Staccato [stəˈkädō] Performed with each note sharply detached or separated from the others; the sound of rapid-fire pistol shots. A quick history of handgun types is a fairly short list. The revolver kicked off the sidearm craze in the late 19th century. In fact, the Smith & Wesson Model 10 is the longest actively manufactured …
I’m enjoying our new President and a more friendly posture towards the 2nd Amendment. But I am concerned that we continue to promote the correction of several anti-Constitutional laws that remain on the books. The first is the National Firearms Act of 1934. This is the legislation which created the requirement to pay a $200 …
Many of you have been watching the Army trials for the Modular Handgun System (MHS) over the past few years. A lot of vendors jumped in – and a few stayed away. Here’s a quick review, so you know the rest of the story. Back in the early 1980s, the Army started looking for a …
The debate rages on about what the best handgun is for women or the elderly. There are similar assumptions made in both cases. I understand these generalizations do not apply to all woman (obviously) nor all the elderly, so work with me on this. The first assumption is that the new user will probably not …
Pistol rounds are easy to pick out of a crowd, aren’t they? Pistol rounds are short and boring. It doesn’t really get interesting until you start looking at some of the wild self-defense rounds. Rifle rounds, on the other hand, are long and pointy with cool bullets that have colored polymer tips. (The guys and …
For those of you new to shooting, I imagine the number of ammo calibers available is dizzying. On top of that amazing array we throw in both digital and imperial measurements for fun. Let’s do a quick review of what’s on the market for general, common, center-fire handguns. We’ll look at these eleven cartridges: .32 ACP .380 ACP …
I’m a handgun enthusiast, as many of you are. I’m probably considered a bit of a “prepper” too, by those close to me, but I’m not burying food (or ammo)… yet. I’ve noticed the last few years there’s been a craze for building one’s own AR-15. I’ve listened to the pundits argue the merits of …
About 30 years ago, the Colt 1911 handgun was replaced as the standard issue US military sidearm. The choice came down to two contenders: Beretta and SIG Sauer. Depending on which story you follow, either SIG made a big blunder on the pricing or the Italians had some intel on suitcase nukes that we needed. …
The first automatic pistol designs were blow back operated. This design has a frame-mounted, immoveable barrel which demands a heavy slide. This provides sufficient inertia to hold the slide in place long enough for the bullet to leave the barrel and gas pressures to reduce to safe levels. If the slide isn’t heavy enough, it …
The Army’s specifications of 1906 for its next round of automatic pistol testing required an “automatic safety.” This requirement was satisfied in the Model 1907 test pistols by what we now call the “grip safety,” designed by Ehbets at Colt. The grip safety that we now know was the last significant modification to the Browning/Colt …
