There has been a recent surge in firearms-related gear coming out of Israel. Starting with our readers’ choice as the best new rifle of 2013 (the Tavor) and continuing with some of Robert’s favorite people [insert Israeli supermodel of the day here], Israel has really been pumping out good looking and finely functioning exports lately. One of the latest Israeli products to hit the shores of the United States is the BUL series of handguns, and I was given a 9mm Commander version to test out . . .

The BUL line of handguns has actually been imported into the United States for some time now, but always under someone else’s brand. From Kimber to Charles Daly, the guns have been in circulation for years but never under their own flag. This latest importation arrangement is being undertaken by Battle Ready International, but the product remains the same.

The general design is very recognizably that of a 1911 handgun, but there are some major variations from the original design at work here.

Difference #1 is something you probably already spotted: a polymer frame. Instead of the all-metal construction common to the 1911 platform, the polymer grips allow for a somewhat slimmer design and better texturing on the outside surfaces. I say somewhat slimmer because the total size is smaller compared to what it would be if you had a standard metal frame with grip panels, but the nature of the polymer material means that you need a thicker application compared to a metal frame design. So it’s kind of a trade off, but in the end the polymer frame is about the same overall size as your standard double stack polymer handgun.

Despite the “slim” grip size, the gun is still on the chubby side. Like the Eric Cartman of 1911s — not fat, just big-boned. It makes the gun nice to grip, but will make concealing the thing a little more of a challenge. This specific model is marketed to the concealed carry crowd thanks to the shorter Commander-length barrel, but I gave up on concealing double stack handguns around the time I graduated from college. Some people can pull it off somehow. Robocop style, maybe? Anyway, I can’t do it. Which is why I stick with my single stack 1911.

While the frame is mostly polymer, the parts that matter are all steel. The slide rails and the inner chassis are steel, much like that of a GLOCK or FN USA FNS-9, giving extra rigidity to the gun where it counts. The external safeties are also metal, including both the grip and ambidextrous thumb safeties.

Difference #2 is the barrel. There is no barrel bushing on this “1911,” and instead the outer diameter of the barrel fits flush with the inner diameter of the slide. This arrangement is much more accurate than the barrel bushing method could ever be, which is great for a competition or self defense gun. However it makes field stripping the gun a pain in the butt.

In order to take the gun down, you need to use a paper clip. Yes, a paperclip. When you bring the slide back to the locked position, there’s a small hole in the recoil guide rod. You put the paper clip in there, and it keeps the recoil spring compressed and in place while the gun is disassembled. You could skip this step, but that makes disassembly a little more difficult. Wilson Combat also uses the bushing-free barrel design on their 1911 handguns, but they figured out a way to make it work without needing any tools for takedown. I get the feeling BUL could have done something similar, but they didn’t.

Moving towards the other end of the gun, the fit and finish on the controls is great. The safety feels smooth and rounded, much nicer to handle than the sharp and jagged safeties on Springfield’s down-market 1911 models. Actually, the safeties as well as the hammer all look like Wilson Combat parts — or at least pretty good knock-offs. I ain’t complaining.

Speaking of fit and finish, the trigger is okay. It’s not the nicest 1911 trigger I’ve ever pulled in my life, but it’s acceptable. There’s a tiny bit of take-up and creep, and the break is pretty crisp. Not perfect, but close enough for government work.

The sights on the gun are a set of standard target sights, which makes it great for precision shooting but less than ideal for combat shooting. A nice 3-dot setup would probably be better if you intend to drop some tangos with your new 1911, but it works. Actually, speaking of Wilson Combat, a nice fiber-optic front sight would be a welcome addition to the M-5.

Despite the added girth of a double stack magazine in a polymer frame, the gun feels pretty good in the hand. Some 1911 grips can feel too small, but this was perfect for wrapping my big bear-sized mitts around. People with smaller hands might find it a little large for comfort, though.

Out on the range, the results are good. This six-round group from 10 yards shows one flier outside the otherwise 1-inch group that’s probably more a result of me being a little rusty with my pistol work than a flaw in the firearm itself, so I’m happy with the accuracy.

Firing the gun feels great, too. The added weight of the bull barrel means that there’s more mass at the front of the handgun, and therefore reduced muzzle rise. The size of the grips also allow me to soak up that recoil with ease, not that there’s very much to begin with in 9mm. The end result is an accurate gun with very reasonable recoil. That allows for some quick transitions between targets and great double-tap capabilities with solid A-zone hits.

I do have one complaint: BUL’s magazines. Most mags have witness holes that lets you know how many rounds you have loaded, but these are literally black boxes. You load until you can’t load no more, and that’s right around 18 rounds. Not a dealbreaker, but being able to check that all your magazines are topped up is something that makes moving from stage to stage in a competition much easier.

It looks to me like the BUL handguns are designed and marketed to be a downmarket version of STI’s pistols. Slightly downmarket, that is — the BUL clocks in at $1,475 compared to the nearly identical STI handgun at $2,100+. The problem there is that the market for STI handguns is already relatively small, and getting smaller every year. Everyone from competition shooters to self defense instructors are gradually moving away from the 1911 design and towards the polymer-framed striker-fired handguns that have taken over in almost every application. Those who need the high-speed low-drag awesomeness of a 1911 are willing to pay for the top of the line brand, and everyone else seems content with their GLOCK, M&P or FNS. The M-5 Commander may be a little late to the party and kind of a ‘tweener, but it definitely has some interesting features.

Specifications: BUL M-5 Commander

Caliber: 9x19mm
Action: Semi-auto
Barrel: 4.21″
Magazine: Custom 18+1
MSRP: $1,475

Ratings (out of five stars):

Accuracy: * * * *
Good enough for me. Not the most accurate ever, but good enough.

Ergonomics: * * * *
The grip is a little on the large side, but otherwise it works.

Ease of Use: * *
I thought the last handgun to require tools to disassemble was made in the 1990’s. Guess I was wrong. Very retro, and kind of a pain in the butt.

Reliability: * * * * *
Zero complaints. The gun ran fine through a couple hundred rounds of ammo without cleaning.

Customization: *
Custom magazines, custom frame, no attachment points. It fits in some 1911 holsters and uses common sights, but that’s about it.

Overall Rating: * * * 1/2
It’s a cool double stack 1911, but I fear that the double stack 1911 fad has come and gone. Like about three fads ago. I prefer my FNS-9 for competition and a much slimmer gun for concealed carry, but some people might like it. Final rating of 3.5 is (according to our rubric) an okay gun for the money.

The post Gun Review: BUL M-5 Commander 1911 (9mm) appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

When I worked as an EMT in Fairfax, the radios we were issued had a big orange button on the top that we were never supposed to press. Unless we really needed it. That button was our lifeline — each radio was assigned to a specific person in a specific unit, and along with the GPS in the rig was the “bat-signal” to send every available police officer and fire & rescue unit to our location ASAP. I only needed to press it once in my career there, and I was thankful that it not only worked as advertised but also that it didn’t require me to do any thinking on my part in the heat of the moment. A new device from a company named Yardarm is seeking to do the same thing, but with guns . . .

The concept is that a small computerized system is slotted into the wasted space in the heel of a GLOCK handgun (or similar firearm). That system connects via Bluetooth to the officer’s phone, and not only provides up-to-the-minute location data back to the precinct for tracking purposes but also alerts the rest of the police department when something goes terribly wrong. As soon as the officer draws their gun, it can fire off an alert to send backup. It can also record how many rounds have been fired and provide that information in real time. From the company’s website:

The company’s Yardarm Sensor, the world’s first wireless sensor for firearms, introduces an entirely new level of miniaturization and power optimization for wireless telephony and advanced machine-to-machine (M2M) capabilities. The Yardarm Sensor connects firearms to the Yardarm Cloud and delivers telemetry that allows for real-time geo-location and event awareness that can then be delivered to any end-point via the Cloud. The Yardarm solution gives law enforcement, private security, and the military the capability to track and monitor their organization’s firearms in real-time, connecting them to computer aided dispatch (CAD) centers, real-time crime centers (RTCC), or edge devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops. By instantly alerting commanders and command centers of critical events in the field, Yardarm allows organizations to respond and support officers in the field faster than ever before, greatly enhancing efficiency and officer safety.

The Yardarm Sensor connects to the Yardarm Cloud via GSM and provides a set of powerful data streams that can be imported into the industry’s leading CAD and RTCC software solutions via standard APIs. These sensor readings, all available in real-time, include:

Geo-Location – Event based location awareness and history for real-time alerts and post crime scene review and analysis
Holster/Unholster – When an officer unholsters his weapon, dispatch can be immediately notified and officers in the field can see when and where a colleague may require assistance
Discharge – There is no more critical event in the field than an officer discharging their weapon. Alerts are immediately sent to dispatch and can be sent to a commander directly via mobile alerts
Direction of Fire/Aim – Track and record the direction of aim, providing real-time tactical value for commanders and providing crime scene investigators valuable data for prosecution
Yardarm + Glock 22

Yardarm has developed the most sophisticated approach to wireless gun safety available in the market. The Yardarm solution is built on internally developed machine-to-machine (“M2M”) technologies and applications, intellectual property and patent-pending processes.

The device is cool, but it’s a double edged sword.

For the intended purpose, it’s awesome.

