Mike
The Colt (Combat) Commander has had a long, blue-ribbon-pedigreed history. Evolving from the legendary Colt 1911, the Commander is not a lot different from that storied gun – the most obvious difference is that the Commander has a 4.25-inch barrel as opposed to the 5-inch one in the 1911 – but it has gained a … Read more
I approached my shooting bench with a bit of trepidation. I was holding an original, older Delta Gold Cup that belonged to a friend of mine who’d loaned it to me for this article. As you can see from the photo above, it is a beautiful pistol. He has had it for many years. He … Read more
My eyes are getting older, along with the rest of me. I just celebrated a birthday…which one, I won’t say but if it were the last two numbers in a year in the 20th century, the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album would have just been released. What does this have to do with red dot sights? … Read more
I just traded for a fun little gun. I got one of these… This is Charter Arms’ Target Pathfinder .22 LR with a 4.2-inch barrel. They also make a snubby version but I wanted the longer barrel and adjustable rear sight. If you’ve read many of my articles on this site about handguns, you would … Read more
It’s a fact – more and more people are getting concealed carry permits. Now that Illinois has joined the club, all fifty states have some method or other of allowing its citizens to legally carry a concealed gun. In some states, you don’t have to obtain a permit – it is just assumed that it … Read more
Small. Thin. Light. Reliable. Cheap. What’s not to like? I’m talking about the Ruger LC9S, a single-stack, striker-fired pocketable 9mm that has sold like hotcakes. Why is this such a popular gun? We’ll examine it in some detail to see if we can determine the answer to that question. Variations On A Theme Before we … Read more
You may be wondering “why do a best-of article on ammo for a marginal carry gun” … it’s because of popularity. The .380 is here, stronger than ever, with many folks carrying them – myself included. Its popularity has surged over the last few years to the point where many claim it to be a … Read more
The Taurus G2C is something of a phenomenon. Sales are greater than expected, which surprises a few people. Taurus is not the company it was, even 10 years ago. It used to be that if you bought a Taurus (especially a semi-auto), some fellow shooter might hand you a quarter and say “flip it – … Read more
“The only reason I carry a .45 is because they don’t make a .46.” How many times have I heard that old chestnut? Technically, they now make a .46-plus – the .500 S&W Magnum (.500 bullet diameter) and the .480 Ruger (.475 bullet diameter), to name a couple – but they are heavy-duty revolver rounds … Read more
When you buy your very first gun, whether a handgun, rifle or shotgun, you automatically have an issue to deal with the day you bring your new firearm home. That issue is: what are you going to do with it when you’re not shooting, cleaning or otherwise handling it? Am I Legally Required To Lock … Read more
We’ve all been there. Somehow, we acquire a handgun, rifle or shotgun that eventually just becomes a safe queen. It could have been (as in my experience) a pistol that I thought would be just the ticket for concealed carry/hunting/steel targets/etc. Yet somehow, after owning the gun a while, I decided that maybe I acted … Read more
When you talk about the best of anything, usually you have a specific purpose or criteria in mind for its usage. You pay attention and research its ability to satisfy that particular need or use. Ammunition selection is a complicated topic, with many different rabbit holes we could go down as we decide what’s best … Read more
An article about revolvers? Do they still make those anachronistic hunks of steel? Are they still relevant in this day and age of striker-fired, polymer-framed semiauto wunder-guns? Ja, sure! There are some shooting tasks that only revolvers can accomplish. Gun design, metallurgy and technology have advanced in the world of the wheelgun as well as … Read more
How do you choose a good .44 Magnum revolver when there are so many great guns out there? I’ll attempt to narrow it down a bit and, hopefully, by the end of this article you might have more information about them than you did before. Are You Sure…? Before we get into specifics, let’s make … Read more
Reloading your own ammo is a relaxing, rewarding hobby. Not only can you save money when you make your own ammo as opposed to buying factory stuff, it’s a lot of fun as well. To be totally honest, you may not save a lot of money shooting your ammo but you will get more shots … Read more
