Olight’s Rechargeable O-Sight
Normally, the focus of gear-related articles here is whether they are geared for duty use. I try to look at gear in that light – especially thinking back to when I started in the profession. However, back then, we were not inundated with the amount of technology and advertising you all are hit with today. And, we have our biases. What we have seen and heard about a manufacturer cannot help but impact our perspectives [...]
RISING FROM THE ASHES Cutaway Instructional Firearm
After my house was destroyed by a fire on 10 April 2005, Kevin McClung of Mad Dog Knives helped me clean up my firearms so I could read the serial numbers and report them as lost to the BATF. Firemen had unceremoniously dumped them all into a pile in my [...]
Serious Pistol for Serious Users: Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0
Although it doesn’t seem that long ago, Smith & Wesson introduced the M&P pistol line over ten years ago. The line-up includes full size, compact and the popular Shield pistols.
Primo Prestige Police Pistol of the Past — Is Present!
If we don’t know where we’ve been, it’s harder to tell where we’re going. In 2020 Colt re-introduced their top-of-the-line Python revolver. It hit the covers of gun magazines, and likely set a posts record on coltforum.com. But what does that have to do with today, when virtually all American [...]
Ruger Security-9: Defensive 9mm Firepower
The Ruger Security-9 is arguably the best value in a domestically produced defensive handgun today. This new Ruger pistol sports plenty of whiz-bang features along with a price that will just drop your jaw. The Security-9 is purpose-designed for the concealed carry holder who’s serious about packing heat. I came [...]
The New Colt Python: A Delightful Retro-Surprise
It was circa-1955. Bullseye shooting, where you stood on your hind legs and shot one-handed is king. Cops’ holsters are filled with either a Colt or S&W DA revolver, with more of the former than the latter. Both companies are about to make major changes in their sixguns — one [...]
Pocket Power Perfected: Springfield XD-S Mod. 2 .45
The Springfield XD-S Mod.2 Subcompact is a polymer-framed .45 ACP carry gun thinner than a 9mm GLOCK 43, weighing two oz. less than a .380 ACP Walther PPK/S. The XD-S Mod.2 Subcompact packs 6+1 .45 ACP flying ashtrays into the grip yet carries almost as well as your smartphone. Amazingly, [...]
Big Bad Belly Gun
Smith & Wesson Redefines CCW With The X-Frame .500 S&W For Defense Against, Well... Anything By Mark Hampton Photos: Joseph R. Novelozo A few short years ago one of my best friends and I were enjoying some incredible fishing on the Naknek River in Alaska. Those big king salmon could [...]
SIG P210 Target 9mm
Made In America: Legendarily Accurate Competition Classic SIG’s original military Model 210 was introduced in 1949 and shipped with a 50-meter test target with a 5-shot, sub-2" group, establishing a reputation for stellar accuracy. Variations served the Swiss military until the early 21st Century and created a solid niche market [...]
New Era, New Snake
Payton Miller The Colt Cobra—introduced in 1950—was the company’s second “snake gun” (the first being the super-premium Python). A lightweight alloy version of the steel “D-frame” Detective Special, the original First Model Cobra featured the distinctively Coltish unshrouded ejector rod, which eventually gave way to the shrouded rod of the [...]
Les Baer’s American Handgunner Special Edition 1911 .45 ACP
It’s here, rendered in steel, a sort of living performance of a dream Les and I have shared right along with many of you. This project is one of those times when an idea pinging away at you finally pushes itself to the front. Or, in this case, bashes down the door, demanding to be attended to. Then, suddenly, it’s real and I’m holding it in my hand, answering the question: What would be a “perfect” 1911?