has been modified to allow removal of the cylinder without having to first remove the housing itself. This will be a big help for changing cylinders in the field. The finished products resulted in a firearm and holster you would feel comfortable having on your hip while crossing a dark parking lot late at night in the wilds of downtown Denver. Or these days, for me, while searching for a wounded feral hog in failing light in the Hill Country of Texas. The result? Had the Single Action Army Colt continued in its evolution as a defensive firearm it might have looked just like this. What was true then — is true today. * For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex Discover the value of reloading your own ammunition with Starline brass. ORDER 90 Factory Direct WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=91http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=91SIXGUNNER Continued from page 32 handguns, both single actions and single-shots in standard calibers as well as his proprietary GNR wildcat cartridges. His single actions bear such names as Arizona Classic, El Diablo, Alaskan Hunter and African Hunter. Over the past 10 years Gary relates he has wanted to build a custom Ruger Redhawk in some of the larger calibers using a custom five-shot cylinder. Like most of us who have things we want to get done someday … someday never came. Then incapacitation turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Gary had shoulder surgery, which took longer to heal then he hoped, however it did give him some thinking time and the result is his first custom Redhawk. An appropriate name for a revolver of this strength and large caliber offerings has been chosen, and it is “Mastodon.” Paste using Command-F to place in the same position. Utilize “paste remembers layers” to mainta the layer names. Inside The Beast 10-AmericanHandgunAd: 2/1/10 Better Recoil Control “I could feel a difference . . . I know it helps . . . I’ve seen the results.” —Robert Vogel, Police Officer & 7-time National Champion Shooter USPSA/IDPA Captains of Crush® The gold standard of grippers: build and benchmark your grip strength. STRONGER MINDS, STRONGER BODIES™ www.ironmind.com Special offer! Complimentary grip program for shooters: enter AH-RA10 in key code box when placing an order. May/June 2010 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM IRONMIND - AMERICAN HANDGUN 2.25 X 5 The Mastodon is built only on the Redhawk as great difficulty is found in removing and replacing a Super Redhawk barrel. The latter may be larger and heavier, however I doubt it’s any stronger than Ruger’s original big bore double action, and the Redhawk is certainly more portable. Gary is offering the Mastodon in .475 Linebaugh, .455 GNR and .510 GNR. The .445 GNR is created from necking down the .475 Linebaugh to .45, allowing it to use a wide range of .45 bullets; with factory rounds from Cartridge Performance Engineering utilizing 300 grain LBT WFN (wide flat nose) Hard Cast bullets. Muzzle velocities are in the .454 Casull range. The .510 GNR is basically a slightly shortened .500 Linebaugh using .511" hard cast bullets. By shortening the case Gary maintains it can be loaded equivalent to the .500 Linebaugh while at the same time being easier to load down for practice loads. I was provided with full house hunting loads as well as 1,000-1,100 “practice loads” by Andy Rowe of Cartridge Performance Engineering; the latter are certainly much easier to handle while at the same time being capable of taking most big-game efficiently. Factory loads for the .510 GNR use 350-435 grain hard cast bullets. Both of the guns received are set up for efficient up-close, really big game hunting with V-notch rear sights and, in one case, a gold bead front sight and, the other, a red fiber-optic sight. Both of these, especially the red optic front sight, are exceptionally easy for me to see outdoors but almost disappear under indoor shooting range light. Due to the time of the year and the climate and the fact I am long past my ith Shoot•N•C Targets, W bullet holes explode in bright, easy-to-see chartreuse rings providing ® you with instant feedback and eliminating the need to use binoculars or walk downrange. This revolutionary technology has made Shoot•N•C® the #1 reactive target worldwide! • ADHESIVE BACKING makes targets easy to put up • REPAIR PASTERS cover bullet holes extending target life • USE INDOORS OR OUT • AVAILABLE IN A VARIETY OF DESIGNS TARGETS For a free sample and catalog visit birchwoodcasey.com or call: 800-328-6156 912010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=92http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=92invincible period of life, I was forced to shoot indoors which required intense concentration on the sights. Shooting indoors may not be the best scenario but it is a godsend in bad weather. Gary’s son Kase is much younger than I, with corresponding younger eyes and hands, and is able to shoot one-hole groups at 25 yards with full house loads. I can’t do that well in poor lighting, but well enough to be fine in a hunting situation. Gary Reeder Customs Guns offers the Mastodon on either a blue or stainless steel Redhawk. A new five-shot cylinder, which completely fills in the frame window is fitted, along with a heavy custom barrel with a recommended length of 51/2" or 6". Longer barrels are available, however these two seem to combine the best features of portability and practical use in hunting situations. In addition to the three chamberings mentioned, others are available on special order. It’s been my pleasure, (well, okay, the full house loads are not that pleasurable) to be able to test the first two Mastodon prototypes, one in .455 GNR and the other .510 GNR. Both have 51/2" barrels and wear beautiful custom Mongolian stag grips (other materials are also offered) on a slightly reconfigured frame which rounds off the hotspots. Both also have single action trigger pulls right at five pounds, which is definitely light enough in a revolver this powerful. Double action pulls are smooth enough to be easily used in an emergency