In this post-Ferguson world of increased wariness of police, the idea that no officer can draw their gun without the department being notified is definitely a benefit. Along with body mounted recording devices like the Taser Axon Flux, it can provide more accountability for the people we entrust to uphold the law. The ACLU predictably has their knickers in a twist about tracking people while they’re on the job and spying on what they do, but when New York City taxi drivers are more closely tracked than people charged with using deadly force to enforce the law there might be some room for improvement.

It’s also brilliant as an emergency warning system, allowing officers to deal with the imminent threat in front of them instead of trying to communicate over the radio and call for backup all at the same time. It simplifies the officer’s life in a time when they really need to focus on the tasks at hand (staying alive and stopping the threat), which will no doubt improve survivability.

However, there are also some potential issues for gun owners down the line.

While this isn’t a “smart gun” in the sense that we’ve seen before, it’s definitely smart-er. This product and others like it could seem like a Godsend to politicians, who imagine a world where every firearm can be instantly tracked and every gun owner monitored. We could very well see legislation proposed requiring gun owners to fit their firearms with this kind of technology, and even eventually the same kind of remote “kill switch” requirement currently demanded of smart phones. For a group of people who have a very strong independent streak and don’t like a whole lot of government interference, that could be a major issue.

It’s true that there are circumstances in which this might be a good idea for gun owners as well as police departments (being able to track stolen firearms and recover them), but the potential for overreach is very real. If a police department is given access to that same data feed, it could lead to all kinds of privacy issues for gun owners. Especially when you start walking down the garden path a little bit and consider preemptive alarms.

What if we could set off an alarm whenever a gun came within so many feet of a school? How about if a gun was detected at an airport? These are ideas that may seem great on the surface, but will no doubt lead to headaches when the GPS sensor isn’t reporting accurate data. Arresting someone because their gun claimed they were on school grounds when they were actually safe at home sounds like a legal nightmare for the gun owner.

Then you get to the criminal element. No one’s personal data is ever private on the internet, from nude pictures to credit card numbers. There’s always a way to get at it and when that way is found for the Yardarm, the flood gates are open. If the Journal News’ map of New York street addresses with firearms permits wasn’t bad enough, criminals could pinpoint every gun owner’s house and even possibly track them down on the street to ambush them for their firearm.

I’m not convinced that this is all doom and gloom — there’s some real potential for benefits to both police officers and gun owners here. But there’s also some real potential for abuse by the government, demanding that every firearm and firearm owner be tracked at all times. That’s an Orwellian future that I’d like to try and avoid. In the meantime the devices are going into small scale tests with two police departments (one in California and one in Texas), so we’ll see how well they hold up in the real world.

The post Yardarm: Real-Time Firearms Tracking and Alert System, Coming to a Police Station Near You appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

“I have acquired a few guns over the years,” TTAG reader RB admits. “None of them are investment pieces that will show any value in my lifetime. A Smith revolver has shown to hold it’s value – which is nice. However nothing else is likely to become an heirloom (outside of just one day being old in excellent condition but very common). I’m not expecting every gun to become a collectible, but I would like one. Long story short I want a Colt SAA. Colt’s website features them, has multiple models, and even a price sheet. So where are they?” Help a guy out willya? Meanwhile, which gun(s) currently for sale do you reckon will become collectible in, say, twenty to thirty years? I’m thinking the Smith & Wesson Performance Center 460XVR. You?

The post Question of the Day: Which Gun(s) Are Likely to Become Future Collectibles? appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

I’ve gone through a number of everyday carry guns in the last few years: a GLOCK 19, Kahr PM9, Smith & Wesson 642, Springfield XD-M, FNS-9 and a few other gats that lasted a couple of weeks. As an outside-the-waistband (OWB) guy, the GLOCK, Springfield and FN printed like The New York Times. I wasn’t happy with the Kahr and Smith’s capacity and caliber. Early this year, I bought a Commander-sized Wilson Combat X-Tac Compact. Just cause. I thought, no way I’m going to carry it. It’s expensive. It’s got an external safety. It’s heavy. It’s capacity limited. And questions surround 1911’s reliability, generally speaking (the $3250 Wilson hasn’t choked once). But carry it I do. Here’s why . . .

1. 1911’s are easy to conceal

Most full-sized guns are only marginally wider than a 1911. But it’s a significant difference. Take it from Mr. OWB, a gun guy who conceals his weapon under a sightly over-sized T-shirt (over an Under Armor T-shirt for snag-free unholstering). Even when I put the GLOCK, Springfield and FN in a snug-fitting K Rounds Kydex holster the guns’ outer corner pokes out, ruining the line of my T-shirt. Tellingly.

The slim-line Wilson 1911 disappears. Period. Gone, As for the gun weight issue, a sturdy gun belt – combined with an effective weight loss regimen (I’m now an OWG) – makes the ballistic boat anchor an easily supportable proposition. Seriously. It’s less of a problem than fitting all the rest of my everyday carry clobber (knives, spare mag, flashlight, iPhone, sunglasses, keys and wallet) in my pockets.

2. 1911s are deadly

At the risk of re-igniting the caliber wars, I’m much more comfortable carrying a .45 than a 9mm or snappy-ass .40 for self-defense. Most defensive gun uses are 3-3-3: three yards, three seconds, three rounds. I’d rather go into this close encounter of the lethal threat kind with 15 big-ass Golden Saber hollow-point .45s than 31 HP 9mms – given that I’m unlikely to fire that many shots, the .45 offers superior lethality and practice has made combat accuracy equal.

Yes, I’d rather have 31 .45’s. If it weren’t for concealment issues (as above), a double-stack .45 would be ideal. As for the safety, yes, well, there is that. I’ve drilled like a bastard – and continue to do so – to master the protocol. Considering the Wilson’s light-as-a-dust-mite’s-fart single-action trigger, I also checked my go-pedal discipline under stress with force-on-force training.

I feel confident that I could wield my Wilson Combat X-Tac with reasonable aplomb if and when push comes to shove. That said, a gun’s a gun and I’m no ballistic or firearm snob. Not to mention the fact that a gun isn’t the most important part of a gunfight. Still, the 1911 is far from obsolete. You may disagree, but what bad guy’s gonna argue the point at the point of a gun?

3. 1911’s are cool

This is Nick’s big deal. He reckons there’s nothing cooler than a 1911, handgun-wise. I agree. The pistol’s design is drop-dead sexy (literally). The ancient pistol — delivered unto us by John Moses Browning – has a direct and illustrious bloodline. But it’s way more than that.

Like the Smith & Wesson 4″ 686, my choice for open carry, or a well-sorted lever gun, my choice for hunting, the 1911, my choice for self-defense, isn’t a gun. The 1911 is quintessential gun. It has “the essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form.” Ranging further afield for a suitable comparison, the 1911 is like a Steinway piano, an Oreo cookie, a Patek Phillipe Calatrava or a Land Rover Range Rover. Instantly recognizable. Completely unforgettable. Amendable to only the slightest change or evolution.

One last thing: those of you who scoff at the idea of paying $3250 for a gun — any gun — I understand completely. No one needs a gun that costs that much. Guns that cost a fraction of the price can do the exact same job (and some even look as good). Think of what else you could buy for three grand in the hand! But if I gave you a Wilson, Cabot or similar 1911 to shoot and carry for a week, I bet you’d want to keep it. And if you kept it you’d want to carry it. Wouldn’t you?

The post Three Reasons I Carry A 1911 appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Written by Joel Kolander. Republished from rockislandauctions.com:

Demons, tormented spirits, poltergeists, devils, and Death himself are not uncommon characters this time of year. Nor are they uncommon on this set of percussion pistols crafted by renowned Parisian gunmaker Jean-Louis Francois Devisme, who made some of the world’s most artistic firearms for royalty, wealthy members of society, government officials, and high ranking military men.  Famous for his artistic talents, Devisme set the European gunmaking scene on fire, earning an Honorable Mention at the 1834 Exhibition, silver medals at the 1839 & 1841 Exhibitions, and numerous other medals at the  Expositions Universelles in years 1844, 1849, 1851, 1855, 1862, and 1867.  For over three decades he not only competed at the top of his art, but won regularly.  He accomplished this with meticulously crafted arms such as this immaculately crafted pair . . .

With so much detail appearing on these pistols, it is difficult to know where to begin, but beginning at one tip and ending at the other seems as good a method as any.  Let us begin with the buttcap: a superbly designed slab of silver that reflects a horned demon’s face flanked on two sides by humans that appear to be growing from flowers.  On the bottom is a monkey or dog-faced creature’s head hanging from a chain, and on the top is a bearded, crowned face with horns.  The picture at left is quite deceiving and makes the sculpture appear quite flat.  In person, it is quite a shock to see the center face protruding from the two men “holding” it by nearly an inch! The ebony stock is fluted and the areas framed by the flutes are smothered in berry laden vines, giving the appearance that the fluted areas are making a cage of sorts that contain a grip filled with vines.  Well, at least at first glance.  Upon a closer look, the vines on the sides contain the faces of demons’ with protruding tongues, and the “backstrap” area has vines that form the head of a mythological griffin.

The trigger guards of these pistols are shown in detail in this article’s first photograph.  Made of silver, these patterns are some of the most unique on the entire pistol.  On it are demonic faces with a bugler blowing into a horn that splits into two bells, and atop those split bugles is a demon whose horns curl into the bells of the bugles.  Extending toward the barrel, the ornamentation continues with a large devil or satyr holding two torches, the smoke of which forms the head of a beast.

