http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/RSS.ashxAmerican Handgunner Sept/Oct 2009 PagesWed, 08 Jul 2009 19:12:14 +0200http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=1http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=1win this cover gun! $5.95 OUTSIDE US $9.50 ® P remierii .45 One accurate autO! BEER BudGEt Les Baer SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 Lead Bullet Secrets Taffin Tests: MAG-NA-PORt . 380s REvOLutiONARy RuGER's HigHTecH gear LCR Focus: Benchmade Glory Knife Carry Options: Rosen Leather Handloading: .357 Magnum Winning Edge: Pocket Autos2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=2http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=22009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=3http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=32009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=4http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=4Cover Photo: Chuck Pittman, Inc. Volume 33 • Number 5 • Issue 201 2009 SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER Photo: Dave Douglas FEATURES 44 ruger lcr DAvEDOUGlAS Classics from the old school. Ruger raised the bar with a polymer-frame revolver! 44 52 i’ve always sHot cast bullets MIKE“DUKE”vENTURINO Mikeletsusinonsomesecretsaboutloadingwithlead. 48 cowboy pocketknives PATCOvERT 51 in memoriam: jack weaver JeReMY CLOUGH Thepassingofalegend. 56 les baer premier ii .45 MASSADAYOOB One-inchat50yards—lesBaerDelivers! 62 beer buDget .380s Whylookdownatthelowly.380? Benchmade’s“GloryKnife”honorsahero. PATCASCIO 67 a blaDe oF courage SHARIleGATE 68 tHe HigH-tecH aDvantage FromGPStoelectronicsights,thesearethegoodolddays! DAvEANDERSON 76 power custom grips CustomizeyourRugerBlackhawk. HAMIlTONBOWEN 48 76 58 4 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=5http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=5DEPARTMENTS 22 better sHooting DAvEANDERSON Movingandshooting. 42 tHe siXgunner JOHNTAFFIN Dear Handgunner—1933? 74 tHe ayoob Files MASSADAYOOB Misunderstoodcase:theJayOlsen/ShontoPeteshooting. 51 103 gunnysack ROYHUNTINGTON&DAvEANDERSON BreakOutSafetyTool,SafeDirectionCase,BobAllenGlovesandInsightlight. COLUMNS 8 speak out 20 taFFin tests JOHNTAFFIN 24 carry options SAMMYREESE 26 reality cHeck ClINTSMITH 28 guncrank Diaries JOHN CONNOR 30 pistolsmitHing AlEXHAMIlTON 32 cop talk MASSADAYOOB 34 winning eDge DAvEANDERSON 36 HanDloaDing JOHNTAFFIN 38 HanDgun Hunting J.D.JONES 40 sHooting iron MIKE“DUKE”vENTURINO 114 tHe insiDer ROYHUNTINGTON 52 67 38 RESOURCES 81 100 108 110 111 custom corner web site sHowcase spotligHt aD inDeX classiFieDs STEvEEvATT HANDGUN OF THE MONTH Check Out Web Blast Win this Les Baer Premier II Cover Gun! C E WIN TH UN! OVER G For More Info, Videos 72 And Pictures About Articles In Every Issue. JUSTClICKONTHEWEBBlASTICON! AMeRICANHANDGUNNeR.COM AMERICAN HANDGUNNER® (ISSN 0145-4250) is published bi-monthly by Publishers’ Development Corp., 12345 World Trade Drive, San Diego, CA 92128. Periodical postage paid at San Diego, CA 92128, and at additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: One year (six issues) $19.75. Single copies $5.95 (in Canada $9.50). 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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AMERICAN HANDGUNNER®, 12345 World Trade Drive, San Diego, 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 52009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=6http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=6board of directors Thomas von Rosen, CEO; Thomas Hollander; Randy Moldé; Marjorie Young PUblisher & editor Roy Huntington Managing Editorial Assistant Stephanie Jarrell Editorial Assistant Kerin Van Hoosear Design Director Lisa Stahlhut Production Manager Linda Peterson Advertising Production 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 Mike “Duke” Venturino John Taffin Sammy Reese, BCP Massad Ayoob Dave Anderson Mark Hanten Dave Douglas Clint Smith J.D. Jones Patrick Covert Alex Hamilton 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 Managing Editor: Suzi Huntington Advertising: Delano Amaguin, (888) 732-6461 e-mail: delano@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: Anita Carson, (866) 972-4545 e-mail: anita@shootingindustry.com Special editionS fmgpublications.com Editor: Sammy Reese Advertising: Scott McGregor, (800) 553-7780 e-mail: scott@gunsmagazine.com oNLiNE ADvErtiSiNG MANAGEr: Tracy Moore, (888) 651-7566; Fax: (858) 605-0205; tracy@fmgpublications.com CutLEry & SPECiALty ADvErtiSiNG: Jeff Morey, (800) 426-4470; Fax: (858) 605-0217; jeffm@gunsmagazine.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: . editorial@americanhandgunner.com ProDuCtioN: . (858) 605-0219 e-mail: . production@americanhandgunner.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 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=7http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=72009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=8http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=8SPEAKOUT not a moron YOUR FORUM TO PONTIFICATE, PONDER AND PROBE Ifinallyfigureditout,whyIenjoyHandgunnerthatis.Youdon’ttreatmelikeamoron,don’ttalkdownto mefromapodium,assumeIhaveabrainandactuallycanfigurethingsoutsoyoudon’thavetoexplain everytinypointand—thisistheimportantpart—yourarticlesarenotjustoneadvertisersuck-upafter another.God,Ihatethat.Ohyeah,youmakefunofyourselvesandIoftenlaughoutloudatsomethingI seeinyourpages.Sortoflikereallife.Hey,maybethat’swhyIenjoyit?Keepitupguys,weloveit!Oh,and keeptheprettyladiestooplease? Carl Jaggers Via e-mail Jack Weaver orful and factual account of Jack’s life I My Father, John H. “Jack” Weaver feel no need to add to that account here. died at his home in Carson City, Mr. Clough was certainly the right man Nevada on Tuesday April the 7th, to write the story. 2009 after a lengthily illness. He was The quality and quantity of personal born in Huntington Park, California correspondence my father received as on November 1st, 1928. The article a result was wonderful. Additionally, in the May-June 2008 issue of Amer- the article resulted in his being preican Handgunner, written by Jeremy sented with the Los Angeles County PACT_postxmas_09_fixed.pdf 12/16/08 9:04:18 AM D. Clough (“Jack Weaver: The Real Sheriff Department’s Distinguished Weaver Stance”) provides such a col- Service Award in December of 2008, reminding him that “… after nearly 50 years of tried and true performance, your Weaver Shooting Stance is still the cornerstone of officer safety today.” I am writing this letter on behalf of my mother, Joy, my brothers Mark and Gary, myself and all of our extended families. We want to thank everyone at your magazine and everyone who sent Jack letters, books, videos, artworks, department patches and more. We want 8 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=9http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=92009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=10http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=10SPEAKOUT you all to know you helped make the last year of his life very fullfilling. Sincerly, Alan Weaver Alan, I know I speak for all handgunners everywhere when I tell you our hearts go out to you. It’s not often one modest man’s seemingly small idea can have such a profound effect on such a large group of people. The fact the Weaver Stance has been proven to save lives speaks for itself. I used the Weaver stance during my police career and indeed, it did save my life — thanks Jack. We honor the memory of Jack Weaver, and always will. Editor Ammo Exodus Okay, so what gives? No ammo, no guns, no reloading supplies, is this a government conspiracy or did we just buy everything? If you were to believe the forums (and please tell me you don’t …) it’s all a giant “black helicopter” conspiracy to rob us of our rights to get ammo and guns. Factories have been told to stop production or face sanctions, raw goods have been stopped in the pipeline and there’s a Fed under every desk in the gun industry. Tell me it ain’t so? Lord I’d hate it if the conspiracy theory idiots were right about this one! Walter Hestus Via e-mail Walter, it’s no big conspiracy, we just bought it all, and are continuing to buy it. Around 1973 Johnny Carson made a joke on his show there was going to be a toilet paper shortage. The next day, his 20-odd million viewers went on a buying frenzy and emptied the shelves around the country. There was no toilet paper. As I recall, Carson even went back on the air and said he was just kidding, a joke, get it? But it still took weeks for the makers to re-fill the shelves. Ditto with today’s mess. I know people who have never owned guns who have bought AR-style rifles, pump shotguns, defensive handguns and cases upon cases of ammo they will probably never open. Frankly, I’m looking forward to the glut on the used gun market in a few years as those people decide to unload all that stuff they never use. I have made calls lately and it seems some of the supply lines are getting filled. My local gun stores here (Joplin, MO area) seem to have stock on-hand, and I was actually able to buy some primers and powder the other day easily. According to government stats, NICS checks (background checks to buy a firearm) in Nov. 2008 were up 42 percent over Nov. 2007. And remember, that’s not “per firearm” — a NICS check is for a purchase, and there 10 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=11http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=11! W E N A stunning breakthrough in personal defense ammunition design. 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. • 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. 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. Conventional hollow point bullets perform unreliably when encountering heavy fabric or layers of clothing. Hornady Critical Defense ammunition is available in these calibers: • 380 Auto • 38 Special • 38 Special +P • 9mm Luger PO Box 1848 Grand Island, NE 68802 308-382-1390 www.hornady.com2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=12http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=12SPEAKOUT may be multiple firearms in the purchase. Like I said in my Insider column a couple of issues ago: Okay, now everyone calm down. Editor Digital Rocks THE #1 CHOICE FOR SELF DEFENSE • Reliable Feeding • Medium Penetration • Reduced Recoil • High Velocity Premier Products from Imitated But Never Equaled 605.347.4544 • 800.626.7266 • corbon.com I just had to drop you a quick note to say thank you to your publishing organization. I’ve been a subscriber for many years and like many others I could hardly wait for the next edition to appear in my mail box. Since I have been an avid handgunner since my high school days (graduated in 1969), through college and all of my adult life I just could not be without my American Handgunner magazine. I’m sorry to say it was necessary to not renew my subscription this past January. I became disabled about three years ago and, as one of the consequences, was laid off from my job. I’ve been collecting social security benefits for the past two years but our monthly expenses are just barely covered. I could not justify the expense of the subscription even though the annual cost is not very much; every dollar counts these days. In any event I happened across the digital edition on the Internet and couldn’t be happier. I hope you continue with this method of distribution as it is really a God-send for me. At least I can sit in front of my computer and read my American Handgunner again. And the cost can’t be beat! Thanks again and keep them coming. Take care and God bless! Glenn Dawn Via e-mail Thanks Glenn. If you haven’t tried it yet, check out our on-line digital editions of all our FMG magazines. Go to www.americanhandgunner.com and click on the “Digital Edition” link. You get the current issue in it’s entirety plus the added feature of all the ads are “hot-linked” to the maker’s Web sites. Use it to enhance your enjoyment of our printed edition, do research a topic (it’s searchable!) or to enjoy your favorite gunzine when you’re on the road, at work or simply need a quick fix of Handgunner! Editor No NRA For Him I want to “second” the remarks made by retired cop Byron Shoffner (Speakout, May/June 2009) and add a couple of my own. I’m also a retired cop, of the prehistoric, revolver species. I’d just like to let as many people as possible know that, in the years I was making one-man, nighttime car stops, illuminated by my unit’s headlights, I never once feared the law-abiding citizen’s unseen firearm I knew was near. 12 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=13http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=132009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=14http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=14SPEAKOUT Secondly (and I know this is sacriledge, blasphemy, and against moms and baseball) I quit the NRA years ago after 27 years of membership. I still value them as distracters and tormentors of anti-gun officials but today’s cop has proven (at Ruby Ridge, Waco, New Orleans, etc.) that all too often, he/she will obey stupid and unlawful orders — to protect their paycheck. And the NRA helps train police in shooting skills, organizes some of their shooting competitions, and trains their range staff with your dues and contributions. I belong to the Oregon Firearms Federation and our motto is: No Compromise. The luxury of having time to debate and talk, talk, talk this thing to death is running out folks. Joe Ward Shady Cove, Oregon And … Its about time to recognize and admit we gun enthusiasts have been totally ripped off by the NRA and gun manufacturers. Remember all the advertising about how electing Obama was going to close 80-percent of the gun shops? Cause ammo to increase in price by 400-percent? This caused a terrific run on guns and ammo by people who believed the NRA in good faith, and it turns out to be total bunk. Obama is not even interested in restricting sales of assault rifles, at least yet. Meanwhile, those of us who enjoy guns have been greatly inconvenienced by shortages caused by the NRA hysteria. The NRA needs to decide if they are an advertising wing of gun manufacturers, or a real advocacy group for gun owners. Very badly done, NRA, very badly done. Edmond Via e-mail Elephant Murderer I do really enjoy your magazine to the fullest. I am a gun enthusiast, owning a Ruger .22/45 semiauto. I also do some competition shooting and am a member of the NRA. I purchased the May/June 2009 issue of American Handgunner yesterday and had curled up on my sofa about to absorb its contents when I read J.D. Jones’ column (Handgun Hunting). The article states that at the age of 77 years old, Mr. Jerry Biegle dropped a majestic elephant with a brain shot at 20 yards. So am I supposed to be admired and excited for Mr. Biegle? If so, I have failed to do so. Correct me if I am wrong, are not elephants an endangered species? Is it not illegal to transport or sell the ivory tusks from these beautiful creatures? If the answers to both of my WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 142009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=15http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=152009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=16http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=16SPEAKOUT questions are yes, then shame on this 77-year old man who slaughters animals and is proud of himself for doing so. Maybe he should concentrate on the deer population which is starving to death due to human infringement on their natural habitat. Marge Naccari Annapolis, Maryland Actually Marge, elephants are not endangered. As a matter of fact, the licensed hunting of “cull” elephants generates millions of dollars used to hire, train and equip wardens and game field management teams to keep herds healthy. It costs upwards of $25K (and more) to hunt an elephant and even then, they are only the trouble-makers or spe- cific “cull” animals needing to be taken out for a wide variety of reasons. There are tens of thousands of elephants in Africa and not endangered in the least. I’ve been to Africa twice now hunting plains game. There were so many elephants we had to throw rocks at some to drive them off, others kept us in our trucks due to false charges and such. Licensed hunting of all African game helps to keep the herds healthy. Poaching by Africans is the single biggest threat to wild animals, and poachers have almost wiped out game animals in some parts of Africa. It’s only in the giant national parks where hunting is allowed and monitored that animals thrive. I hope this helps to clear some things up. Yours is a commonly held belief, mostly thanks to organizations like PETA, who have no concept of reality in the field. And those deer? There are so many not because of our encroachment into their habitat, but because of laws outlawing lawful hunting and as they starve, they come to our homes and farms to try to find food. We do need to keep the deer cull going to control the herds to keep them healthy. Editor Definition Recent letters have made me think there’s something strange going on in the language. When I look up “liberal” in my favorite dictionary (Oxford English Dictionary, CD-ROM edition, copyright Oxford University Press, 2004) the first definition refers to arts and sciences “worthy of a free man.” Definition 2 starts with “Free in bestowing; bountiful, generous, open-hearted.” Definition 3 is “Free from restraint; free in speech or Live: 7" 16 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 Live: 7"2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=17http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=17action …” So far nothing would bother me about being liberal, in fact I would strive to be those things. Next in the list is “Free from narrow prejudice; open minded, candid.” Again, I think I and the people I like and admire have that characteristic, and most people would at least claim to. Definition 5 says “… Favorable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy…” Who can argue against freedom and democracy? Unfortunately the “liberals” we’ve been talking about have not been inclined to more freedom; quite the opposite, as the man said when asked if he had dined while crossing the Bay of Biscay. Few people are as loaded with narrow prejudice as the extreme liberals. So what happened? It appears the leftward-end of the political spectrum has taken over a perfectly good word and is using it to mislead. That shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is disappointing. I know nothing in this epistle has anything to do with guns, but I think words are important, and they are often used to mislead. The “liberals” who have gotten a lot of ink in your pages recently are not liberal in their beliefs or actions, and they offend me by claiming to be. Peter Spearing Via e-mail Peter, thanks for your enlightening and reasonable note. Perhaps we ought to start calling ourselves liberals? Seriously. That would confuse the hell out of ’em and maybe start a new trend. I think I meet that definition of liberal you quoted and so do most of our readers — from now on, should we be liberals? Let me know what you think at ed@americanhandgunner.com and we may start a interesting change in the way we’re labeled. Ha! I can see it now: “American Handgunner, the only liberal gun magazine in the business!” Double ha! Editor BENCHMADE.COM ©2009 BENCHMADE KNIFE CO. OREGON CITY, OR, USA MODEL SHOWN: 760BK Who Should I Join? I do enjoy your magazine, it’s most informative and out of all the women you display in the ads throughout, I do like Heather the best. I also subscribe to GUNS. I belong to the NRA. Is that sufficient? Or is it necessary to donate to the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms to ensure there are enough people fighting for our rights? Is there a secret bill, HR 45, before the House right now that is really out to get gunowners and does it have a snowball’s chance of passing? Is there a bill to encode ammunition? That seems pretty far-fetched; how would they police that? There’re a lot of horror stories. What is fact and what is fiction? Can you put any rumors to rest? It’s getting worrisome, what with THE LUM LEGACY CONTINUES Model 760BK LFTi WWW.AMeRICANHANDGUNNeR.COM 17 Lum_AmHGun_7602009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=18http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=18SPEAKOUT Obama only being in office for such a short time; he and his minions can create a lot of havoc during the rest of his term. Michael Allison Via e-mail I’ll just tell you what I think, and I don’t have answers for everything. I do donate regularly to pro-gun organizations of all kinds. Your state probably has one and it’s good to support them as they often are in-touch with local issues that will affect you directly and often much sooner than any national one can. Bills are indeed afoot that might affect many facets of our industry and gun-owners and fortunately the NRA and others monitor them closely and fight them tooth and nail. I doubt the encoding bill could pass as the technology simply doesn’t exist to do it. Basically, don’t let it all overwhelm you. Take one thing at a time and do it. Find out and support your local organizations, write one letter to your congressman, write one letter to your newspaper. Chances are you would have already done more than the average gun owner to protect your rights. The moral? Do something, anything, to help, because if you multiply that effort times tens of thousands, then we really have something! Editor After reading Frank Reedmon’s letter (Speakout, May/June 2009), I felt the need to reply. I lived In California for 25 years, the last 10 in San Benito county. A few years before I left, a neighbor in Hollister, while shopping in Salinas, had a gun held to his head and was told “give me your money” and then the two punks threatened to rape his wife and daughter while he watched. My neighbor, a retired Marine with combat experience told me, “We could have gotten to cover, we saw them coming, but with no gun to shoot back, it would have made things worse, and I probably would have gotten a bullet in the back.” Fortunately the scumbags didn’t try to go through with their threat. I went to the local Sheriff’s office and told them I wanted to apply for a concealed carry a couple days later, the officer sneered at me and said “What makes you think you need one?” “The same reason you need one,” I replied. He basically told me I could forget about it. He told me “The average citizen could never afford the amount of insurance that we require you to have.” I realized then and there it was time to leave. I hadn’t had a gun in the house for over 20 years, broke no laws, no tickets, served as a scout leader and a deacon in my local church, but I cannot be trusted to carry. When I walked out 18 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 Ex-Californio2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=19http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=19of there, the condescension and arrogance directed at me made my ears feel like they were on fire. San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong acknowledged she has gone years without taking the target practice required for officers who carry guns. It’s really sad a grown man chooses to relegate his personal security to “officers” like that, sadder yet women and children have to live in a sheep/victim society that has been crafted by Mr. Reedmon. Glad to have gotten out with my skin and to be Cali-free. Charlie Atkins Gilbert, Arizona You said it all, Charlie. Editor Trusts Us I’ve often read gun writers — thankfully not yours — who write about how necessary large bullets are for defense. They usually cited the “Taylor Knockout Formula” as proof. Now I’ve just read this was originally developed as a rating for express rifles, according to the likelihood of knocking out a charging elephant with a head shot! And from what I’ve read of the famous Thompson LaGrade test, the testing had to be restructured after a .30 Luger won the first day. This can’t be true, can it? After finding all this out, all I can say is thanks for hiring guys like Clint and Mas. Your guys I can still trust. Also thank them for not using the word “venerable” in 1911 articles. I hate that. Marty Ross Via e-mail Marty, I’ve said it a thousand times: Buy a good gun you can shoot, good quality ammo for it, practice with it and you’ll be fine. A good man with a gun can do good work with a cheap pistol if he has to, while a poor hand with a gun won’t be able to fight his way out of a wet bag even with a $5,000 custom gun. Oh, and I hate those gun-writer clichés too. So much, I’ve asked one of our star writers to do an article making fun of them all! So, if you have a pet “gun-writer-eese” phrase you hate to see, send it to me at ed@americanhandgunner.com and we’ll make some serious fun of those who do it! Now, I’m out of here to load old slabsides with some pills for some paperpunching at the standard combat range of seven yards. Editor AmericAn HAndgunner ® welcomes letters to the editor. 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. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 192009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=20http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=20TAFFINTESTS John Taffin THE SIXGUNNER HIMSELF: GUNS, GEAR AND MORE Taffin’s first two Perfect Packin’ Pistols, a Ruger Super Blackhawk and a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnums customized by Mag-na-port. Custom Ruger SP101 by gunsmith Kevin Maluchnik of Mag-na-port. The hen in the early 1970s I heard of a relatively new company called Mag-na-port which not only customized sixguns but also cut trapezoidal slots in the barrel to help oo many decades ago I coined the phrase reduce muzzle flip, which I thought would be “Perfect Packin’ Pistol” and also very desirable in a .44 Magnum. My first two defined the concept as easy to carry, Perfect Packin’ Pistols were built by Larry Kelly having a barrel length from 4" to at Mag-na-port. The sixguns sent off to him were 51/2", normally a sixgun, and powboth blued .44 Magnums, a 71/2" Ruger Super erful enough to handle any situation Blackhawk and a 4" S&W Model 29. which might arise. The latter attribute Shortly after shipping them off I received allows a lot of latitude depending a call from Larry Kelly himself who asked upon where one normally roams. The about whether or not I wanted to do this or joy of a PPP is found in the search, not that, which I felt definitely helped add Perfect the actual finding. We continually come up to the Packin’ Pistol concept. Both sixguns Barrel marking and with something just a little bit better than the were totally tuned and timed. The barrel of the trapezoidal slots last one, which of course gives us an excuse to Ruger was cut back to 45/8", both were finished on the barrel of the buy another sixgun. We all certainly will not agree in SS MagNaLife (a satin nickel looking much .480 Advantage. on just what is a Perfect Packin’ Pistol, however like stainless steel), both sixguns were Magthe wise man never makes disparaging remarks about a man’s wife, na-ported, C-More front sights were installed pick-up truck, or dog and certainly not his pride and joy sixgun. and the Smith was also round-butted. I had my One of my first Packin’ Pistols was a then-new Ruger. 