situation. The .455 GNR has an all satin stainless finish with a gold bead front sight matched up with a V-notch rear sight, smooth trigger with no sharp edges, and both hammer and trigger are high polished stainless. A mastodon with huge tusks is engraved on both sides of the cylinder as well as both sides of the frame behind the trigger. The prototype .510 GNR is a twotone gun with satin stainless barrel and cylinder matched with a matte black frame. Gary’s beautiful high polish Black Chromex finish is also available. The front sight, a red fiber-optic, is on a ramp, which is part of really neat barrel band. This Mastodon also features the same engraved cylinder. These are heavy-duty hunting handguns made for taking really dangerous big game, however there is nothing saying they couldn’t also be used for deer, black bear and wild boars. The retail price for the Mastodon is $2,295, built on the customer’s supplied Redhawk. Delivery is anticipated at about three to four months. With 1,000 fps loads they are most enjoyable to shoot, and with full house hunting loads they are definitely serious sixguns. Big Boomers Indeed WORLD’S HOTTEST SHOULDER HOLSTER! WORLD’S TOUGHEST LEATHER! FITTED TO YOUR EXACT GUN For ALL LARGE FRAME HANDGUNS The ONLY All Leather Holster & Harness as Tough as your Handgun! Our Thick, Black, 10oz. “Element 119™” Leather is 99.9% Resistant to Salt Water, Algae, Sand, Blood, Etc. Even Open Flame! Fully Washable w/ Antibacterial Liquid. + $18.00 Shpg.& Ins. 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Enterprises, Inc. www.beltmountain.com Cylinder Base Pins Ruger, Colt, and Replicas T 59714 92 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=93http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=93Custom CORNER Custom Cornerfeaturespaidlistingsbytheidentifiedpistolsmiths.ManyaremembersoftheAmericanPistolsmiths GuildandtheAmericanHandgunnerClub100.Advertisinginformationisavailablefrom:amerICan handgunner,Adv.Dept.,12345WorldTradeDrive,SanDiego,CA92128;(858)605-0218. WWW.DLSPORTS.COM Custom AR15’s, 1911’s, Precision Rifles, Accessories, Training, ITRC Competition Extreme Duty AR15 Magazines Now Available! 307.686.4008 D&L Sports, Inc. PO Box 651 Gillette, WY 82717 Powder River Precision, Inc. www.powderriverprecision.com PISTOLSMITHS www.tusseycustom.com e-mail: ttussey45@aol.com 775-246-1533 Quality and timely pistolsmithing Specialized in: Springfield XD/XDM, 1911’s, Glocks and the Browning Hi-Power. (541) 403-2998 (541) 403-2999 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 932010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=94http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=94GUNNYSACK A Roy Huntington t the SHOT Show early this year, Ed Strange, head honcho at Wicked Grips, showed me some grips that flat stopped me in my tracks. My wife, Suzi, was with me and her eyes lit-up as she looked at the grips, looked at me, looked at Ed, looked at the grips and sort of muttered something. It’s not often Suzi is at a loss for words, but there you go. I’m not sure what magic happens to create this sort of thing, but Ed assures me they begin life as honest wood (Burl things) and then something happens making colors pop and the figure jump out at you, hitting you in the face. These are, simply put, mind-boggling stunners. Ed’s shop, here in the states, creates grips one at a time; and they’re known for pushing the envelope on patterns, designs and “out-there” ideas on materials and craftsmanship. I’ve had the extreme pleasure of seeing many of the shop’s grips and each one, regardless of material or design, stood on its own in every category. From the more mundane materials to handmade Damascus, custom-crafted woods and other exotics, chances are good if you can dream it — and if you can’t, Ed’s team can — they’ll make it for you. Their Web site is worth a trip just to see what they’re doing. WICKED GRIPS — AGAIN They are young, modern and think outside the box, not trapped by tradition or classic looks, even though they can manage some pretty classic looks if they want to. If you have a special project gun, a family heirloom you want to dress up or a daily carry gun you want to gussie-up some (Elmer Keith always said custom grips were like a bit of lipstick on a pretty gal), let Ed and his team make your brain hurt trying to decide just what you want. Or is it need? Probably both. For more info: www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex 94 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=95http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=95GUNNYSACK TRAIL D-VISE T Roy Huntington he word epiphany commonly means “A moment of sudden revelation or insight,” among other things. When I saw the Trail D-Vise I had one of those, and knew you needed to know about it as well. My aging forehead is getting more of a slope to it the older I get, due to me slapping it with my palm saying things like, “Oh, that’s how it goes!” or “Oh, NOW I understand,” or “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” So that slapping sound you heard was me, making my forehead even more Neanderthal-like and repeating that last line — again. The Trail D-Vise (catchy name if you ask me) simply slips into your truck’s receiver hitch, pins in with it’s own pin, and the handy vise handle slips off the side and goes over the nut-like head. You twist away and lock whatever the problem at hand is in your now, rock-like vise and go to work. It has toothed pipe jaws, and even a little anvil to pound on. It opens to just over 8" wide (to press most u-joints) and the main jaws have “Slip-Not” material so you don’t lose your work. The shaft going into the hitch is crossdrilled so you can change it to 90-degrees if you need to, and it works in any common 2" receiver. Now honestly, how many times could you have used this while off-roading, in the pasture, at the cabin or in our case, maybe at the range to fix or install something on a problematic gun bit? Use it to repair, fabricate, weld, file, hacksaw or just about anything you need a vise to do. Hell, it even has a built-in bottle opener, if that doesn’t beat all. I put it on Suzi’s Ford F-250 Super Duty beast and tried out a DMT diamond sharpener on my battle-weary kindling splitter right after taking this picture. It worked just fine. About $150, and worth twice as much (or four, or five or ten times as much?) in some situations you’ve been in, I’ll bet. Plus, it’ll make your tool-hog neighbor envious. For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex Improve your shooting with one of our shot timers or chronographs, used by top shooters and trainers worldwide. “The Pocket Pro is the fastest way to see results at the range.” Todd Jarrett ProChrono Digital Chronograph $119.95 Part # CEI-3800 Measures the velocity of your loads to verify their performance, a must when you need to shoot accurately! Accuracy- within 1%. Range of operation- 25 to 7000 ft/sec. Mounts on a camera tripod. 