The silver side plate also requires a second glance.  Initially appearing to be a grotesque face, flanked by vines and crests with more vines leading into its mouth, a second look at the incredible detail of these pistols reveals a much more interesting rendering.  The head in the center is flanked on each side by a nude, winged female form donning a sort of period headwear.  Typically we think of winged human figures as angels, but traditionally angels are depicted as male.  Also, in a true glimpse of the macabre, these angels’ heads appear to be separated from their bodies.  Whether the thin strands of silver connecting their bodies to their head are meant to be elongated, whimsical necks, strands of hair, or even their spine or innards cannot be determined, but one thing is for certain.  If that strand is to be part of these “angels'” anatomy or hair, then the “vines” leading into the mouth of that devilish face are no longer vines – the face is eating them!  Contrasting heavily with this potentially disturbing imagery are flowers and one snail on each side of the mount.

Perhaps not coincidentally, all of these dark symbols and characters do not appear on the guns when they are sitting in their case..  Nor would they show on the outside of the gun if taken from the case, assuming the each hand grabs the handle closest to it.  These sinister scenes would only be seen by the person bearing the pistol.  The rest of the pistol, while extravagant and elaborately covered with presentation grade chisel work, gives no clue to said scenes.  The silver lock plate, facing out is beautiful and smothered in engravings of leaves, flowers, berries, and vines.  This motif continues to the hammer, barrel, barrel tang, and bolster.  The top flat of the octagonal barrel has highly ornate text that reads, “DEVISME A PARIS” which is so decorative it threatens to be unreadable without some effort expended by the reader.  Even the barrel wedge is carved and surrounded by an engraved escutcheon.  These are truly masterpiece firearms on par, and reminiscent of, the LePage shotgun sold by Rock Island Auction in May 2014.

The case is also stunning, with its beautiful high polished and beautifully grained wood, forest green velvet-type lining with, “DEVISME A PARIS” embossed in gold lettering.  What is not lined in green fabric is covered in a leather of the same shade with gold embossed floral vines.  Brass hardware is used throughout.  The tools are equally exceptional, with even the percussion cap container and its screw on lid hewn from ebony.  It is difficult to fathom the difficulty encountered when creating the threads for a screw-on lid out of a notoriously hard wood such as ebony.

“DEVISME A PARIS”

Underside of the stock and barrel.

As if the gun weren’t eerie enough in its design, it also has quite an eccentric owner in its provenance – King Farouk of Egypt.  No documentation is present to concretely connect the guns to this famous collector, only our consignor’s assertion that these pistols were purchased from the original buyer of the pistols when King Farouk’s collections were dispersed in 1954 in what is generally recognized the most significant sale of the 20th century.

If you don’t know about King Farouk, here’s the long and short of it.  The British set up an Egyptian monarchy in the 1920s after recognizing Egypt’s independence, and the first king had been Fuad I, a former Sultan of Egypt & Sudan as well as a Sovereign of Nubia, Kurdufan & Darfur. His son, Farouk, succeeded him in 1936 at the tender age of 16. King Farouk, being a young man with unimaginable wealth at his fingertips, did what almost anyone imagines themselves doing in a similar scenario – spending it.  Yes, Farouk lived the lavish life.  He was a noted partier and gambler, though he later become known for his appetite.  Stories exist from his own sister of Farouk eating 600 oysters a week, drinking 30 bottles of soda in a day, and eating caviar straight from the can.  It was no wonder he was called by some, “a stomach with a head.”  Of course all this gluttonous behavior led to the monarch’s weight to balloon past 300 pounds.

“Farouk the Foolish” in his slimmer days.

“Farouk the Foolish” was also known for such eccentricities as painting the military jeeps in his escort the same color red as his 1947 Bentley Mark VI, and then issuing a decree that no other cars could bear that hue.  He was kleptomaniac, once picking the pocketwatch of a visiting Winston Churchill while they sat next to each other at dinner.  The watch had been a gift from Queen Anne to his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim, so Churchill was quite relieved when Farouk “found” it.  In another telling tale, Farouk once had nightmares where lions chased and attacked him, so he did what any normal person would do.  He went to the Cairo Zoo and shot two lions while they were in their cage.  Time magazine even wrote about it.

His lavish lifestyle would be tolerated for many years.  However, sentiment soured against the monarch for such actions as leaving his palace lights on during blackouts during World War II, writing a letter to Hitler welcoming his invasion of Egypt, believing the German presence to be favorable to the British, shamefully losing in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, and generally corrupt & ineffective leadership.  By July of 1952 Farouk had been ousted by members of his own military in a coup that saw him abdicate and exiled to Monaco, while his infant son Fuad II was proclaimed king.

After his exile, many of Farouk’s belongings were auctioned off in a legendary sale.  He possessed the 94-carat Star of the East diamond and other large gems, cars, clothes, jewelry, antiquities, art, medals, sculptures, a coin collection that numismatists still speak of with reverence, and of course, masterpiece firearms.  The cased pistol set in this article is said to have sold in this storied auction and was then sold directly to our consignor decades later by the original buyer.  We can offer no documentation of this other than the marking on the trigger guard tang that our consignor states is the mark of the “Collection of King Farouk.”

Guns don’t come much more ghoulish that this one.  It can be easy to forget after hearing some of the humorous stories about King Farouk, but let us not forget the rather ominous decorations on this gun.  Each likeness was carefully chosen as it was worked into the metal and the ebony.  These were not carelessly sketched onto paper or thrown upon canvas.  These are notoriously difficult mediums in which to work, and the artistry shown here reflects days of careful attention and deliberate choice.  After looking at the guns, one can’t help but ask, “Why?”  Why would Devisme craft such dark and haunting art?  Was it commissioned for someone special?  If so, who was this person and what was their obsession with demonic symbolism?  Was this just a bored artist looking for something to create that would titillate the Victorian Era social circles?  Were they actually created as dueling pistols meant to intimidate the other dueling party upon presentation?  Without further research these questions may remain unanswered, but one thing is certain.  They are an unquestionably suitable and magnificent pistol set to read about on Halloween.

SOURCES:

Haag, Michael. Egypt. Northampton, MA: Cadogan Guides USA, 2010. Print.

The post Devilish Devisme Pistols appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Wilson Combat should have created a new brand for their range of Beretta 92 parts and full-zoot 92 models. As marketing maven Al Reis will tell you, the tighter the brand, the more powerful it is. Brand extensions – such as Diet Coke destroyer Coke Zero and Wilson’s Beretta-oriented move away from 1911s – create short-term gain, long-term pain. Brand partnerships – such as Febreeze-infused Tide and the new Beretta/Wilson 92G Brigadier Tactical – can dilute both brands. None of which changes the fact that Beretta/Wilson’s new $1195 gun is, as Carlsberg beer drinkers might put it, probably the best Beretta 92 in the world. According to the press release, the gat’s got . . .

steel ambidextrous decocker-only levers (G model), enhanced Brigadier slide, a modified M9A1 style checkered frame with accessory rail and rounded trigger guard. This model also features enhanced accuracy with an “Elite” style match grade stainless barrel with recessed target crown, the action features a “D” hammer spring for lighter trigger pulls, and Trijicon dovetail tritium front sight and Wilson Combat rear sight. Wilson Combat G-10 grips, Wilson Combat steel guide rod and numerous other features to enhance performance.

And we know a man who has one! Full review to follow.

The post New from Wilson Combat: Beretta/Wilson 92G Brigadier Tactical appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Hitting distributor shelves now is the slimmest .380 ACP pistol on the market, the Beretta Pico. At its widest point — across the ambi mag release paddle — my caliper pegs it at 18.5mm (0.728″), while the rest of the lilliputian pocket gun comes in at or under 18mm. Despite the tiny dimensions and the light 11.5 oz weight, which includes an empty magazine, the Pico is rated for +P ammo just like its older and slight larger 9mm brother, the Nano. Of course, making the smallest pistol out there can require compromises, and my Pico did experience some growing pains…

In The Box

The Pico comes nicely equipped with two magazines — one flush-fitting and one with a finger extension — inside of a handy little day planner-sized case. Two zipper pulls means you can “lock” this case, although it’s soft-sided so wouldn’t work for airline travel.

CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Also inside the cardboard outer box are your standard gun lock, owner’s manual, and warranty info.

Build

While plenty of .380 ACP pistols use straight blowback actions and fixed barrels, the Pico has a Browning-style tilt barrel recoil action with the chamber hood locking into the slide. Beretta says it has minimal barrel tilt to reduce felt recoil.

On the Pico, if it isn’t polymer it’s stainless steel (Inox) — barrel, slide, magazines, slide catch, guide rod. Machining and apparent parts quality are exceptional. Fit and finish is flawless.

Dual recoil springs — one nesting inside of the other — ride on that solid guide rod.

The part with the serial number, hammer, trigger, and slide rails in the photograph above is actually the “firearm” for government purposes. Beretta calls it the “chassis,” and it pops right out of the frame like it does on the Nano. This means that the grip frame is nothing more than a piece of plastic. It can be sent right to your door and will likely cost $20-$30 on its own. Not only will Beretta offer Pico frames in various colors, as it does for the Nano, but it will be releasing frames with integrated lasers and such as well.