44 first pair of Perfect Packin’ Pistols. Of course Magnum. It appears Ruger did not understand the idea of a Packin’ perfection, as mentioned earlier, is always Pistol as the barrel length of that first .44 was 61/2". I soon had mine something we get closer and closer to without cut back to 45/8" and it was much more comfy. ever really arriving perfectly. That .44 Magnum logged many a miles on my hip through Larry Kelly is a true example of what desert, sagebrush, foothills, forest and mountains. The only change America is, or at least used to be. He dropped I had made to it beside shortening the barrel was the addition of a out of school early, fed his family by hunting in wide Super Blackhawk hammer and trigger. During all those years the wilds of Michigan, and often guided other I carried it I began to form the idea of a Perfect Packin’ Pistol. hunters. One of the men he guided saw something Two Perfect Packin’ Pistols by special in Kelly and Once Taffin left his invincible Mag-na-port for different period, a Mag-na-brake hired him to work on the situations, a .480 made shooting Apollo space project, Super Redhawk this .454 Casull where he learned the and .357 Freedom process of Electrical SP-101. Arms a Discharge Machining, lot more or EDM. It did not take pleasant. Larry long to apply this technique to the concept of trapezoidal ports cut SixgunS of Mag-na-porT New Company T T The scope mount is an SSK T’SOB. Continued on page 78 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 202009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=21http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=2119 FEATURES CUSTOM . Taurus 1911 Custom Features: • Full Length Guide Rod & Reverse Plug • Genuine Novak® Sights • Serrated Slide Rear & Front • Checkered 30-lpi Trigger Guard • Checkered 30-lpi Mainspring Housing • Checkered 30-lpi Front Strap • Ambidextrous Safety • Beavertail Grip Safety with Memory Pad • Target Hammer • Skeleton Serrated Trigger • Trigger Job • Custom Fit Barrel (with Gauged Bushing) • Custom Slide to Frame Fit • Polished Feed Ramp and Barrel Throat • Lowered and Flared Ejection Port • Custom Internal Extractor • Extended Mag Release Button • Beveled Mag Well • Second 8-Round Magazine Taurus1911SERIES The Taurus 1911s offer you the most feature-laden models on the market today, with 19 standard features worth over $2200 on a custom 1911— at no additional cost. Our engineers built the Taurus 1911 from the ground up to guarantee flawless fit, finish, functionality and accuracy. Starting with our hammer-forged ordnance grade steel frames, slides and barrels with matching imprinted serial numbers. Available in the powerful .45 ACP, 9mm or .38 Super, this aggressive, rock-solid pistol is ready to go right out of the box. The Taurus 1911 is an unbeatable gun that also provides an unbeatable value. We also offer our popular 1911s with optional “Bull’s Head Walnut” grips. Now a great pistol has the grips to match. TaurusUSA.com FREE one-year NRA membership with the purchase of any new Taurus firearm.2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=22http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=22BETTERSHOOTING Dave Anderson Moving & Shooting n the early days of practical shooting competition the ability to shoot while moving wasn’t too important. Course designers used shooting boxes, usually about three feet square, defined by 2x4s. Putting a foot down outside the box while firing resulted in procedural penalties. We’d shoot from one box, reload while running, stop and shoot again, reload while running and it went on. It wasn’t a bad system, and the rules were the same for everybody so it wasn’t unfair. It did limit creativity, and sometimes forced shooters to hold fire even on close targets until they reached the next box. Not too practical for a sport which has “practical” in its title. Currently course designers try and place as few restrictions as possible on shooters, without compromising safety. Instead of several small shooting boxes the entire shooting area is defined by boundaries. Instead of shooters running around in plain view of targets, vision barriers are used to separate target arrays and define safe angles of fire. In essence the challenge is “Start here, engage the targets as you see them, solve the problem.” Club course designers really should attend the USPSA Nationals regularly, even if not competing or officiating. Or at least get a copy of the match book from USPSA headquarters. Not necessarily to copy the stages, but to get a sense of how good stages and matches are put together. i Chris’ aggressive “forward” shooting position still hold together when he moves and shoots. Max Michel’s less aggressive, heads-up stance almost looks like he’s relaxed as he moves. Distance? Limber And Springy I H learned shooting on the move from Mike Plaxco and Rob Leatham back in the mid-1980s, although with stage design of the era there wasn’t much need. Not so today. To be competitive, at the higher levels at least, you must be able to shoot on the move. The shooters shown here, Max Michel Jr. and Chris Tilley, have both won national championships. Incidentally Michel recently left the U.S. Army after ten years in the famed U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and will be working with SIG SAUER. The technique is similar to methods developed by video camera operators (at least before the Steadicam was invented). Keep the legs bent so they act as shock absorbers, while the top half of the body remains relatively still. Many shooters take shorter steps than they would normally. I wouldn’t get too hung up on this as it depends on terrain as well as individual build and style. The important thing is to keep the legs bent and to keep the leg muscles limber and “springy.” It’s the difference between jumping off a chair onto a hard floor with the legs locked and rigid (ouch!) or landing with the legs flexing and bending to absorb the shock. Even while moving, shooters have their individual style. Chris Tilley has an “aggressive” weight-forward stance, even when shooting from a fixed position. For both of these shooters, the upper body position while moving is no different than it would be while standing. Sometimes it helps to think of the body as two “systems,” like a tank — the bottom half moves and absorbs the shock of movement, the top turret remains steady and aligns the gun. ow far can you shoot accurately while moving? As with anything it gets better with practice. It’s a skill worth developing, certainly for the competition shooter and I believe it’s a useful skill for any handgunner. Start out with full targets really close (as in 2-3 yards close) and develop your technique. Top shooters engage even partial targets at 10-15 yards. At the 2008 Nationals there was a target partially covered by a noshoot, with a shooting lane extending towards it. The closer you ran to it the more of the target became visible, but the sooner you engaged it the better your time was. It was an excellent risk/reward challenge, one where shooters who worked on shooting on the move could really pick up points. Some shooters ran up on the target2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=23http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=232009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=24http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=24CARRYOPTIONS Sammy Reese FROM CLASSICS TO CUTTING EDGE IN CARRY METHODS Extraordinary Gun LEathEr Uncle Sal Part II I M y first custom holster was a birthday present from my buddies. It was a Mitch Rosen 5G for my Glock 30. I still feel the same excitement when I open a box with a holster in it as I did opening the box containing the 5G. When Roy asked me if I was interested in taking over the Carry Options column several years ago, I almost passed out. It was like the worst case of buck fever you have ever seen. I’ve been a kid in the candy store ever since. Sadly, I sold the Glock and the Holster with it. If I had to do it over again, I would still own the gun and the holster — lesson learned. While in the officer waiting room at court, guys would always ask about the holster as they showed me their all-in-one inside/outside the waistband ankle/ shoulder rig combo saying, “This one doesn’t work so well, how do you like that one?” My smile always said it all as they walked away pulling up their pants and readjusting their holsters. Not being one to sit on his hands, Mitch is always working on some new ideas to compliment his already outstanding line of holsters, belts and accessories. During a recent phone conversation with Mitch the topic changed from tractors and all the great things about living in Free America, to holsters. I asked Mitch if he had a favorite holster and he told me he has two. One is outside the waist and one is an inside the waistband. For on the belt carry, he favors the Premier, and the USD2 (Uncle Sal’s Decision 2) for IWB mode. I told Mitch I mostly carry on the belt these days due to my beat-up back and sciatic nerve telling me they prefer I don’t carry IWB. He told me he would send me one of each and let me see for myself. Mitch’s no-compromise workmanship is evident in his USD2, insidethe-waistband rig. Sammy found it comfy — as well as comforting — to have his 1911 along during testing. Mitch’s FavoritEs The quick on/ off feature of the Premier keep it snug, but allow easy removal after a tough day in the field. ’ve said it before and will again, there is nothing better then opening a package with a brand new holster in it. Okay, maybe a few things. The olfactory system is given a treat similar to opening a bottle of Hoppes #9. It has an almost calming effect. My better half thinks it “just stinks” — but what does she know? I’ll bet if it was a Coach purse she’d think differently. I was just a bit skeptical when I strapped on the USD after a break-in with Leather Lightning. Any doubt I had quickly vanished. The holster found its sweet spot and rode comfortably all day, the next day and every day since. The holster kept the gun tucked in close to the body and was easily concealed under a loose cover shirt. Mitch was right, The Slim Line design makes a big difference. I never forgot I was wearing the gun, but I wasn’t in pain. My holster came with a 1½" belt loop and if need be, it can be changed to fit other belt widths. ooking at the photos of the Premier, I thought the belt straps would make it less secure — how wrong I was. The way the straps/snaps lock on to the belt make for a rock solid system. I had to remind myself this is a concealed carry system and not a duty rig. The snaps make for easy onand-off without having to go through the un-buckle rodeo. The body side of the holster is designed to form to the wearer with little break in. Again, this feature works as billed. The Premier is supercomfortable and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Mitch Rosen does make extraordinary gunleather. All you have to do is pick up one of his holsters and you will know it was made to a standard most can’t comprehend. The look catches your eye, but when you wear one all day, every day, you will truly appreciate the Mack truck toughness and Timex reliability. For more info: www.mitchrosen.com, (603) 647-2971. L The Premier * 24 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=25http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=252009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=26http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=26Clint Smith REALITYCHECK TM FIRST-PERSON THOUGHTS ON SURVIVING IN THE REAL WORLD I recently had a unique experience with the help of my friend Dewayne Irwin, owner of Cheaper Than Dirt in Fort Worth, Texas. A point of clarity is needed here that Cheaper Than Dirt (the gun store) — even though they have lineage together — is not the same as “Cheaper Than Dirt” the catalog people who, of course, have about everything known to man in their cool catalog. My deal was with Dewayne, as he owns the brick and glass store selling guns and all the stuff going with it. My experience was to work behind the counter for three days selling guns THE OTHER SIDE and talking to customers. It was quite an eye opener, and I thought I might share what I learned. Up-front, I couldn’t be fired as long as I didn’t crank rounds off across the counter or something else stupid. I liked all the kids in the store, and I use the term kids not in a demeaning way, as truly for most of them I am old enough to be their grandfather. The “kids” are pretty bright and know their products, although some of them could stand a small dose of what the guns really do if you go out and shoot them, compared to what the forums say. A couple of the kids had prior military service and it showed both in demeanor and knowledge. The statement there is “no such thing as a stupid question” does not hold true in this world, so I can see why the behind-the-counter people might be a bit short sometimes. Also the customer is “not always right” especially when they lean toward being rude. So from the behind-the-counter side, the customer is not always right but they are always the customer. And we need to remember we get more with a gun and a smile than we do with just a gun. Or something like that. Front Of The Counter I f you’re a customer, when you walk though the door of the gun store, you get more with a smile than … well, you get it. I was amazed at how many customers had a chip on their shoulder. It was imperative for many of the people I talked to that they tell me exactly how much they knew about “Smith and Western” handguns for example. I talked to a few folks who I think knew what they were talking about and they were not snotty about it, and willing to listen and willing to learn — but only a few. I made no attempt to sell anyone a gun. If they asked to see something like a 9mm pistol, at best I simply showed them what the 9mm options were. If I was ugly to people or rude we know I’d have had it coming. Being a guest and all I behaved — but some of the customers sure didn’t. The bottom line? If you’re wearing a chip (and you know who you are) leave it in the car when you step inside. The store guy is actually on your side and he would like to sell you something. Work with him, not against him, and it will go much better — trust me. Scary Stuff f I had collected five bucks for every muzzle I had pointed at me I would have made a lot of money. I made a conscious effort to check the gun for clear and hand it to the customer with the muzzle pointed down and away. Yet, a large percentage of I the guns were pointed at me as soon as they left my hand. Stunningly, if you ask them to not point the muzzle at you some folks get a lip-on. And my personal favorite: “Well, it’s not loaded” is invariably invoked. In fairness, some moved the muzzle to a safe direction and away, and some “new” folks with knowledgeable gun people with them had the muzzle directed in a safe manner by their more knowledgeable cohorts. On the subject of scary, I dislike the knife counter the most. I only handed a few knives out, and then just began setting them on the glass counter, handle toward the looker — and then stepping back. That much steel, as in a full-blown K-Bar at arms length, confirms the “I been cut before and don’t like it” theory. Oh yeah, and if you’re the customer and let’s say you want to sell or trade a gun in for a new one, unload it before you take it inside the store to sell or trade — pl2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=27http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=272009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=28http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=28John Connor GUNCRANKDIARIES TM EXCUSES, ALIBIS, PITHY OBSERVATIONS & GENERAL EPHUS Knowing who we Are was going to open this with something like, “Now keep an eye out for these tell-tale clues” — but they’ve already happened, long before you’ll read this, and they’re “clues” like a blinding, eye-searing flash and a mushroom cloud are a “tip-off” of a thermonuclear detonation. The message from our new administration seems to be that you, me, and people like us are somehow a greater threat to our fellow Americans than a Jihadist with a C-4 cummerbund or Osama bin Laden with his own fleet of nuke-bearing B-52s. You had to know it was coming. All that campaign hype about “respecting the Second Amendment” was a clearly-marked load of desert sailboat fuel.* The gloves are off, folks, and the new administration is not just demonizing guns, but painting all those who possess them — in fact, all those who might object to or oppose any action by the federal government — with the broad brush of “right-wing extremism” and “domestic terrorism.” Imagine pushing a spilled gallon of paint over a postcard with a shop broom. Yeah; that kinda “broad brush.” i What IS thIS “MIlItIa” ? I essentially, if you breathe, think, honor “ the Constitution and own a firearm, you’re a suspected or indictable right-wing extremist and an enemy of the state. ” Just do a ’net search on subjects like “Right Wing Extremism April 7, 2009” and “Missouri The Modern Militia Movement.” I recommend reading columnist Michelle Malkin’s comments on the former. She calls it an “Obama DHS Hit Job on Conservatives,” and that’s what it is. Essentially, if you breathe, think, honor the Constitution and own a firearm, you’re a suspected or indictable right-wing extremist and an enemy of the state. The single most repeated word — always in a negative, threatening sense — is “militia.” Sure; some truly radical fringy types calling themselves “militiamen” have given it a bad name, but about in the same numbers and percentages as people who rent moving vans have used them to transport illegal explosives. This much is Yes, we clear: “Militia” is to become the still exist — Obama administration buzz-word for and he would be proud. anyone owning a gun who is not an Obamaton — and if you own a gun, you can’t be one anyway. It seems that me and everyone I call friend is a threat — and a militiaman. How could it be that an institution so intrinsically American; so valued by our founding fathers they gave it its own amendment in the Bill of Rights; so necessary to the security of a free state, could be a threat? ncreasingly over the past century, latent fuhrers, incipient dictators, paranoid politicians and moral cowards have claimed that first, the Second Amendment applies only to governmentally-operated parties, and second, it’s far too complex for mere “lay minds” — dummies like us — to understand. They magnanimously invite us to leave interpretation of it to them, the very people it was written to protect us against. The first is an outright lie, and the second, a cynical and disingenuous lie. Much confusion lies in the Second Amendment’s first words: A well regulated militia … In the language of the time, “regulated” in reference to the citizens’ militia, did not mean governed, operated, overseen, armed by or even responsible to government. “Regulated” referred to individual proficiency with individually-owned arms; “well regulated” citizen-militiamen were both knowledgeable and proficient with their personal arms. The founding fathers and the general populace perceived three kinds of armed forces: a standing army of careerist or long term soldiers employed by and responsible to their commander-in-chief; a “select fyrd” or “select militia” called up by levy or draft by local government to serve during a particular emergency or campaign, again, responsible during that time Continued on page 107 28 WWW.AMeRICANHANDGUNNeR.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=29http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=292009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=30http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=30PISTOLSMITHING Alex Hamilton THE INSIDE SCOOP ON PISTOLSMITHING TECHNIQUES When You DIe Your Guns WIll lIve: part 2 n the last column we talked about what your surviving spouse should do with your gun collection. Barely a week goes by I don’t get a call from a widow gathering information on what to do with her husband’s gun collection. You need to think about it now. If there’s a large gun shop in your town they will usually come to your place to inventory the guns and leave you a written inventory with the estimated value according to the current market. Always understand, if you are old and broken down before your death, your widow will probably also be in poor physical and mental shape. If you don’t prepare her for the easy sale of your valuable gun, art or artifact collection it will be sold for peanuts with little money ending up in the hands of the woman you loved. Having your spouse “cold-call” a gunsmith or gunshop a couple of months after your death is a sure way to get pennies on the dollar for a lifetime of collecting and memories. The gunsmith or gunshop will do one of two things when the widow calls. I They will either offer your spouse the book value of the collection, subtract at least 20-percent and cut your widow a check on the spot, or they will sell the guns on consignment in their store and/or online and pay her the sale price less their fee, which will be 20- to 30-percent. This is a much slower way and somewhat of a gamble for your widow. You must trust the gun shop to be honest with your widow so it will be wise for you to establish a working relationship with the gunsmith or gunshop while you are still alive so the pressure will be off your widow when you assume room temperature. Please pick a gunsmith or gun shop owner who is at least 15 years younger than yourself. Colt single action number 114, which is the first engraved Colt SAA to leave the factory. It is expected to bring close to $750,000 at auction. Do you have something like this lurking in the back of your safe? f you have a historical collection valued in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars it must be treated in a completely different manner since the sales market is special and limited to buyers who can pay the price. This is where one of the large auction houses such as James D. Julia, Little John’s or one of any number of auction houses steps in. For the purpose of this article I will concentrate on James D. Julia Auctions, his protocol, procedures and prices. Let’s just imagine you have close to three million dollars in rare historic guns stashed away in a basement safe and you have written out instructions as to what she should do to turn these priceless items into cruise money. She calls and discusses the sale with the friendly people at Julia Auctions and an appointment is set up for them to fly in and take a look. James Julia will look over the collection and come up with an approximate value range. If the owner wishes to go through with the process he or she will sign the necessary paperwork to put the collected works on consignment. James will then put all the wheels of his company resources into motion. The auction house will then research each firearm and artifact as to its historical value, take high resolution color photographs and print quality flyers and collector’s-class catalogues. The flyers will be sent out as mass mailings to known collectors, and the thick catalogues will be sold for around $60 apiece. These magnificent catalogues not only have splendid professional photos of each gun, but a detailed, easy to read description of each item and the estimated range of its worth. The significance of having and expert such as James Julia sell your valuable collection is he is capable of getting maximum dollars for each item, which translates to more money in your estate bank account. Another valuable asset is the historical research that will forever be part of the chronology of the collection. 30 Big Colle2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=31http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=312009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=32http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=32COPTALK Massad Ayoob The S&W K-38 once ruled PPC and is still a good choice for Distinguished event. Target is the B-27 (“Prehle”), long the standard. OPINION AND FACTS FROM THE MEAN STREETS Below: Today’s NRA PPC has many gun categories. Examples, from top: S&W 6" M/14 .38 (Distinguished Revolver); S&W M952 9mm (Open Auto); S&W 4" M/15 .38 (Service Revolver); Beretta 92G 9mm (Service Auto). Blast From the Past CoMPeTiTioN? P o ne of the neatest things at www.americanhandgunner. com is the archive function that lets you go back thirty years in time. Go there now, and you’ll likely find some mention of PPC and you’ll certainly see ads for “PPC guns.” Depending on your historical source, “PPC” stood for Practical Police Course, Practical Pistol Course, or Police Pistol/Combat. We don’t buy the Practical and the Combat parts now — hell, we didn’t 30 or 40 years ago — but at the time, for most cops, it was the best game in town for competing with guns in a way that would develop some life-saving skills with what you carried on duty. The PPC course was developed by the FBI in the Dillinger Years, a time when cops had historically been trained and “qualified” in bulls-eye shooting. PPC’s first target was the Colt Silhouette, the shape of a man drawing a gun from his hip. Distance ranged from seven yards (the average gunfight distance as determined with the limited statistics of the time) out to 60 paces. Since even then most shooting ranges only ran to 50 yards, PPC was soon compacted to that distance as maximum. The classic course of fire was 12 shots in 25 seconds at seven yards, with the gun below line of sight. Then six kneeling, six left hand barricade, and six right hand barricade at 25 yards, all in 90 seconds. Then you went back to 50 yards, with six shots each fired from sitting, prone, standing left side barricade, and standing right barricade, all in 2.75 minutes. The closing run was six shots in twelve seconds, two-hand offhand, from 25 yards. The total was 60 shots, with a possible score of 300 if all bullets hit the big head-to-belly “K5 kill zone.” The old Practical Police Course is archaic in many ways, but offers useful skill development that’s more than “a blast from the past.” PC didn’t really become “competition” until the late 1950s, when Colt teamed up with a university that had a criminal justice training program and a nice range in Indiana, to create the first national police championships of practical service revolver shooting. Colt figured since police pistol teams had been shooting 25-to-50-yard bullseye since the early 20th Century and winning with Colt Officers’ Model revolvers, the same would happen in the new “combat discipline” and might help them dominate the police service revolver market. Colts actually did well the first year or two, but soon the cops figured out that since 25-yard stages and closer were fired double action, and since the S&W’s one-stage DA pull gave it an advantage there as strong as the Colt’s easy hammer-cocking had been in single action bulls-eye, it was time to switch brand loyalty. S&Ws started winning and Colt was in the position of General Motors sponsoring a national stock car racing championship only to find Ford filling out the winner’s circle — Colt dropped out. Soon, the National Rifle Association had taken over. There was also a new target, then called the Prehle Target after its designer, and known today as the B-27. It was a big, black silhouette with the vertically oval scoring rings of the International Shooting Union target superimposed over it. All of a sudden, perfect scores were no longer easy for good marksmen. It was now ten points possible per shot, with the ten-ring 5.9" high by 3.9" wide, and the tie-breaking center ten-X ring 3" by 2.1". From the beginning, cops who carried 4" fixed sight .38s came to matches with 6" adjustable sight target revolvers. Then Jim Cirillo — a PPC champ before he started killing bad guys in gunfights with 4" model 10s while 2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=33http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=332009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=34http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=34WINNINGEDGE Dave Anderson Classic pocket automatics: Left, Walther PPK 7.65mm. Right, Belgian-made Browning .380. SOLID ADVICE TO kEEP YOU AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION POCkET ompact handguns are extremely popular for personal defense. From about 1900-1950 it seemed as though compact autopistols — “pocket automatics” — would eventually dominate the field. The pocket auto is often perceived as a European thing. In fact the genre was initiated by an American, John Browning. He designed compact, blowback autos to use new cartridges, the .25 (6.35mm) .32 (7.65mm) and .380 (9mm Short). Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium made the first commercial model, the 1900, in 7.65mm. Production commenced in 1898. On August 4, 1904 a gold-inlaid 1900, serial number 100,000, was presented to Browning. By 1909 500,000 had been made. It was succeeded by the model 1910, which had the recoil spring around the barrel, making for a compact, sleek profile. In the U.S., Browning made several improvements to the design and reached an agreement with Colt to produce the 1903 (.32 ACP) and 1908 (.380 ACP) models. The book John C PLENTY Browning: American Gunmaker by John Browning and Curt Gentry notes the agreement specified strict standard of materials and workmanship, and a bit contrarily, every effort be made to keep price competitive with revolvers. All these pistols were tremendously popular. The .32/.380 ACP cartridges were comparable in power to compact revolver cartridges of the era, such as the .32 S&W Short and .38 S&W. The autopistols were flatter, held more rounds and were new and modern. Production of the Colt 1903/1908 models reached about 700,000 by the end of WWII. Production of the FN 1910 (and its higher capacity variation, the 1922) was about 900,000. The FN 1910 remained in production until 1983, with roughly another 200,000 built after the war. It was introduced to the U.S. in 1954-55 (with Browning markings, but otherwise identical) and marketed until the GCA of 1968 prohibited importation. J frame, and the first revolver introduced was the 19 oz. Chief’s Special. It was followed by the concealed-hammer Centennial and the hammer-shrouded Bodyguard. Colt introduced an alloy-framed variation of the Detective Special called the Cobra, weighing just 15 ounces. S&W offered alloy-framed 13-14 ounce “Airweight” versions of its J-frames. The Airweight versions of the Centennial (42, 442, 642) are, I believe, the best pocket handguns ever made. These revolvers had a couple of advantages over most pocket autos. There was no safety to release or slide to manipulate. Just grab, point and shoot. And the .38 Spl. was considerably more powerful than the .32/.380 ACP, especially as the autopistol ammunition of the day was loaded with round-nosed FMC bullets. Currently these cartridges are considerably improved, but so is the .38 Spl. S&W J-frames were an instant success and if anything are more popular today than ever. S&W can hardly keep up with demand. Taurus compact revolvers are likewise extremely popular and the new Ruger LCR is generating great interest. lso extremely popular was the Walther PP series, with a double-action first shot mechanism. The PP (1929) and shortened PPK (1931) version were so successful they are still made today in the U.S. by S&W by agreement with Walther. The PP design has been widely copied. There were other U.S. pocket autos such as the Savage series (1910-1928), and the Remington 51 (1918-1926). These were successful but not remotely as popular as the Colts. The S&W .35 auto (1913-1921) and .32 ACP (1924-1936), though made with typical S&W quality, sold only around 9,000 units. And there have been many other manufacturers. The names Astra, Beretta, Bernardelli, CZ, FEG, Llama, Manurhin, Mauser, Ortgies, Star and Unique come to mind and this is by no means an exhaustive list. Notice something about this list though — all these manufacturers are European. After WW II manufacture of U.S. pocket autos virtually ceased. The sh2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=35http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=35What’s in a name? History. John Taliaferro Thompson founded the Auto-Ordnance Corporation in 1916 with John Blish and Thomas Fortune Ryan to design and develop a hand held machine gun. The product of this collaboration was the world famous “Tommy Gun.” Since its inception, the “Tommy Gun” has become an American icon. Carried by G-men and colorful characters like Al Capone and John Dillinger in the 1920’s and 30’s and trusted by our soldiers in WWII. The Thompson was the coveted weapon among specialized troops such as Rangers, Marine Raiders, armored and parachute units. The “Tommy Gun” went on to see service in Korea and Vietnam. At Auto-Ordnance we take great pride in continuing General Thompson’s legacy by producing finely crafted semi-automatic versions of the historic Thompson submachine gun. Put a piece of history in your hands. Own a Thompson! ® Courtesy The National WWII Museum www.nationalww2museum.org Made with Pride in the U.S.A. ® KAHR ARMS: 130 Goddard Memorial Drive, Worcester, MA 01603 Sales Support & Service: 508-795-3919 Websites: www.tommygun.com / www.tommygunshop.com2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=36http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=36John Taffin HANDLOADING SAGE ADVICE FROM THE HANDLOADING GURUS n early writer for GUNS Magazine, Kent Bellah, wrote articles that always caught my eye, and in my youth, I paid attention to his stuff. The article I remember which influenced me most was entitled “The Two Gun Man Comes Back.” With this piece Bellah hearkened back to the time when it was normal for one to carry a sixgun and levergun chambered for the same cartridge. He had a 31/2" S&W .357 Magnum which he mated up with a custom Model 92 Winchester converted to .357 Magnum by Ward Koozer. I really wanted such a combination, however it would be nearly 25 years before it became reality. I had been loading for the .38 Special and .357 Magnum in both a Highway Patrolman and a Flat-Top Blackhawk since 1957 when I finally was able to buy a Marlin .357 Magnum levergun. I followed Keith’s recipe using his bullet and 13.5 grains of #2400 in .38 Special cases and 14.0 grains in .357 Magnum brass with the bullet crimped over the front shoulder. Using the crimping groove in .357 brass gave an OAL too long for the cylinders of my Ruger and Smith & Wesson .357 Magnums. Both loads worked well in my pair of .357 sixguns, so I saw no reason why they wouldn’t work in the Marlin. They fed well and shot terrible! I soon discovered it was an exercise in futility to try to obtain good results with plain-base cast bullets and fully charged loads in the Marlin with Micro-Groove rifling. Very recently Marlin switched back to Ballard rifling on their leverguns and this should help the problem of shooting cast bullets. SIXGUN/LEVERGUN COMBINATIONS: A ThE .357 MAGNUM A good all-around .357 Magnum load for both levergun and sixgun is the Lyman/Thompson #358156 gas checked bullet over 15.0 grains of #2400. Hornady and Sierra 140 The Ruger .357 Blackhawk grain JHPs and 170 grain is a grand companion bullets from Sierra and Speer. sixgun to the Marlin .357 levergun. Bullet Genius t he answer came from Ray Thompson. Thompson’s great contribution is the gascheck bullet. He did not originate the idea of gas checks (which are copper cups fitted on the base of the bullet) as the design dates to the early 1900s. Thompson adapted it to sixgun bullets designing two .44s, a .45, and his best, the #358156GC, for use in the .38 Special and .357 Magnum. This gas-check designed bullet was just what was needed for the Marlin. The gas checked Thompson could be driven to nearly 1,900 fps in the Marlin with little or no leading and excellent accuracy. I have yet to be able to come up with a load using Keith’s bullet that will shoot as well as Thompson’s bullet in most .357 Magnum sixguns. Elmer Keith had no use for gas check bullets saying they were unnecessary, however if I had only one bullet mold for the .357 Magnum it would be Thompson’s #358156, and the mold is still available from Lyman. When I started shooting .357 Magnum sixguns and even later when the Marlin .357 levergun arrived it was almost mandatory to be a bullet caster to be able to do a lot of shooting. Times have changed over the last 30 years and the floodgates of reloading supplies and components have virtually been thrown open and today we can pick from a long list of excellent .357 Magnum jacketed bullets from such companies as Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and Speer. Several companies offer hard cast bullets with gas checks in various weights, and Oregon Trail offers both semi-wadcutter and roundnosed flat point designs. I use these latter bullets for loads in the 1,0001,100 fps range in my Marlin. In addition to great choices in bullets we also find many choices when it comes to powder. For my fullhouse .357 Magnum loadings I normally go with the great old standby #2400 as well as H110, L’il Gun, WW296, and AA#9; for easy shootin’ loads with cast bullets Universal and WW231 both serve me well. Loads assembled with these two powders may be easy shooting, however they are also more than adequate for varmints and small game. What’s Best ? ooking at 2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=37http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=37Come See Our 2009 New Products Line-Up! 