9 volt battery powered (not included). Review of shots, high, low, extreme spread, and standard deviation. Accessories available. See our website for more fine products and special offers. $129.95 Part # CEI-4700 (blue) Part # CEI-4705 (tan) Records draw, reload,and shot interval times. Easy to use menu system. Backlit graphics display can be configured 3 ways. Large sturdy belt clip. Low frequency buzzer. Ergonomic design. 9 volt battery level indicator. Settable delay, stop tone, sensitivity, shot dead time, clock, backlight. Pocket Pro II Shot Timer Our products are backed by a 30 day money back satisfaction Pocket Pro Carry Case guarantee, 2 year warranty, full service and support. $10.95 Part # CEI-4707 815.874.8001, 815.874.8181 fax www.competitionelectronics.com 95 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=96http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=96GUNNYSACK UZI CHOPPER Roy Huntington I ’ve learned a thing or two lately about stout chopping blades. On our land, it seems I’m always having to cut down creeping vines, chop away poison ivy before it takes over, cut away small branches that poke you in the eye when you mow and a million other jobs. I tried a standard lightweight machete and found it just wasn’t up to the task. Not enough “thunk” power. I have bolder tools for bigger jobs, but for “all-the-time-on-the-ATV” I needed something that actually worked. Dear friends, Jessica and her dad, Dave Hall of Hallmark Cutlery (get it?) recommended their Jungle Commander from their UZI line of knives. I’ve featured their affordable but well made cutters in our pages in the past, so I was ready to give it a try. Jessica sent one and it promptly became one of our “most-used” tools around here. I zip-tied the stout sheath (with kydex-type insert) onto the back rack of our ATV and there it’s ridden ever since. The 9" blade is deceptively effective, and at only 14.5" overall, it’s handy to tote and to swing. The blade is a bit thicker than you’d expect and that’s what really makes it effective. And the molded rubber-like grip feels “just right” in your hand and doesn’t allow “hot spots” to develop on your skin as you work. I generally use gloves, and the slight “tack-feel” of the grip helps keep it in your hand. There’s also a lanyard loop if you want to go that route. In today’s high-tech, battery-powered world, I confess it’s often great fun to simply have a solid tool that actually works well at what it’s designed to do. There’s no batteries to die, no complicated buttons or owner’s manuals to fuss with — you just pick it up and get to work. And sometimes, a little work can be great fun, if you ask me. About $67 bucks — cheap for a good tool. For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex 96 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=97http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=97GUNNYSACK Roy Huntington really like simple. I like watches with analog faces, on/off switches you can actually find, and not too many controls on things. Alas, in today’s world, I feel more and more like a dinosaur, and maybe there’s a lesson there. Combat lights of all kinds exist by the truck-full nowadays, and while many are simple, rugged and effective, I have to tell you many have proven more complicated than I thought necessary. I recently got a light (made for street cops) and I’ll be perfectly honest with you I couldn’t figure out how to install the batteries. I MICRON 30 And once I read the 45 page manual, I got the batteries in, turned it on and couldn’t figure out how to turn it back off, without cycling through blinking strobes, red/green/ amber and blue LEDs, low power, medium power and high power modes. I finally took the batteries out since I remembered how I put them in. The Micron 30 is one of the former. It has exactly one switch, and it turns it off and on. Slide it to the left, it’s on; to the right, it’s on, and in the middle it’s off. Lets you use either finger to make it go. To put the battery in you unscrew the obviously knurled part (knurling = turning things usually), put the one small battery in, screw it back down and it works. Oh, and it has two “modes” — on or off. Imagine that. While at about 40 lumens you’re not going to blind your opponent or melt his retina, the Micron 30 only weighs 1.3 ounces, burns for about three hours, is water resistant (like rain, not underwater), and it’s very nifty on small, compact and sub-compact guns. Plus, at about $80 won’t break your bank. The white LED is guaranteed for 50,000 hours and I honestly didn’t see anything on it that would break. The clip is patent-pending and makes honest one-handed “on/off” your gun a reality. Would I buy this if I were going to war — probably not. But for someone on a budget, or for an off-duty/second gun, the Micron 30 deserves a look-see. It uses “N” or LR1 batteries, which help to keep it extra-tiny. For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex Shotshell Hunting Line The Fiocchi Tundra Tungsten compound is the breakthrough innovation in waterfowl hunting. Deforms like Lead, can be used with ALL chokes AND is non toxic. Available in 9.5 g./cc (superior weight to Bismuth) and 12.5 g./cc (superior weight to lead). For the Fiocchi dealer near you, Call 417.449.1043 / visit www.fiocchiusa.