I’m actually a huge fan of this serialized internal chassis modularity thing. Although no company has fully taken advantage of it yet (other than perhaps SIG SAUER), this sort of system could result in one “firearm” being used in myriad chassis and calibers, from sub-compact to full size pistol chassis, carbine chassis, etc. In the case of the Pico, though, you’re basically limited to .380 or smaller calibers as the magazine slides up through the chassis between the trigger bars.

Additionally, the modularity gives you free reign to experiment with stippling and other grip frame modification. Mess up? You ruined a $24 piece of plastic. Not an entire firearm.

To disassemble the Pico, you simply rotate the takedown pin 90 degrees counterclockwise and the slide pops forwards and comes right off. Rotating the pin can be done with the baseplate of the flush fitting magazine, a cartridge rim, coin, etc.

Once the slide is off the frame, the guide rod, springs, and barrel come out like you’d expect. When putting the Pico back together, make sure the takedown pin is rotated properly and then just pull the slide back onto the frame. The pin rotates itself back into the locked position.

To remove the chassis, simply pop the takedown pin out the right side of the frame and then push/pull up on the front of the chassis.

An internal hammer is not uncommon in this class of firearm — LCP, LC9, TCP, BodyGuard, Kel-Tec, NAA, etc all feature an internal hammer — but a true double action trigger actually is. Double action meaning that the slide does not have to move at all in order to reset something inside. Pulling the trigger fully cocks and releases the hammer, and will do that over and over again without the slide moving. I appreciate this, as it seems like the logical choice for a pistol that’s designed to have a long trigger pull anyway. Actually, whether internal hammer-fired or striker-fired, if it has a long trigger pull, it may as well be true double action in my mind. Of course, some models engineer a lighter trigger pull by using the slide to cock or partially cock a spring, leaving less work for the trigger itself.

In case you hadn’t already noticed, it’s possible that the Pico has the largest extractor ever.

Controls

Like the Nano, the Pico is designed to be as slick and snag-free as possible. The ambidextrous, trigger guard-located, paddle-style magazine release (think HK) is the only thing just ever so slightly wider than the frame and widest part of the slide.

Magazines dropped free and clicked in very smoothly, but I found the paddle hard to activate with my strong hand thumb, middle finger, or index finger. The grip is just so darn small that the magazine release is awkwardly close to my palm. It was easier to pinch the paddle between my support hand index finger and thumb and pull down, popping the magazine right out into my support hand. Works great for those “tactical reloads.”

The only other external control is a really sleek slide catch. It wasn’t easy to use it for manually locking the slide back — some of this was also due to the extremely stiff recoil springs (more on that later) — but worked better than I expected as a release.

Sights

A pair of legitimate, 3-dot sights grace the Pico’s slide. They’re fairly short and smooth to inhibit any sort of snagging, but they’re real sights, which is something not found on many pocket pistols.

Both sights are dovetailed in place. Instead of friction from a really tight fit holding them still, however, each sight uses a set screw for that purpose. This makes the sights extremely easy for the end user to adjust and/or replace. The rear sight can be drifted for windage, while the front sight could be replaced with a shorter or taller one to adjust for elevation, and both can obviously be replaced with Tritium, fiber optic or other styles (pending availability) without requiring a gunsmith or special tools.

Magazines

Two stainless steel magazines come with the Pico, both holding 6 rounds of .380 ACP.

One is flush-fitting:

And the other has a finger extension:

I could see angling out the magwell a little more, but inserting magazines was smooth and easy and they snick into place nicely.

Trigger

Hooray for metal triggers. At least, that’s my preference and the Pico’s is nice and rounded with no silly blade “safety” thing. Quite comfortable.

Unfortunately, any praise for the trigger is going to end right there. First, let me say that I’m okay with a long, heavy pull on a self defense pistol that has no safety. Actually, it’s my preference and one specific reason I chose Beretta’s Nano as my EDC. Where the Pico’s trigger falls short is…

It’s somewhat gritty during the pull stroke and then gets grittier before suddenly stacking at the end. The break itself is clean, though, and it has a bare minimum of over-travel.

But it’s the back of the trigger guard that stops it. This in itself isn’t a problem, but the tiny dimensions of the Pico made it a small-ish issue for me and for a couple other gentlemen who shot the gun. Your trigger finger ends up so close to your palm at the back of the pull that it’s awkward and even slightly difficult to get it back there. Especially for those with larger hands, proper pad-of-finger-on-trigger placement may have to be modified so you can physically move your finger back to where it breaks. The trigger, not your finger. Ideally.

There is no reset of which to speak. Well, yeah, the trigger resets of course, but you can’t feel it or hear it when wearing ear protection. Just know that it’s all of the way at the front of the trigger’s travel, so you really have to lift your finger off the trigger to make sure you’ve let it out fully.

Like I said, long and heavy I’m cool with on a gun like this. But ~12.25 lbs is a bit excessive. I measured it a number of times and it varied between 12 and 13 lbs., clustering mostly toward the low end of that range. Some triggers nail the same fraction of a pound over and over ad nauseam, but this isn’t one of them.

Ergonomics

As mentioned above, the extremely small size of the grip has some drawbacks for adults with adult-sized hands. The length of pull (distance from backstrap to trigger) is really short. The Pico’s slimmest-on-the-market width makes maximizing contact area difficult.

That said, the grip itself is comfortable and the pistol does recoil quite softly considering its size and weight. No controllability issues at all shooting it with the flush-fitting magazine, despite insufficient room on the front strap for three fingers. I could go for some more grip texture, which is another big thumbs up for the Pico’s low consequences for experimenting with stippling.

The slide, however, is a sore point. Not only is it incredibly stiff to rack and manipulate — mostly due to the combined power of the dual recoil springs but also due to the fact that cycling the slide cocks the hammer as well — but such a small pistol doesn’t offer much in the way of gripping surfaces to help. The serrations on each side of the slide are very short in height and quite shallow. While many pistols these days are going overboard with slide serrations, as much for aggressive “tactical” aesthetics as function, on the Pico they’re actually really needed. The serrations on this gun should be at least twice as tall as they are. And they may as well serrate that surf board of an extractor on the right side as well.

Considering the spring tension and the lack of grip surface, there’s no way anyone who lacks strong hands will be able to manipulate the gun. Then again, those with strong hands will likely find them a bit too large to have an easy time holding the slide back against the spring tension while pushing up on the very-close-to-your-palm, flush slide catch. The first time I tried to lock the slide back manually I almost slammed the muzzle of the pistol through the top of my FFL’s glass display case.

Reliability

I’m deviating from my normal review categories order here because I suffered reliability problems that I believe were associated with the very stiff spring tension just mentioned. With three brands of standard pressure ammo (Blazer Brass, PPU, and Fiocchi) I had consistent failures to eject. I also ran a few magazines of Federal Hydra-Shok through the Pico and, while not actually +P ammo, it is hotter than the other brands. These mags ran fine.

It was my conclusion that the slide was not reciprocating back far enough for the empty case to contact the ejector, or at least it doesn’t contact it hard enough to pop it out of the [Tera] extractor’s grasp. A full magazine exacerbated the problem, as the top round’s pressure on the bottom of the slide further inhibited its rearward motion (the steep ramp on the bottom of the slide doesn’t help).

The result were regular FTEs — at least once every couple of magazines — that left the empty brass trapped between the breech face and the chamber hood. A few times it actually rechambered the case, but usually the upwards pressure from the next round in the magazine caused what you see above. Had I taken a photo of each of the dozens of these incidents, they would be basically indistinguishable from each other.

I left the slide locked back and the magazines fully loaded for a week between shooting sessions, thinking the springs might take a bit of a “set,” but it had no effect. Nor did 200 rounds of break-in along with manually cycling the slide maybe 100 times or so. This same stoppage was still a very regular occurrence.

Considering my estimation of the root cause and the Pico’s +P rating, I chose to remove the softer, inner recoil spring. With only the main recoil spring installed, the slide tension felt more normal. More in-line with the Pico’s peers. The pistol ran with 100% reliability for me for the next 100 rounds. It still fed with authority — whether dropping the slide with the slide catch, “sling shotting” it, or even guiding it forwards slowly for testing purposes (it fed and chambered smoothly) — and successful ejection was more consistent than before. Distance and direction of ejection were completely normal, and I’m confident in the pistol’s reliability now with this setup.

Beretta is sending me another Pico to check out, as it should apparently run reliably with any standard ammo in its factory configuration. I’ll update this review one way or the other. Personally, I don’t think it’s asking too much of the consumer or unreasonable from a design perspective to say something like, “run both recoil springs for +P ammo and use and only the outer spring for standard pressure ammo.” Of course, I understand why manufacturers avoid those sorts of scenarios.

Accuracy

Five-shot accuracy groups from a sandbag rest at 7 yards:

On The Range

Many of these tiny guns can really beat you up, but the Pico is decently pleasant to shoot. The recoil action (rather than straight blowback) softens felt recoil and there are no sharp edges or protrusions to rub you the wrong way. The sights are clear and easy to pick up.

I think it’s safe to say that many shooters are going to have to acclimate themselves to the small grip, short distance to the trigger, and the long, heavy, and sub-par trigger pull. Running around on the range, I’m not as accurate with this pistol as with some of its peers due to the trigger.

Even with the “extra” recoil spring removed, the Pico would benefit from more serration surface area on the slide.

Conclusions

The Pico is very well made. Parts quality, machining, fit and finish are all excellent. Concealability is as good as it gets. Value is pretty decent, too, as it looks like they’ll be regularly sold at retail in the $330 to $370 range.