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Nalgene pocket Digital Foliage Camo Main compartment and hydration compartment can accept CCW accessories #0432 KODIAKTM GEARSLINGERTM NEW Khaki Foliage Green Black Better for left-side carry Better for right-side carry • Main: 9" x 8" x 3"; Frontal: : 7" x 6.5" x 1.5" with mesh divider and internal keyper • Integral 2" strap (min 40" / max 60") with non-slip shoulder pad • Black, OD Green, Khaki, Foliage Green, Khaki-Foliage, Orange-Foliage: $88.99 Digital Foliage Camo: $93.99 #MX0413 S-TYPE JUMBOTM #MX0412 JUMBOTM Khaki2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=38http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=38J.D. Jones HANDGUNHUNTING TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND POLITICALINCORRECTNESS deal with the subject of long range handguns and rifles several times a week. First, what is “long range” to you? Next, what do you want to shoot at long range? After that the conversation can go in many different directions. The simple fact is if you want to shoot at inanimate objects for just having fun, bang away at anything you like with whatever you like, to shoot at any distance you like. If you are shooting a revolver and you, your gun, ammo, targets and conditions are good you will find at over 200 yards you will miss a 12" steel plate often enough it won’t be fun anymore. That plate is a target with good target definition, and a deer in the brush and shadows with iron sights may be a hell of a lot tougher at 50 yards — and if he is moving .50 Alaskan SSK Encore (top) with 650 grain handload. Best fun gun in the business; and a .375/06 JDJ SSK Encore with a round loaded with a 270 Hornady at 2,400 fps — big medicine. Long-Range I a lot tougher at 25 yards. Factor in being out of breath from climbing and a quick shot of adrenalin and 10 yards is long range if you’re shooting at a deer running flat out. In general, years ago when I could see iron sights well I felt, under good conditions, 75 yards was about my maximum with an average magnum revolver over .35 caliber. Adding a dot sight such as the EO Tech added another 25 yards or so and a 2X or 4X scope might let me get out to about 150 yards max at a standing broadside deer — if I had a good rest and superior ammo/gun combo. I think revolvers with superior accuracy, such as the Freedom Arms, gave me a little more range but increased my confidence level at the ranges I considered normal. Above: Freedom Arms .454 and 50 yard group with handloads. T’SOB base and rings, Arrestor muzzle brake, Pachmayr grips and some revolver ammo. A good package. Left to right: 6.5 JDJ, .375/06 JDJ and .50 Alaskan. The 6.5 is a Contender or Encore cartridge, the others are Encore only. The 6.5 will kill deer at 300 — so will the others, but you can’t kill them any deader than dead. WhaT’S accUraTe? W ith a large number of the single shots and calibers available for them, astonishing accuracy often results with match grade bullets and occasionally hunting grade bullets. Match grade bullets are meant to produce the most accuracy with no regard to target damage and literally shouldn’t be used in hunting. Some simply pass through with no expansion and others disintegrate on small bones and sound like a bullet hitting a rock when they hit. A good hunting grade bullet will often print less than 1" at 100 yards. In my testing with the SSK barrels and most calibers, I shoot 2.5" steel squares at 225 yards. A standing position and sandbag rest is preferred. If I can get three-of-five I figure the load/bullet combination is okay for publishing. I figure the best of the single shots are 300 yard guns under good conditions. You’d need an experienced shooter, rest, little wind, an animal standing broadside in the open and a caliber giving enough velocity and a bullet giving good expansion at that range to make it work. Those giving higher velocity in general have a shorter time of flight and correspondingly less wind drift. I also rate shooter ability to handle a caliber he is comfortable with higher than raw power, assuming the caliber is adequate for the job. A 6.5 JDJ with a 120 NBT at 2,400+ fps is entirely adequate for deer or antelope at 300, and has little muzzle blast and negligible recoil. The .375/06 JDJ with a 270 grain at 2,400 fps won’t kill a deer any deader but will be entirely adequate for Elk at that distance — at the expense of moderately heavy recoil and heavy muzzle blast. Yes, double that range when shooting rocks or plates and you will be surprised at the accuracy you can achieve. J.D.’s Favorite M y personal favorite longrange pistol for fun shooting is a 12" (plus brake) .50 Alaskan set up to shoot the .50 BMG2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=39http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=39LULA. The fastest, easiest way to load & unload your magazines. Load up to 30 rounds of stripper-clipped .223s in 12 seconds, and drop ammo in a rifle or pistol magazine with the ease of flipping a switch – nothing saves time, or your fingers like LULA. Choose from three styles, then hit the range with a new rate of fire. LULA® Speed Loader & Unloader For AR-15/M-16, AK-47/GALIL, MP5, Colt 9 SMG, UZI, M1A/M14 and FN FAL magazines. Strip LULA® Speed Loader & Unloader For AR-15/M-16, Mini-14 magazines and strip clip ammo. ed-1 1 Unload Load UpLULA™ Pistol Speed Loader One size fits virtually all 9mm, 10mm, .357, .40 and .45-caliber mags – both single and double stack. 6/10/09 2:52:38 P ©2009 See the demo video at www.butlercreek.com Magazines not included. 09BOA5268_LULA_Loaders_hp_AH.indd 1 5/13/09 5:46:20 PM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=40http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=40Mike “Duke” Venturino SHOOTINGIRON TM THUMB BUSTIN’ MUSINGS FROM THE DUkE Photos: Yvonne Venturino THAT GNARly NAGANT BuT WHy? fter writing my article on World War II handguns a few months back a few readers questioned why the Russian Model 1895 7.62mm Nagant revolver was left out. The reason was because it is a silly little excuse for a revolver! Do you ever wonder why someone invents a widget that is decidedly inferior to somebody else’s already existent widget? The only emotion I can dredge up about a Model 1895 Nagant is, “why?” By 1895, revolvers of superior design had been around for decades. Of course the vast majority of these were the products of American brains and factories. Regardless, a Belgian named Leon Nagant set about dreaming up an excellent solution to a non-existent problem. For some reason Mr. Nagant felt that gas leaking between the barrel/cylinder gap of revolvers was a big detriment to their performance. So he figured out a complex revolver system where the cylinder was cammed forward every time it was rotated so its chambers actually The odd design of the 7.62mm Nagant cartridge is evident in this photo. Shown fit over the butt lying down, the deep-seated bullet is end of the barrel. visible. Next it’s shown standing up so That prevented gas the extra leakage. So natulength is rally to cope with evident. that sort of operation the ammunition had to be special. Bullets had to be Then come some contemporary seated deep in the rounds: .38 S&W, .38 Special, cartridge case. Not .455 Webley, and .45 ACP. flush with the case mouth like today’s full wadcutter target ammunition but deep as the photo shows. Then the case mouth had to be crimped inward over the bullet so it too could fit inside the rear of the barrel. For that reason the cases had to be made long, as were the firing pins that had to reach way-forward because that’s where the cylinder had gone when the hammer was cocked. All that machining, fitting, and special ammunition manufacture allowed the 98 grain 7.62mm Nagant bullet to be propelled all of about 1,000 fps. Now hold that thought for a moment. By 1895, it was well known that although a revolver leaked a bit of gas through the barrel/cylinder gap it was really not a big deal. Everything still worked fine. Rounds like the .45 Colt or .45 S&W or .44 S&W Russian shot big bullets at about 750 to 900 fps and were noted man-stoppers. A The Nagant revolvers load and unload through a gate on the frame’s right side just as traditional American single action revolvers do. SiSSieS e Duke borrowed this 1943-manufactured, Model 1895 Nagant 7.62mm from a friend. As Forrest might say: “stupid is as stupid does.” vidently the entire world’s military forces back in the 1890s were hit with a plague of “pantywaist-ism.” In 1892 America adopted the puny .38 Colt, which shot a 150 grain bullet at about 725 fps. It became famous for getting people killed — not the people being shot but the shooter himself because then the “shootee” really got mad and hacked him up with something sharp. The Brits at least stuck with a big .455 Webley using a 260 grain bullet, but had it moving along at a lazy 600 fps. By 1895 both Colt and S&W made revolvers that automatically dumped all cartridges either when opened (S&W) or with a single stroke of an ejector rod after the side-swing cylinder was opened (Colt). The Smith & Wesson line of revolvers also had single actions offering simultaneous cartridge ejection. The Model 1895 Nagant still loaded through a gate on the frame’s right side but to eject the empty cases an ejector rod system had to be rotated to come in line with the chambers. I would guess the Nagant revolver was made a seven-shooter to compensate for all that rigmarole. It was made in both single and double action versions. Now here’s the ironic part. The major user of the Nagant revolver was Russia and later the Soviet Union. In fact they kept it in at least partial service until 1947. Why is that ironic? Because in2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=41http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=41The Threat Stops Here. Bonded Lead Core. Preprogrammed Jacket. 1.5 Times The Expansion. learn more // www.winchester.com Grip Gloves Ad 3 3/9/09 11:26 AM Page 1 ©2009. Winchester Ammunition “America’s Finest Handgun Grips” Slip-On Grips That Fit Like a Glove. Custom Shaped for Each Model Pachmayr A Lyman Brand ® Contoured Finger Grooves Ventilated Side Panels Flexible Ultra-Soft Rubber Technology TACTICAL Made to Fit Your Gun Call 800-423-9704 or www.pachmayr.com NEW! GRIP GLOVES TM Pachmayr has applied the technology of their Decelerator® material to the world of Slip-On Grips. Tactical Grip Gloves deliver unmatched recoil reduction and enhanced control. The material’s flexibility makes installation “a snap” – no trimming, tearing or hard work - just a perfect fit. The distinctive ventilated side panels and finger grooves offer a professional appearance and more instinctive gun orientation than “one-size-fits-most” band models. Welcome to the future of slip-on grips. Available for: S&W Sigma SIG P220, 226, 228, 229 CZ 75/85 Glock 17,20,21,22,31,34,35,37 Beretta: 96 FS/D/G, 92 FS/D/G/SB/F ® No More “One-Size-Fits-All” Lyman 475 Smith St., Middletown, CT 06457 Dept 20712009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=42http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=42THE SIXGUNNER May 2, 1933 Roy Huntington, Editor American Handgunner Magazine John Taffin T Dear Roy: his report on the latest sixgun from S&W has taken longer than normal as at your suggestion I have not only virtually lived with this new revolver for the past year I have also corresponded with friends and acquaintances who have also been working with versions of the same new .38. T imes have certainly changed since I got that first .44 Special Triple-Lock back in 1908. We were a different country then, however many of our boys have “seen the elephant” with service in the Great War, in fact they’ve even written a song, “How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?” ur society is rapidly changing from an agrarian one and many of those who were content to stay on the farm are now gravitating to the large cities; couple this with Prohibition and the easy money to be made outside the law, as well as the arrival of a new breed of criminal robbing banks escaping in a super fast V8 powered sedan, and peace officers have certainly found themselves behind the times. The standard .38 Special which has served law officers for nearly 30 years suddenly has to compete with criminals firing .45s and automatic weapons from an automobile. Those little slow moving .38s either bounce off car bodies and windshields or at the very best offer very shallow penetration. Something had to be done to help officers, so Smith & Wesson decided a newer and more powerful .38 Special was needed and the result was the .38/44 Heavy Duty. As you know Smith & Wesson, in conjunction with Winchester, changed the standard .38 Special using a roundnosed bullet at around 850 fps to a flat-nosed semiwadcutter design traveling 300 fps faster, and also added a metal penetrating version. To house this new round Smith & Wesson simply used their 1926 Model, or 3rd Model Hand Ejector .44 Special with a .38 Special barrel and cylinder; the result is a much heavier sixgun than either the S&W M&P or the Colt Official Police and it does an excellent job of dampening recoil even with the new load. The Military & Police has always been a relatively easy gun to shoot, however this new .38/44 has such a slick action and heavy cyl- O Do you remember that young cowpoke we met at Camp Perry in 1925? His name was Elmer Keith and he was shooting with the Montana National Guard. “ P P inder it almost seems to shoot by itself once the trigger action is started. I have been carrying mine now for nearly a year and I must say it is the finest .38 ever produced; and I am certainly not alone in that assessment. Do you remember that young cowpoke we met at Camp Perry in 1925? His name was Elmer Keith and he was shooting with the Montana National Guard. He was a nice young fellow I took a liking to right away as he dressed so much like I did with a large Stetson and high-heeled boots. I wouldn’t say he was cocky, quite the contrary, but he certainly was self-assured. When he started shooting with rifle or sixgun you knew immediately he had a reason to be confident. Remember when they tried to trap him into the quick draw contest and he really showed them something? They had to admit this young cowboy could really shoot. Well Elmer and I have been corresponding regularly on many topics and especially sixguns. You may remember his excellent piece in The American Rifleman in April of 1929 when he unveiled the perfect sixgun, his #5SAA in .44 Special. He was working his modest cattle ranch in Durkee, Oregon at the time and I was able to go over and spend a few days shooting not only his #5SAA but several other Colt and Smith & Wesson .44 Specials as well, all with is heavy handloads. I’ll tell you one thing, this young fellow not only knows his sixguns he knows how to make them sing whether shooting at long range or up close drawing from a holster. He is currently writing for both American Riflemen and Outdoor Life and it is my hope that someday he comes to work with us. ” Conti2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=43http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=432009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=44http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=44The LCR with Crimson Trace Lasergrips offers some sighting options in a self-defense wheelgun. RugeR’s 44 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 Can you say: “light CompaCt RevolveR”? Dave Douglas lCR2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=45http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=45The front sight is pinned. The LCR is rated for .38 Special +P, which is all you need anyway. i received an invitation to visit Ruger’s plant in New Hampshire in mid-December. Okay, not the best time of year to visit New England, but the invitation was interesting. It came with a Non-Disclosure Agreement containing a whole bunch of Hereintofores, Whereases, Hereinafters, Including but not limited tos and In Accordance with Laws of The United States of America — serious stuff. My interest was piqued and being a curious soul I had to sign off on their “loose lips sinks ships” stuff and accept their invitation. I did have a few laughs over the NDA — what are they going to show me, a new revolver? Wow, I bet it has a thing called a cylinder and maybe even a barrel too. We sure need to keep that hush-hush don’t we? Heaven forbid someone steals this tidbit of intellectual property. Harking back to the 1800s at Colt when they made heavily fluted revolver cylinders, modern materials allow Ruger to cut the cylinder heavily saving weight. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 452009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=46http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=46The new LCR would make a dandy cop back-up gun, or a CCW gun for anyone. Magic machines show the differences between various brands of small-frame revolvers. Ruger’s pull (in red) seems to show it being lighter than the other two. The fixed rear sight and “push in” Ruger cylinder release are time-proven features. The polymer grip frame gave recoil a “softer” feel. how wRong i CoulD be about a RevolveR anD the Reason foR the non-DisClosuRe agReement too. “that’s when i RealizeD just ” So the big silver bird deposited me in Manchester, New Hampshire and along with a few others we loaded into an SUV to navigate to the plant in Newport. Oh, did I forget to mention the drive was at night in the middle of the worst ice storm in 20 years? I survived 30 years as a cop and had no intention of becoming frozen road pizza for some 46 New Hampshire State Trooper to scrape off the roadway with an ice pick, whisk broom and snow shovel. The next morning, after a freezing night of indoor camping at the hotel, (power was out to 1.5 million people) we were off to the plant. That’s when I realized just how wrong I could be about a revolver and the reason for the Non-Disclosure Agreement too. It would be an understatement to call Ruger’s new LCR innovative. They’ve managed to take high tech materials coupled with high tech manufacturing methods to produce a high tech revolver. There, I put the words “high tech” and “revolver” in the same sentence. If you’d told me I’d do that prior WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=47http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=47Joe Zajk, Ruger’s chief revolver engineer, designed the LCR’s trigger to be smoother throughout the pull. Note the Torx-head screws and barrel shroud. to this trip I’d have laughed right in your face and bet you a bottle of scotch. The LCR is a small, pocket concealable, five-shot revolver capable of safely firing .38 caliber +P ammunition. That’s nothing new, Smith & Wesson have been doing it for many years. It has a lightweight alloy cylinder frame; again, not so unusual these days. But, attaching it to a grip frame made of polymer — now that’s new. Even though some of us bemoan the “Tactical Tupperwear” as blasphemy to the gun gods, we’ve become accustomed to polymer frame auto pistols. And, they’ve proven their worth over the years of service as the most ubiquitous roscoe in cop’s holsters throughout the world. We also now know polymer can be engineered to consistently provide a certain amount of “give” which in-turn is engineered into the operation of the gun. So it is in the LCR. Raw material that goes into a Pod comes out as an LCR. What Is It? Love-Hate Relationship I’ve carried a J-Frame for years and literally hated every time I either practiced or qualified with the little gun — but it’s a must. It stings every time you push the go button. The temptation is to practice with reduced power loads and that’s just not right. I’m a firm believer in the “practice with what you shoot” philosophy. Think of it as pain is the trade off for the advantage of convenient concealable size, but with moderately significant recoil impulse. In a side-by-side comparison with the LCR using the same ammo in a comparable weight J-Frame, I found perceived recoil a bit less with the LCR. Most of the impulse was felt in the web between the thumb and first finger with the J-frame. The design geometry of the LCR migrates the impulse into the palm of the hand making it much more tolerable. Some of the recoil impulse is absorbed and abated by the polymer’s property to give a little and then snap back. You really don’t see it happen but that’s what the designers engineered into the formula. Additionally, there’s less muzzle flip allowing follow-up shots to be a bit more accurate and much quicker. The “much quicker” part is the main point here. This is a personal protection gun, not a long-range sniper pistol. While the LCR is perfectly capable of 25, 50 and even 100 yard shots, its true purpose is to get you to the other side of real bad day with you and your loved ones intact — it will. Here at the plant, you can see a “Pod” where the LCR is made. Triggernomitry Borrowing the term from the title of Eugene Cunningham’s most successful nonfiction book seems appropriate when describing the design of the LCR’s trigger. There’s more math in this design than for a moon shot (NASA type — don’t be a smartalick). Joe Zajk is Ruger’s Continued on page 88 Ruger cleverly incorporated the polymer into the metal frame. Coil springs assure reliability and smoothness. Ruger pioneered coil springs in it’s early SA revolvers. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 472009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=48http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=48Pocketknives making a comeback! Pat Covert • Photos: Chuck Pittman, Inc. Two big rope cutters! At top is Tidioute Cutlery’s Sunfish in burnt grizzly bone, at bottom Schatt & Morgan’s Wildcat Driller in crimson bone. A trio of Trappers: Boker’s Grand Canyon Trapper in brown bone (top), Canal Street Cutlery’s Moon Pie Trapper in dark amber stag bone (middle), and Queen Cutlery’s Slimline Trapper in amber stag bone (bottom). Cowboy The Classics are F or over a decade now traditional folding knives have been lost among the din of the tactical revolution. In actuality, traditional folding knives never left the planet, they just got buried in the roar. But one only has to attend the annual Blade Show in Atlanta to observe the huge collector base whose cutlery passion revolves around old pocketknives, and in recent years more and more of the old pocket knives are finding their way back into the customers’ pockets. In the good old days pocketknives were not just geared to the size you needed, but to various avocations. There were pocketknives made specially for cowboys, farmers, seamen, electricians, mechanics and a host of other job-related work groups. Today, it’s rare if you see anyone carrying a knife of decent size with more than one blade. While it makes perfect sense to carry a tactical folder for self-protection, it won’t offer you the wide range of utility a multi-blade pocketknife does. To make sense of this you might ask yourself, “How often am I slashing my way through a gang of hoodlums versus using a knife for day-to-day chores like cutting, slicing and carving?” Many of the old pocketknife companies of yesterday have vanished and reappeared over the past few decades. Others, like W.R. Case & Sons, Queen, and Schatt & Morgan never left the scene; instead they morphed themselves from being an everyman’s knife company to a collector oriented one. Boker of Germany has held onto their traditional cutlery line as well and continues to sell well both in Europe and here in the States. More recently, new brands like Canal Street Cutlery and Great Eastern Cutlery have burst onto the scene. Other traditional companies such as Kissing Crane and Schrade, have had their brand names re-licensed and relocated their manufacturing offshore to make their knives more affordable. All of a sudden, there’s a resurgence going on and the patterns and selection in pocketknives today is nothing less than spectacular. Old Is New Again Just about everyone in the baby boomer generation has a fond memory of owning their first knife. That first knife may have been a Boy Scout folder or a simple stockman, but most of us have a memory tugging us back to our childhood days. Handle materials like stag, jigged bone and mother of pearl WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 482009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=49http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=49A cache of reliable Stockmans from three manufacturers: a Kissing Crane in stag (top), W.R. Case and Sons in brown bone (middle), and Moore Maker, Inc. in buffalo horn (bottom). A pair of Cigars guaranteed to light your fire. At top is the Moore maker Equal Ended Trapper in amber bone, at bottom a Schatt & Morgan Cattleman in moss green bone. are rarely found on today’s knives, replaced by machined aluminum and titanium. For sheer attractiveness, there is no comparison unless you are just partial to bead-blasted metal. And while we could all use a knife in our pocket for selfprotection in today’s society, there’s no reason we can’t have a useful folder in the other. While modern technology has affected the manufacture of traditional folders, it’s not near the extent seen in other areas of cutlery production. Folding knives made by companies like Queen Cutlery and Schatt and Morgan still employ craftsmen to execute most of the handmade knife making processes dating back hundreds of years. W.R. Case and Sons boasts their “commitment to quality is evident in the 125 pairs of hands it takes to create one knife.” Multi-blade folders require much hand fitting; blades must line up properly so no rubbing occurs and handle scales are meticulously fitted to the bolsters. It’s not as simple as bolting together a group of machined parts and tweaking a blade. This’s why upscale traditional folders can command a hundred bucks or more. Moore Maker, Inc. is a company in Matador, Texas specializing in cowboy knives and ranch-related tools. They do not manufacturer their own knives, but outsource them to American companies under the most stringent of standards, and use carbon steel exclusively. Although they offer a variety of handle materials, their yellow jigged and smooth bone handles have become their unique trademark over the years. Their knife selection is staggering, with a wide array of patterns both cattle and farm related can be found on their Web site. Relative newcomer Great Eastern Cutlery, which also makes knives under the Tidioute Cutlery and Northfield Un-X-LD brands, specializes in limited editions of their pocket folders, sometimes as low as 50 units each. Another newcomer who also produces superb folders in limited runs, Canal Street Cutlery, has been coming on strong for several years now. Queen Cutlery and Schatt and Morgan also limit their production runs; which means you’ll need to strike when the iron is hot when you see one of their knives you’d like to Continued on page 