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 972010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=98http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=98: SPOTLIGHT XRAIL SYSTEMS RothConceptInnovations,LLC KPOS CONVERSION KIT TheMakoGroup Takeyourshotgun’sintimidationfactortoawholenew level.InstallanXRAILSystemanddoubletheammunition capacity,withoutincreasingtheoveralllengthofyour currentgun.Itiseasytouseandisinstalledinminutes, withoutalteringyourgun.For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex THE BIG-HAWK LawmanLeatherGoods IntroducingtheruggedaluminumGlock-to-RifleConversionKit(KPOS). TheKPOS,designedforpersonalsecurityandcovertoperations,provides firepowerupto100meters.ItworkswithGlock’sG17,G34, G22,G35,G19andG23.Featuresinclude:afoldingergonomic weaponforegrip,aone-pointtacticalslingadapter, afold-to-thesidecompactbuttstockandan innovativepatenteddesign,whichlocks theguntotheframe,front andback.For more info: (631) 880-3396 or www. americanhandgunner. com/productindex TheBIG-HAWKistheoriginalfirst productionshoulderholsterforall scopedhandguns—forallbarrel lengths.Includingtheextraheavy, premiumbridleleatherandalltop grainleatherOriginalDirtyHarry shoulderharness.For more info: (702) 227-0072 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex SCORPION & SHIELD C.O.Arms C.O.Arms,aWestTennesseemanufacturerof highquality1911pistols hasintroducedtwonew models:theScorpionand theShield.TheScorpion hasaforgedstainlesssteelslideandframe,withmatchgradebarrelanda high-endsightingsystem.TheShieldisatrueconcealedcarry1911,witha standardgriplength,9roundcapacityof.45ACPanda3¼"barrel.For more info: (206) 888-2899 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex THE RUSTY’S RAG MERNICKLE REALTREE HOLSTER MernickleHolsters Rusty’sRags,Inc. BobMernicklehascollaboratedwithRealtreeProductsto createthepopularRealtreeAPlineprintedonhigh-grade HermanOakLeather.Thisprintisscratchandmoisture resistant.Youcannowhaveahand-moldedleatherholster thatblendstoyourcamoclothing,aswellastheenvironmentaroundyou.For more info: (775) 575-3166 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex 98 Thisextra-thick,silicone-impregnated,sheepskinclothcleansandprotectsyour valuablefirearmssothey’llstaylookinglikenew.Theadvancedsiliconeformula easilyremovescorrosivefingerprints,dirt,dustandgrime,makingitidealfor wipingdownyourfirearmsbeforetheygobackinthecaseoruponthegun rack.Theragleavesbehindalong-lasting,protectivefilmforadvanced moistureresistanceandrust protection.Rusty’sRagisthe onlygunclothonthemarketthat cangetinallthenooksandcranniesof yourgun.For more info: (770) 710-1356 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=99http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=99For more information on seeing your product featured in Spotlight contact, Steve Evatt (800) 533-7988. MODEL 9C1 FMKFirearms SURVIVOR STARTER PACK ASAPSurvivalGear Beforethe2006gunlawsinCalifornia wentintoeffect,therewasamaddash byallgunmakersinthecountrytoget ontheCAlist.Onlytwosemi-autopistols havebeenapprovedsincethen—one beingtheFMKFirearmsModel9C1.The Model9C1(aDAOpistolwithatenroundmagazine) hasacompactdesignandpolymerframe.Thepistol incorporatesuniquelowprofilesights,idealforconcealed carry.For more info: (714) 630-0658 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex TheASAPSurvivorStarterPackcontainsthe essentialsfortwopeople,forupto72hours.It isforhigh-risksituations,whereexposuretothe elementsmaybelifethreateningorprolonged, wherebasic/criticalneedsareundependableoreven non-existent.ASAPhasavarietyofSurvivalPacksforvariousemergencyneeds. For more info: (203) 230-5300 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex GUN SAFE FURNITURE SleepSafeCompany MAGAzINE RESTRAINT SYSTEM EscalaIndustries Magazinepouchesareathingof thepast;trythisuniquelydesigned MagazineRestraintSystem.TheMRS allowsthearmedcitizentheoptionto carryadditionalmagazineswithout theneedforamagazinepouchand stillremainlow-key.Sometactical advantagesarequickmagazine changeandfullaccesstocontents inthepantspocket.TheMRSisvery easytoinstall.For more info: (951) 200-1838 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex NEW SHOOTING SPORT AmericanZootShootersAssociation Thesefellowswereatthe SHOTShowandintroduced theirnewconcept.American ZootShootersAssociationisanewsport,whereparticipants dressin1920sand1930scostumes,andshootperiodcorrectfirearmsincompetition.Ifyouownorhavebeen lookingforanexcusetobuya1911pistol,aThompson oranyothergunfromthatera,youoweittoyourselfto checkoutAmericanZootShooters.Wanttojoininthefun? GivetheZootsacall.For more info: (720) 940-3620 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex CONCEALOR “BUG OFF” BOONIE HAT AltusBrands SleepSafeCompanyistheonly companythatproducesindividually handcraftedgunsafefurniture, securedwithbiometricfingerprint technology.Theproductlineincludes nightstands,dressersandentryway tablesinavarietyofwood,finishes andstyles.Everypieceiscustom madeandthenightstandisDOJ approved. For more info: (888) 667-6630 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex Tiredoffightingannoying,bitingmosquitoes,gnatsand no-see-umswhiletryingtoenjoythegreatoutdoors? AltusBrandsistotherescuewiththeirnewBugOffHat. TheBoonieHat,byitself,isgreattokeepthesunout ofyoureyesandprotectyourhead,butitalsohasa convenientzipperedcompartmentatthetopthatconceals afine,seethroughmeshthatwillcoveryourentirehead andneckarea—atruereliefinkeepingpestsoffyour faceandneck.For more info: (231) 421-3810 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM TF-17 HMR SEMIAUTO RIFLE VolquartsenCustom Volquartsen’snewTF-17mid-pricerifleisnumber14intherimfiregrowing lineofhighperformance,dependable.17HMRsemiautos.ThenewTF-17 featuresablowbackdesign,andtheexclusiveVolquartsenTG2000trigger unit.Itisatruecustombuiltrifle(MSRPonly$1,041),andisalsoavailablein .22WMR. For more info: (712) 792-4238 or www.americanhandgunner.com/ productindex 992010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=100http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=100: SPOTLIGHT