Diet Coke, Pico, Galaxy S4

It may run flawlessly right out of the box with more powerful, defensive ammo. That is, of course, what the gun is designed for. However, I had to make a small modification to mine to get it to run standard ammo. We’ll see if the second Pico is any different.

Specifications: Beretta Pico

Caliber: .380 ACP (barrel swap to run .32 ACP)
Capacity: 6+1
Barrel Length: 2.7″
Overall Length: 5.1″
Height: 3.94″
Width: 0.725″ (18mm)
Weight: 11.5 oz with unloaded magazine
Sights: 3-Dot
Trigger: Double Action Only (DAO). 12.25 lbs as tested
MSRP: $398 (I have seen retailers list it for as low as $325 thus far)

Ratings (Out of Five Stars): 

Accuracy: * * * 
A bit better than average for me from a rest, but a bit worse than average on the range.

Ergonomics: * * * 
With any micro pistol there are going to be concessions here. The Pico excels in concealability and carry ergonomics — rounded corners, nothing poky or rough — but is hurt by the difficult-to-rack slide with little gripping assistance and the short trigger reach.

Reliability: * * * 
I’m confident that the pistol will continue to run with 100% reliability for me more or less indefinitely now that the “extra” recoil spring has been removed. Of course, it didn’t run out of the box or as designed. An “average” rating may seem generous, but compared to other mouse guns I actually feel quite solid on the Pico’s ability here.

Trigger: * * 
Not good.

Customize This: * * * * *
I love the serialized chassis insert. Even if it’s just theoretical potential at this point, the possibility of different frame sizes, formats, built-in accessories, etc, is great. Plus the near consequence-free stippling freedom and the ability to have multiple frame colors to match your shoes thing. A quick change to .32 ACP is interesting. Easily adjusted and swapped sights is nice as well.

Overall: * * * 1/2
It’s the smallest thing going, and it wins points for that. Quality is great. I believe in the reliability now that the recoil spring power has been resolved. Nice sights. On the negative side is the trigger followed by the ergonomic difficulties associated with racking the slide as well as with the positioning of the trigger, mag release, and slide catch so close to your strong hand palm. I think it’s better than your average .380 mouse gun, though. If it had better slide serrations and/or only had the single recoil spring installed from the factory, it would be a solid 4-star pistol. Add to that a better trigger and it might hit 5-stars.

Size Comparisons

Nano, Pico, Taurus TCP

Nano, Pico, TCP

Pico on TCP

…actually more like 0.72″ on the Pico…

TCP, Pico

TCP, Pico

Pico on Nano

The post Gun Review: Beretta Pico appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Since its announcement at 2011’s SHOT Show, the Ruger LC9 has generated unending complaints about its onerous trigger pull. At the end of July, 2014, the company released a striker-fired version of the LC9, called the LC9s, with the primary selling point being a shorter, lighter, crisper, and in all other ways better trigger. Thanks to a great FFL in my area, Best Buy Surplus, who suggested I borrow one of each model from their stock, I’m able to provide the following side-by-side comparison . . .

First, by way of saying thanks, give Best Buy Surplus a call next time you’re pricing out an online firearm purchase (assuming you aren’t local and can’t just drop by). There’s plenty of stuff on their website and listed by them on GunBroker, but you’ll likely get even better pricing over the phone. They work with multiple distributors so can get just about anything, plus have ~250 or so firearms in stock including lots of police trade-ins and some hard-to-find models. I believe the going rate on LC9s’es is ~$359, and they do have ‘em in stock.

Ruger’s LC9 uses an internal hammer, while the LC9s is striker-fired. Although they likely could have re-engineered the trigger system in the hammer-fired pistol to create a shorter, smoother, lighter pull, I think it’s fair to say that market demand leans towards striker guns in this category of small, polymer framed pistols, and Ruger chose to respond.

The comparison here is on trigger pull. There is really no other substantive difference between these two pistols for the shooter. The only item of note, the only other thing that stands out as being at all different is that the LC9 has a loaded chamber indicator (LCI) “flag” on the top of the slide, and the LC9s does not:

I assume Ruger did away with this once it became impossible to get new pistol models onto California’s roster of not-unsafe handguns approved for sale in the state. Instead of a bar of metal that rises up, the LC9s simply retains the notch in the chamber that the loaded chamber indicator used to fit into, but it now works as a viewing port, allowing the user to see the rim of a cartridge (or not) in the chamber. This is a really minor difference, but is my preference between the two options here. It may be slight, but any physical loaded chamber indicator will impede the round’s progress into the chamber by some degree since it has to push the indicator out of the way at the same time.

Trigger Pull

Let me first say that the trigger pull on the LC9 isn’t as bad as they say, or at least is no longer as bad as it has been historically. I have no idea if Ruger’s made changes to the mechanism, but the trigger on the new production LC9 I borrowed was very smooth. It’s still long and it still stacks at the end, breaking at the rear of the trigger guard and overtraveling the little remaining distance into it. But it isn’t the horrific, gritty trigger a lot of folks talk about. The one I used in the comparison was smooth. It also broke in the same place every time — a consistent, decently clean break. I measured the trigger pull weight at 6.75 lbs.

Both triggers suffer from a near complete lack of an audible or tactile reset. This remains the sole legitimate flaw on the LC9s’ trigger, and it’s a pretty big one in my opinion. I like to ride the trigger reset when I’m shooting, and it really isn’t something you can do on either of these models. They’re both identical in this regard, and they’re both horrible in this regard. You basically have to slap the trigger, because there’s no other way to know if you’ve let it out far enough to reset. Both triggers reset at the extreme front of their travel.

Although I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of the LC9’s trigger, the LC9s‘ trigger is undeniably much better. It only travels rearwards about half the distance, before a clean and crisp break. There is no change in pull weight leading up to the break (no “stacking”), and there is very little overtravel. The trigger stops well ahead of the back of the trigger guard. It’s definitely easier to shoot this trigger rapidly and accurately. Pull weight came in at about 4.8 lbs.

Both triggers are metal, which I like. The LC9s trigger does get a little blade safety a la GLOCK, which the LC9 trigger doesn’t.

The video at top has close-up, slow trigger pulls and resets so you can see the difference in travel length, break, and reset distance with your own eyes.

Conclusions

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruger phased out the LC9 completely. Considering it has an internal hammer so it cannot be manipulated manually, and it isn’t a true double action in that the slide does have to cycle in order to reset the system, I can’t think of one reason whatsoever why anybody would want the hammer-fired model over the striker-fired one. The trigger on the striker gun is simply better in every way in which they differ.

Both guns require a couple more steps to field strip than the norm, but the striker gun does add the need to pull the trigger first. As both pistols have magazine disconnect safeties (trigger will not pull unless a magazine is inserted), the LC9s actually ships with a dummy magazine. This way dummies can insert it in order to pull the trigger while reducing the likelihood of having an ND. I guess.

Ratings

The LC9s wins. I’d expect the LC9 to go the way of the Dodo.

The post Gun Comparison: Ruger LC9 vs. LC9s appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

TTAG reader Andy Walker writes:

I’m a resident of South Carolina. In the run up to midterm elections my governor was all over the state drumming up support. Governor Haley happened to be stopping in my town on a Sunday afternoon. Even though I’m not involved in politics, I figured it was worth my time to go check it out and see what it was like since I support Haley and her positive 2A stance. Since it was getting cooler, I thought it’d be a good chance to wear the 1911 that had been neglected most of the summer. So I threw on jeans, a leather/kydex hybrid, and a light jacket. The “event” was in the lobby of a Holiday Inn. I got there a half hour early, saw a few local cops and a few dozen people in the lobby. Checked the entry was for SC’s very specific no CC sign. None to be seen . . .

A while later, she arrives, few local cops keeping an eye out. Her head of security has his head on a swivel. All is normal. I got to watch her speak from about eight yards away. After she spoke for 10 minutes, there was an opportunity for signatures and pictures. So I took the chance and got my picture with her. Then I thanked her for signing restaurant carry and went about my normal day.

I was able to touch a sitting state governor while carrying a concealed weapon. With zero problems. There wasn’t a lack of security, but there also wasn’t a violation of my rights. No one bothered me, looked at me crazy, or even noticed. My gun didn’t jump out of its holster to attack her. Overall, a perfect CC story.

Unrelated, I also got to ask my county sheriff if he would sign NFA paperwork. After his long-winded (and bullshit) explanation as to why he would not, I told him that was what I had heard, but wanted to confirm. Then I nicely informed him I had already created a trust and was patiently awaiting ATF approval.

The post OMG! A Concealed Firearm Next to Governor Haley! OMG! appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

I’m not a fan of the MAC-10 style handgun. It’s not my speed, and with the improvements that have come in the nearly 50 years since it was first developed, the design has become decidedly outdated. Nevertheless, the guys at MasterPiece Arms say the guns keep flying off the shelves, and there’s something to be said for the modular nature of their product. Building off of that modularity, MPA is releasing a new line of firearms specifically designed to easily swap from one caliber to another. And it looks like they may have finally introduced an improved grip style as well. Presser after the jump . . .

