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What’s the secret to making the finest custom 1911’s in the world? There are two of them, really. First, we start with the very
Cover Photo: Chuck Pittman, Inc. Volume 34 • Number 1 • Issue 203 2010 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 64 48 ANOTHER TAKE ON THE BROWNING P35
46 DEPARTMENTS 34 THE AYOOB FILES MASSADAYOOB 70yardshoot-out! 26 BETTER SHOOTING DAVEANDERSON Fiberopticsightmagic. 46 THE SIXG
board of directors Thomas von Rosen, CEO; Thomas Hollander; Randy Moldé; Marjorie Young PUblisher & editor Roy Huntington Managi
SPEAKOUT YOUR FORUM TO PONTIFICATE, PONDER AND PROBE CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Kudosto American Handgunnerforkeepingthefeedbackandcom
SPEAKOUT if your fellow liberal Democrats keep chipping away at our freedoms. Ever notice nearly every single gun control law is
SPEAKOUT it the woods and lost it from his “one size fits none” holster. He wasn’t able to recover it until the next day. In the
SPEAKOUT dodo today. I don’t think even cowboy action shooting would have saved it, as it wasn’t an old west caliber. If Elmer c
upon my return to the States — and a reliable mailing address! GySgt Eric D. Smith CLR-2, Communications Operations Chief Gunny,
SPEAKOUT caliber selection, other than a few clichés such as “Any handgun is good for self defense as long as the caliber starts
you would stay and join the fray, engage with facts, parry and riposte, rather than get mad, make personal attacks, flip me the
SPEAKOUT hunt or attend pistol sporting events but they must follow Canadian law. The following Web site offers information on p
lead offered is “type” that was hand-set and used mostly on small printers to produce business cards and stationary. BN Via e-ma
John Connor GUNCRANKDIARIES TM EXCUSES, ALIBIS, PITHY OBSERVATIONS & GENERAL EPHUS The Big Gun Guy Goes “Lite” New Year, New Dud
Clint Smith REALITYCHECK TM FIRST-PERSON THOUGHTS ON SURVIVING IN THE REAL WORLD Who? The light rail, aggressive grip area and c
Mike “Duke” Venturino SHOOTINGIRON TM THUMB BUSTIN’ MUSINGS FROM THE DUKE t his column doesn’t concern handguns. It’s about one
Taurus800SERIES Introducing the next evolution in semi-autos. The new Taurus® 800 Series matches an incredible rate of fire with
BETTERSHOOTING Dave Anderson The CZ Custom Shop can provide fiber optic front sights, shown here on a CZ SP-101. E valuating cha
COPTALK Massad Ayoob Manual thumb safety, working like a 1911’s, is an option on service and compact M&Ps in all calibers. OPINI
TAFFINTESTS John Taffin THE SIXGUNNER HIMSELF: GUNS, GEAR AND MORE DOUBLESTAR’S .45 ACP 1911-A1 Taffin’s grandson, 16-year old B
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massad Ayoob Pistol versus rifle-Armed mAss murderer — At 70 YArds! the AndY Brown incident situation: An “active mass murderer”
Grip Gloves Ad Springfield 7/15/09 10:34 AM Page 1 “America’s Finest Handgun Grips” Slip-On Grips That Fit Like a Glove. NEW! Cu
J.D. Jones HANDGUNHUNTING TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND POLITICALINCORRECTNESS Those pesky soda can varmints didn’t live to tell the tale
Real.44 Cowboy loads John Taffin The .44 Family: .44 American, .44 Colt, .44 Russian, .44-40, .44 Special and .44 Magnum. Taffin
Shotshell Hunting Line The Fiocchi Tundra Tungsten compound is the breakthrough innovation in waterfowl hunting. Deforms like Le
PISTOLSMITHING Alex Hamilton Hi-Power he Browning High Power is the number two pistol I see most often in my gunsmith shop, seco
What’s in a name? History. John Taliaferro Thompson founded the Auto-Ordnance Corporation in 1916 with John Blish and Thomas For
CARRYOPTIONS Sammy Reese Ro y Hu nti ng ton FROM CLASSICS TO CUTTING EDGE IN CARRY METHODS The Guide’s Choice from Diamond D Lea
Experience Counts. Issue 1 • January 1955 Issue 649 • January 2010 GUNS Magazine Celebrates 55 Years Early retirement — not an o
WINNINGEDGE Dave Anderson The Galco Miami Classic. SOLID ADVICE TO KEEP YOU AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION Bianchi Pocket Change Pocke
New from North American Arms, Inc. ® The NAA PUG! The name “PUG” may have derived from the Latin Pugnus, meaning Fist. With this
THE SIXGUNNER June 12, 1957 Roy Huntington, Editor American Handgunner Magazine John Taffin Dear Roy: W ell, the new .44 Magnum
then chambered four specially heat treated 1950 Target .44 Special sixguns for the new “.44 Magnum.” The guns performed well but
Whether Inglis or FN made, the World War II era Browning P35s can have these two types of front sight. At left is dovetailed one
When the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940 they told the FN factory to keep right on making guns including the Browning designed P
Duke’s Browning P35 9mms. From left Inglis/ Browning made for the Canadian contract, Inglis/Browning made for the Chinese contra
Duke has been firing these loads through his P35 9mms. From left: NATO 115 gr. FMJ military surplus, 120 gr. cast roundnose from
Hollywood 60-Shot Colts ike most Baby Boomers, I acquired my first understanding of handgun ballistics from watching television
Ballistics And Ray Guns because they send off a spray of sparks I figured out how New York Giants every time they hit something
BLaCkhaWk! knives PaT COverT PhOTOs: ChuCk PiTTman, inC. Claws 54 Juggernaut Of The WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JANUARY/FEBRUAR
O ver the past five years BLACKHAWK! Products Group has become a giant in the tactical gear industry for both law enforcement an
Kimber’s Stainless 56 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JANUARY/FEBRUARY2010
Raptor II Series Dave Anderson Photos: Chuck Pittman, Inc. Small And smaller! K imber makes more 1911s, in more different packag
58 Kimber’s Raptor II Series WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JANUARY/FEBRUARY2010
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 59
Following WWII there was talk of the military adopting a lighter pistol. Colt developed the alloy-framed Commander model with 4.