REVOLUTION SAFES PendletonSafes For more information on seeing your product featured in Spotlight contact, Steve Evatt (800) 533-7988. PendletonSafesareproudlymadeintheUSAandaremanufacturedwithstateoftheartengineeringandmaterials. Theyproduceseveraldifferentcustomizablesafemodels securingupto94guns,andareequippedwithRevolution Technology—auniquecirculardesignthatrotates360 degreesatthetouchofabuttontobringthegunsdirectly toyou.For more info: (704) 864-1313 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex TACTICAL GRIPS Pachmayr Pachmayrhasaddedthree newmodelsfortheSpringfieldXD,GlockCompactSeries, andS&WM&PModelstotheirlineofslip-onTacticalGrip Gloves,joiningtheexistingmodelsforBeretta92FSandM9, CZ75/85, Glock17,20,21,22,31,34,35and37,S&W Sigma,andSIG220,226,228,229.Thegripsarecustom moldedforeachpistolwithPachmayr’sDeceleratormaterial forrecoilreductionandflexibilityforeasyinstallation.The ventilatedsidepanelsandfingergroovesprovideenhanced controlandaprofessionallook.For more info: (860) 6322020 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex GLOCK 17 AND 22 GEN4 Glock,Inc. IntroducingthenewGlock22 Gen4in.40andtheGlock17 Gen4in9x19.TheGen4design hasamultipleback-strapsystems thatallowtheusertochangethecircumferenceofthegrip,tofittheirindividual handsize.Thegriphasthreeoptionsandiseasilychangedandsecuredwitha singlepin.For more info: (770) 432-1202 or www.americanhandgunner.com/ productindex 3D SERIES BINOCULARS CarsonOptical NEW 1911 MODELS IverJohnsonArms Thelightweight3D SeriesBinoculars aredesignedfor exceptionaluser comfort,withprecisely placedthumbgrooves,and“justright”texturingand all-overbodyergonomics.Theadvancedopticaltechnology producesadvanceddepthanddimension.Availablein 8x32,8x42,10x42and10x50,theMSRPrangesfrom $250-$350. For more info: (631) 963-5000 or www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex The1911A1bluedisthestandard GImodel;theTrojanbluedisthe standardCommandermodel.Both sizesalsocomeinadeluxeversion:EagleorHawk(ineitherall matteblueorinhighpolishedblue withmattetopandunderside). IverJohnsonsellsonlydealer direct,socontactyourlocaldealer andhavethemplaceanorderfor you.For more info: 321-636-3376 or www.americanhandgunner. com/productindex ULTRA-LIGHT RIFLE MGArms MICRON 30 WEAPON LIGHT ATNCorp. IntroducingtheMGAUltra-Light Rifle.Dependinguponstock,action andbarrelchoice,thesecustomrifles weighinat4¾to5¾lbs,without scope.Accuracyisguaranteedtobe lessthan1MOA,andmostwillshoot .4-.5MOAinthreeshotgroups! For more info: (281) 821-8282 or www.americanhandgunner.com/ productindex AervoeIndustries,Inc. TheMicron30WeaponLight isamongthesmallestonthe market,atonly2.1"long,and weighingamere1.3oz,withthebattery.The“N”battery includedwillgenerate40+peaklumens,andwillrunfor morethanthreehours.TheMicron30attachestoyour weaponusingaRapidLatchSystem,whichallowsfora morenaturalone-fingerreleaseofthelatchbar.For more info: (860) 417-2920 or www.americanhandgunner.com/ productindex CAMO KITS AervoeIndustrieshasintroducedintroducedtwonewCamoKitstomeetnewMarketNeeds. EachkitcontainssixcansofpainttocreateeitheraspecificgeographicalsettingoraUS Militarydigitalcamouflagepattern.Aervoealsomanufactureslubricants,self-poweredflashlights,radiosandmuchmore.For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex 100 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=101http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=101SPEAK OUT Continued from page 19 gotta be American Handgunner. Hell you were there when old man Browning first made it, weren’t you? Oops, I need your help too much to risk making you upset, but couldn’t help it. Steve Bond Reelsville, IN I foisted this one off to our old friends at the Brownells Tech Center. There, Monty Crain had this to say: “The front sight of the GI Expert should be a standard Para dovetail .210” X 70-degree, but the rear is an oddball .375" X 60-degree affair that’s near to impossible to find in fixed, and non-existent in adjustable. We stock a Kensight adjustable with .380" dovetail, but it’s very high compared to the front on your gun, and if high-mounted would require a front sight of about .265" to .285" height, and there isn’t a source for that high a rear sight. A Para .180" white dot front is our part #199-000-326 and for a .170" high it is #199-000-328. I hope this helps some.” — Thanks Monty! RH Gun Winners Form Fit and Function - all these attributes as well as extreme durability and more are found in Aluminum Grips! Aluminum grips are now available for a variety of guns, and the list continues to grow. grips made by major manufacturers with your custom, laser etched images or our standard images. We have, for many years, entered into your giveaway gun program for each issue. We have always looked online or in your two magazines we subscribe to (American Handgunner/ GUNS Magazine) for results to see who won, we can never find this info. Do you publish the lucky people’s names? Also, the recent feature by Massad Ayoob on the .38 snubbies (J! S&W’s Most Popular Handgun,” May/June 2010), was very informative and easy to read. We really enjoy both magazines. Pete & Sara LaBella Via e-mail 1911 Beretta 92/96 Taurus PT92-101 Browning Hi-Power Ruger MK II and MK III Sig Sauer P220, P226 P228, P239 Para Ordnance P14-P18 Desert Eagle Baby Eagle Think about this: You just won a highend custom handgun package, and then we put your name in the magazine for the entire world (and the Internet) to see. Do you know how easy it is to get home addresses these days? Can you say burglar? The vast majority of our winners are very happy remaining anonymous, and I couldn’t agree more with that decision. Consequently, we do have a policy of not publishing winners’ names. RH AmericAn HAndgunner ®welcomesletterstotheeditor.We reservetherighttoeditallpublishedlettersforclarityandlength. Duetothevolumeofmail,weareunabletoindividuallyansweryour lettersore-mail.Insendingalettertohandgunner,youagreeto providePublishersDevelopmentCorp.suchcopyrightasisrequired forpublishingandredistributingthecontentsofyourletterinanyformat.SendyourletterstoSpeak out, american handgunner,12345 WorldTradeDr.,SanDiego,CA92128;www.americanhandgunner. com;e-mail:ed@americanhandgunner.com. Visit us at www.GunGrips.net E-mail Sales@GunGrips.net Phone 520-397-9311 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 1012010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=102http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=102INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 888Professional 76 A.T.CustomGunworks 93 AlMarKnives 101 AmericanGunsmithingInstitute 82 AmericanHandgunnerSubscription 71 ArntzenCorporation 77 ArredondoAccessoriesInc. 