Comer, Ga. – (November 2014) – MasterPiece Arms (MPA), manufacturers of the MPA MAC Line of semi-auto pistols, carbines, suppressors and MPAR Rifles, proudly announces the MPA30DMG, the first “multi caliber” pistol from the new DMG (Defender, Machined, Grip) Series. This 9mm pistol is based on the 30sst, but includes a fully machined aluminum pistol grip. The DMG series grip is MPA’s most ergonomically designed grip system allowing the ability to change calibers by changing the grip housing, bolt and barrel (depending upon the caliber).

The 30DMG ships as a 9mm, using a GLOCK® style magazine; however, by changing out the grip housing, bolt and barrel, other calibers can be fired using this modular system. Additional calibers in 5.7x28mm, 9mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG kits will be available. MPA is working on adding the .45 ACP as a possible caliber and plan to have it developed potentially by SHOT Show 2015.

The MPA30DMG also includes additional upgraded features, such as adjustable front and rear sights, L-Bracket with QD plate for single point sling system and a Cerakote Flat Dark Earth coating. It is also available in Black, Gunmetal, Tungsten and Burnt Bronze Cerakote finishes. The pistol is further equipped with a side cocker, scope mount, lower Picatinny rail for flashlight or laser systems, hammer with disconnect (plus original hammer) and comes in an MPA polymer case.

MPA30DMG Specifications:
Caliber: Ships in 9mm (additional calibers to become available)
Barrel Length: 5.5″
Weight: 58 oz.
MSRP: $679.99

For more information on MasterPiece Arms and their product line of pistols, rifles, carbines and suppressors, visit www.masterpiecearms.com.

The post MasterPiece Arms Releases New DMG Series Handguns appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Ruger’s lightweight snubbie, the LCR is known for having one of the sweetest stock triggers in revolverdom. Last year, they added a model with an external hammer – the LCRx – for those who really want to shoot single action. Now they’ve taken the LCRx and gone long, intro’ing a +P version with a 3-inch barrel, adjustable sights and a full-length Hogue grip (MSRP $529). It’s definitely packable, but would make a nice home defense gun, no? Press release after the jump . . .

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) announces the introduction of the LCRx™ with a 3-inch barrel, the newest variation of the revolutionary Lightweight Compact Revolver (LCR®). Chambered in .38 Special +P, this LCRx features an exposed hammer that allows it to be fired in either double-action or single-action mode.

“The newest LCRx is the perfect revolver for backpacking, concealed carry, home defense, or just plinking,” said Chris Killoy, Ruger President and Chief Operating Officer. “The 3-inch barrel, adjustable sight and modest weight create a great all-around gun.”

This latest addition to the LCR line maintains all the features of the original LCR, including a uniquely engineered double-action trigger pull and patented Ruger friction-reducing cam fire control system. The double-action trigger pull force on the LCR builds gradually and peaks later in the trigger stroke, resulting in better control and a trigger pull that feels much lighter than it actually is. The LCRx also incorporates crisp single-action functionality for precise shooting.

The LCRx rear sight is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation, and the full-length Hogue® Tamer™ Grip without finger grooves makes for comfortable shooting. The LCR chambered in .38 Special +P has three main components: a polymer fire control housing, an aerospace grade aluminum monolithic frame, and an extensively fluted stainless steel cylinder. When it was originally introduced, the Ruger LCR revolver was one of the most significant new revolver designs in over a century, and it has since been awarded three patents.

In addition to the recently introduced 9mm model, the Ruger LCR is available in .38 Spl +P, .357 Mag., .22 WMR and .22 LR double-action-only models. The exposed hammer LCRx is available in .38 Spl +P. All LCR models feature replaceable ramp front sights with white bar and some models feature a laser-sighting system from Crimson Trace®.

For more information on the Ruger LCRx with 3-inch barrel, or to learn about the extensive line of award-winning Ruger firearms, visit Ruger.com orFacebook.com/Ruger To find accessories for Ruger firearms, visitShopRuger.com.

The post New From Sturm Ruger: LCRx With 3″ Barrel appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Press release from the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs:

The New Jersey Attorney General has issued a legally-mandated report to the Governor and the Legislature finding that the Armatix iP1 handgun does not qualify as a “smart gun” under New Jersey’s 2002 smart gun law. Read the Attorney General’s report here. The report includes the following statement . . .

After careful consideration of the iP1’s design, we have determined that it does not satisfy the statutory definition because, as a matter of design, the pistol may be fired by a person who is not an authorized or recognized user. That is, as long as the pistol is situated within 10 inches of the enabling wristwatch, it may be fired by anyone – the authorized user or any other person who is able to pull the trigger. While the system does incorporate a PIN code or a timer to disable the handgun, when the weapon is enabled, there is nothing in the technology which automatically limits its operational use so that it may only be fired by an authorized or recognized user (so long as the pistol is within a 10-inch proximity to the wristwatch component).

Situations may readily be envisioned in which an unauthorized individual gains access to the pistol in close enough proximity to the wristwatch component (by either maintaining possession of the pistol within 10 inches of the authorized user’s wrist on which he or she is wearing the watch, or by forcibly taking possession of the wristwatch), and therefore would be able to fire the weapon, despite the limiting technology. Accordingly, we are unable to conclude that the iP1 design meets all the elements of New Jersey’s statutory definition of a personalized handgun under N.J.S.2C:39-1(dd), and therefore its availability for retail sales purposes will not trigger the operation of N.J.S.2C:58-2.4 (requiring the promulgation of a list of personalized handguns) and N.J.S.2C:58-2.5 (prohibiting the sale of non-personalized handguns).

The report was likely issued in connection with pending litigation in which the Brady Center has tried to force the Attorney General to issue a report that would trigger New Jersey’s smart gun law by finding that the Armatix gun satisfied the law.

“New Jersey’s smart-gun law is a dumb as it gets,” said ANJRPC Executive Director Scott Bach. “It forces you to use an unproven technology to defend your life, and then exempts the state from liability when the gun goes ‘click’ instead of ‘bang’. If it’s such a great idea, then law enforcement shouldn’t be exempt, and the free market should be able to determine its viability.  This is a welcome finding by the Attorney General.”

The post BREAKING: NJ AG: Smart Gun Not Smart Enough to Trigger Smart Gun Law appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Watch for RF’s full review of the Smith & Wesson Performance Center 460 XVR coming soon.

To paraphrase Winston Zeddemore from Ghostbusters… “If someone asks you if you want to test their Smith & Wesson Performance Center 460XVR… you say yes!” Accordingly, I got the chance to borrow Smith’s megarevolver and take it out for a spin. Spin as in, it spun my wrist back a full 90 degrees every time I fired it. Now, I know that looks like it hurts, but … surprisingly, it didn’t. I fired round after round of .460 S&W and .454 Casull from the XVR, and the rubber grips really helped absorb the shock. It still terrified me though. Sheesh, that thing packs a punch. I mean… okay, so, generally, if you’re shooting a big-bore powerful handgun . . .

you can develop a flinch which messes with your accuracy, right? As in, right before the trigger breaks, your body involuntarily braces for the shock/impact/flash and that can drag the gun a little off target, right? Well, with the S&W .460 XVR, you might be forgiven if instead of a flinch, your body starts to duck down and cower in terror of what’s about to happen.

Which is to say — there’s a lot of recoil. Also a hellacious amount of noise and flash. I’m well used to the recoil of the mighty .454 Casull from a 7-pound, 6.5″-barrel Raging Judge Magnum, but seriously, the .460 from this smaller handgun is in a whole different class of blowback. The five pounds of the RJM helps it soak up some of the recoil, but the XVR — while still very heavy at nearly 4 pounds — is lighter and is fires a substantially more powerful cartridge. That adds up to some serious kick. Let’s just say there will be no double-tapping from the S&W XVR.

It’s not so much that you’re firing off a bullet, it’s more like you’re setting off a flashbang grenade in your hand. The deafening roar, the incredible flash, and the push in your hand, and the desperate scramble to keep ahold of the revolver, and the stream of profanity that involuntarily erupts — well, let’s just say, you’ve got to try it. (And yes, of course, there’s a liberal dose of hyperbole in here; the recoil is manageable. It’s potent, but how much fun would there be in just clinically describing it as “substantial recoil”?)

In reality, the recoil only looks that bad in super-slow-motion. At full speed, yeah, there’s a kick, but it doesn’t look quite so overwhelming. And I was never overwhelmed by it. I fired dozens of rounds and never lost control. But I can’t say I was making quick follow-up shots either — it does take a while to get the big revolver back on target after firing off a .460 S&W.

One thing that’s fun about the .460 chambering is that it provides for the opportunity to fire several different calibers, going all the way down to the .45 Schofield. I tried each caliber I could fit in the XVR; in terms of recoil, the .45 Schofields were nearly unnoticeable; they felt like a .22LR at most. The .45 Colt had more thump to them, but felt like less recoil than a typical 9mm pocket pistol. The 60-ounce weight of the XVR really helps to soak up the recoil on these rounds.

The .454 Casull, however, kind of grabs you by the throat and yells “HELLO” in your face. And while there’s plenty of bark to the .454 Casull, it pales in comparison to the .460 S&W. Now, on paper, the .460 S&W isn’t THAT much more powerful than the .454 Casull. Using the Hornady Custom as an example, the 240-grain .454 produces 1,920 ft/lbs of energy, and the .460 S&W version produces 2,149 ft/lbs. A noticeable increase, sure, but only on the order of about 12% more. But it sure doesn’t feel like only 12% more. I had no way to objectively measure it, but subjectively, it felt like the recoil was easily twice as much for the .460. The .454 was unquestionably a softer shooting round, the step up to the .460 was a very noticeable step up.