96 “ How often am I slashing my way through a gang of hoodlums versus using a knife for day-to-day chores like cutting, slicing and carving? The elegant but hard working five-blade Sowbelly at its best, done up here in orange jigged bone handles by Moore Maker, Inc. of Matador, Texas. A rough, tough pair of jumbos by Moore maker, Inc. is shown here. At top is the two-blade yellow bone Liner-Locking Trapper, at bottom the mountain man style Locking Single Trapper in stag. ” WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 492009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=50http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=502009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=51http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=51In Memoriam: Jack Weaver Jeremy D. Clough T he great ones are leaving us at an alarming rate: Colonels Rex Applegate and Jeff Cooper, Ray Chapman, and on April the 7th, Jack Weaver. The creator of the nowcanonized shooting position known as the Weaver Stance, Jack was a California native and served until retirement as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. During his time with the Sheriff’s Department, he began attending the Leatherslap competitions put on by Cooper at Big Bear, California, and it was this competition — until then dominated by onehanded quick draw shooters — that led him to create the two-handed stance that Cooper christened as “decisively superior.” Contrary to the popular myth, Jack didn’t have an arm problem that made him use both hands. In experimenting, he simply found something that worked, and worked well. It was quickly adopted by those he shot with, many of whom went on to become the founding fathers of practical shooting as we know it today. Cooper, chief among them, named the stance after Jack and incorporated it into his revolutionary Modern Technique of the Pistol. It has since been adopted by the F.B.I. National Academy and many others who teach people to shoot for survival. In an era Jeff Cooper referred to pejoratively as the Age of the Common Man, Weaver was not a common man but was a man with distinctive and varied interests. He pursued them, not with the fanaticism of the rebel, but simply with the natural attention a man gives to those things he loves for their own sake. A self-described “desert rat,” given to exploring ghost towns in his beloved Model A, Weaver led a fascinating life, and was a fascinating man to talk with. It was my privilege to spend a couple of days with Mr. Weaver and his wife Joy in their Carson City home when I wrote the article on him that appeared in these pages last year (“Jack Weaver, The Real Weaver Stance,” May/June 2008). After their son Alan had put us in touch, the Weavers graciously agreed to let me come interview Jack, and insisted I stay with them. During those two days, Weaver indulged me by answering my endless questions, usually with the same good-natured smile you see in all the old photos, and often with a certain wry humor distinctly his. When I left, Jack generously let me borrow all of his original photos and magazines from the early days, and the Weavers and I exchanged sporadic cards and letters even after the article came out. Among the unexpected results from the article was the flood of calls and letters the Weavers received from old friends, many of whom they hadn’t heard from in years. They even got a visit from the man who introduced them to one another. And, as a fitting gesture, the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, until then silent on his great contribution to officer survival, presented him with their highest non-valor award. I missed a call from Alan Weaver on the 8th of April, and when he didn’t A Life Done Well! leave a message, I knew it was bad news: Jack Weaver had passed away the previous morning. I already knew he wasn’t in good health; the last time I had called, he hadn’t been able to come to the phone. But nothing quite prepares you. In my mind, I am standing in the backyard of his home near the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and he’s showing me how to do the Weaver Stance. I can still hear his voice as he tells me to first, figure out where my target is, then get my feet in position. I can feel the checkered butt of his K-38 in my hand, and hear the restless wind in the leaves of the trees. Above us, the mighty Sierras march off into the blue distance. It’s strange to realize you’re talking with a legend. Especially one with a sense of humor. A life done well, Jack! I know I speak for everyone when I say our thoughts go out to the Weaver family. * WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 512009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=52http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=52I’ve Always Shot Cast Bullets Duke has always been able to shoot his handguns until his heart was content because he not only handloaded but mostly used cast bullets. And So Should You! E Mike “Duke” Venturino Photos: Yvonne Venturino ven though a great portion of my life was spent poor as the proverbial church mouse, I’ve always shot my handguns until my heart was content. How? Because right at the beginning of my shooting career I became a handloader. Perhaps more importantly a few weeks even before having any reloading gear, I also became a bullet caster. That was at 17 and the reloading and casting was done for a S&W Model 14. One of the older gentlemen at our little southern West Virginia gun club gave me a few hundred rounds of brass and sold me a cast iron pot for melting lead. Another A four-cavity mould is a great aid in bullet production when you are casting them yourself. This is Duke’s casting area. Note the exhaust fan above it — very important! Although Duke nowadays uses many commercially cast bullets, he still does cast a considerable number himself. 52 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=53http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=53When available Duke uses either triple or four-cavity moulds for casting his handgun bullets. For his most-fired pistol and submachine gun calibers Duke uses these Dillon Square Deal B presses. At left is one for 9mm and at right one for .45 ACP. fellow sold me a used Lyman bullet mould (#358432) for a 160 grain full wadcutter, and my folks bought me a set of Lyman reloading tools for that Christmas of 1966. Since that very first day I have never, ever been without ammo for whatever handguns have caught my fancy. At this writing there are reloading die sets on my bench for over 30 handgun cartridges from .30 Luger to .45 Colt, and out in the shop where my bullet casting is done there are scores of moulds suitable for ever single one of those cartridges and their handguns. A statement that nearly makes me weep in frustration every time I hear it is when some yo-yo says, “But I’m only shooting guns that require jacketed bullets.” Then when pinned down as to specifics they’ll say it’s a 9mm, or .44 Magnum or some other cartridge perfectly suitable for lead bullets. Back in 1966 jacketed handgun bullets were just coming on the scene, and brothers let me tell you, they weren’t very good and they were awfully expensive to a cash-strapped high school senior. Why, they cost all of $4.00 for 100! Still I saved and scrimped and bought one box. When I fired some into chunks of firewood from the pitiful velocities given by my .38 Special they just fell apart anyway. Commercial cast bullets were much cheaper at about $3.00 per 100 but the nearest store that sold them was 80 miles away — a solid two hour drive down those horrendously winding West Virginia roads. Duke’s 1938 vintage 9mm Luger shoots his cast bullet loads this well at 25 yards. Cheaper Now compare that to what I was paying for other components, which I could obtain there in my hometown. A can of Bullseye powder was $2.55 but it wasn’t a full pound. I think Hercules, the company making it in those days sold Bullseye in 11 or 13 ounce cans, I can’t remember which exactly. But at 3.0 grains per charge there were plenty of reloads in those cans. Primers were 69-cents for 100, which was about all I could afford to buy at one time. Bullets cost me zip. I scrounged lead and made my own, but I did buy bullet lube. It was ¢.89 a stick, which would fill about 900 of my .38 bullets. Recently a fellow complained to me he couldn’t shoot his handguns very much. Ammo was too expensive and nowadays a bit scarce to boot. “Don’t you reload?” I asked. “No” was his reply, “I’m too busy.” We’re all too busy in this modern world. Believe me, I understand busy. I Duke feels most semiauto handgun cartridges also understand relaxation. do just fine with lead alloy bullets. He has Reloading to me is relaxing. loaded these with complete success. From left: It’s not an onerous chore. .30 Luger, 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP. What would be onerous to me would be sitting in front of the television watching sit-coms or worse watching a bunch of overpaid jocks chasing some sort of ball. That’s especially true for me on a rainy or snowy or otherwise dreary day. That’s because when the weather goes sour it triggers some primeval instinct in me to cast bullets. I fire up one of my four electric lead furnaces (see how I’ve progressed since 17?) and turn dingy old lead alloy into beautiful little shiny bullets. Of course, after pouring literally hundreds of thousands of bullets in my 43 years as a caster, the chore can become boring. That’s where I take something potentially negative and turn it into something positive. While casting I listen to recorded books on cassette tapes or CDs. For instance Lonesome Dove was 27 one and a half-hour cassettes. You can get one heck of a pile of bullets cast in the time it takes to finish such a book. When I get deep into an especially interesting one I’ll even steal time to cast bullets when I should be doing something else. Our town here in Montana has only WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNN2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=54http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=54Brian and Karen Combs, owners of Oregon Trail Bullet Company, made my visit very enjoyable. It’s obvious they take great care in their products. This is the pile of bullets resting under one of those automated casting machines. Wouldn’t you like to have those at your fingertips? about 8,000 people yet our library stocks hundreds of recorded books. If your town doesn’t there are several outfits that will rent them to you by mail at minimal costs. In this manner your hands are free to produce something useful — like bullets — while a talented person reads you a good story. Store-Bought For those who can’t cast their own bullets for one reason or another such as being an apartment dweller and not wanting to stink up the people living above, good quality commercially cast ones are an option. I will even confess and say I don’t/can’t cast all my own bullets anymore. It’s that busy thing, in which state His Editorship makes it his business to try keeping us poor downtrodden gun’riters. So I shoot my share of commercially produced lead alloy bullets, an especially true statement since I started also loading for a half-dozen submachine guns. One of the most prolific of the commercial casting companies is the Oregon Trail Bullet Company located in Baker City, Oregon. Back in 2008 I was passing through there and took the opportunity to stop and see what a sizeable casting operation looked like, and also to stock up on some bullets. Since I knew not what to expect I half anticipated seeing a row of near-slaves each toiling over a lead furnace. Not so! The machines were automated. Bullets were being cranked out from many machines simultaneously. Other machines were sizing and lubing bullets likewise automatically. I picked some up and they were little beauties. No flaws, rounded edges, wrinkles, or other noteworthy imperfections. There were stacks of boxed bullets, 500 to a container, setting there so I had to ask what was their biggest seller. I was confident it would be a 150/160 grain .38/.357 semiwadcutter or perhaps one of their .45 Colt bullets intended for cowboy action shooting but it wasn’t. They sell more of their 200 grain .45 ACP SWCs than anything else. Perhaps IPSC or bullseye target shooting isn’t as dead as some people think? Secrets So here are some tips from an extremely experienced handloader and bullet caster. If you are going to be a one-caliber shooter then you would be well served by one of Dillon’s Square Deal B progressive presses. That little device has an auto-rotating shell plate so even a nitwit can’t double charge a case. When you order one of these little presses somebody on the phone there at Dillon will ask you what bullet style and weight you intend to reload. Then the press comes with the dies closely, but perhaps not precisely, adjusted for that. The downside to the Dillon Square Deal is that it’s not really feasible to change calibers. When I went goofy about buying These are the automated lubricating/sizing machines at the Oregon Trail Bullet Company’s plant. When Duke visited the Oregon Trail Bullet Company’s facility he saw these automated machines cranking out cast bullets. 54 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=55http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=55Here Duke is “making brass” with his MP-40 — a fun thing, indeed — but the jury is still out on the hat! subguns I mounted two of these presses side by side right on the end of one of my benches. One is eternally set up for 9mm and the other for .45 ACP. Then when an hour or two becomes available I sit down and start cranking out ammo, with nothing more in the way of prep-work than Duke uses a Redding T7 checking the powder measure press to load those handgun for correct charge weight. calibers which he doesn’t load What if you want to load on progressive presses. for several different cartridges? Then reloading equipment manufacturers such as Dillon, Hornady, RCBS and Lee sell progressive presses with which calFor his Worship, Roy, I’ve been doing iber changing is a minor chore. Also some reloading for and shooting handthere is the good, old regular type press. guns chambered for .30 Carbine. In this, As a writer here at FMG, I’m forever the reloads have never amounted to more trapped into loading small quantities than about 20 rounds per specific load of several different loads and/or small combination. However, over a snowedquantities of several different cartridges. in weekend last winter I decided to put Progressive presses are meant for together about 1,000 rounds of .30 Carvolume so they don’t work well for that. bine ammo of the same load for my fullA press that does work well for me auto M2 Carbine. It was still fairly easy in my particular situation is the Redding to get done with the T-7. T-7. It has seven die stations in a moveable turret. That means I can set up for Casting Magic two completely different cartridges in Now, what about casting your own two completely different projects and handgun bullets? Take it from me; work on each as time allows. It’s also start with triple or four cavity handgun a fine machine for producing precision bullet moulds and a 20-pound bottom type rifle ammo, and yet at the same pour lead-melting furnace. To the best time works well for handgun reloading. of my knowledge, Redding/SAECO is WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM the only bullet mould manufacturer today making triple cavity moulds, but you can get four cavity ones from them or Lyman. Just about all the manufacturers make double cavity moulds; in fact RCBS doesn’t make anything larger. I don’t ignore them. Because the keyword here is production, when I want to make a pile of a bullet design that is specific to RCBS I use two of their two cavity moulds. They are alternated: one cooling as the other is being filled. That method results in about as many bullets as a triple or four cavity mould can produce in the same amount of time. And for heaven’s sake, don’t buy some tiny little four pound lead pot because it’s cheap. You’ll spend more time waiting for it to melt alloy than you will pouring the melted alloy into bullets. If you want to shoot handguns a lot then become a handloader. Then focus on shooting lead alloy bullets. They are cheaper — and usually better anyway. And if you really want to save money then cast them yourself. Because I learned those basic steps, for over 40 years now, I’ve never once been without ammo for my handguns. And that’s a nice feeling, I have to tell you. * 552009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=56http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=56Les Baer a True “One-inch” Premier ii E A cl Assic All-purpos most needed in the est1911 of the st yle thAt evolved in the 21 century — And ‘7 it will soon belong 0s, it delivers whAt’s to one lucky reAder . ver since 1932, when Colt first brought out the deluxe National Match, shooters have seen the advantages of a 1911 .45 auto that was built for accuracy and reliability. By 1935 Colt was offering them with adjustable sights, the better to center the chosen load on target and register the aim exactly for the eyes of an individual shooter. By the 1970s and the flowering of practical handgun competition, 1911s in that configuration had become “must-have” pistols. Reliable enough for duty, concealed carry, or home defense, and accurate enough for practical shooting and all but the loftiest levels of bulls-eye competition, such pistols are so versatile they justify their relatively high initial cost. A classic example of this is the most popular Les Baer model, the Premier II. Its rugged adjustable sights, made in-house at 56 . 45 Baer Custom since 1991, are homage to the great BoMar design, and “melted” into the slide to allow practical holster carry. The trendy full-length guide rod is bypassed — “That feature is worthless to me,” says Les adamantly — in favor of the original John M. Browning design, with the bushing tight enough Les has to supply a bushing wrench with the pistol. This snug fit is a key reason for the brand’s famous ability to deliver accuracy with reliability. Hand checkered front and back frame straps (30 lpi) complement well-checkered cocobolo stocks to make the pistol sit securely in the hand. The trigger pull, the “heart of the beast” from a shooter’s standpoint, is set at the Baer factory for 4.25 pounds, and doesn’t seem to go lighter than 3.75 pounds no matter how much it’s used. The break is clean and without palpable backlash, or free movement after the sear releases. Each Premier II, Les estimates, encompasses approximately 40 hours of skilled handwork, not counting machine time. This (along with the gun’s performance, of course) more than justifies the suggested retail price of the Premier II model, plus $220 for the hard chrome frame ordered on our test/giveaway pistol, serial number LB23941. Delivery time is running 12 to 16 weeks, and production volume is approaching 200 pistols per month. Out of the box, a Baer gun tends to be so tight you almost have to “break it out of battery” to feel its smooth-running slide. With a few hundred rounds, that disappears and you have an easy handling, glass-smooth 1911 that Reliability WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=57http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=57PrOducTiOn Massad Ayoob • photos: chuck pittman, inc. 1911 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 572009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=58http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=5858 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=59http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=59Les Baer Premier ii . 45 59 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=60http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=60in the arena for the Baer pistols’ famous accuracy to carry them into the winners’ circle. Not surprisingly, our sample Premier II never malfunctioned in any way in the course of the test. All testing was done with the two 8-round mags supplied with each Premier II. Les has been making them in-house for 12 years, a process that involving 14 dies and about $80,000 in set-up cost. Shootability still shoots tight, as we’ll see shortly. Combining reliable function with fairly high-level accuracy in the 1911 design demands strict manufacturing tolerances, and a Baer gun isn’t designed to be thrown into the mud during a WWI trench warfare reenactment. Les suggests the gun be cleaned every 500 rounds when fired with copper jacketed ammo, perhaps more frequently when using lead bullets and/or dirty powders, and immediately after shooting with moly-coated bullets. He says, “I don’t recommend moly-coated bullets. Let the gun set for one day after shooting them, and it’s instant rust. It seems to attract moisture.” 60 Rather than including an internal firing pin lock, Les has chosen to stay with the original Browning design and employ a heavy-duty firing pin spring. “It has passed drop tests from up to 18 feet,” he maintains. He recommends the firing pin spring (and the recoil spring, for that matter) be replaced every 2,500 rounds. The proof is in the performance. In the hands of practical shooting champs from Mike Dalton to Rick DiGregorio and many more, and in the hands of bulls-eye champions, Les Baer guns have earned a reputation for rock-solid reliability. Let’s face it, without that the competitors wouldn’t last long enough Let’s hear from Carl Dick, a 1911 enthusiast who shot the American Handgunner test sample. His notes include the comments, “Flawless function … shot perfectly to point of aim with 200 grain SWC over 5.5 grains of W231 … front strap checkering secure, grips secure but not too rough … front sight narrow, easy to see through rear notch…ambi safety easy to find and operate; left side more generous; nice detent pressure.” I pretty much concur with Carl. Safety function was easy on, easy off, and positive in either direction. Carl was generous when he said “generous”; I thought the lever for the right thumb was humongous and better suited to speed matches than daily carry, but the smaller lever on the right side was perfectly dimensioned for my taste. That’s just a matter of placing a special request when you order the gun. (Whatever happened to the neat little standard-size ambi-safety that used to come from the Colt Custom Shop?) While the point of aim/point of impact was spot on for Carl, the gun came out of the box hitting a little left of where my eyes put the sight picture, but hey, that’s just one more argument for the Premier II’s adjustable sights. The gentle kiss of the screwdriver will WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=61http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=61fix it quickly. A lot of people forget that part of their gun’s “missionprofile” might include sharing the pistol with others in their family or circle of friends. The excellent adjustable sights on the Premier II handle that nicely. The reliability is there. The ergonomics and “shootability” are there. It’s time to look at another raison d’etre for both the Baer pistol and its price tag: built-in accuracy. Time demands forced me to accuracy test this particular .45 on the road, in the Chicago area. I used the indoor range at Midwest Sporting Goods in Lyons, where I ran some 25-yard timed and rapid fire bulls-eye targets out to Midwest’s maximum distance of 65'. The bench wasn’t the solid concrete I’m used to and I don’t do my best shooting under indoor fluorescent light, which I say to show the gun wasn’t being tested under circumstances most favorable to its performance. This was during the Great Ammo Drought of 2009, but I was able to round up loads in the three most popular .45 ACP bullet weights. Hornady 185grain JHP XTP was the lightest-kicking load of the day, and it put five shots into two and three-sixteenths inches. Four of those hits measured an inch and onesixteenth, and the best three were .75" apart, center to center. MagTech 200-grain lead semi-wadcutters, a configuration I hadn’t seen before in that economy brand, put a quintet of bullets into an inch and seven-eighths. The best three were only five-eighths of an inch apart, centerto-center. Finally, Remington Golden WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM consider such factors as wind and mirage in 50-yard shooting, but neither does proper bench rest testing. And, besides, how many among us can shoot groups that tight with our bare hands on demand? Les Baer promises 3" groups at 50 yards with the best ammo out of a Premier II, and for an additional premium, can build a gun he’ll guarantee to shoot an 1.5" at the same distance. An upscale product is generally bought, in part, for “intangibles.” Pride of ownership, for example. “Status symbol?” Maybe, for some. Another intangible is the knowledge the product comes from a good place, made by good people. Not too long ago, Les Baer stood up and made a statement against the increasingly Draconian gun laws in Illinois, where his company was born. He put his money where his mouth was and moved his plant 12 miles, crossing a state line into Le Claire, Iowa. All 28 of his employees made the move with him. I like what that says about both the man and the company. I think the Les Baer Premier II is absolutely worth the money. Treat it the way the manufacturer tells you, and it will do everything he says it will. You’ll have a pistol you’ll be happy to own because of how well it performs, and one you’ll be proud to own because it, like its manufacturer, Stands For Something. And one lucky American Handgunner reader is going to become the new owner of this particular Premier II. For more info: www.lesbaer.com. Attention: Check out the Gun of the Month in this issue to learn more about how you can win THIS very test pistol! 61 Karma Accuracy Sabre 230 grain JHP, the brass-jacketed choice of FBI for their working .45s, plunked five shots into a group that was one-thirty-second of an inch smaller than 2" even. Four of them were in 1.25", and the best three measured .75". For perspective, the ten-ring on that NRA bulls-eye target measures just over 3.25" in diameter. Add another ten feet to the distance and make it a 25-yard range, and every shot fired still would have been a perfect “possible” for numerical score. More perspective — back in 2002, Charlie Petty and I did a pretty extensive test for this magazine which confirmed the theory if an experienced shooter fired five shots from a solid bench rest with no called flyers and measured the best three, the threeshot measurement would come very close to what the same gun and ammo would do for all five shots from a good machine rest. Basically, it all extrapolates to this: I think I can sa2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=62http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=62GO-TO GUNS Hi-Point has a polymer frame and metal alloy slide. The polymer frame felt extremely good in Pat’s hand and was one accurate shooter, to be sure. This is Pat’s older model Bersa 383 .380 pistol. It’s had a lot of rounds through it, and only one failure to eject over the years. That’s good-to-go for self-defense. The Bersa fieldstrips easily without tools and you can’t ask for more than that. The PPK/s field stripped: It only takes a few seconds and no tools are required. Top, Kel-Tec P3AT, bottom, Ruger LCP — both are similar in size and weight. Either one would suite your needs for a back-up gun. Call it all the names you want, but the Hi-Point .380 always goes “bang” when the trigger is pulled, is always accurate and reliable and priced “oh-soright.” Don’t you hate that? 62 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=63http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=63MOSTly Beer BUdGeT BlaSTerS The Kahr P380 fits neatly in Pat’s hand and this is one itty-bitty .380 carry gun for backup to your main gun. Hi-Point has a frame-mounted safety a bit hard to manipulate, but Pat thinks it will become easier to engage and disengage with use. Pat Cascio ight up front, I’ll tell you I’m not a big fan of small calibers for self-defense. Given my druthers, I’d druther have a bigger caliber than .380 when my butt is in danger. I don’t have any problem carrying something smaller than a 9mm, .40 S&W or .45 as a back-up piece, though. And maybe that’s why this was enlightening to me — and I surprised myself with what I eventually bought. No fooling. After rounding some examples up, I looked at them all with that doubting-Thomas eye and found while a .380 might not be my first choice, the variety and surprises kept my mind open. r Ruger LCP Walther’s classic “hammer-droop” safety started the whole DA/SA auto movement earlier in the century. These hummers are still in short supply more than a year after they were introduced. Right off the bat, I’ll tell you, this LCP is a dandy back-up carry piece and it lives in my BLACKHAWK! ankle holster whenever I leave the house these days. I also mounted the new Crimson Trace laser to it 63 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=64http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=64The S&W “Walther” is about Bersa-sized and a bit heavier. Hi-Point .380 had contrasting front and rear sights. Pat could easily pick them up without any problems. More guns should have sights this good, regardless of price. Top, Hi-Point .380, bottom, Ruger LCP for size comparison. The Hi-Point was a brawny .380. The sample Kel-Tec P3AT Pat got for T&E came with a spare mag with the finger rest. He liked the “pinky catcher” on the mag, even if it only caught his ring finger. The Kahr P380 has a large ejection port, no problems were encountered during ejection. Note the fairly large outside extractor. and it works out neatly. If you’ve never tried an ankle holster, now is the time. Most folks don’t like ankle holsters, but if you can wear ’em for a couple of weeks, your ankle gets used to ’em. At only 9.4 oz. unloaded, the LCP is one of the lightest in the bunch. With it’s 2.75" barrel, you hardly know you’re carrying the darn thing. With a 6+1 capacity, it affords you enough back-up “fire power” for most situations, I’d imagine. Like many of the itty-bitty .380s on the market these days, the LCP has a polymer frame, which means you’d better hold onto it. If you don’t, you’ll end-up limpwristing it, causing failures to feed. No problems were encountered during the T&E, and my wife bought my sample for me for our 29th wedding anniversary. 