89 Bar-StoPrecisionMachine 92 BeltMtn.EnterprisesInc. 92 TheBeltman 41 BenchmadeKnifeCompany 18 Berry’sManufacturing 78 BirchwoodCasey 91 BlackHillsAmmunitionInc. 39 BLACKHAWK! 31 BowenCustomClassics 93 85 BrianTighe Brownells 10 CaspianArmsLtd. 84 21 ChipMcCormickCustomLLC. ColumbiaRiverKnife&Tool 27,41 CompetitionElectronics 95 CompetitiveEdgeDynamics 96 CorBon/Glaser 41 CrawfordKnives,LLC 92 CrossBreedHolstersLLC 74 Cylinder&SlideInc. 94 D&LSports 93 DeSantisHolster 41 DillonPrecision 92 DoubleStarCorp. 85 ElPasoSaddleryCo. 86 EliteSurvivalSystems 83 EOTAC 12 15 EuropeanAmericanArmory FailZero 88 FiocchiAmmunition 97 FloridaArmsManufacturingCompany 86 FNHUSA 3 FrontSightFirearmsTrainingInstitute 13 GalcoGunleather 6 GaryReederCustoms 93 GhostInc. 84 GraymanKnives 91 GSIInternationalInc. 27,75 GTUL 83 Gungrips.net 101 GUNSMagazineSubscription 62 Hi-VizSightSystems 12 HKSProductsInc. 19 HogueInc. 14 HornadyManufacturingInc. 33 InsightTech-Gear Ironmind KimberMfg.Inc. Kimber/USAShootingTeam KnifeMart LambertKnives LaserMax LawConcealmentSystemsInc. LawmanLeatherGoods LesBaerCustomInc Leupold&Stevens LightfootKnives LockSAF Mag-na-portInternationalInc. MaxpeditionHard-UseGear Mec-GarUSAInc. Meprolight MTMCase-Gard PactInc. ParaUSA Para-Cord PearceGrip PowderRiverPrecision ProEars ProForceLawEnforcement PrOlix 74 91 108 25 19 86 14 101 82,92 37 16,17 87 89 84 29 83 31 35 8 2 27 87 93 18 39 80 ProMagIndustries Pro-TechKnives RioGrandeCustomGrips S.W.A.T. SingletaryCustoms Smith&AlexanderInc. SOGSpecialtyKnives SpartanBlades SpringfieldInc. SSKIndustries StarlineBrass STIInternationalInc. StreamlightInc. SturmRuger&Co.Inc. SureFireLLC TenRingPrecision ThunderRanchTrainingDVDs TOPSKNIVES TusseyCustom UniversalShootingAcademy ViridianGreenLaser VolkmannCustomInc. W.C.WolffCompany WilsonCombat WinchesterAmmunition XSSightSystems 15 89 77 102 93 88 77 88 11,107 84 90 35 10 23 79,80 93 46,69 82 93 77 81 78 87 7 9 85 102 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=103http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=103AMERICAN HANDGUNNER APPAREL THE BELTMANmakessturdy,topquality,DUAL LAYER,BullHidebeltsfordresswear,concealed carry,orcompetition.Optionsinclude:Horse, Shark,Elephant,Velcro,tapering,stiffeners,etc. Handmadeinthreewidths,andfivecolorsfrom $69.95,anylength!Catalogue-$3.00(refundable) POBox1302,Apex,NC27502.919-387-1997. www.thebeltman.net. clASSifieD Classifiedads$2.00per-wordperinsertion.($1.50per-wordperinsertionfor3ormore)includingname,addressandphonenumber(20 wordminimum).Minimumcharge$40.00.Bold words add $1.00 per word.CopyandrerunordersmustbeaccompaniedbyPayMENT iN advaNCE. NO aGENCy OR CaSH diSCOuNTS ON LiSTiNG OR diSPLay CLaSSiFiEd advERTiSiNG.Alladsmust bereceivedwithadvancepaymentBYNOLATERTHANTHE1stofeachmonth.Adsreceivedafterclosingwillappearinthefollowingissue. Pleasetypeorprintclearly.PLEaSE NOTE*** NO PROOFS wiLL BE FuRNiSHEd.Includename,address,postoffice,city,stateand zipcodeascountedwords.Abbreviationscountasonewordeach.MailtoamerICan handgunnerCLASSIFIEDS,12345WorldTradeDrive, SanDiego,California92128.NOTE: wE NOw HavE diSPLay CLaSSiFiEd adS iN BOTH gunS mAgAZine aNd AmericAn HAndgunner. aSK FOR OuR NEw RaTE CaRd, Or call (858) 605-0235. BOOKS FOR SALE MacKENZIE VALLEY TIMBERWOLVES 1/2 wolf-1/2 shep. cubs bred for protection, or 3/4 and up cubs. Have a true friend. own a wolf-shepherd. Brochure with 20 photos-$5.00 CHARLES DYSART, JR. BOX 597 Henrietta, NC 28076 (828) 657-6220 or Cell: 828-429-0053 Wolf-Shepherd Male, 160 lbs. ACCESSORIES ACCESSORIES INSTRUCTION INSTRUCTION UTAH FIREARMS+TACTICALTRAINING.INFO @WWW.COMBAT-TERROR.COM LEATHERCRAFT ACCESSORIES EnglishFittedPistolPresentationCases.Luger, Colt,SAA,NAMBU,Python,HiPower,andmore. website:www.premierpistol.comemail:sales@ premierpistol.com AMMUNITION Dysarts.indd 1 WANTED TO PURCHASE 103 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=104http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=104insider ADD IT UP ViolentcrimeincreaseinUKsince1997. the insider Continued from page 106 77% Violentcrimesper100KinUK. 2,034 1,609 935 466 Violentcrimesper100KinSouthAfrica. that’s clean, neat, tires have more tread wear left, steers straight, oil was changed recently, seats clean, floor vacuumed, windows clean. You wouldn’t be afraid to drive the car across country. It was obviously maintained by someone who took the time to do things right. I’d probably buy reloads from this gent. Then think of the same year car, only this one has dented fenders, worn tires, a cracked windshield, smokes a bit, is rusty with a cluttered dirty interior — and the steering wheel’s sticky. Yech. Obviously the owner didn’t give a hoot about care or maintenance. It may get you there, it may not. Would you buy reloads from this miscreant? I took the liberty of rounding up a few pictures to show you what we’re talking about. Thanks go to our own Mike Venturino (and photographer-wife Yvonne) and GUNS Magazine editor Jeff John, they supplied me with just the pictures I needed. Read the captions to better understand the sorts of things you should keep your eyes open for when shopping for reloads. If you have to use ammo the range supplies (and some do), if it’s junk, why risk your gun — or worse? Just smile and say no. Then find another range. Violentcrimesper100KinCanada. Violentcrimesper100KinUSA(!). Grayman Knives And Archangel Poundsofvenisondonated byMissourihuntersin2009’s “SharetheHarvest”program. 249,156 13,776 I Fourthto12th-gradeMissouristudents participatinginarcheryprograms instate-runschools. 