Specs: broadcasters started talking about Tiger’s play on the last couple of holes. “He’s put away the driver and is hitting 2-i
Comp-Tac’s C-Tac “Shirt Tucker” offers multiple heights and angles, concealability and speed. Behind the wheel, the Bond Arms Ra
New High Security Cases from Safe Direction look like “bank bags,” but they’re tougher, stronger, and of course they contain SD’
1 An Heirloom Colt he elements of style can be mystifying. Just as there are billions of people in the world, we might safely sa
140-Year Old Style Roy Huntington Photos: Ron Bez 1 1 form and function of the early revolvers and the embodiment of his style,
ForCiNG CoNe TooLs HAMiLToN s. BoweN MANsoN reAMers Forcing cone and chamfering reamers and the spot facing cutter, all with rem
Para’s ExPErt GI ost any US veteran sporting grey or missing hair and the aches and pains of age associated with service prior t
A HUMBLE LOOK, WITH HIDDEN PERFORMANCE a crisp, “Yes, Drill Sergeant.” Next, we all heard bellowed, “Ready on the left, ready on
1,000 YARDS WITH The MOA Maximum is a falling block design chambered in a variety of calibers. This one is a 6X47 using Lapua br
competitors were using rifle scopes. There were two classifications of handguns; light division being anything with a 15" barrel
Win! HAndGun OF THE MOnTH A Special American Handgunner Edition! EL DIABLO .44 Special Sixgun 72 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JA
EnTER OnlinE AT AMERicAnHAndGunnER.cOM! ou simply never know what’s going to come out of theshopofGaryReederCustomGuns.Fromthebi
The Steyr-Hahn loads from the top using hard-to-find stripper clips. While it looks like a standard 9x19mm, the Steyr-Hahn is ac
HEIRLOOM COLT Continued from page 65 make it happen, virtually at will. Well, with a little help from Colt too. Eddie Janis, who
and toe of the grip dehorns the handle of the Colt, allowing more comfort during long shooting sessions. And, it looks more like
MANSON Continued from page 67 removable and available in a variety of diameters in .0005" increments. In addition to the piloted
GI EXPERT Continued from page 69 Although the first thing I’d do is black out the rear white dots. But, that comes down to perso
RAPTOR II SERIES Continued from page 61 also conceals better in a horizontal shoulder holster such as the Galco Miami Classic. I
fine for plinking and target shooting. Other types used included 185 gr. JHPs from Speer and Winchester; 200 gr. lead semiwadcut
bROWNING P35 Continued from page 51 ones were only for the latter type. The Germans took all the FN P35s they could get of eithe
SIXGUNNER Continued from page 47 TM complained who have fired it extensively, including Hank Benson and Don Martin. The recoil i
World’s Finest Magazines MEC-GAR is proud to offer “Optimum” - our new and unique series of high capacity flush-fit pistol magaz
friends on the border patrol back in 1950 I ran into a young new recruit by the name of Charles Skelton. I was quite impressed w
HANDLOADING Continued from page 38 loaded to the same level as the .44 Russian; they simply increased the black powder charge fr
AYOOb FILES Continued from page 34 Leaving the service, Mellberg emptied his $6,000 savings account and bought a semiautomatic M
But the training overrides the doubts, and even as those thoughts go through Andy Brown’s head, his right index finger presses t
chamber with, no “top-off” of round count provided for. Brown was ordered back to secure an outside perimeter, but there weren’t
upper brain. As Brown’s shot exited, it sucked out with it in its vapor-wake any cognitive thought the depraved murderer might h
less innocent people are under fire and you have sworn an oath to protect them — “minimum” training and practice is not enough.
JUGGERNAUT Continued from page 55 “I continued the MOD trend and recruited designers like Canadian special operations veteran an
law enforcement and military professionals — loved the MOD designs and the design concepts behind them, but in many cased could
The Model BHB30, Garra II and Point Man tactical folders demonstrate the diverse range of styles in the BLACKHAWK! stable. The B
TAFFIN TESTS Continued from page 30 Colt took special pains to advertise all their frames were forged not cast. DoubleStar’s fra
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