64 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=65http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=65Sharp checkering is on the polymer frame of the Ruger LCP — this really aids in anchoring the gun in your hand. In return, I had to buy her one — it’s her back-up to her main carry piece. Quid-pro-quo? Kel-Tec The Kel-Tec P3AT (neat take on the caliber for the name of the gun, get it?). It’s only 8.3 oz. with its polymer frame and has a 2.76" barrel and 6+1 capacity. My sample came with a second magazine with the extended floor plate. I liked the way it felt with that “pinkycatcher” on it, even though it only caught my ring finger. As with the LCP, there were zero malfunctions with the P3AT. The trigger pull was DAO — same on the LCP — and really smooth. Again, I liked this gun, and it’s a great one for ankle or pocket carry. The Ruger LCP with the Crimson Trace laser mounted on the trigger guard — a match made in heaven. The Ruger LCP .380 in an ankle holster from BLACKHAWK!. It just takes a few seconds to strap the gun on and leave the house. Okay, save all your e-mails, snailmails and other hate mail, but I had to include the Hi-Point .380 pistol in this mix. His Editorship told me to, so I had to. He said, “I want to know, honestly — and I know that will be a break for the norm for you — if it’s a piece of crap or does it actually work.” From the editor’s mouth, as it were, and thanks for the vote of confidence boss. First of all, I’ve heard most of the jokes, “It’s a boat anchor,” “It’s ugly” etc. Say what you will about Hi-Point handguns, but the darn things always go “bang” when you pull the trigger, and they are plenty accurate for any self-defense needs. The Hi-Point .380 was the heaviest of the lot, coming in at 29 oz. with its polymer frame. Yeah, it’s a big gun, and you can’t wear it on your ankle. It comes with an 8-shot magazine, and with a 10-shot mag as an option. Also included are contrasting 3-dot sights, with an optional ghost ring rear sight included if you’re of that ilk. You’re gonna’ hate this part. Out of all the guns tested, the Hi-Point was the easiest to shoot — remember, it weighed the most. It was also the second most accurate of all the guns tested. What’s not to like? I’m a sucker for such things, and ordered a second sample for my meager firearms collection — that sez Continued on page 89 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Hi-Point Sharp checkering is on the polymer frame of the Kel-Tec P3AT. Top, Ruger LCP, bottom Kahr for comparison. You can’t go wrong with either. 652009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=66http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=662009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=67http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=67“Glory is something that some men chase and find themselves stumbling upon, not expecting it to find them. either way, it is a noble gesture that one finds bestowed upon them.” CouraGe Shari LeGate hen is a knife more than just a knife? When it honors the fearless actions of an individual that results in a sacrifice most are not willing to make. The Benchmade “Glory” knife is that. It is a blade of courage. a BLade of W SEAL team maneuvered to assault an unidentified enemy position. To protect the lives of his teammates, Lee fearlessly opened himself up to direct enemy fire by engaging the enemy with his machine gun and was mortally wounded. His brave actions in the line of fire saved the lives of many of his SEAL team. MarC aLan Lee The Designed by Eddie Killian and manufactured at Benchmade’s production facility in Oregon City, Oregon, the Glory knife is a commemoration to the heroic acts of Petty Officer Second Class Marc Alan Lee, the first Navy SEAL to be killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003. Lee was part of a dedicated Naval Special Warfare team fighting the insurgency in Iraq. Those who serve are all heroes and Lee died a hero’s death. Lee was killed August 2, 2006 in a firefight with insurgents in the southern city of Ramadi, Iraq, as he laid down automatic weapons fire to protect his team. According to an embedded reporter with the Stars and Stripes newspaper, an enemy sniper shot and wounded a member of Lee’s SEAL team at the start of a firefight that proved to be one of the largest in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. Lee and other team members evacuated their wounded comrade, regrouped and returned onto the battlefield to continue the fight. Lee and the rest of the WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM GLory Knife SEALs are one of the military’s most elite, secretive fighting units and their missions are almost never revealed to the public. This time, the Pentagon announced Lee’s death, and for the first time, recognizing SEALs were involved in the battle to free Ramadi from insurgent control. Lee was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, one of the highest awards in the military, along with a Bronze Star with Valor for heroism and the Purple Heart. The Concept The idea to have a knife created to honor Lee came from Chief Steve Bronson, USN (ret) who was a member of SWCC, boat drivers for SEAL teams. Bronson approached Benchmade president Greg Mooney and upon hearing the story, Benchmade did not hesitate. Continued on page 98 672009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=68http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=68Advantage C-More sights dominate practical handgun competition.Theyarelight,fastandextremelytough. Incombinationwithhigh-capacitySTIpistolthisis an Open division match winner. www.cmore.com The High-Tech LaserMax’s“Uni-MaxRed”seriesis anifty,tinyrail-mountedlaser(greenorredmodeloptions)andallows youtoalsoclamponalightunderthelaser.Verycleverandgoodfor self-defensegunsandevenlow-lighthuntingsituationsforvarmints wherelegal.Worksgreatonarifletoo. www.lasermax.com Compactred-dotsightssuchastheTru-Pointare hardlyheavierthanironsights,yetformost shootersallowfasterandmoreaccurateshooting. HandgunisaPara-Ordnancesingle-stackframe with Marvel .22 conversion unit. www.truglo.com 68 GarmineTrexGPSunit. irearms are old technology. Imagine it’s 1909 and some worthy American citizen (a shooting enthusiast, we’ll assume) is reading the newspaper one evening. He skims over the article about Theodore Roosevelt leaving for an African hunting trip, then glances at the news of construction beginning on new passenger liner called the Titanic. He reads a letter to the editor disputing earlier reports about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid being killed in Bolivia the previous November. Then he turns to the sports section. Cy Young has won another game for Cleveland. Bitter memories come flooding back. He’ll never forgive Boston for trading the great pitcher. In a rage he throws down the paper and falls back in his chair, into a Rip Van Winkle trance that will last a hundred years … When he awakes a hundred years later much of the world is incomprehensible. Not a horse in sight, no telegraph office — how do people travel, or communicate? But then he finds a gunshop. The newest firearms operate just like his 1899 S&W Hand Ejector revolver WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=69http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=69Oldtechnologyandnew.RevolverisaS&W 1905modelHandEjectorin.32Winchester (.32-20).Lymantriggergaugewithdigital readout measures trigger pulls to 12 lb. It can also give readings in grams and can average multiple readings. www.lymanproducts.com Theinventorofthe“lasergrip”concept,CrimsonTracecontinuestolead thewaywithdozensofmodelsfitting virtuallyeverycommonhandgun modeltoday.This1911modelisdifferentbecauseitoffersawood-grain look.www.crimsontrace.com Modern Can Be Good Dave Anderson Left:Electronichearingprotectors aren’tnew,butthesefromHyskoreexpandtheircapacity.There arethreemicrophone/speakers ineachearpiecesoyoucantell what direction sounds are coming from.Thereareinputconnections foranMP3oriPod,andfora two-wayradio.LEDlightsare builtintoprovidehands-free lighting. www.hyskore.com Leftandtop:CompetitiveEdgeDynamics (CED)produceshighlyregardedshottimers, includingthiscompactmodel8000.Accurate andreliable.I’veusedthisCEDMillenium chronographwithcompletesatisfactionfor severalyears.www.cedhk.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 692009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=70http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=70Left:Weapon-mountedlightscontinuetoevolve.These unitsfromInsightTechnologyandStreamlightcanbe usedaswhitelightsforillumination,laseraimingdevices, orbothoptionsatonce.HandgunsareSpringfieldArmory XD(M)sin.40S&W.www.insighttechnology.com, www.streamlight.com Modernlaserrangefindersareincrediblyaccurateandconvenient.Ipaidmyuniversityexpenses byworkingsummersonasurveycrew,measuringdistanceswithchain,rangepoleandtransit.All asobsoleteaswind-upphonographs.Whetherhandgunhuntingorjustsettingupashooting stageit’salwayshandytoknowthepreciserange. Theydon’tgetmuchbetterthanthisunit fromZeiss.www.ziess.com/sports Above:PACT’sClubTimerIIIissomethinganyshooterwhocompetes(orsimplywantstoimprovehisholsterwork)shouldhave. Rugged,basicbutfulloffeatures,theextra-loudbuzzersmakes sureyouhearitwhentheadrenalinispumping!www.pact.com Electronicdigitalscalesareaccurateandfarmore convenient than the old balance-beam scales I used foryears.Thisonehasseenalotofuseandhas provencompletelyreliable.www.dillonprecision.com ThisKestrelunitisaself-containedweatherstation.Itcanreadtemperature, windspeed,humidity,barometricpressure,altitude.I’veusedthisunitforseveralyearsandfoundittobeaveryhighqualityproduct. www.nkhome.com 70 InovaismakingaseriesofversatileLEDlights, usefulashand-heldflashlightsorasweaponmounted lights. www.inovalight.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=71http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=71or Colt 1903 .32 automatic, like his 1897 Winchester shotgun and 1899 Remington-Lee bolt action rifle. The world makes sense again. New Is Good Technology has changed the way firearms are manufactured, using computer numeric controlled (CNC) machine tools and computer-assisted design and manufacture (CADCAM). Such technology makes quality products affordable, but occurs “behind the scenes”. Modern technology can improve shooting in a couple of major ways — measuring and aiming. I use digital devices to weigh powder charges, to measure trigger pulls and to weigh handguns being tested; measure bullet and bore diameters, measure the range to distant targets, measure temperature and wind speed. Technology enhances our ability to aim or index the gun on target. “Red dot” sights allow us to shoot faster and more accurately. Proven in competition, thousands of reddot sights are now in use on military firearms. Not so long ago laser aiming devices cost as much as a good used car and weighed as much as the gun they were on. Current lasers cost a fraction as much and are incomparably lighter, tougher and more versatile. In low light conditions, the conditions in which many defensive situations occur, may feel nothing beats a laser sight for fast indexing on target. The young fellow from a century ago was mightily impressed when I showed him the biometric fingerprint scan pad which opened the LockSAF where I had my XD stored. Coming from an era where kids did as they were told, and no one bothered to lock their doors, he couldn’t understand why anyone would lock up a handgun. Before he went back to his own time I told him to advise any relatives not to travel on the unsinkable Titanic (“Trust me on this” I told him.). Oddly enough all he wanted to know was who were the winners of the World Series from 1909-1950. Why would anyone want to know that? Talk about taking all the excitement out of it. Leupold’sMXModularflashlightsystemsallowyouto basicallycreateyourownlightdesignfromamyriadoflenses, bodiesandcaps.Moreknownforoptics,Leupold’slightshowsthesame attentiontoqualityanddetailastheirfamousscopes.www.leupold.com Flashlights get better all the time. Current trend is to LED light rather than incandescentbulbs.LEDsarecoolerandtakeless power,extendingbatterylife.Withnew designsandreflectorstheycanequalthe brightnessofincandescentbulbs.Handgun isBeretta85in.380ACP,knifeisVanHoy SnapfirefromCRKT. www.streamlight.com, www.surefire.com * I’veusedasimpleGarmineTrexGPSunitforseveral yearsandfoundittobeaqualityproduct.TheGarmin RinoseriescombinesGPSandtwo-wayradiocapability. Amazingtechnology.www.garmin.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Aimpointred-dotsightsarewidelyusedbythe militaryandarerenownedfortheirtoughness. TheversatileCompCseriesaresmallenough foruseonhandgunsandcanalsobeusedon shotgunsandrifles.www.aimpoint.com 712009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=72http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=72WIN! .45 aCP LEs BaEr HANDGUN OF THE MONTH 1911! PrEmiEr ii 72 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=73http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=73he Les Baer Premier II, a classic in modern 1911 design, has become the industry standard, a benchmark, by which even custom-built 1911s are compared.Thisfull-sized5"1911offersallthefit,finish and 100-percent function Les Baer Custom guns are knownfor—alongwithstunningaccuracyoutofthebox. Astoundingly,it’sguaranteedtoshoot3"groupsat50yards with good quality ammunition! 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Hom sePt/oCt 2009 CiRCLE aNSwERS TO REadER SuRvEy: REadER SuRvEy QuESTiONS: 1) How many people read your copy of American Handgunner? a) 1-2 people B) 3-4 C) 5-6 d) 7 or more 2) do you plan to purchase a holster or gun carrying accessory in the next 12 months? a) yes B) No Name ___________________________________ Address_____________City,State,Zip____________ Email Address _______________________ Question#1: (A) (B) (C) (D) Question#3: (A) (B) (C) (D) Question#2: (A) (B) Question#4: (A) (B) (C) Kimber’s PepperBlaster offerstwoshotsof 10percentOCthat shootsaccuratelyto 13feet! Aless-lethal alternativeisgoodforat home or on the streets. 3) where do you shoot? a) Local Range B) Legal Federal or State Land C) Leased Land d) Out my back door 4) are you a current member of the NRa? a) yes B) No C) No but i’m joining soon to protect my rights IfIwin,pleaseshipmyprizethrough: Dealer ___________________________________ Address_____________City,State,Zip____________ Phone( )____-________ Storehours__am__pm samPLe Limit 1 entry per household. ThiscontestisopentoindividualswhoareresidentsoftheUnitedStatesanditsterritoriesonly.AgentsandemployeesofPublishersDevelopmentCorporationandtheirfamiliesareexcludedfromentering.Contestvoidwhereprohibitedorrestrictedbylaw.Winnersmustmeetalllocallaws andregulations.Taxesandcompliancewithfirearmsregulationswillbetheresponsibilityofthewinners.WinnerswillbenotifiedbyCERTIFIEDMAILonofficial letterhead.ATTENTIONDEPLOYEDMILITARY:USESTATESIDEADDRESS!Nopurchasenecessarytoenter. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 732009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=74http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=74Massad ayoob Misunderstood Case: the Jay olsen/shonto Pete shooting situation: You pursue the man who stole your vehicle. He turns on you as if coming up with a gun. You draw, fire … and don’t call it in. lessons: After a shooting, the first person who calls in is automatically seen as the victim/complainant. The second is often automatically seen as the criminal suspect. The clock is closer to 4 AM than 3, on the steep and bitterly cold hillside overlooking a Spokane, Washington neighborhood known as Peaceful Valley. An old Chevy pickup truck and a little Kia sedan have stopped along the crest, and two adult men climb over a low fence separating the pavement from a sheer precipice covered with brush and trees. Words are spoken between them. Suddenly, there is abrupt movement, followed by gunfire. Some nightowls are awake to hear every shot, and others are awakened by the first sharp blast and instantly alert for those following. Each earwitness will, of course, recall it slightly differently, but a common pattern will emerge. One shot, a very brief pause, then a second. A long pause, and then three more shots in a rapid string. The first phone call comes in to 911 at 0343 hours. The taller of the men, who has slid partway down the hill, emerges back at the crest, reholstering his Glock .40. The other is partly running, partly falling down the steep incline, leaving a blood trail from where a mushroomed Gold Dot 180 grain bullet is embedded between skull and scalp. He will trace a path through the neighborhood below that looks like a trail made by Little Billy in a Family Circle comic strip, pounding on doors and screaming, until someone lets him in. Before very long, both players have told their initial stories. The tale that emerges is one of an off-duty cop “in a drunken stupor,” chasing an innocent victim for what may be racial reasons, firing his gun recklessly and endangering an entire neighborhood — to shoot an unarmed man. Fanned by local media and bloggers, this story takes so deep a hold on the community much of the city will be outraged when, more than two years later, the accused officer is acquitted by the jury on all counts. It will seem to some, in the aftermath, that only the jury was inclined to listen to what had really happened. two stories The man who fired was Spokane Police Officer Jay Olsen, 16 years on the force. His account of what happened was that late the night before, he and his best friend Renee Main had agreed to meet at a downtown bar called Dempsey’s Brass Rail to chat. They had left in the early morning hours. Ms. Main’s Kia warmed up faster than Olsen’s older pickup, so he waited in her car and fell asleep as his own vehicle idled. Knowing he was tired, Main let him slumber. He awoke when his companion slapped him on the chest and told him that someone was stealing his car. With Main at the wheel, they followed. Continued on page 82 74 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=75http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=75Eliminate the dark, eliminate the threat. Streamlight’s TLR-3 features a full-size beam in a subcompact light and fits more subcompact weapons than any other flashlight on the market. The TLR-3 has 90 lumens of C4 LED technology, is virtually indestructible and you’ll never have to put your hand in front of the muzzle to operate the light. With the TLR-3 from Streamlight, the dark doesn’t stand a chance— and neither does what’s in it. TM ©2009 Streamlight, Inc. GET A $10 REBATE ON YOUR NEXT TLR-3 PURCHASE!* *Rebate offer valid September 1-October 31, 2009. Details at www.streamlight.com/TLR3rebate Rebate form and proof of purchase must be postmarked by November 30, 2009 to Streamlight, Inc. 30 Eagleville Road, Eagleville, PA 19403 800.523.7488 • www.streamlight.com/1172009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=76http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=76Handwork is what it’s all about. Can you find the lines where the grip frame meets the frame? Final fit and finish is up to the pistolsmith. RugeR two-PIece gRIP FRames HamIlton Bowen Ron Power of Power Custom, Inc., their prayers are now answered. By way of introduction, Ron Power is perhaps, the most gifted revolver mechanic who ever lived and has a thorough understanding of what makes a revolver tick. Early on, Ron recognized the great need for the specialized tools and parts necessary to work well and profitably on revolvers. Many are found in Brownells and Midway catalogs. Some are disgustingly simple: double-action revolver end-float shims, for instance. Without them making this critical cylinder adjustment would be tiresome and difficult. His hammer and trigger stoning fixtures render revolver- Dustin’s lovely French Walnut grips round out the package neatly. n 1873 Colt introduced the Single Action Army revolver. Generations of cowboys, wannabecowboys, shooters and gun nuts cut their teeth on them. Progress brought Bisleys, the Keith No. 5, various Rugers and the Freedom Arms .454. Not that it mattered because there was only one revolver for the True Believers, the Colt SAA. But even Believers figured out innovation wasn’t all that bad and took to magnums, visible sights, durable lock-work, serious accuracy and a host of other new-fangled ideas. Nevertheless, these marvels never felt right in the Faithful’s grimy paws and they clamored for proper handles. Thanks to 76 I tuning into an exercise even an orangutan could master (many of us in the trade are living proof of that). Unfortunately, his parts business has been a little too successful and now Ron does little pistolsmithing of his own. Elegant For serious Ruger single-action revolver enthusiasts, Ron’s two-piece grip frames add bit of class and style to these guns. Until about the last 20 years or so, the only Ruger single-action revolver produced with a steel grip frame was the Super Blackhawk. Ruger added steel grip frames to some Blackhawk and Vaquero models, the Bisley WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=77http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=77PoweR custom FRom and then the new Flat Tops. While the Old Army grip frame could be adapted to the Old Model Blackhawks, the Old Army is now out of production, which leaves us no source of steel grip frames for the vintage Rugers. The Power Custom parts fill the gap nicely. Even though Ruger has offered steel grip frames over the years, until the New Vaquero and 50th Anniversary Flat Top models arrived, none of their grip frames were true Colt Single Action Army in shape. Even then, the steel XR3 parts are one piece and will not accept classic one-piece grips. Not only are the Power parts available for Old and New Model Rugers, they come in blue, stainless and brass and exhibit first-class workmanship. One of the most important features is the integral coil mainspring bracket which makes fitting one piece grips a snap. Going Together Installation of the Power parts is pretty straight-forward. While the gripframe hole locations on the guns tends to wander about from gun to gun, the parts screwed down well without drama or heroics. Not always the case, but infinitely easier than with the factory onepiece grip frames which often require a certain level of witchcraft to install well. As always, there are a few tricks. In order to achieve the most seamless fit possible, the bottom and rear surfaces of the receiver need to be carefully filed true. The grip frame mating surfaces on older Blackhawk receivers, especially Flat Tops, are especially rough and poorly machined. The grip frames themselves are well executed but the front screw boss on the trigger guard has a bit of a fillet around it which should be sharpened to allow the part to fully seat. The grip frame components are oversized to allow for receiver variations and must be filed to match the receiver. This step is what will distinguish the men from the boys on a professional installation. The parts and receiver must then be polished as an assembly otherwise it is impossible to achieve a good fit. Skipping this step to save the original bluing invariably gives a second-class result. The parts are rough polished and will require additional polishing before bluing. One touch I like to add is milling down the bottom strap so the bottom strap screw head is slightly proud in its counterbore. Then, the head can be nicely domed as on vintage Colts. A small thing to be sure but one showing attention to detail. Bear in mind these grip installations will require custom grips so consult your woodpile or favorite grip maker. The Power Custom grip frame is a perfect vehicle to set off the fancy onepiece French walnut grips executed flawlessly by Dustin Linebaugh on this Old Model Ruger .44 Special. Power Custom supplies instructions for their parts. With a little forethought and some care, a skilled hobbyist gunsmith can secure excellent results with these wonderful parts. Price is $199; brass and stainless are $249. * For more info: Power Custom L.L.C., (573) 372-5684, www.powercustom. com; Dustin Linebaugh Custom Conversions, (307) 899-5368, info@ dustinlinebaugh.com. 77 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=78http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=78Why would you do this. TAFFIN TESTS Continued from page 20 into the barrel of a sixgun to reduce muzzle flip. In 1969 Kelly formed Apollo EDM and the first article on the concept of Mag-na-porting appeared in 1973 and did much to form a demand for Kelly’s services. So much so, he moved from being part of a small retail store to his own company, which is now known as Mag-na-port International. Mag-na-port is now headed up by Larry’s son, Ken who is one of the alltime good guys (Editor’s note: I couldn’t agree more, John). We worked very closely together when I was chairman of the Outstanding American Handgunner Awards Foundation; I knew if I needed anything Kenny was there. MNP is mostly known for the process that gives the company its name. Mag-naporting is a very clean EDM method of removing metal. Dielectric oil is flooded over the barrel in the area to be cut and the electrode. When voltage is applied, the oil is ionized, which establishes a continuous flow of electrons between the electrodes and the barrel — an electric arc. It’s the electron flow which does the actual machining of the trapezoidal ports. No, I don’t understand any of this. However, I do know it works and provides a perfectly smooth incision of the exact dimensions, with no damage or sharp spots around the ports on either the top side or inside of the barrel. Custom Work 6925 West Frye Road Chandler, AZ 85226 Ph. 480-940-1806 FAX 480-940-2461 gsiinternational.com Mag-na-port may be mostly known for this process, however they are a full custom handgun enterprise. They not only carry out customer’s wishes, they also offer several standard packages. Shortly after Larry Kelly did my first Perfect Packin’ Pistol on a Ruger Super Blackhawk he began offering “The Predator” with basically the same specs as my Ruger. Larry Kelly, being a confirmed handgun hunter, also came up with “The Stalker” which is built with Larry’s ideas of what a Perfect Hunting Handgun should be. The Stalker is offered in both double action and single action versions. For the double action Perfect Hunting Handgun, Mag-na-port begins with a Smith & Wesson .44 or .41 Magnum preferably of stainless steel and with a barrel length of 83/8". The forcing cone is re-cut to 11-degrees, the action is totally tuned and both hammer and trigger are polished, the barrel is Mag-na-ported, and an inverted crown is cut at the muzzle. Sling swivels and studs are installed for easy carrying, an SSK T’SOB scope mount is installed, Pachmayr Presentation Grips are fitted, and the entire package is finished in what MNP calls a Velvet Hone. The Single Action Stalker starts 78 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=79http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=79with a 101/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk or Freedom Arms Model 83. The barrel is cut to 83/8" and Mag-na-ported, the muzzle is given the inverted crown, the action is totally tuned and timed, trigger and hammer are polished, sling swivels and studs are fitted, an SSK 3-ring T’SOB scope mount is installed, and this Stalker is also given a Velvet Hone finish. Larry Kelly has hunted all over the world, and very successfully so with the Stalker. Notice the use of SSK’s T’SOB scope mount on both packages. Kelly and J.D. Jones of SSK are good friends, in fact J.D. encouraged Kelly to form Mag-na-port, both have taken Africa’s Big Five with a handgun, and both know the T’SOB is the best scope mount out there and the ONLY choice for a hard-kicking handgun. My everyday, go anywhere, always in the pocket handgun is a S&W Model 340 titanium/scandium 12 ounce .357 Magnum. I sent it off to Ken Kelly with instructions to do whatever he thought was necessary to make it better. He tuned the action, polished the trigger, Mag-na-ported the barrel, and installed a green C-More nylon front sight. The total result is a much easier to handle CCW revolver whether I use .357 Magnum or .38 Special +P 125 grain JHPs. A close look at this sixgun easily reveals it’s always carried in my pocket. It’s not pretty, however it’s totally reliable and shoots to point of aim. It’s like an insurance policy; I always have it but hope I never have to use it. When you can do this? Redhawk The Ruger Super Redhawk is not what anyone would consider a Perfect Packin’ Pistol. It’s large and cumbersome, usually found with a 91/2" barrel, and makes an excellent hunting handgun for those not minding the extra weight and bulk. It’s already set up for scope mounting using Ruger rings and the integral scallops on the Ruger top frame. Offered in .44 Magnum, .454 Casull and .480 Ruger, it’s definitely a very capable big more handgun. Several years ago I took a huge bison bull using Buffalo Bore’s .480 load with a 420 grain hard cast bullet in a 43/4" Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh. At 35 yards I got complete penetration, in one side and out the other, with this load at 1,100 fps. Comparing the .480 Ruger Super Redhawk with a scope-mounted and the iron-sighted, short-barreled Freedom Arms Model 83 loaded with .480 rounds reveals two entirely different handguns, with the Super Redhawk not only being much larger but also weighing nearly twice as much. Would it be possible to turn a Super Redhawk into a Perfect Packin’ Pistol? A 91/2" .480 Ruger Super Redhawk was turned The .223 GSI Bullet Feeder is a great addition to Dillon's XL 650 reloading machine. Our unique system feeds and seats the bullet in one station, with every complete stroke of the handle. The hopper is designed to feed popular 55-grain 223 bullets. Also available for RL1050's – visit our website and watch our video, or call for more information. 6925 West Frye Road Chandler, AZ 85226 Ph. 480-940-1806 FAX 480-940-2461 gsiinternational.