24 Inches Oceanlevelriseduetomeltingice capsby2050,predictedin1953, dueto“Endingoflasticeage.” (Oldnewsisnewnews?) f I get any of these details wrong I apologize beforehand, but it’s often hard to understand military jargon. Suffice to say, Team Archangel is composed of an elite group of Infantrymen from the 3rd Infantry Division, known as the Marine Blues Platoon, and a select set of medical and technical experts from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. Team Archangel is responsible for downed aircraft, UAV and isolated personnel recovery throughout Northern Iraq. The team is well-rounded, with expert medical knowledge, specializing in the trauma considerations and extrication needs specific to a downed aircraft. Several members of Team Archangel carry and use Grayman Knives. Grayman Knives supply the members of the Team with solid, sharp, durable knives that are tough as old boar hide. Their 1/4" thick blades can pry open the door of an aircraft or cut clean through its skin, making a hole to extract the crew. They told me to tell you guys, “If you ever find yourself in Northern Iraq, and you’re in a situation you can’t get out of — call Team Archangel.” Does that apply to magazine deadlines too? Thanks to SGT Joshua Rollins of Team Archangel for the info. Stay safe guys. For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/ productindex KBI Ka-Put I GrippinG pictures M ichael Kassnar, President of KBI, Inc. (importers of lots of styles of guns, like Charles Daly and Jericho) wrote a “To Who It May Concern” letter to the industry in January announcing KBI was closing its doors as of January 29, 2010. Bang, gone. So there you go. He did say he’s making arrangements for warranty work for the brands he sold, but did not offer specifics at the time. ’ve talked about custom grips made in Turkey by Handmade Grips before. They are stunning benchmarks of craftsmanship, and since that mention in Handgunner, many readers have bought made-to-order grips and have left glowing reviews. Well, they blew my socks off the other day when they sent these. Cenk (who I worked with at Handmade Grips) asked for a couple of pictures of Suzi and me, but wouldn’t tell me what was up. Then, these appeared in the mail. They are actually able to reproduce any photo or image in enameled finish (like high quality enamel work used to be done!). While you can ignore the old farmer on the left, I2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=105http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=105round robin his is one of those “Gads man, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before!” moments. At SHOT Charles Saleh of Pendleton Valuables Management showed me their elegant new safe system. They are tallish and slender, but the real kicker is their “lazy-susan” type interior. Some models can hold up to 90-odd guns. The rotating base allows you to access any of your guns, easily, without digging, knocking them around, and otherwise abusing your goodies. The nifty handgun holding system, trays and other ways to configure them, are simply great. This honestly is a “revolutionary” new system — and not just because it goes round. Very, very cool. For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex t ou can’t make this up. We recently featured a raffle gun done by the guys at Louder Than Words, to benefit the Naval Special Warfare Group. The winning name was drawn at SHOT Show and he was promptly called, with a message left on his cell phone to please return the call. A couple of hours later a young man came up and asked, “Did you have the drawing yet? Who won?” Ted Yost and Susan Brian looked at his name tag, looked at each other, then back at the name tag. “Um … you won,” Ted said. “No, I mean really, who won?” the young man asked. Ted told him to look at the winning ticket stub sitting with the gun. He did, and about a half-second later you could hear the sound of his jaw hitting the ground. He had no idea, since he had left his cell phone in his hotel room and just happened to be at the SHOT Show — and happened to stop by! Congratulations to winner Roy Nelson, and well done to the LTW guys. panic and disorder … “ Chaos, our work here is done. ” lTW Raffle FreedOm grOuP BuYS BarneS BulletS Winner F y reedom Group (think: Remington, DPMS, Marlin, H&R, etc.) purchased Barnes Bullets from Randy Brooks, the founder. Barnes Bullets will continue day-to-day operations at their Mona, Utah-based location under the guidance of company founder, Randy Brooks. If you’re a hunter, police officer or any other type of gun owner, chances are you’ve come to rely on the performance of Barnes bullets, and you’ll continue to be able to do so. Good luck with the transition, Randy! Handgunner says: remember spending hours in the gun and ammo departments of Montgomery Wards and Sears when I was a kid. Those days are sure gone. Imagine guns in a Sears store in the mall! I was digging for some .22s the other day and stumbled onto these two boxes, and had a momentary return to my youth. I remember my dad buying .22 shorts from Sears (79 cents) and I did my best to keep him busy buying them. Political-correctness strikes again. Too bad, so sad. Good Old Days I insider Photo: Susan Brian ust kidding; and you especially don’t have to worry with these young ones. I honestly hope Sarah Brady is reading this and going into apoplectic shock. And it gets even better — they are the Summersville School District FFA Trap Team. The team was founded in the fall of 2008 with five students. They harvested walnuts, hauled hay and asked for donations for ammo. They attended the Grand American Trapshoot in 2009 and the team promptly grew to 19 members. At the Missouri Fall Classic, they placed third in the FFA Division for teams, and have also had two second place trophies for team events. They practice weekly, and are lucky because two former students have a trap range near the school, and offer it for their use. If you’d like to help this start-up team (they really need help with ammo and such) call Bill Holden at (417) 932-4929 and dig deep. It’s a tiny school district with