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 …
I’ve shot dozens of different handguns. I’m trained to care for several different manufacturer’s firearms. I talk to anyone and everyone about guns. That said, I can say the following with no concern for contradiction. The GLOCK pistol has fewer parts than other brands. The parts in today’s GLOCKS fit in model generations which are 30 …
When John Moses Browning perfected his 1898 design into the Model of 1911, adopted by the US Army as it’s primary sidearm (M1911), he had given the world it’s first semi-automatic, short-recoil handgun. An accomplishment which, but for the addition of a picattiny rail, is virtually unchanged from 1911. His hammer-fired pistol had a single-action trigger. This means …
Assault Rifle The U.S. Department of Defense defines assault rifles as “selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between sub-machine gun and rifle cartridges.” The AR-15 and other civilian carbines, errantly called assault rifles, do no such thing. They are semi-automatic, non-battlefield firearms. To add further clarity, “AR” also does not stand for …
This study is old, but a 10 year study by the Police Policy Studies Counsel showed that 80% of officer slayings (from firearms) between 1991 and 2000 occurred within 6 feet. Depending on the study, more recent studies show that 80% of shots fired by officers are within 11 feet. Because of the layout of …
In order of timing: Action noise required to ignite the round. (The click you hear from a misfire.) Muzzle blast resulting from the discharge of propellant gas from the end of the barrel. (Thunder.) Sonic signature of the projectile in flight for supersonic velocity rounds. (Sonic boom.) Action noise in some firearm variants as the …
The P-09 is the latest in a line of handguns manufactured by Ceska Zbrojovka, or CZ for short. The company was founded in 1936 in what was then Czechoslovakia and is now the Czech Republic. Early firearms production was for the Czech Army during Word War II, but the company eventually began pursuing the civilian …
I never cease to be amazed at my lack of dexterity and training when I encounter a dynamic critical defense situation. Even after training over and over, I still do not perform quite up to my expectations. I guess I’m really not Jack Bauer. One of the handgun features which I avoid for both regular …
It’s no secret the human body goes wild when it’s flooded with adrenaline. I act like a cool cucumber with the light’s on, and practice all the time, but when startled I lose a great deal of dexterity and memory. GLOCK pistols are as simple as they come. The manual of arms is quick to …