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 792009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=80http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=80over to Ken Kelly for what he calls the “.480 Advantage package.” The barrel was shortened to 4.80", the muzzle was given an inverted crown, the action was tuned with a crisp, creep-free trigger, both hammer and trigger were polished and jeweled, the factory lawyer liability lettering was removed and replaced with “Mag-NaPort CUSTOM” which is balanced by the right side of the barrel with “480 ADVANTAGE.” To complete this custom PPP, the barrel was Mag-naported and the entire package given the Velvet Hone finish. Notice the barrel length is only .005" longer than the Freedom Arms Model 83, and Mag-naport has turned the Super Redhawk into a Perfect Packin’ Pistol. I completed the package with a pair of Pachmayr finger groove rubber grips and the entire package is rugged and made for any weather conditions. Tiny Toter 10:53 AM Page 1 GET YOUR GUNS GEAR! Team GUNS T-Shirt Nobody ever had too many T-shirts,except us and we need to clear them out. Get this top quality, pre-shrunk 100% cotton T-shirt imprinted with Team GUNS logo on the front and back. (Colors: Ash or Black)(Sizes: M,L,XL,XXL) $21.95 each ($31.95 Outside U.S.) (Price includes shipping) ORDER TODAY! Call Toll-Free 800-628-9818 Order at www.gunsmagazine.com 80 Kevin Maluchnik of Mag-na-port sent me his idea of a Perfect Packin’ Pistol for my perusal. He wanted something as easy to carry as a S&W J-frame Model 63 but with a mite more power. Starting with a Ruger .357 Magnum SP-101 Kevin tuned the action and polished the trigger, cut double MNP slots on both sides of the barrel, installed a S&W adjustable rear sight assembly, replaced the front sight with a green C-More nylon blade, and the entire package was given the Velvet Hone finish. Kevin uses everything from 158 grain .38 Special SWCs to 180 grain hard cast .357 Magnums in this his Perfect Packin’ Pistol. When I was in my invincible period of life I could shoot hundreds of heavy loads per day, and the .454 Casull was no exception. Alas, those days are gone forever. When invincibility disappears, smartness has to take over and I’m always looking for anything to keep me shooting. This includes lens implants in my eyes, wristbands to help relieve some stress, more shooting of lower recoil loads, and when it comes to full house loads I looked to Mag-na-port. I needed something more than those little trapezoidal slots provided so I had Ken Kelly work on my 10" Freedom Arms .454 and installed a Mag-na-brake. The barrel was slightly shortened so the installation of the screw-on brake would not make the barrel any longer. There are those who complain brakes are too loud; my ears don’t and my wrists and hands feel a lot better. Most of my shooting, at least 95-percent, is done away from other people, so I don’t worry about the noise of the brake affecting anyone else. It works for me! * For more info: www.magnaport.com. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=81http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=81Custom CORNER Powder River Precision, Inc. www.powderriverprecision.com Custom Cornerfeaturespaidlistingsbytheidentified pistolsmiths.ManyaremembersoftheAmericanPistolsmithsGuildandtheAmericanHandgunnerClub100. Advertisinginformationisavailablefrom:AmerICAn HAnDgunner,Adv.Dept.,12345WorldTradeDrive, SanDiego,CA92128;(858)605-0218. Quality and timely pistolsmithing Specialized in: Springfield XD/XDM, 1911’s, Glocks and the Browning Hi-Power. (541) 403-2998 (541) 403-2999 PISTOLSMITHS www.tusseycustom.com e-mail: ttussey45@aol.com 775-246-1533 wder_River2.indd 1 WWW.DLSPORTS.COM Custom AR15’s, 1911’s, Precision Rifles, Accessories, Training, ITRC Competition Extreme Duty AR15 Magazines Now Available! J.B. Custom, Inc. Custom Manufactured Firearms Mare’s Leg Lever Action Pistols, 1894 Winchester Lever Action Rifles and Parts, 1911 Pistols, 1873 Single Action Revolvers and More! See our Web Site www.jbcustom.com Phone: 260-338-1894 Fax: 260-338-1585 E-mail: jabjim@comcast.net 16335 Lima Rd. #5, Huntertown, IN 46748 6/16/09 7:27:17 A 307.686.4008 D&L Sports, Inc. PO Box 651 Gillette, WY 82717 WWW.AMeRICANHANDGUNNeR.COM 812009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=82http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=82AYOOB FILES Continued from page 74 She was not trained for this and drove too fast; Olsen had to tell her to slow down and tried to keep her calm. His intent was to follow, not to chase. The Kia trailed the Ford on a winding route covering approximately half a mile, until the Ford pulled over at the hilltop. The lone occupant exited and walked rapidly forward, toward the Valley. His gun still holstered and concealed, Olsen stepped out of the car and hailed him, saying he just wanted to talk. Olsen could see that the man was 50 to 60 feet ahead of him, and felt if he identified himself as an officer, the car thief would “run farther and faster.” Olsen went over the top of the low fence and began to follow the suspect down the slope. Suddenly, the man spun toward him, bringing up his right hand as if wielding a gun. Olsen responded to that stimulus as he had been taught for 16 years. He reflexively drew and fired. His foot slid out from under him on the slippery incline, and it took him a moment before he could fire the second shot, at which time the man turned away. Olsen ceased fire, trying to regain his balance, his free hand clutching vegetation to pull himself upright. Then, just as suddenly, the man was there again, closer, the hand coming up once more, and the officer fired his last short string of shots. He could see in the darkness the man was moving away from him now, and stopped firing. The confrontation was over. Predictably, he had lost count of his shots, firing five but remembering only four. The other man had a different account. Shonto Pete, 27, admitted he was drunk, and had found himself kicked out of a downtown bar on a cold night with no transportation. He claimed to have approached an idling pickup truck to politely solicit a ride home — placing his hands on the door, which was how he and his attorney would later explain his fingerprints on the vehicle — and the driver, Olsen, had obscenely snarled at him to get away. Then, he said, he fled on foot as the driver chased him half a mile, finally exiting the vehicle at the hilltop to try to gun him down. During his long run for help after that, he said, the bullets were flying the whole time. Pete, a Navajo, implied it was racially motivated: the man who had shot him was white, and must have wanted to kill him because he was an Indian who needed a ride. The prosecutor’s office split the difference. Shonto Pete was charged with grand theft/auto, and Jay Olsen was charged with first degree assault and reckless endangerment. One of his 82 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=83http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=83bullets had struck an unoccupied home some 116 yards away. The theme of the prosecution against the cop was he had demonstrated recklessness by putting a bullet into a suburban house and by carrying a gun while drinking off duty, and had shown malice by not calling in to Dispatch either before or after the shooting, even though he had a cell phone and a window of what the prosecutor described as “16 minutes of silence” in which to do so. years of back pay, including average overtime lost. Shonto Pete had already filed a big-dollar lawsuit against both the officer and the Department, pending at this writing. A month to the day after his acquittal, told that the chief intended to fire him, Jay Olsen simply resigned from SPD. Bloggers, Native American groups, and a general public that had been told for two years a drunk cop had wildly shot an unarmed man for nothing, The tale that emerges is one of an off-duty cop “in a drunken stupor,” chasing an innocent victim for what may be racial reasons . The prosecution’s theory was Olsen had fired his last shot from the hilltop at the house 116 yards below, in the dark with a short barrel pistol, as an unarmed Shonto Pete had pounded on its front door crying for help. “expressed outrage” as the local media put it. Many angrily said, “It might have been different if the judge had allowed the jury to know that Shonto Pete had been found not guilty in his trial.” I dunno about that. Knowing the verdict would also have told the same jury the Spokane County prosecutor’s office had been so certain they could convince a jury of Shonto Pete’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they had put him on trial in the first place, this after hundreds of man hours of professional investigation. But there were reasons they were not told. I would have liked the jury to know more than they were allowed, but for anyone who lawfully carries a gun and might become embroiled in a situation even remotely similar, it would be useful to know why it went as it did. Trials Shonto Pete was the first to go to trial. Instructed by his attorney to “take the Fifth” on anything having to do with the shooting, Olsen could only give partial testimony there. Though a police evidence technician explained there are few surfaces inside motor vehicles that hold fingerprints, Pete’s clear prints on the outer truck door were explained away by his assertion he had put his bare hands there on the icy sheet metal while begging for a ride. Without more evidence, the jury decided it could not find Shonto Pete guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and acquitted him on the auto theft charges. The trial of Jay Olsen began two years and some days after the shooting. Throughout that period, Olsen was separated from the police department on unpaid leave. However, two years had provided time for his attorney Robert Cossey and Cossey’s assistant Alisha Nesbitt to craft a meticulous defense. With skillful, respectful cross-examination of the State’s witnesses, and then less than three days of defense witness testimony in a two week trial, Cossey climaxed the defense by putting the accused officer on the stand, giving Jay Olsen the opportunity for the first time to tell the jury and the public about what he had experienced and perceived. It took the jury only a few hours of deliberation to find Olsen not guilty on all charges. Under Washington State law and caselaw, and considering the Department’s contract with the Spokane Police Guild, the verdict required Spokane County to pay for the vindicated officer’s substantial legal expenses, and forced the Department to give him two The Facts Emerge Neither Shonto Pete nor Jay Olsen were put in front of a dozen of their peers to be screened for a life achievement award, or to determine who was a good man and who was less so. Each was there to be judged for his actions in the early morning hours of February 26, 2007 — no more, no less. All that really could have been introduced were prior bad acts in a simila2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=84http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=84man with a gun call. The suspect opened fire, felling Olsen’s FTO with a shattered leg. Olsen stepped between her and the gunman, literally shielding her with his own body from the rifle fire, as he triggered some of the shots that dropped the would-be cop-killer. The jury never heard any of this. Moreover, deep investigation showed not the slightest hint of Olsen ever having shown prejudice against any ethnic group, including Native Americans. remained in the holster, untouched, until Shonto Pete spun toward him in that fateful moment on the hillside. A gun that remains safely holstered while you take a drink is like a car in the garage with its keys in your pocket in the same circumstances. If a life-threatening situation emerges at that time which requires either the gun or the car to save a life including your own, that “exigent circumstance” outweighs the more amorphous dangers of a man with a The Courts want people judged for the act in question, not for the earlier course of their lives. Shonto Pete, on the other hand, had a significant record of misdemeanor convictions and had been arrested multiple times for domestic abuse. The investigation indicates on one occasion he broke his wife’s nose. Some in his family admitted when he was drinking, Shonto had serious anger management issues and other behavior problems. He was at a .255-percent blood alcohol content level (.08-percent means legally under the influence in Washington and most other states). But, remember, the Courts want people judged for the act in question, not for the earlier course of their lives. Prior bad acts of another type don’t necessarily mean you did this specific act for which you’re being judged, and a blameless prior life doesn’t mean you couldn’t possibly have done something blameworthy this one time. Thus, we can understand why Judge Jerome Leveque did not allow certain background on either man to go before the twelve people assembled to be “the triers of the facts.” Let’s look at some of the issues, and how they were misunderstood, leading to a prosecution that probably never should have happened and a community that now has many members claiming that they’ve lost faith in their police. low level of alcohol on board operating either device. Under the common law, this principle is known as the Doctrine of Competing Harms. Some of the media said Olsen was outside department policy for drinking off duty with a gun on. They were wrong; that’s simply not the policy. The SPD Policy and Procedures Manual clearly states (under “Ethical Standard 4.1): “Members of the Spokane Police Department shall refrain from consuming intoxicating beverages to the extent that it results in impairment which brings discredit upon the profession or their employing agency, or renders them unfit for their next tour of duty.” The moderate pace at which Olsen had been drinking, combined with the core fact his actions during the shooting were exactly what a stone-sober policeman is trained, and would be expected, to do, show Olsen did not step outside the scope of that ethical guideline. Some time after the shooting, Olsen’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was tested. It came out at .02-percent, which by itself is next to nothing, but with “regression study” was estimated by the State’s expert to have been .07- to .13-percent at the time of the shooting. While some courts do not accept regression analysis of BAC, this one did, and the defense chose to let it go. Olsen had ordered “tall” Jack Daniels and Coke, thinking extra cola would minimize the effects of the alcohol, and it is possible the bartender interpreted this as “tall” in both whiskey and filler. Or, the officer may simply have metabolized alcohol more slowly than average; no test was ever done on this. In any case, as I explained to the jury, society doesn’t ban driving at .08-percent or above because someone at that level is likely to go nuts and drive their car up on the sidewalk to deliberately mow down pedestria2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=85http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=85is the exact opposite of the vigilant attention required to operate a motor vehicle, or a firearm. For perspective, let’s look to the other side of the house. Shonto Pete was at .255-percent BAC when tested. In the hours leading to the confrontation, Pete had become increasingly belligerent and confrontational at the pub where he was drinking, publicly screaming at his wife and berating her so violently she left in tears with the family car, which is why he later found himself afoot on freezing streets without transportation. The investigation by the Sheriff’s Department shows family members described Pete as only doing violent and/or criminal things when he was drinking too much and “blacked out.” Significantly, while drinking at the pub that night, Pete had indeed passed out, and was unceremoniously ejected from the establishment as soon as he woke up. A staff person there had described Shonto Pete as acting like an “asshole” in the time shortly prior to his confrontation with Officer Olsen. In the end, it’s not about whether you’d had a few drinks or not. Common sense, and the jury, realized it was about whether you did the right thing or not, under the circumstances. Shonto Pete, like the prosecutor of Olsen, insisted he was unarmed when he was shot. In fact, the record clearly shows Pete was carrying a good-size knife of the “tactical folder” variety in his right front pocket at the time responding officers made personal contact with him. The prosecutor kept calling it a “small pocket knife,” as did the Spokane newspaper. Prior to surfacing at the home of a citizen who called 911, Pete covered hundreds of yards before arriving there. That terrain included sewers, and parked cars and trucks — none of which were ever searched — where he could have easily ditched a handgun. The hillside itself was searched as best as it could have been by the officers and volunteers available, but covered with pine needles, downed trees and branches, and heavy brush, it was literally a “searching for a needle in a haystack” situation. It was obvious from the beginning Jay Olsen had fired five shots from a known spot, yet only three spent casings were initially recovered at the scene. A fourth was discovered several days later, and the fifth was never found. An undiscovered gun wielded by Shonto Pete, while it could not be proven, could not be ruled out, either. One of the state’s witnesses, a detective who deeply investigated the case, demonstrated to the jury the movement Shonto Pete showed him he had made when confronting Olsen: both hands suddenly coming up to midline of the WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Power ed b y Wolf f! ered by olff 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. 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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 Springfiel2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=86http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=86www. “Ultimate J Frame” .com 2009 Pistolsmith Of The Year body. It is a movement pattern consistent with pointing a gun, or brandishing a knife in a threatening point-forward manner, and was reasonably consistent with Olsen’s description on the night of the shooting of Pete’s movement. By the time Shonto Pete testified, however, he demonstrated himself reaching his hands high in the air. He was, of course, armed with a knife. While cross-examining me, the prosecutor vehemently insisted that Pete being found with a “small pocket knife” in his pocket did not constitute him being armed. I replied the investigator sitting next to him at the prosecution table was carrying a fully loaded Glock pistol: he did not brandish it or threaten any of us in the courtroom, but he was most certainly armed. The prosecutor then changed the subject. When only the best will do. 502-226-1230 Why No Call? The cornerstone of the prosecution’s case, the strongest card in their hand, was that Olsen had never phoned in, as anyone would expect a citizen pursuing a car thief, let alone a veteran cop, to do. Lead prosecutor Larry Steinmetz’s position was it was indicative of what the law calls “consciousness of guilt,” a tacit admission of having done something wrong. In the couple of minutes between the theft of the pickup and the confrontation on the hill, anyone could understand Olsen had his hands full, guiding the almost-hysterical civilian at the wheel who was doing something frightening which she had never been trained or even remotely prepared to do. But what about the failure to call thereafter? The way the trial unfolded, I was the one who wound up explaining it to the jury when asked that question on cross by the prosecutor. Jay Olsen was a closeted gay man. That part of his existence had never been revealed to even his family, let alone other cops. The incident had begun at Dempsey’s, a gay bar. Law enforcement is a very macho profession, and dialing 911 to say “Hi, I’m a cop, and my car just got stolen while I was coming out of a gay bar” is not a great career move. The current administration had, in Olsen’s view, enacted overly strict penalties for minor infractions by other officers, and the current chief had begun her administration by telling the troops they’d be fired if they ever lied to her. Could living in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” closet be considered a lie? Olsen was asking himself that, from the moment the Kia rolled out to follow the Ford. I hated having to be the one to “out” him on the witness stand. But at that moment, the jury understood something much more logical than any sense of guilt over shooting at a man he thought was going to kill him was what had really kept Jay Olsen from calling in during those 16 hectic minutes. Most courts will allow the 86 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=87http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=87argument that “flight equals guilt,” and while Olsen didn’t flee the scene, his failure to call was interpreted as covering something up. It was — but it wasn’t covering up having done anything wrong during the course of the encounter. The jury understood. In the end, the question should be, “Did you do the right thing?” The facts in evidence showed the jury Jay Olsen had done just that. Whether it was a furtive movement intended to intimidate (as Shonto Pete had earlier been intimidating his wife and others in a bar) or whether it was an actual attempt to kill, only Pete will ever know. But Judge Leveque correctly instructed the jury the standard was what a reasonable and prudent person would have done, in the same situation, knowing what the defendant knew? When the jurors spoke out to the public, after the storm of criticism they received over the verdict from the media and from lightweights with personal agendas, they explained this was a key reason why they acquitted Officer Olsen in the shooting. The State’s own investigators determined from witnesses the shots had taken place in a time frame of five to ten seconds, tops. Shonto Pete couldn’t have run hundreds of yards in a circuitous route over much steep and broken ground, and finally been shot at from a hill 116 yards away, within that time frame. As I told the prosecutor in front of the jury, his theory of the case was physically impossible. The jury recognized that. Scene photos showed that through the tangle of trees, in the dark with a Glock 27 and no night sights, Jay Olsen could neither have shot that close to a Shonto Pete standing at a door begging for help, nor compressed the laws of time and space to fire a late shot no one would hear, because it would have taken Pete minutes instead of seconds to get to the house hit harmlessly by the bullet. A house we showed the jury was directly in line with where Jay Olsen was struggling for balance as he desperately fired his Glock 27 at a man he reasonably believed was going to leave him dead on that lonely, dark, windswept hillside. The bottom line? If you’re ever involved in anything even remotely like this, call in as soon as possible. Establish yourself from the beginning as the good guy. If you were someplace you’ll later wish you hadn’t been if trouble starts there, don’t go in the first place, and if you did, admit it. A good cop’s undeserved two-year ordeal won’t have been suffered in vain, if we learn at least that much from the Olsen case. And, finally, if someone ever tells you “all that matters is that it’s a clean shoot,” ask them if they believe in the Easter Bunny, too. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Facts Of The Case * 872009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=88http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=88RUGER’S LCR Continued from page 47 chief revolver engineer. He designed the trigger to have much more consistency throughout the pull. This was accomplished with a cam system along with other engineering of angles and surfaces. It lacks the stacking often associated with a small 5-shot revolver and provides a surprise and satisfying break at the end of the pull. The Forbidden Files To see the entire line of Woolrich tactical apparel or to find a retailer near you, visit www.woolricheliteseriestactical.com A few years back Ruger decided to make manufacturing method changes. Prior to the change, parts would be made all over the plant and delivered to gunsmiths in charge of assembling the gun in a completely different area. Employees were paid by the number of widgets produced, not necessarily on how well the widget was made. When all the parts finally arrived in assembly, the gunsmiths would break out their files and grind on them until they fit. Today, along with the rest of the guns in the Ruger plant the LCRs are made in an individual manufacturing pod. Only three or four gunmakers work in each pod. They receive the raw billets, castings and forgings and use the machines available in the pod to cobble together the gun. It comes in as raw materials at one end and goes out as a finished gun at the other end. Long gone are the files for grinding and fitting — they make the parts right the first time. As a matter of course, files are strictly forbidden on the floor. It’s a highly efficient method for making a better more reliable product. Visit www.birchwoodcasey.com or call: 800-328-6156 1926RA2108 This is a personal defense weapon. It’s size and weight — even loaded — makes for a gun you can carry and forget until the balloon goes up. A couple friends and I put around 500 rounds through the LCR without a single malfunction. That’s not terribly unusual considering the reliability inherent in a revolver. What was unusual was the relative comfort of shooting the small gun. Accuracy was impressive with 5-shot groups under 2" at 15 yards. The gun was easy to handle in one-handed drills both strong and off hand. Follow-ups were fast and right back on target. Crimson Trace Laser Grips has partnered with Ruger on many of their guns — the LCR is not an exception. The two make a formidable combo for self-defense. The design qualities and innovation incorporated into Ruger’s LCR is ideal for satisfying rule #1 of gunfighting: have a gun. You can win with this one. For more info: www.ruger.com. Personal Defense * 88 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=89http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=89.380s Continued from page 65 it all. Hate me if you will, but value-forbucks-spent doesn’t play favors. Bersa I’ve long had an older model Bersa 383 .380 in my meager collection of handguns. It has had well over 2,000 rounds through it, with one malfunction — it failed to fully eject an aluminumcased CCI round. Hard not to like a gun that’s reliable and accurate. My wife carried it for a lot of years as her main self-defense piece. bunch? Well, the most accurate one surprised the daylight out of me, it was the Kahr P380 with it’s white dot front sight and white bar rear sight. I fired all the test guns at 15-yds, which I think is more than fair, and given the role of these guns, I think that’s the maximum distance you might be using these guns anyway, give or take. But if longer shots are called for, they are capable along those lines as well. The Kahr easily would keep all my shots inside the head area of a target, no problem at all. I won’t say there was a least-accurate gun in the bunch, they were all pretty close to being equally accurate. This show’s to give any new gun a chance to get settled in before you go back to the dealer in a huff. Coming in at 20 oz. with the aluminum frame, it has a 3.5" barrel and holds 7+1 rounds. The sights are a bit smallish, but functional. It also comes with a decocker on the slide since this is a DA/SA pistol. A bit too big for ankle carry, it’s a dandy tucked inside your waistband with in inside carry holster. I did have problems with the Ruger LCP and the Kel-Tec P3AT because the sights are extremely small, and my aged eyes simply couldn’t see the sights. In my case, these are a point shooting guns, so you sort of point them looking through the side/sight area, and I got good results. The Walther PPK/s had usable sights for my old eyes, but they could have been a bit bigger if I had my way. Best sights were on the Hi-Point, they were easy for me to see. The Bersas were “okay” at best. Kahr The long-awaited poly frame Kahr Arms P380 pistol was well worth the wait. Kahr Arms is producing what many consider to be the Rolls Royce of smallish concealed carry handguns. I’m not gonna pick a fight with anyone who thinks these might just be the best CCW around, we’re all entitled to our opinions. Coming in a not quite ten ounces with the 2.5" barrel and its 6+1 mag capacity, this is one dandy hide out gun if you ask me. This sample also came with a spare mag — neat! Elegant and of obvious quality, this is a definite go-to gun if you ask me. The last sample is the classic Walther PPK/s and it came in .380. I’ve liked the feel of the PPK/s, regardless of what I said at the start. S&W is producing the Walther PPK/s in the United States these days, and it’s a fairly faithful reproduction of the original, with the exception of the extended grip tang. I could do without it, personally. Made of all stainless steel, the PPK/s is very attractive, and ready for the harshest elements. Coming in at 22.4 oz., with the 3.3" barrel and 7+1 mag (it also comes with a spare) it’s a damn good piece, carries easily, fits a hand good, but it a bit heavy compared to the polymer guns. I mentioned the Hi-Point .380 was the second most accurate gun of the Other Points PPK/s Accuracy Winner The decocker on the Walther PPK/s and the Bersa 383 were hard to manipulate, stiff and tough to move, Also, and this has been a major complaint of mine for a lot of years, the PPK/s has a DA trigger pull way too heavy. My sample came in around 16-lbs by my calculations. I don’t know why Walther feels the trigger has to be this heavy — it can be lighter and there are pistolsmiths out there who can do it. The LCP, P3AT and P380 are all DAO triggers, and it would be a tossup as to which of the three of these little guns had the best trigger pull as they were all very, very good. The HiPoint has a single-action trigger, not extremely smooth or light, but functional. The LCP actually has a hammer and it’s concealed in the frame/slide, but 2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=90http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=90of any kind. To be fair, Kahr says to test their guns with at least 200-rds of ammo before trusting it for selfdefense. I recommend this with most guns out-of-the-box anyway. Make sure you fire enough rounds through it to have confidence in the gun. As a rule, I usually run at least 200-rds through any gun I’m gonna carry. This show’s to give any new gun a chance to get settled in before you go back to the dealer in a huff. Ammo My ol’ buddy, Jeff Hoffman, at Black Hills Ammunition supplied me with a goodly amount of FMJ and JHP fodder for testing, as did Winchester. In all, I fired close to 1,500 rounds through all the guns tested. There were zero failures to fire and zero failures to eject empty brass. The most accurate out of the ammo tested was the Winchester Ranger 95-gr. JHP SXT. All the test samples loved this ammo without fail. Second most accurate was the BHA 95-gr. FMJ stuff. always a good load for target practice and functioning tests. BHA also makes a dandy JHP load for self-defense, too. I like to save the best for last, and that’s the street price on guns. I can only give you prices in my neck of the woods (Western Oregon). The Ruger LCP is still in short supply so everyone is selling them at full-retail, is around $330. The Kel-Tec P3AT goes for about $300. The Hi-Point .380 goes for $149 (what a deal!). The Walther is the most expensive of the bunch, but then again, you are buying a “Classic” and it sells for around $450. The Bersa 383 goes for around $229 and the Kahr (like the Ruger LCP) is selling a bit high ’cause it’s in extremely short supply comes in at aroud $550. Did I have a favorite in the bunch? Probably — but I’m not telling. I will say this, I bought all the samples sent to me (okay, I’m still paying on them). My wife liked my LCP so much, I had to get her one of her own. I also thought the Hi-Point was the best deal of the bunch and bought a second one — just to have! As I said at the start, given my druthers, I’d druther not carry any .380 pistol as my main gun these days. However, as a back-up caliber to my main gun, any of the guns mentioned would be one helluva Beer Budget Back-up Blaster in my book. Favorite? * For more info: www.ruger.com; www. kel-tec.com; www.hi-pointfirearms. com; www.waltherusa.com; www. k a h r. c o m ; w w w. b l a c k h a w k . c o m ; www.crimsontrace.com; www.blackhills.com; www.winchester.com; www. bersafirearmsusa.com. 90 AH_HotNewV6f300.pdf 1 11/1/07 11:21:42 AM WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=91http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=91SIXGUNNER Continued from page 42 Al Mar Knives Eagle Classic 1005BM 1005C 1005BMT 1005CT Mini SERE 2000 TM S2KB The Back-Ups BU2-2 BU1-2 TM For more info on Al Mar Knives visit almarknives.com While we were visiting there in Durkee I tried to convince him to come on over to Idaho to live and he eventually sold his place and moved over here in 1931. He is living up on the Salmon River and not only writing but also guiding, outfitting, and running river trips. His is not an easy life 30 miles from town with no conveniences whatsoever, however it is the life all of us secretly wish we could be living. He doesn’t even have a telephone; that must be wonderful as sometimes I get three or four phone calls a week. Some folks just don’t like to write letters anymore. Not only has Elmer been sharing about the .38/44 Heavy Duty, he also put me in contact with J.E. Berns who designed the Berns-Martin holster and I have been using one for the past year to carry my Heavy Duty. This is one slick holster. The whole front of the holster is opened up and the sixgun is held in place by a stout spring around the cylinder. To draw one simply pushes forward and the sixgun comes out of the holster. Fastest thing I’ve ever seen! If you ever get a letter from Elmer you will never complain about my typing again. This man can shoot but he can’t type worth a hoot! However, we are usually on the same wave length and I can figure out what he’s trying to write; he must drive editors nuts. I’ll bet the low man on the totem pole always gets his stuff to edit. His latest letter is about the .38/44 and he also sent along a picture of a mess of grouse he took with the new sixgun, the adjustable-sighted version they are calling the Outdoorsman. Anyway, here’s some of what he has had to say over the past year or so: “Many gun cranks hand loaded with heavy charges and various shaped bullets in an endeavor to make the .38 equal the .44 and .45 in killing power, which it can never do . About a year ago Smith & Wesson heeded the demand for a heavier .38 with their new .38/44. This weapon was designed primarily as a police weapon and brought out on their .44 Military frame, to my notion the best sized and shaped frame of any double action for my individual hand. The old Triple-Lock Smith & Wesson has long been one of the most popular of all double-action guns, and the encased ejector housing of this model was incorporated in their new .38/44 model. This gives added strength of the gun and greatly improves the balance by adding additional weight to the barrel. Barrels were first furnished in five-inch length only, this being found to be the best length for all-around accuracy, quick handling and balance. Owing to the fact the rear end of the barrel is much thicker than the standard 91 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=92http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=92CALL 1(800)SA2-1911 “the MAG GUIDE people”™ when only the BEST will do! 