little extra money. These are all good, hard working young people, doing something productive, and growing skills. You listening Sarah? Oh, something to keep in mind is the fact the school closes for the deer season opening day. Welcome to real America. J RUN, HIDE! KIDS WITH GUNS! * 105 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=106http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=106THE Roy Huntington INSIDER These cases demonstrate what can happen if handloads are not properly assembled. From overcharges causing splits, bursts and stretching of primer pockets to simple abuse of the cases, these are all disasters. TM JuNk ReloAds Jeff’s pic shows three common problems. The case on the left is compressed (usually from seating a bullet with no belling on the case), center one is split after firing and shouldn’t be reloaded and the third has a Here are several types of .45 ACP handloads, with a factory load at far left. Note the hand- case mouth dented and crushed from either loads have no unsightly rings, bulges, or marks and generally look clean and sharp. being stepped on or improper resizing. n a recent Speak Out letter, a reader asked why our test guns always seemed to run fine. I explained one of the reasons is we shoot good quality ammo and stay away from junk reloads. I recently answered a note from reader Danny Comsa who wanted to know: “What exactly is a junk reload?” There are indeed “good” reloads and “bad” reloads. Gunstores often buy reloads from local sources. Sometimes the reloaders are good and offer correctly re-sized cases, well-made lead bullets seated correctly, with These .380 Auto handloads show two problems. The top punch of the seating die has a sharp edge and is cutting the bullet noses. That will not affect function or accuracy but is unsightly. Note with the cast bullet handload at right that a ring of lead has been peeled from the bullet during its seating. That can affect both function and accuracy. i proper lubricant, primers seated correctly, etc. and basically offer ammo of high quality and consistency. Chances are good the cases have been tumbled and are clean and shiny too. And a real positive note is if they are packaged in boxes as opposed to plastic baggies! Then there are the “other” guys. Poorly sized cases, haphazardly cast bullets with defects, no lube, primers seated at differing depths or crooked (or missing), cases bulged, split or nearsplitting, dirty, erratic powder charges, stained, corroded cases and a general These .380 Auto handloads have bulges because the expander plug of the case mouth belling die is too long. Even though they actually functioned perfectly, if someone were selling them I would avoid them. insider look of being haphazardly made. I’m sure you’ve all seen reloads like these. The next time you’re around some reloads, take a hard look at them. Check the condition of the cases, primers for consistent depth of seating, bullets for looks (are they neat, consistent and evencolored, or blotchy, with casting flaws?), check rims to see if they are nicked, if the cases have any splits or obvious “thinning” where they are ready to split, crimps that are inconsistent (or non-existent!), case mouths nicked or crushed or cases bulged. Are the cartridges clean — or greasy feeling? If you find more than a couple in a box with minor problems — beware. Do you want to risk a $2,500 custom gun to save a few bucks? Good quality reloads may have cases slightly stained (that’s fine) but all the other signs should be of care and attention to consistency. Often, ranges who sell bulk reloads buy at price-points. At that “bulk” price range, most reloaders don’t even inspect the final products, and you’ll find trash-reloads mixed in with good stuff. I often see guys buy new guns — even expensive ones — then complain when they start to have problems with them. Almost 100 percent of the time it comes down to poor quality ammo and/ or after-market el-cheapo magazines. Think of a well-cared for used car the insider Continues on page 104 106 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST20102010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=107http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=1072010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=108http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA10/?Page=108Ultra CDP II™ pistols in .45 ACP & 9mm have 3-inch barrels & weigh just 25 ounces. The Best Defense. The Custom Defense Package–CDP–from Kimber. The Pro CDP II™ .45 ACP has a 4-inch barrel and full-length grip. At just 28 ounces, it is easy to carry & conceal. CDP pistols are powerful, accurate and absolutely dependable. Built in the , they feature night sights and 30 lines-per-inch Kimber® Custom Shop™ checkering on the frontstrap and under the trigger guard for a positive grip. , Slides are machined from stainless steel and aluminum frames wear KimPro II™ a premium finish that is self-lubricating and extremely resistant to the elements. All have a match grade barrel, chamber and trigger. Adding these features during production reduces their price by over $500, giving them incredible value. See them in action at www.kimberamerica.com. Carry the best. Carry a Kimber. The Custom CDP II™.45 ACP has a 5-inch barrel and weighs only 31 ounces. It is the nest full-size 1911 carry pistol available today. CDP pistols feature match grade barrels, night sights and a Carry Melt treatment that rounds & blends edges to prevent snagging on clothing or holsters. The Choice of America’s Best. www.kimberamerica.com For information on products and dealer locations please send $2 to: Kimber, Dept. 259 One Lawton Street, Yonkers, NY 10705 Information is also available at (800) 880-2418 ©2009 Kimber Mfg., Inc. All rights reserved. Kimber names, logos and other trademarks may not be used without permission. Names of other companies, products and services may be the property of their respective owners. Kimber firearms are shipped with an instructional manual and California-approved cable lock. Copy of instruction manual available by request.2010-04-30T17:15:47+02:00