As for fit, finish, and action, the 460XVR is simply exquisite. Coming from the S&W Performance Center, the 460XVR represents its brand very well indeed. The double-action trigger is slick as melted butter; compared to my Raging Judge it’s like comparing a Maserati against a rusty old pickup. Not that I don’t love the rusty old pickup, I do, but there are very good reasons why this powerful XVR revolver costs over twice as much. As Ferris Bueller would say, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”

As part of my evaluation, I did a ballistic gel test using the Hornady Custom 200-grain FTX ammo. Why did I choose this particular round? Well, basically, because no store in town carried any .460 S&W ammo at all, and the largest superstore (half an hour out of town) had only two types of .460 in stock: the Hornady Custom, and an Underwood loading of the 300-grain XTP bullet. And since I’d previously tested the XTP in .454 Casull from the RJM and found the bullet to basically disintegrate at those velocities, I wasn’t really all that interested in testing it from an even-more-powerful gun (what would it do, vaporize?) so I went with the FTX load.

The FTX is a light-for-caliber load, traveling at a rifle-class velocity of 2,200 fps. Or so it says on the box; I couldn’t get any valid chronograph readings. My chrono was constantly spitting out “Err” or unreasonably high numbers like 3,220 and 3,236 fps. I know there’s no way this round was exceeding 3,000 fps, so I just chalk it up to the chrono being confused by the shock wave and/or the muzzle flash and/or the shearing of atoms and bending of gravity that this .460 S&W round seemed to do.

So, unfortunately, I have no chrono readings for you; I tried firing from several different distances and just couldn’t get reliable readings that I trust. I also tried the Underwood load, and the chrono claimed 2,873 fps — which is still totally unrealistic; the Underwood ammo is rated at 1,750 fps right on the box. Interestingly, I tried some .454 Casull ammo (the aforementioned Hornady Custom in 240-grain XTP weight) and those clocked in at an average of 1,658 fps, which is entirely reasonable and proper. Those same bullets do about 1,860 fps from my RJM, which has a 6.5″ barrel, so I would find 1,658 to be reasonable for a 3.5″ barrel revolver. I have no explanation as to why I was able to successfully chrono the .454 but was unable to successfully chrono the .460. While I was at it, I also fired some 180-grain .45 Schofields (520 fps) and 225-grain .45 Colts (829 fps Winchester SilverTips).

Chrono or no, the results in the gel block were entertaining and horrifying at the same time. I don’t know who out there may recall the boxing showdown between undefeated heavyweight champion Michael Spinks and undefeated challenger Mike Tyson (tagline: “Somebody’s 0 Has Got To Go) but… the thrashing that Tyson put on Spinks was about as one-sided and overwhelming as what the .460 S&W did to the gel block. Watch the video to see that poor gel block get totally mutilated and nearly split in half. The level of destruction was on par with what I’ve previously encountered when testing 12-gauge shotgun slugs. The overall penetration wasn’t overly deep at 15.50″, but the amount of devastation throughout the block looked more like something from a rifle rather than a handgun round.

I wish I would have had the opportunity to test a hardcast bullet from the XVR, but there were none available. I have no doubt that a hardcast round would have traveled at least four feet through gel. I don’t think I would recommend the Hornady Custom as a bear-defense load (or for use against other large dangerous animals like a moose or elk) but with the appropriate hardcast bullet, I have no doubt that the XVR would make a comforting companion when hiking in the woods.

In summary, the S&W 460XVR is powerful, versatile, flexible, expensive, and heavy. And very, very fun.

The post ShootingTheBull410 Previews the Smith & Wesson 460 VXR appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

“Do you carry a revolver?” Crossbreed Holsters’ ammoland.com-borne presser asks. “Then you also need to carry extra ammo!” it proclaims, not without reason. “The reduced ammo capacity of revolvers makes it more likely that you’ll need to reload in a hurry, and the best way to do that is by using a speedloader.” I’m thinking New York reload. Anyway . . . “How do you carry one so that it’s both hidden and easy to access? With the CrossBreed Speedloader Case. The case is designed to firmly hold the speedloader centered over the belt for utmost concealability, yet release it instantly into your hand for fast reloading.” As Elvis used to sing, that’s when your heartache begins. In fact, I think it was gun guru John Farnham who said that someone who thinks they can speedload a revolver during a gunfight is the definition of an optimist. What’s your gun-flavored definition of an optimist?

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A month ago I wrapped up the review of Beretta’s new Pico. It’s definitely the slimmest, tiniest .380 out there and I really dig the great sights, the quick and simple takedown, and the fact that only the easily-removable inner chassis is the serialized “firearm.” However, I wasn’t such a fan of the ejection problems I was experiencing. After a call with Beretta USA’s VP of Product Marketing and some further testing, there are some updates, tech notes, and best practices that I wanted to share here (some have subsequently been added to the owner’s manual), as I have experienced zero stoppages since . . .

Yes, that’s grip tape. It’s awesome.

Conclusion Up Top

Considering there is no SAAMI spec for .380 +P, I’m a bit surprised that Beretta manufactured a pistol that is officially rated to handle it. No question it’s built to do so, though, with the stiff recoil setup, stiff magazine springs, and stout stainless steel slide and takedown pin, etc. This is one little mouse gun through which you can confidently run the hottest “factory” ammo on the market. This “overbuilt” nature is why it definitely performs best, particularly right out of the box, with self-defense ammo that’s loaded a bit hotter than your standard target fare.

The downside to this is that it will likely take a little extra effort to get a Pico to flawlessly run practice ammo, especially if you load it to 6+1. I don’t think only being 100% reliable out of the box when self-defense ammo is used is a big issue for a gun designed specifically for concealed carry self-defense use, but it’s a problem when the consumer purchases it expecting it will flawlessly run cheap practice stuff without any extra effort on his or her part.

I still believe that the pistol is better tuned for standard target ammo by removing the smaller and weaker of the two recoil springs. NOTE: Beretta does not feel this way under any circumstance and you shouldn’t do it. I personally don’t think it’s asking too much of the consumer if Beretta marketed it as having two recoil setups and said something like “run both springs for +P ammo and only the stiffer, outer spring for standard pressure ammo,” but I understand why companies would want to avoid that. And, of course, after taking the steps outlined above below I was left with two Picos that cycled all of the ammo brands I have, every time.

The Problem

After spending hours on The Beretta Forum (plus wherever else Google took me) reading feedback and range reviews from lots of other Pico owners, it was clear that the ejection problems — the slide doesn’t always cycle rearwards enough to eject the spent case — were quite pervasive. Nearly every single instance of this happened with a combination of two things: target ammo as opposed to more powerful self-defense ammo, and when firing the first round in a full magazine or, even more frequently, the first round when loaded 6+1 (full mag plus one in the chamber). Pistols with higher serial numbers seem to do it a lot less, and we’ll discuss why soon.

As you can see — and click any of the photos here to expand them — the “feed strip” on the bottom of the slide does drag on the top round in the magazine. Every pistol does this (the top round in the mag obviously has to pop above the bottom of the breech face so it can be stripped out of the mag and fed into the chamber), but the Pico sees a lot of pressure going on here thanks to a stiffer-than-average magazine spring and a particularly steep ‘ramp’ right behind the breech face. You can see some brass and copper deposits on that ‘ramp’ in the photo above.

When the slide reciprocates rearward, that ramp presses the top round down into the magazine. This is obviously a lot harder when the magazine is full and there’s a corresponding increase in pressure and friction on the bottom of the slide from that top round pressing up against it. You can feel this drag and bump when you rack the slide manually to chamber a round. Most ejection issues were with the Pico loaded to 6+1, less were with 5 in the mag and 1 in the chamber, and none happened when less rounds were in the magazine.

This never happened for me and, at least in the few dozen range reports I read, never happened to other owners when shooting self-defense ammo that’s hotter than your typical plinking/target ammo. It has enough oomph to overcome that initial drag as the slide bumps over the top round. It runs the Pico reliably straight out of the box.

Other contributing factors to the slide sometimes not reciprocating rearwards far enough with target ammo are a particularly stiff recoil spring setup and the fact that the slide cocks the hammer (although it doesn’t stay cocked) as it moves back so it has to overcome the strength of the hammer springs as well.

All of these things and the minimal slide serrations are why you see my Pico sporting an absurd amount of grip tape. I actually did it as a bit of a joke, but once it was on…oh man. Love it! Note to Talon Grips: you guys need to make a full slide + grip frame kit for the Pico! Although, again, one of the cool things about the Pico (and the Nano) is that the frame is just a $20-$30 non-serialized piece of plastic so you really have low consequence, free rein to experiment with stippling and other permanent modification. Anyway…

The Solution

Initial consumer feedback has prompted Beretta to make a few changes during the assembly process. More and/or different lubrication is applied to specific places, most notably under the slide (the entire feed strip length), and the machine(s) that repeatedly cycle every single pistol off the line by racking the slide and pulling the trigger are now doing that racking a bit more vigorously and for a longer amount of time. This gets the pistol closer to “broken-in” and is why end users are having better success with models from after this change, but there are still a couple of things you’ll want to do at home. Well, not at home so much as at the range. Unless you’re lucky enough where that’s the same place. But I digress…

If you can manage to run a full box of the hottest ammo you can find, like Buffalo Bore, Underwood, DoubleTap and the like — and feel free to go “+P” — you’re significantly more likely to then have a Pico in your hands that’s going to run basically any ammo out there. The Pico is a relatively snugly-fit, overbuilt little thing and it enjoys a bit of a break-in.