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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 Day1-6 Shipping Dillon American Handgunner Ad 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 2/5/09 2:58 PM Page 1 www.smithandalexander.com Hours: M-F, 9am-5pm CST .38 guns, and the gun much heavier and stronger in every way, this gun has given perfect satisfaction with heavy loads, either handloads or the new Super-Police loads.” Roy, Elmer really knows his stuff when it comes to sixgun loads and I hope someday he will write a book covering sixguns, sixgun loads and sixgun cartridges. As you know the original .44 Special loading uses a round-nosed 250 grain bullet at a modest 750 fps. He designed his own bullet, Ideal #429421, with three wide driving bands, a deep crimping groove, a square cornered lube groove, and a long flat nose. Using #80 powder he developed a load that drives his 250 grain bullet to 1,100 fps; however, he did not stop there. Now that Hercules has given us that new #2400 powder, he’s come up with a load at a full 1,200 fps from a long-barreled Smith & Wesson or Colt SAA. What he did for the .44 Special he has also done for the .38/44. Using 13.5 grains of #2400 and a .38 version of his bullet, Ideal #358429, he is getting right at 1,400 fps. This is a hot load! (I get 1,390 fps out of my 5" Heavy Duty). I’ve been using this load with his 168 grain bullet cast one part tin to 16 parts lead and I can’t see how anyone could ever want more power in a sixgun cartridge. It is absolute dynamite on coyotes. Elmer goes on: “Owing to its weight in proportion to its caliber I have found the .38/44 the finest of all double actions for fast aerial shooting. The recoil does not throw the gun out of line with the flying or descending can as much as a lighter .38 Special gun. Also the Smith & Wesson guns have a mainspring adjusting screw in the front strap. I have found that this .38/44 will fire the Western factory cartridges perfectly with this screw turned out four turns which greatly lessens the trigger pull and for me at least is quite an advantage. I am no McGivern, as he shoots any and all double-action guns just as they come from the factory with what ever kind of pull it happens to have and get six hits regularly on cans thrown up 20 feet. Previous to owning this .38/44 I had never tackled fast aerial shooting or any kind of fast double-action work. After shooting some 500 rounds of factory Western loads in standard and Super-Police I was able to make six hits occasionally with the standard loads and five hits with the Super-Police loads and throwing a can up with my left hand. By throwing cans right-handed and drawing from a crossdraw holster I was able to repeatedly make three hits.” Have you met the McGivern he mentions? He is Ed McGivern of Lewistown Montana and I have driven the old Ford up to see him. My first thought was I must surely have the wrong Ed McGivern! I expected a young vibrant 92 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM •2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=93http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=93fellow; the fellow standing before me was short, pear-shaped and old. Then he picked up a sixgun and Oh My! He is unbelievably fast with a double action or single action sixgun and I can’t see how anyone could ever be faster. I watched him shoot the .38-44 Heavy Duty double action when I was up there last August. You should see him in action. He leans into the gun so much that he almost falls forward when the gun is empty. He is not only incredibly fast he is also superbly accurate placing five shots which could be covered with a silver dollar in less than one-half second. He certainly backs up Elmer’s claim to the .38/44 being the easiest double action to shoot quickly. As you know the original Heavy Duty is a fixed sighted sixgun, however as I mentioned earlier Smith & Wesson now has an adjustable-sighted version they are calling the .38/44 Outdoorsman. You may remember that young FBI agent at Camp Perry named Walter Walsh. He was the very quiet, slight, short fellow who looked pretty average until you looked in his eyes and saw solid steel. It was obvious he was always in charge and not afraid of anything. Well he has taken to the .38/44 Outdoorsman, however he has had its 61/2" cut back to 4" and carrying it in a Berns-Martin holster pronounces it just about the best duty weapon imaginable. Since the advent of the adjustable sighted .38/44 Outdoorsman, which seems to be to be the most practical of the two versions for most shooters, Major Doug Wesson of Smith & Wesson has been gathering data on its use by other shooters. He forwarded a letter to me from Captain James Baldwin of the United States Navy who had this to say: “The new Outdoorsman is unquestionably the finest handgun ever developed, and it is the ‘sweetest shooting’ gun the writer has ever seen. As of this writing, one of the first of these guns has just been given a workout and series of tests. Firing offhand at 50 yards for the first time, using the new .38/44 S&W Special cartridge, a three-inch group was made after which the new gun was taken on the rifle range for long-range tests. At 200 yards, from a sitting position, back rest and two-handed grip, a 12" group was made, and repeated. Suffice it to say that for many years articles pro and con have been written relative to the best gun for outdoors and general use. The advance of this new Outdoorsman ends all such arguments. It is the crowning glory of gun achievement, and much honor is due its makers, also the ammunition company whose foresight and ability made possible a cartridge worthy of the new gun. As to the .38/44 Heavy Duty revolver, what has been said of the Outdoorsman applies also to it; a five-inch barrel instead of WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 932009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=94http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=94a 61/2", service sights and a slight difference in balance make up the only difference in these two remarkable handguns. The .38/44 Heavy duty is an ideal defense weapon.” This past year at Camp Perry I met a border patrolman, Charlie Askins, whose demeanor and attitude was quite different from either Elmer Keith or Walter Walsh. He was totally cocky, I won’t say he had a chip on his shoulder; it was more like a large log on both shoulders. He didn’t have much time for anyone else, however he must have liked me, perhaps I reminded him of his father, and we spent quite a bit of time talking together. I came away with the vision this is a young man who is obviously headed for a great career, unless someone shoots him! I mention him simply because he backs up what Elmer and Ed McGivern have said about the .38/44 calling it a superb double action gun with a smooth and fast action with moderate recoil. In spite of his attitude towards most folks I do believe this young fellow knows his sixguns and also does not pass out compliments which are undeserved. It will probably be a good idea to watch for this fellow in the future. Roy, while it is easy to make a case for the .38/44 being just about the best revolver to date, one thing keeps it from being perfect. You know very well how particular I am about sixgun grips and all of my single actions wear custom grips. In the case of a single action it is mainly for esthetics as they are perfectly shaped as is; not so with the Smith & Wesson grip. Hopefully, they will someday come up with a grip that at least goes all the way to the top of the grip frame and aids in distributing recoil over a larger area. Smith & Wesson does provide an adapter that fits behind the trigger guard; however, what they really need to do is make a grip that fills in behind the trigger guard and also goes to the top of the frame. Fortunately, what the factory does not do a fellow by the name of Walter Roper does. This man definitely understands shooters, sixguns, and the shooter’s hand and can provide a custom stock to fit any hand and any sixgun. A good set of Ropers simply belongs on any double action sixgun. I mentioned how Elmer had taken the .38/44 to the next level with his heavy handloads. Apparently Smith & Wesson is thinking along the same lines. I’m sure you know Phil Sharpe. He probably knows more about reloading and ballistics than anyone else in the country. He has modified Elmer’s .38 bullet by reducing the bearing surface, the length of the nose, and bringing the weight down to about 146 grains. He is working with Winchester and Doug Wesson to come up with an even more powerful load then the .38/44. If their experiments work out they will have to do something to make sure these cartridges do not wind up in a sixguun like the old .38 Long Colt as a cartridge over 40,000 psi, as this new would surely would be, would take one of these old guns apart. It will be interesting to see what surfaces. One last note and I will close for now. The greatest man I ever met was Col. Theodore Roosevelt. I was just a young wet-nosed kid then serving under him in Cuba. The service weapon of the time was the Colt Double Action chambered in .38 Long Colt which was a pathetically anemic cartridge. The Colonel carried a .44-40 Colt Single Action when he was a rancher in the Dakotas and his main rifle was a Winchester Model 1876 chambered in .45-75 and when he found I had the same passion for big bore sixguns and leverguns we had many conversations together. He would later say “Speak softly and carry a big stick” and it is easy to see where that came from. He was particularly unimpressed with the .38 Long Colt; I wished he had lived to see the .38/44 Heavy Duty. I have at least convinced myself he would have liked both the sixgun and the cartridge. That’s all for now. As always Good Shootin’ and God Bless, John. * 94 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=95http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=952009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=96http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=96COWBOY KNIVES Continued from page 49 purchase. The blades of these folders may have fancy etchings, but they’re all top quality and are meant to be used just like your grandad’s pocket knife. If you like a knife that’s easy to sharpen and gets that nice old gray patina after a little use, you’ll be delighted to know many of the manufacturers still use carbon steel in their blades. In fact, just about everything from nickel silver bolsters to handjigged bone are still the standard bill of goods on many of these knives. Just like the good old days, you can choose from a wide range of patterns to pick a pocket knife fitting your needs. One cowboy favorite, the Trapper, is still quite popular and is widely available. Over the years trappers, with their lengthy spay blades, have probably disappointed more bulls than Carter has little liver pills. A slim trapper with a single blade is traditionally known as the “farmer’s knife” while a fat and beefy two-blade version of the pattern is commonly referred to as a “jumbo trapper.” It is not at all unusual to see many different versions of a traditional folder based on a single platform. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Cigar pattern. The equal-end 35/8" cigar pattern is most easily recognized as the base style for the Boy Scout knife, but it’s been used in many ways in both pen (blades on opposite sides) and jack (blades at one end only) configurations. Many three-blade Cattleman’s knives, some with a leather punch, have been produced on the cigar platform and a less common style, the “Harness Jack,” puts the main blade and a punch at one end. A larger 4-4.25" version of the knife is commonly called a “Big Cigar.” Moore Maker offers a pair of trapper blades based on the big cigar pattern. Back in the day 5-blade folders were rare, but you can still buy a Sowbelly with such abundance of cutting choices. The 5-blade sowbelly will have an assortment of working blades, including a large clip, small clip, sheepsfoot, spay and leather punch. There’s not much else you’ll need with this folder. The Sowbelly can also be had in 3-blade, pared down versions which, like their big brother, will include a short spay blade. The Stockman may just be the most common pattern ever produced and is common in many manufacturers’ lines. These can be found in smaller gent’s sizes up to large 4" folders big enough to please the serious ranch hand. Stockmans have three blades, typically a large main clip with a smaller pen or sheepsfoot blade plus a spay blade. The cattleman’s version will have a leather punch No Lack Of Patterns 199.25565 Amer Handgunner JulyAug09 3/30/09 11:52 AM Page 1 INTRODUCING DOUBLESTAR’S 1911– THE COMBAT PISTOL. PERFORMANCE RIGHT OUT OF THE BAG. THE COMBAT PISTOL - 1911 • .45 ACP • Forged frame • Parkerized finish • 38 oz. (unloaded) • 8” overall length • 5” barrel • Greider trigger • Novak white dot sight • 8 + 1 round capacity $1199.99 MSRP www.star15.com The DoubleStar Dragon represents accuracy, reliability and American pride. These are the qualities DoubleStar builds into their new, forged frame 1911 – The Combat Pistol. The Dragon’s out of the bag, so order The Combat Pistol from DoubleStar today. You’ll own a 1911 that delivers match gun performance at a production price. Call 859-745-1757 or order online at www.star15.com. Our Newest 1911 Catalog includes just what you need for building, maintaining and shooting the most popular pistol in history. No rifle, shotgun, or “other pistol” stuff. Packed with barrels, frames, slides, safeties, triggers, springs, grips, and more, plus all the tools you need to install them. The highest 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 gear you need when you head to the range or field. The Brands you know and trust: Ajax, Briley, Ed Brown, Brownells, Caspian, Clark, Cylinder & Slide, EGW, Essex Arms, Heinie, Hi-Viz, Kart, Les Baer2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=97http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=97Intensive 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 replacing one of the smaller blades. If you cut a lot of rope and need a handful of pocket knife, check out the Sunfish and Wildcat Driller patterns. (You’ll see both referred to as “elephant toenails” as well) These average 4-4.5" and have fat handles and beefy blades. The Sunfish is an equal-end folder often said to be a sailors rope knife, but carpenters and others needing a hefty knife have used this style over the years as well. The Wildcat Driller has a tapered handle style commonly called a “sleeveboard.” The main blade is a wide spear point and the edge can be laid on a piece of rope and whacked from the backside with a stanchion or similar wooden, acting as a wedge. While not recommended for longevity of the blade and pivot, it works. Notice I’ve used terms like “typically” and “most often” in describing the blade layouts of the different styles of pocket folders. That’s because many variations have been used by different manufacturers so nothing is set in stone. You can even buy a trapper with two clip or spay blades instead of the usual one-of-each. How To Rope ’Em !!AT LAST!! You can add PIZZAZZ to your TAURUS PT 1911 and BOBTAIL 1911 pistols too! www.riograndecustomgrips.com The Image Your Gun Wanted. These are just some of the popular patterns used by cowboys and other working folk. There are many other traditional pocketknife patterns on the market, including whittlers, muskrats, toothpicks, barlows, copperheads and more. If you shop the internet you’ll have a field day searching the cutlery sites and auction houses like eBay where many of the manufacturers’ knives can be found. Upscale cutlery shops and gun and knife shows are always a great place to look as well. Many shows have older collector knives and these work just as well today as they did in yesteryear. As mentioned, the better-made pocketknives are produced in limited runs, so if you see one you like, grab it! The old adage, “If you snooze you lose” applies here. All of the old handle materials like bone, stag and wood hold up well over time; I’ve seen stag and jigged bone pocketknives over 100 years old that look like they were made last week. Traditional pocketknives never left, they’re just hiding in different places, and are just as worthy today as the ones you grew up with. * 303-330-2812 Phone & Fax 1-406-388-1396 NEW! Big Game “PUNCH” Bullets P Belt Mtn. Enterprises, Inc. www.beltmountain.com Cylinder Base Pins Ruger, Colt, and Replicas T 59714 For more info: Boker USA, Inc., www. bokerusa.com; Canal Street Cutlery Co., www.canalstreetcutlery; Great Eastern Cutlery (also Tidioute Cutlery & Northfield), (814) 827-3411, www.greateasterncutlery.net; Hallmark Cutlery-Kissing Crane, www. hallmarkcutlery.com; Moore Maker, Inc., www.mooremaker.com; Queen Cutlery Co. and Schatt & Morgan, www.queencutlery.com; W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., www.wrcase.com. 97 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=98http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=98COURAGE TM Continued from page 67 “The amount of support we’ve gotten from the military is incredible and this gave us the opportunity to give back and honor a fallen hero,” said Rob Morrison, Director of Marketing for Benchmade. Chief Bronson contacted Eddie Killian to create the knife. Killian, who designs tomahawks for the military, donated his time for the project. “It was an honor to make the knife,” said Killian. “For me to be able to serve them was humbling. I spent a lot of time finding out what SEALs need in a knife, how and what it is used for.” The commemorative knife is the largest in Benchmade’s line and is combat-ready with a 154CM stainless steel recurve 7.3" blade. But what makes this knife unique is every aspect of it has a purpose — and a reason. The knife is aesthetically designed to resemble the propeller of a ship to honor the Navy. The blade has a lot of belly and the weight is more forward so it’s balanced. The handle scales provide a firm grip and the extra finger indexes along the bottom make the longer blade “shorter” for detail work. On the pommel are grooves for better traction when hammering. The sheath is a Spec Ops brand sheath specifically designed for the Glory. Recently, a special logoed version of the knife was presented to SEAL Team 3, Lee’s Task Unit, with every member of the SEALs deployed with Lee in Iraq receiving one. A representative from Benchmade, Lee’s mother and brother all traveled to where the team is stationed for the presentation, done on the anniversary of Lee’s 31st birthday. “I have felt fear at some of the things I have seen here,” wrote Lee in one of his letters home. “I have seen amazing things and sad things. But being in Iraq makes me realize what a great country we have.” Made in the U.S.A., the knife retails for $350 and according to Morrison, response from dealers and the public has exceeded expectations. “We debuted the knife at SHOT Show and dealers can’t wait for it,” he commented. A portion of the proceeds from the knife benefit the Marc Lee Foundation. Inside the box is a brochure with Marc Lee’s story and a quote from the last letter he sent home during the July 4th holiday in 2006. “Glory is something that some men chase and find themselves stumbling upon, not expecting it find them. Either way, it is a noble gesture that one finds bestowed upon them.” Marc Alan Lee was 28 years old. Two siblings, his mother, his wife and his SEAL unit survive him. For more info: www.benchmade.com. 98 $ 8.49 Plus S/H 2 Pack For On Orders of 3 Packs Or More FREE Shipping “QuickStrips solve a significant issue for the defensive revolver, extra ammunition in a flat concealable format. We carry them and recommend them to our clients.” Clint & Heidi Smith Thunder ranch, OregOn Now in .44 Caliber New 5 Round .38 .17HMR .22 Rim Fire .223 .30.06 .30-30 .308 .32/.327 .38/.357 S&W .40 .41 Magnum .410 Shot Gun .44/.45/.460 .45 Auto Rim .45 ACP .475 Linebaugh .480 Ruger .500 Linebaugh .500 S&W 9mm QuickStripTM Pouch $ 19.99 Plus s/h Wraps around belts up to 1 3/4”and is designed for use with one or two QuickStrips™. Available in 3 sizes to fit your QuickStrips™. Black or Coyote Brown Or Call: 877-883-3776 1031 Bay Blvd, Ste V, Chula Vista, CA 91911 Order Online: www.tuffproducts.com * WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=99http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=992009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=100http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=100A.G. Russell Knives America Remembers American Handgunner www.agrussell.com Black Hills Ammunition www.americaremembers.com Crossbreed Holsters www.americanhandgunner.com DeSantis Holster www.black-hills.com El Paso Saddlery www.crossbreedholsters.com Galco www.desantisholster.com Gallery of Guns www.epsaddlery.com 100 www.usgalco.com www.galleryofguns.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=101http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=101GunBroker.com Guns Magazine Hodgdon Powder Co. www.gunbroker.com J.A. Ciener www.gunsmagazine.com Kahr Arms www.hodgdon.com Pearce Grip, Inc. www.22lrconversions.com ProMag Industries www.kahrarms.com Redding Reloading www.pearcegrip.com Shooter’s Choice www.promagindustries.com Streicher’s www.redding-reloading.com Sturm Ruger www.shooters-choice.com Wilson Combat www.policehq.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM www.ruger-firearms.com www.wilsoncombat.com 1012009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=102http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=102COP TALK Continued from page 32 instituting categories for what is essentially “stock service revolver” and “service automatic” (don’t write the editor, because they left out the “semi,” not us). In a nod to the long-gone 6" service revolver, the Police Distinguished class allows that gun so long as it has factory barrel configuration. At this writing, the PPC game is now a shadow of its former self in police competition. Not dead, but pretty much on the “endangered species list.” And, you know — speaking as one of those who cried out back in the day that it wasn’t practical enough — I would hate to see it disappear. You don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let’s look for just a moment at what PPC taught us that is being lost in contemporary firearms training. PPC taught accuracy. The max point zone on a B-27 target is about the size of a human heart. The max point zone on IDPA and IPSC/USPSA targets values a “hit now, collapse later” lung shot the same as a heart-intospine hit that stops fights quickly. Sad that the B-27 target put the heart-size zone down into the solar plexus instead of where the heart actually is, though. Do we not all agree that the key element in handgun “stopping power” is shot placement? PPC taught cover. In the classic 60-shot sequence, now known as “Stage 5: National Match Course,” 24 of the shots were fired from behind barricades representing vertical walls, and you were disqualified if you stepped beyond the edges. Eighteen more rounds — six each kneeling, prone, and sitting — tacitly presumed cover. Seventy-percent of shooting mandated from cover positions? Sounds tactical to me. PPC taught distance. We have some cops in America today who’ve never fired beyond 15 yards and consider 50 yards hopelessly out of range for their duty sidearms. That evolution did not well serve the officers at Columbine or in North Hollywood who had to engage with handguns at distances of 70 yards or more. Today’s emphasis on close, fast shooting is saving lives, and police work is the better for it. But there were elements of PPC still relevant and, like the discipline itself, are in danger of being lost. If you have a chance to shoot some PPC, do it. While you still can. Not just as a blast from the past, but to drill yourself in skills that, after all these decades, might still keep you alive one day. Strengths Of PPC 740-418-0142 701 East Spring Street Unit 10 Bld. 2 Titusville, PA 16354 www.greateasterncutlery.net 102 * WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=103http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=103GUNNYSACK A Roy Huntington BREAkOuT SAfETy TOOl fter my career as a cop and seeing a bunch of rollover car accidents, including a few into water, I realized the importance of a fast way to cut yourself out of a seat belt and break a window to get out. A knife buried in a pocket doesn’t always work, and one in a purse is useless. Something sturdy and mounted in an accessible place is what’s needed. There are many “break the window and cut the seatbelt” tools out there but the Breakout Safety Tool is one of the very best — period. Made of some indestructible plastic, it comes in various models. Our test version (at about $45) easily mounts to a visor and has twin window-breaking points. The triple LED lights light-up a dark car interior and the closed-loop handle makes it easy to grab and hold onto, especially if you’re hurt or have wet or bloody hands. The seat-belt cutters actually work, and the thumb button to turn the lights on is located in a natural point on the tool so your thumb falls onto it when you grab it. There’s even a model with magnets on it so you can stick it onto a fender and use the lights to help you change a tire. This is hard-core tough and designed by someone who actually knew what they were doing. I’m buying one for each of my vehicles, and that’s no lie. I’m impressed. www.breakoutsafetytools.com, (217) 283-7067 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 1032009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=104http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=104GUNNYSACK SAfE dIRECTION HIGH SECuRITy CASE Roy Huntington t seems a certain federal agency wished their agents to have a secure way to keep their duty guns safe off-duty and asked Safe Direction to come up with something. It also seems these fellows were used to carrying “bank” bags (like the kind you see small business owners making deposts from, the kind with a little lock on them). And to keep things simple, Safe Direction made the High Security Case to mirror what they were already used to working with. I dunno, but they were happy with the idea. The added twist is the handy “cuff” attachment allowing them to use their duty cuffs to lock the bag safely to a pipe, inside the trunk or where ever. The real cool part is Safe Direction’s nifty, well, um, safe way it can contain a gunshot from a handgun if you have an, um, accident. It’s like a mini bullet-resistant vest. You load and unload your gun with the muzzle pointing at the “sort-ofbullseye” logo on the case. That way if an “oops” happens, the case safely contains the round and all you have to do is I explain why you shot your gun case and wonder when that pesky ringing in your ears will go away. It’s the equivalent of Level IIIA protection which is pretty darn good. It’s not a bullet-resistant vest, but I’ll bet I’d try to hide behind it if the chips were falling. Or at least cover certain parts of my anatomy. Available in Safety Red and even Tactical Black (as opposed to just plain black, I imagine) and if you order enough, I’ll bet they’ll make ’em any color you’d like. I know Steve Camp, the president of Safe Direction, and he takes his products seriously. I label them first-class quality in both design and construction. Heck, even this federal agency thought so too. But who uses bank bags on the federal payroll? Another mystery to solve some day. Tell Steve Handgunner says hi when you call. www.safedirection.com, (877) 357-4570 104 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=105http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=105GUNNYSACK I Roy Huntington BOB AllEN GlOvES ’ve never worn shooting gloves in the past, but lately I was testing/ shooting a .475 Linebaugh and it was ugly. Fortunately, I had this pair of gloves Janet Cady (Marketing guru for Boyt/Bob Allen) had recently sent me. So … now was the time to try them. While not specifically made for recoil reduction, I found these high quality leather and nylon gloves gave me better traction to keep the gun from slipping in my grip, and also definitely took the edge off the sting of that nasty recoil. Fit was tight and form-fitting but not uncomfortable. The hook and loop wrist closure kept things snug and the knuckles are articulated to keep your fingers bending nicely. They actually worked. If you’re spending the day on a sporting clays shoot, at the range with your handguns or maybe even competing, I can understand now why shooters wear gloves. I’d stay away from the cheapo brands (which put me off to begin with) and go with quality. If you’re familiar with the Bob Allen and Boyt brands you know quality is in their heritage. This is lots of function and protection for about $34, or a bit less if you shop around. I’d say they’d last years, so that’s good value. www.bob-allen.