It’s just about time for firearms deer season here at home. This year, as in years past, one of my sons and I will head to the deer blind armed with (him) a .308 and (me) a .243. This is saying something, because it’s only been a couple of years that rifle calibers were legal … Read more
If you’re trying to select the best 10mm pistol, you definitely have a hard job ahead of you. This is one task that, about 25 years ago, would have been simple due to the lack of said-chambered guns. Not so much now – the 10mm is experiencing a renaissance of sorts as more shooters discover … Read more
Springfield Armory is known for, among other guns, its extensive line of 1911s but it has gained a lot of traction from its XD line of striker-fired pistols. I just recently took possession of a new XD(M) with a 3.8 inch barrel in .45 ACP. (For simplicity’s sake I’ll just call it from now on … Read more
I am a retired public school music teacher. I also have an affinity for a good 1911 – I’ve owned several. But, when you combine these two facts, it fairly well defines the type of 1911s I’ve been able to own – the budget variety. I got really good at selecting good-shooting 1911s that cost … Read more
So…you’ve decided that you want to carry a gun. Depending on what state you live in, this may not be the easiest decision you’ve made. Different states have different laws, as we know. Some states make it easier than others to get a concealed carry permit. Now that Illinois has joined the club, all fifty … Read more
For those of us who are into handguns and have not been living under a rock for the past 3 decades or so, the name Glock has come to be a household word in the shooting universe. People who may have never held a gun (let alone a Glock) recognize the name. It’s a brand … Read more
If you’re a brand-new handgunner or if you’re a seasoned veteran, sometimes it’s good to take a step back and look at some data on the cartridges we shoot. Maybe we’re thinking of expanding our gun collection but are not sure which way to go in terms of caliber, or maybe we’re just curious as … Read more
The .357 Magnum cartridge is, arguably, the most popular all-around revolver cartridge out there. Whether you are carrying a snubby for protection or a larger gun for target shooting, competition, hiking, or other activity, the .357 seems to be the go-to round for wheelgunners. With the availability of many different loads and bullets, the cartridge … Read more
To many handgunners, the numbers 1, 9, 1 and 1 means only one thing: a classic semi-automatic handgun that was adopted by the military in 1911. Another related thought that usually pops into his or her mind is that the gun was chambered in caliber .45 ACP. As the original chambering of the vaunted 1911, … Read more
In this day and age of polymer-framed striker-fired semiautos, does the old-fashioned revolver even have a place? Many of you reading this may think not but I beg to differ. There’s something to be said for a carry weapon that just needs to be drawn (or shot through the pocket, hidden) and fired just by … Read more
I recently did an article on the best 9mm subcompact pistols. Those small, single-stack guns can be very handy if you’re looking for something to stick in a pocket holster or carry discreetly, but what if you want to bring a bigger bat to the ballgame? Full-size guns, with their longer barrels and grip frames, … Read more
The Colt 1911 semiautomatic pistol is an icon. If you were to show photos of an 1873 Peacemaker, a 1911 and a few other common handguns to your non-gun-savvy brother-in-law and asked if any guns were recognizable, chances are that he would point to the 1911 and say that he’d seen that one before, in … Read more
Concealed carry options abound for most of the United States. Every state now has some form of concealed carry law on its books. The concealed-carry permit gamut runs from very restrictive states to other states that don’t require a specific permit, figuring the Second Amendment is permit enough. The upshot is that more and more … Read more
Why Reload? While reloading for your guns is usually thought of as a cost-savings for those of us who shoot a lot, there are other advantages involved. The common assumption is that you save money by reloading-and that is true, to a point. If you are a volume shooter or a competitive shooter, saving money … Read more
The .22 LR is by far the most popular caliber out there. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) estimates that about half of the approximately ten billion rounds manufactured annually are .22 rimfire cartridges. The military has used it to teach marksmanship; Boy Scouts use it to qualify for their Shooting merit badge. Largely available … Read more