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 1052009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=106http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=106GUNNYSACK T John Connor hey say “the devil’s in the details,” but after thorough examination of the Procyon’s smallest details, we simply couldn’t find any devils. In fact, we found no inherent faults or shortcomings, and lots of little positive details. For example, the compression-sealing back plate, which is held and compressed in place with a formed flat leaf spring. That’s not unusual. What is unusual is you don’t have to almost use a crowbar to release it, a C-clamp to re-close it, and after about 40 repetitions of this process, the back plate wasn’t permanently skewed and loose. We’ve run into that before. Precise fitting and machining pays dividends in user-friendliness and longevity. Operating the controls is simple and straightforward. Flip either of the ambidextrous levers down and hold for momentary-on. The levers are spring-loaded and pop back up upon release. Flip either lever up and they will stay in place for constant-on. For momentary-strobe mode, tap a lever down twice quickly and hold it there. For constant-strobe, tap a lever down twice quickly and hold in strobe, then flip the other lever up. Now you’re in constant-strobe until you flip the raised lever back down. With this arrangement, they’ve made it relatively easy to engage the strobe, but not so easy INSIGHT TECH GEAR xTI pROCyON lEd you’ll activate it accidentally. I like that. Note too, we tested operation with light flight and regular patrol duty gloves on, with no problem. The Slide-Lock interface also deserves mention. It comes with the latch bar set up specifically for a mil-spec 1913 rail, and the Procyon fit snugly and smoothly on four handguns and two rifles so equipped. Four hex-head screws in the rails — two each side — allow you to micro-adjust it for a custom fit on out-of-spec rails with different widths. Once adjusted to yours, you needn’t ever re-adjust it again. The Procyon also ships with a second, thinner latch bar for most commercial rail systems. It’s worth noting that not only has Insight provided maximum flexibility in assuring a precision fit for virtually all rail systems, but also, designing in the ability to replace worn rail interfaces and the latch bar shows they anticipated a long, long service life for this product. Many makers just don’t do this, and their products become “consumable-disposable.” www.insighttechgear.com 106 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=107http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=107GUNCRANK Continued from page 28 to their commander-in-chief, who may or not necessarily supplement their arms, victual and supply them. They understood and envisioned the “great fyrd” or citizens’ militia as being composed of the “whole body of the people,” in many cases in those times further described as “all men able to bear arms,” or able-bodied males aged 16 to 66. The allegiance of the militia was — and is — to the Constitution. Our founders rightfully feared the abusive potential of standing armies: they had recently suffered terrible atrocities forcing them to go to war with their own sovereign. They also knew the hijacking of lawful government by ill-intentioned men, turning the power of that authority against the people who originally granted it. They knew a free nation could not exist; could not defend itself from dangers within and without, unless the mighty majority of citizens were sufficiently and proficiently armed and determined to defend its ideals to the death, hence the words, “necessary to the security of a free state.” Look around today’s world, folks; it’s still going on. The militia — the armed, proficient, vigilant and unconquerable body of the people — could, and at least at that time would, stand as a bulwark against such actions. Now go back and re-read the Second Amendment. All it takes is an appreciation of the language of the times, and what you knew in your heart is borne out. Yes, We Exist Some say there is no “citizens’ militia”; that it doesn’t exist anymore. How many thousands compete in threegun matches? IDPA? USPSA? How many well regulated law-abiding Americans, proficient with their arms, honor the Constitution? In fact, we outnumber by thousands to one the colonial militiamen who guaranteed our freedoms with their blood. In my opinion, any genuinely free and democratic government would be gladdened by the existence of such a great Citizens’ Militia. Apparently, this government doesn’t know us. Maybe a couple million of us should stand up and wave. I’ll go first, okay? I am a militiaman. There are many choices in clothing today. What do the experts wear? “If you need clothing to wear daily that looks good and yet at the same time supports and protects the use of your equipment for individual personal protection you would be well served to take a good look at EOTAC clothing.” Clint & Heidi Smith Thunder Ranch * *Desert sailboat fuel: (1) Hot, gusty air, bearing grit, trash and small stinging insects. (2) Presidential campaign promises. (3) Congressional speeches. Recommended Reading: The Second Amendment Primer, Les Adams, www. palladiumpress.com. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM WWW.EOTAC.COM 1072009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=108http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=108: Kahr Arms SPOTLIGHT MISSION PACk SYSTEM S.O.Tech “BLACk OUT” PM45 Takingtheoriginaldesignofits smallestmodel,the.45ACPOM4543, KahrArmshasrecentlyreleasedthe newestadditiontothe.45ACPline, theallblackPM4544.ThePM4544offersanewchoicefor buyers,andanewlooktothehardhitting,compact.45ACP model.Tolearnmore,visitKahronlineatwww.kahr.com. S.O.Techhasreleaseditslatestloadcarriage development,theMissionPackSystem.The newdesigncreatesthemostversatile,ergonomic, durableandmissionconfigurablesystemtomatchthe challengesofthecurrentoperatingenvironmentandthe TTPsemployedthere.Tolearnmore,givethemacallat(800) 754-4510orvisitthemonlineatwww.specopstech.com. S.O.L. POCkET TOOL 888Professional Createdbyfamedknife designerKirkRexrote,the S.O.l.offersanaggressive, compact double-edged blade builtaroundanaxle-sized pivotpointandisjusttheticket foralast-ditchemergency,or openingyourmail.Theserious cuttingedgeandfinepoint, alongwithasecurepocketclip, putstheS.O.l.inthe“bigtool” categoryinatinypackage. Checkoutallof888’sproducts at www.888professional.com. ANVIL PANCAkE HOLSTER AnvilCustoms TheAnvilPancakeHolsterisdesignedfor all1911PistolsandmadeofGrade#1, 8to9ounceleather.It’slinedwithNorth AmericanSwine(thegoodstuff)andis socomfortabletowear.Withauthentic brassbulletrivetsmadefrom.45cal, andathumbbreak,youcancarrywith confidence.Tolearnmore:(417)7668055orwww.anvilcustoms.com. NEW OPTICS LINE Safariland Safarilandhasintroduceditsnewopticsproductlinetothe lawenforcementandrecreationalshootingindustries.FeaturingtheRapidReticleaimingsystem,withvaryingmodels designedforspecificpurposes,thenewopticsmeetthe specificshootingneedsoflawenforcement,tacticalofficersas wellasrecreationalshootersandhunters.Tolearnmore,visit themonlineatwww.safariland.com. THE ORIGINAL DIRTY HARRY HOLSTER lawmanleatherGoods FromlawmanleatherGoodscomesthemost famousbig-boreshoulderholsterintheworld, wornbypolice,militaryandhuntersinmorethan 23countriesfor32years.NowmadeforAll handguns!Anymake,caliber,orbarrellength, madetotheexactgun.Toordercalltollfree(877) 44-LAWMAN or visit www.lawmanleathergoods.com. NIGHT COM FLASHLIGHT Streamlight StreamlighthaslaunchedtheNight ComwithpowerC4lEDTechnology, Ultra-BrightredlEDs,andMIlSTD lEDnight-visionprotection,specifically designedforpersonnelwhoworkunder low-lightconditions.Thenewlight, featuringheavy-dutyaluminumconstruction towithstandharshconditions,preservesand optimizesnightvision.Foradditionalinfocall(800)5237488 or visit www.streamlight.com. 108 AVENGER CONCEALMENT PACk EliteSurvivalSystems EliteSurvivalSystemsintroducesthenewAvenger Gunpack,anextremelyversatileconcealedcarry solution.Thepackisdesignedtobewornonthe belt or over the shoulder with the detachable shoulderstrap.Multipleattachmentpointsallowthe usertocarrythepackatvariousangles,strong-side orcross-draw.Formoreinformationcall(866) 340-2778orvisitwww.elitesurvival.com. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=109http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=109For more information on seeing your product featured in Spotlight contact, Steve Evatt (858) 605-0218. POWER QUAD MUFFS Walker’sGameEar MA-2 BokerUSA Walker’s,apioneerin theshooting/hunting industryinhearing protection,expandstheir linewiththenewPowerMuff Quads.Thesepopularearmuffs incorporatefourindividual hi-frequencyresponse,directionalmics thatprovidethemostnatural,clearsoundamplification andhearingprotectionallinoneunit.Whetheryouare shootingclays,drivingtacksormaybecallingcoyotes, Walker’sPowerMuffQuadsshouldbeprotectingyour hearing.learnmoreat www.walkersgameear.com. Withitstopgripdesign, thisinnovativelightweight fixedbladecanhandle amultitudeoftasks.Whetheritbealastresortdefenseweapon,an“inthe field”cuttingcompanion,orageneralusetool,theMA-2willquicklybecomea favorite.Withabladelengthof2½"andweighinginatamere1.5ounces,the MA-2hasasuggestedretailofjust$29.95.Formoreinformation,callBokerat (303)462-0662orlogontowww.bokerusa.com. RATTLESNAkE .45 AUTO GRIP Dog Grips THE NOMAD StealthCam Forthoseseekinginfraredandvideo,theNOMADIR DigitalvideoScoutingRecorderfillstheneed.Features likeDigitalvideoStampingallowtheusertoreviewthe time-codingonthecaptured videobymonitoringthe month/day/hour/ minutesecondsas wellasmoon-phase andtemperature.This is high tech state of theartandhasway toomanyfeatures tomentionherebut pleasecall(888)3046125toorderorvisit themonlineatwww. stealthcam.net. IntroducingDogGrips:theOriginalRattlesnake .45AutoGrip.Durable,dependable,and affordable,Doggripswilldefinitelymakeyou feel good about the way your firearm looks andyouwillnaturallyshootbetter.Available instandard,magwells,andofficer-sizedgrips,ColtMedallionsandrangerstars areavailableuponrequest.Diamondback,prairierattlerandcobraskinare available.Seemoreatwww.doggrips.com. THE AMMO WIzARD TheNutWizard TheAmmoWizardwasrecentlyintroduced aroundthecountryandhasproventobeareal assetontheShootingRange.Thistooleliminates bendingandstoopingtopickupbrassand shotgunshells.TheAmmoWizardrollseasilyon pavedsurfaces,dirt,grassandpackedgravel.The wiresopenupuponrolloverandtraptheshellsinsidethebasket.Tolearnmore callDicklevelat(314)838-5467orvisitthemonlineatwww.thenutwizard.com. BE-WHARNED BlACKHAWK!Knives TACTICAL BRAkE WilliamsGunSightCo. Williams’newTacticalBrakecutsfeltrecoilby65%onmost 30calrifles.WilliamsGuideSeriesBrakesareblendedto yourbarrel’scontoursothattheylooklikeapartofthe barrel.Youalsogetathreadprotectorifyouchoosenotto useyourbrake.varmintandHandgunBrakesandGuide SeriesBrakesarealsoavailable.Formoreinfocall(800) 530-9028orvisitwww.williamsgunsight.com. WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM Designedbyedgedweaponstrainer MichaelJanich,the Be-Wharnedfolding knifeoffersboth utilityandpersonal defensecapability.Thesatin finishedAUS8A stainlesssteel blade is mated with ahandleconstructed fromHardened420J stainlesssteellinersandnested intotexturedblackG-10scales. Getallthespecsbycalling(800) 694-5263orvisitBlACKHAWK! onlineatwww.blackhawk.com. AR-15 UPGRADE kITS FailZero IntroducingFailZeroTacticalAR-15 UpgradeKits.Thekitsaretheworld’s firstdrop-inreplacementcomponents, thatneverrequirelubricationand reduceyourmaintenancerequirements.FailZeroKitshavealifetime warrantyandcomewitha100%satisfactionguarantee.UpgradetoFailZero and“greasebadguys,notguns.”log ontowww.failzero.com. 1092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=110http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=110INDEX OF ADVERTISERS A.T.CustomGunWorks AlMarKnives AlphaPrecision AlumaGrips 81 91 81 102 lAPoliceGear lambertKnives laserMax lesBaerCustom,Inc. lightfootKnives lymanProducts Mag-na-portInternational McFaddenMachineCo. Mec-GarUSA,Inc. MTMMoldedProducts OneStopKnifeShop.com OregonTrailBulletCo. PactInc. ParaUSA Para-Cord PearceGrip PowderRiverPrecision ProMagIndustries RioGrandeCustomGrips S.W.A.T. Safariland Shooter’sChoice SIGSAUER SingletaryCustoms Smith&Alexander,Inc. Smith&Wesson SpartanBlades SSKIndustries STIInternational,Inc. Streamlight SureFire TaurusInternational Technoframes TenRingPrecision TOPSKNIvES TrauschGrips TuffProductsBrand TusseyCustom USAShootingTeam viridianGreenlaser volkmannCustomInc W.C.WolffCompany WaltherUSA WilsonCombat Winchester Woolrich,Inc. XSSightSystems 23 110 107 115 78 41 84 18 85 106 97 33 8 2 18 79 81 17 97 104 35,39 91 94 81 92 9 80 87 103 75 27 21 6 81 83 86 87 81 66 14 10 85 77 7,82 41 88 110 lawConcealmentSystems 102 AmericanCOPSubscription 99 Amer.HandgunnerSubscription43 ArntzenCorporation Bar-StoPrecisionMachine BeltMtn.Enterprises,Inc. Benchmade Berry’sManufacturing BirchwoodCasey BlACKHAWK! Brownells ButlerCreek CaspianArmsltd. Check-MateIndustries Cor-Bon/Glaser CrawfordKnives,llC CrimsonTraceCorp. CrossBreedHolstersllC Cylinder&Slide,Inc. D&lSports DeSantisHolster DillonPrecision DoublestarCorp. ElPasoSaddleryCo. EliteOperator EliteSportsExpress EliteSurvivalSystems FobusUSA GalcoGunleather Gary Reeder Customs GeminiCustoms GhostInc. Glock,Inc. GreenEasternCutlery GSIInternational,Inc. GUNSMag.Subscription HivizShootingSystems HKSProducts,Inc. HogueGrips Hornady InsightTech-Gear Ironmind J.B.Custom,Inc. KahrArms Kimber KnifeMart 97 93 97 17 90 88 75 96 39 110 3 12 92 16 80 33 81 82 92 96 96 107 19 86 105 19 81 86 87 29 102 78,79 50 10 98 90 11 12 93 81 35,89 116 87 ArredondoAccessories,Inc. 84 MaxpeditionHard-UseGear 37 ChipMcCormickCustom,llC. 31 SpringfieldArmory 14,15,25 EuropeanAmericanArmory 13 ThunderRanchTrainingDvDs95 UniversalShootingAcademy 97 110 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER20092009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=111http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=111AMERICAN HANdGuNNER GUN PARTS GUNS FOR SALE GUNSMITHING INSTRUCTION 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. All ads must 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. ACCESSORIES ACCESSORIES KNIVES & SWORDS LEATHERCRAFT E-mail: OKEEFE1@QWESTOFFICE.NET MISCELLANEOUS AMMUNITION FOR SALE WWW.AMeRICANHANDGUNNeR.COM 1112009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=112http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=112insider Add IT up NICSbackgroundcheckssince1998. the insider Continued from page 114 99,802,067 1,079,923 NICSchecksinNovember2007. S&W StayS RetRo J 1,529,635 NICSchecksinNovember2008. $132.9 Million Firstquarter2009Winchestersales. $110.8 Million Firstquarter2008Winchestersales. ShotgunmarketsharebyMossberg. im Unger, revolver product manager for S&W, grabbed my arm at the NRA show and tugged. “Look,” he said turning a J-frame around so I could see it. “You’re old, you’ll like this,” he said, smiling smugly. And he was right, I am old, and I did like it. As part of their Classic Revolver series, the very, very, very classic Model 42 (lightweight version of the Model 40) was staring me in the eye at his fingertip. I had to have the Model 40 when it came back and now, well … um, uh … I have to have the 42 it seems. One of my very favoritist revolvers of all time. Gads, I hope this trend continues. Jim, are you listening? Hello? You there? Where do I send the check? www.smith-wesson.com Caspian Pocketsmith III O 29.9% 18.4% 26.1 19.8% ld bud Gary Smith at Caspian has continued to improve on their Pocketsmith tool. Sort of a 1911-biased pocket tool, the latest model has been beefed-up, and some engineering has changed the fit to the gun so it doesn’t slip and mar the finish. The G-10 handles make it comfy and the plier head has been tapered some to ease picking up small parts. Fits Government and Officer’s models and at around $35 is cheap. I have one that lives in my shooting box and it always gets a workout. Say hi to Gary from us when you call. www.caspianarms.com HandgunmarketsharebyS&W. Remington Goes .22 hy is Linda Powell of Remington smiling at me during the NRA show? Because she’s showing me Remington’s new 596 VTR rifle in — drum roll please — .22 LR. It’s sort of a “Notta-AR” but has the flavor of a fun, field rifle like an AR-style platform. At only $445 full-boat retail, it’s got all the rails and goodies you’d want. Now … if we could only find some .22 LR ammo for sale. An “ultimate” accessory for your .22 trail pistol, if you ask me. www.remington.com HandgunammosharebyWinchester. W KnifemarketsharebyBuckKnives. FroNT SigHT ASSeTS SeizeD Gentleman Folders ront Sight Firearms Training Institute and its president, Ignatius Piazza, went into receivership recently. After long court battles and lawsuits, at the time of this writing (middle of May), all financial transactions involving the firearms training facility, from accepting payment for classes to paying staff and vendors, is mandated to go through a court-appointed administrator. According to news reports, the Front Sight facility and all assets have been seized by the court, including some hundreds of firearms included as part of new members’ benefits. F D ear friends Dave Hall and daughter Jessica, of Hallmark Cutlery, showed me two new designs by Dave. There is a tremendous surge of interest in classic folders (check out the Cowboy Knives feature in this issue by Pat Covert), and Dave has a knack for creating new designs with the flavor of the old days. I’m a sucker for these yellow handle scales for some reason and Dave’s elegantly simple blade designs just strike a chord for me and I’ll bet do the same for some of you. And, the best part is they’re only around $35 or even a bit less. I like these because they distill the folder down to the basic elements, while retaining a sense of design and style — at a price hard to say no to. Well done to the Hall family! www.hallmarkcutlery.com WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2009 1122009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=113http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=113ust when you think you’ve seen just about everything, you stumble onto something else. At the recent Blade Show in Atlanta, old buds Greg Lightfoot and Kirby Lambert — sterling Canadian knifemakers of the first order — dazzled me with this set of old fashioned straight razors. There is a small trend building among collectors with these things, and these young men are at the front of the pack. Exceptional hand-work and talent if you ask me, and even if you don’t use a razor, they are still something to enjoy. Well done, eh? www.lambertknives.com and www.lightfootknives.com Close Shaves J S orry, but I had to. At the NRA show, Frank Harris of Kahr Arms was displaying their gold Tommygun and, well, shiny things just get my attention. Do we need one? Nope. Do we want one? Well … um, uh … maybe. If you need one, I’m sure Frank will make your dream come true. Tell him you read about it in Handgunner, would you? www.kahr.com Gold Standard Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web. Handgunner dictionary he Deer Tribe Gun Club in Phoenix, AZ is trying to start a new trend they hope will fill the shoes of the ground-breaking American Handgunner World Shoot-Off match, which is nolonger. While we’re not endorsing it — yet — we do have high hopes and want to give them a hand. So, if you’d like to learn more, give them a shout at (602) 571-3319 and tell them you read about it here. The match is planned for November 8th, 2009 in the Phoenix area. T NEw MATCh stumbled onto this at the NRA show recently. From LaserLyte, it’s a sight you can retro-fit on any Glock and it has a built in red laser aiming system. There’s an ambi-switch to activate it and it offers a standard white outline/front white dot sight, but a flick turns on the laser. It’s got about a zero off-set so there isn’t much difference between the sight picture and where the laser hits. Damndest idea if you ask me. It’s about $200 and doesn’t interfere with most duty holsters up to Level II. One of those “Duh, why didn’t anyone think of this before?” ideas. www.laserlyte.com Sighting System snapped this as I entered the exhibit area at the Phoenix, AZ convention center for the NRA show. Arizona allows open carry and damn if I didn’t see NRA members carrying loaded handguns openly on their belts on the show floor! And the amazing thing is it didn’t bother me a bit. As a matter of fact, since I was unarmed (traveling with a gun is such a pain these days), seeing all those fellow members armed made me feel safer. Now, if we could only make the rest of society understand that. Best Sign At The Show i Lou Passes D Benchmade Gold A t the top of the heap at Benchmade are their Gold Class models. They toss out all the rules and offer some no-holds barred ideas, designs and finishes. The Mini-Presidio is a taste of what we’re talking about. The Hakkapella Damasteel blade, jeweled liners and bronze colored hardware are accented by the carbon fiber handle scales (kind of like a black velvet pillow highlights a jewel!). Made with all the quality Benchmade is famous for, at about $500 it’s not something you toss into the tool box. www.benchmade.com ear friend and icon of the holster industry, Lou Alessi — founder of Allessi Holsters — passed away on Feb. 21, 2009. Lou was a master leather maker and his holsters and designs were the foundation for a product line encompassing decades of real world use. His law enforcement holsters were carried by street cops and elite units Lou and his and no doubt saved many lives. My wife, Suzi, car- wife, Idamarie. ried a holster Lou made for her as her duty rig, and it served her for years, until she retired from uniform patrol. Lou inspired young holster makers and was always quick to help out, offer tips and saw many of his designs used to begin the careers of other young makers. His involvement with the Louder Than Words (LTW) organization was a natural as Lou’s heart was big, and “givin2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=114http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=114THE Roy Huntington Suzi’s family 1911. INSIdER A fighting gun from WWII. TM i ’ve got guns with warts on them. Nicks, a bit of rust, plating flaking off, signs of bad gunsmithing in the past or just plain honest wear — warts-all. And the funny thing is I won’t change a thing on any of them, ever. Let me explain. My brother, Ren, died unexpectedly a few years ago. We grew up around guns and hunted and shot together. He was five years younger than me, but we were always close. I was the real gun-guy and I think Ren, while owning a modest collection of often eclectic bent, mostly enjoyed them because he knew how much I did. He’d often call me excitedly about some weird or unusual find he had located, “It’s this strange thing, I think .32 caliber, but it might be 9mm, but the old lady said her husband died and he got it in the war, and she wanted to get rid of it so I bought it for $150. It’s got some kind of funny writing on it, maybe Russian? You think I did good?” And he usually didn’t do good. But he never lost his enthusiasm and I think he hoped one day I’d say, “My god Ren, do you realize what you’ve found!?” One day he came close. After the excited Genuine call, he came over “Cabin” and plopped a bag find on the table. “Found Colt. this and I’ll bet you’ll like it,” he said This 1917 will never be changed. Warts and all The gun that made Roy become a cop. smiling. In the brown paper bag was a “bag-o-gun” as I call them. A 1917 S&W completely apart, down to every screw and pin. “Well, cool, huh?” he said. And at the time a 1917 was hard to get and it was cool, and I told him so. It was pretty rusty, but seemed all there. “Can you put it together,” he asked excitedly? “Better yet,” I said, “I’ll help you to put it together.” An hour or two later we had a functioning 1917 and he was proud as anything knowing I liked the gun. “You know, it’s for you,” he said, holding it out. I smiled and closed my hand on his while he held it, “No, it’s for you, because I helped you put it together. One day I’ll show you how to refinish it and we’ll make it like new. Then it’ll be our gun.” He smiled at me and I knew he liked the idea. But we never got around to it as such things all too often go, and after he died I found the 1917 among some other guns he had. The gun lives in my safe now and I think you understand why it won’t ever be restored. It still has his hands on it. I have others. The old Colt Single Action .44-40 is a genuine “stashed under the cabin floor” gun, found in an old cabin in Arizona. Grips don’t get that worn by sitting in a drawer somewhere and I only wish it could talk. I’ll bet you do too. If you look closely at the old blued 1911 you’ll see where someone had taken a belt sander to the top-strap sometime in its past life. The reason the gun is special is because it belonged to Suzi’s grandfather who carried it on Navy ships during WWII, then was passed on to her step-father, who carried it in Vietnam on gunboats. At one time in its life, some armorer probably ground off some rust and got the gun going again. It stays the way it is. The other 1911 was carried by an old gentleman during WWII in the South Pacific, and saw serious action in the island-hopping campaign. “Roy, it saved my life on more than one occasion and insider I have to tell you, that old .45 hardball round would punch right through a Japanese helmet. I know because I did it.” I got the original holster and two 20-round boxes of military ammo dated 1944 with it when he died. I’ll never change it. The old nickel S&W .38 break-top is a family gun of ours. My dad bought it for $10 when I was about eight, and it was a thing of mystery and beauty the entire time I was growing up. I could “look at the gun” anytime I wanted to, I just had to ask. No end of bank-robbers and bad guys met their fate in my imagination, while I held that gun carefully on my lap. I think it fostered my desire to be a cop later on. I can still feel the snappy recoil of those .38 S&W 2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=115http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=115Les Baer Monolith And the simple fact is, nobody makes 1911 pistols with the precision and the meticulous attention to detail as Les Baer Custom. It starts with the major components. The frames, slides and barrels are all Les Baer originals. Each and every one is manufactured to Les Baer’s exacting specifications, then machined to the tightest and most uncompromising tolerances in the business on his own CNC machining centers. The rest of the parts are made the same way. Every trigger, safety, hammer and slide stop undergo the same rigorous manufacturing methods and quality control procedures as the major components. They’re precise and they’re perfect, because that’s what Les Baer demands. But, it’s the final one-at-a-time fitting that makes Les Baer 1911s a real legend in their own time. There simply is not another 1911 on the market with the characteristic tight, never-a-rattle, positive fit of Les Baer 1911s. It’s that snug, precise fit of Baer’s precision made parts that not only ensure amazing accuracy, but uncanny consistency, shot…after shot…after shot. Looking for a superior semi-auto rifle on a par with our 1911 pistols? Great pistols? That’s all we build. Precisely. Les Baer Ultimate AR Rifles in .223, .204 Ruger and new 6.5 Grendel. Several sporting and law enforcement models are available, including the Police Special pictured here. All are guaranteed to shoot 1/2” MOA. Performance. 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.com2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=116http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHSO09/?Page=116Ultra 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.2009-07-08T19:12:14+02:00