Lube relatively liberally. Especially on the entire feed strip under the slide with concentration on that ‘ramp’ and back where the hammer contacts. Also lube around the barrel hood and in the slide rails. The owner’s manual now has specific instructions, including photos, for how you should lubricate the outside of the barrel, the feed strip, and the rails. Download the addendum to the manual here.

The new springs do seem to take a bit of a “set.” Locking the slide back on a new Pico, filling the mags to capacity, and leaving it all like this for a few days or a couple weeks makes a noticeable, although minor difference. The cycling action over the course of a couple hundred rounds will break them in for real.

With this stuff accomplished, any stoppages in both Picos I had (one went back to Beretta after testing, the other is pictured here disguised as a skateboard) ceased entirely. Testing consisted of loading the Pico to 6+1, firing 2 rounds, then repeating this for over 125 rounds shooting with both hands and with only strong or weak hand. I ran FMJ target/plinking/practice ammo from Freedom Munitions, Blazer Brass, PPU, and Fiocchi plus just a few more self-defense rounds from Fiocchi (XTP), Federal (Hydra-Shok), and Buffalo Bore (JHP +P) for good measure. No stoppages.

This second Pico got to the fully reliable point faster than the first thanks to a little target practice with some powerful ammo and lubing in the right places a bit more heavily than I usually do.

I have even started carrying it a bit in two of the five or so holsters that Beretta already has available for the Pico:

The post Beretta Pico Update appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

For some reason, I’ve got it in my head to convert my GLOCK 21 to shoot a wide variety of different calibers. Not that .45 ACP isn’t enough, but — well, it’s more a case of “because I can” than anything else, I guess. Last time, I fed this .45 ACP pistol some 9mm. Today I decided to plug the lightning rods into FrankenGLOCK’s neck bolts and resurrect it in a totally different caliber: 10mm . . .

10mm is a substantially more powerful cartridge than .45 ACP. While it’s not quite as big as the .45 ACP (10mm vs. 11.5mm, and about 180 grains vs. about 230) it packs a lot more energy into the cartridge. .45 ACP rounds typically deliver somewhere around 350 to 500 foot/pounds of kinetic energy; the 10mm typically starts at around 530 ft/lbs and climbs up to the 800 ft/lbs. neighborhood.

Converting a GLOCK 21 to 10mm is really rather easy; after all, the G21 is basically a .45 ACP variant of the GLOCK 20, a 10mm pistol. The frame is the same, and (as shown in the prior video) the GLOCK 21’s slide can accomodate barrels made for the G20. So … it’s almost a simple barrel swap to get the Glock 21 to 10mm.

There are a minimum of three things you have to change out to convert the G21 to 10mm: the magazine, the barrel, and the recoil spring. The magazine is the easiest part — just use a stock G20 magazine. Because the Glock 20 and 21 frames are the same, the mag fits perfectly. Note, this is also the same magazine you’d use for .40 S&W, and it’s the same one I used for 9mm.

For a barrel, I chose a Lone Wolf factory replacement barrel for the Glock 20, in stock length.

For the recoil spring, I chose to upgrade it. The slide on the GLOCK 20 is a little heavier than the slide on the 21, and with the 10mm being a more powerful cartridge, it can batter the gun if you don’t attempt to address that. Based on YouTuber MrGunsNGear’s G21->G20 conversion video, I chose a 20 lb. recoil spring from ISMI, and mounted it to a Lone Wolf stainless steel guide rod. The GLOCK 20 actually uses the same guide rod and recoil spring as the GLOCK 21, at 17 lbs., but the slightly heavier slide lets the G20 deal with the recoil a little better. With the lighter slide of the G21, a slightly stiffer recoil spring should help manage the 10mm’s stouter recoil.

I made no change to the extractor or ejector or any other parts. If you want the utmost in reliability, you may want to do so. I tested the pistol for my purposes (ammo testing) and found it to be satisfactorily reliable (i.e., I experienced zero malfunctions). If I was planning on making this a permanent change, I’d modify the extractor.

For testing purposes, I then loaded up the gun with CorBon’s 10mm DPX round, and shot a gel block with and without denim. The results were impressive. Even though this CorBon load is one of the lighter 10mm recipes, it still did fantastically well, with perfect expansion, excellent penetration, and a nicely savage wound cavity.

In the future I will be doing more 10mm tests on some of the more firebreathing rounds out there, but I can say that I was quite pleased with the results of this initial test. Recoil was increased, yes, but it wasn’t bad at all; certainly nothing like the monumental recoil of the S&W .460 XVR! The recoil was on par with a .357 magnum handgun — noticeable, and signficant, but definitely manageable.

Truth be told, I conducted the 10mm ammo testing on the same day that I conducted the .460 XVR testing. And while, yeah, the 10mm is a big boy gun, it was dwarfed by the .460 XVR. After setting off a dozen of those hand grenades, coming back to the 10mm felt like shooting a Red Ryder BB rifle in comparison. So maybe my perspective is a little skewed; maybe I’d have been more impressed by the recoil of the 10mm if I hadn’t dulled my senses on the megabeast revolver first. I’ll try to do a back-to-back recoil video between .45 ACP and 10mm next time I test some 10mm ammo.

I’m really happy with this upgrade. For minimal expense, I’ve added a new cartridge to my repertoire, and substantially upgraded the power of my full-size handgun (not only in terms of power per shot, but also in capacity, since the G20 magazine can accommodate 15 rounds of 10mm, where the Glock 21 can fit only 13 rounds of .45 ACP).

At this point, my GLOCK 21 can fire three of the major service calibers — 9mm, .45 ACP, and 10mm. And, with a simple barrel swap, I could add a few more (.40 S&W and .357 SIG, to name two). Not sure whether I’ll bother with them anytime soon though, as I’ve got my sights set on really ramping up the power game — .50 GI and .460 Rowland are on my wish list, but my next conversion will take this even further than I was planning by converting the GLOCK 21 into a 10mm carbine rifle. Stay tuned.

The post FrankenGLOCK Tales: 10mm From a .45 GLOCK 21 appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

“One procedure that failed in Ferguson was Officer Wilson’s attempt to call for backup. His radio was switched to the wrong channel,” sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com reveals. “But a remarkable technology in California sets help in motion the moment a gun is drawn. Deputy James Wright is a top marksman for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department. He is also one of a dozen deputies now carrying a .9mm pistol, specially equipped with a small tracking module designed to alert headquarters whenever he unholsters or fires the weapon.” Ah yes the smart gun, coming soon to a New Jersey near you. And then nothing else, dumb gun-wise. Meanwhile, in the Golden State things are turning yellow and red . . .

Santa Cruz is one of two departments in the United States now testing the technology. The system is simple. Using the chip in the gun and the officer’s smart phone, it sends a “yellow” alert when an officer draws his gun. And a “red” alert when the weapon is fired . . .

Santa Cruz Sheriff Phil Wowak says the system may save lives. And it will provide a clear record of what happened in any officer-involved shooting.

“This product will give us the ability to know the exact time the officer drew his weapon, the time between the drawing of the weapon and the firing of the weapon, and then the exact time between each individual shot,” said Wowak.

He says this is not about tracking the actions of his officers, or keeping a database on how often one pulls a weapon.

“It really is about knowing when a person is engaged in a hostile confrontation and getting them the assistance they need to make that situation safe.”

Wowak said the gun tracking information will be used to adjust and improve deputies’ training. The police union seems to be on board and the early field results show the system works.

I’m so reassured that police accountability has nothing to do with this. Just as I’m hopeful that the police union won’t stand in the way of the public release of ballistic information after an officer-involved shooting. While we await the results of the trial I sure hope Santa Cruz cops don’t misplace their .9mm smart guns. So easy to do . . . [h/t Pascal]

The post Santa Cruz Cops Trial .9mm Smart Gun appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Never let it be said that the marketing mavens at Ruger let any grass grow under their feet. After the tens of thousands of heaters they no doubt sold on the biggest Black Friday, well, ever, their latest move to goose seasonal sales is limited edition LCPs. And not just any LCPs, either. They’ve whipped up special versions of the the uber-popular .380 pocket guns in fetching purple and blue pastels, perfect for trimming your Christmas tree. Not only have they cranked out a very limited run of just 500 each, but they’re only selling them until the 17th (complete with countdown clock) or until they’re gone. Anyway, we’re sure you know someone who’d love nothing more than finding that Santa left one of these little beauties in their stocking on Christmas morning. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would you?

The post New From Sturm, Ruger: Limited Edition LCPs! appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

In Tacna, Arizona, I saw this fellow openly carrying what appears to be a stainless steel Colt Mustang in .380. He told me he’d served in the Marine Corps, as indicated by the tattoo. He was driving the four-wheeler, which can be licensed for dual use, on and off road, in Arizona, a capability not available in many Eastern states. Notice the folding, lock-back pocket knife clipped in his front right pocket. It’s a snapshot of freedom that has been chipped away in much of America. Only two or three generations ago . . .

the idea that carrying a pocket knife would be illegal would have been considered absurd. Fortunately, Arizona is one of a handful of states that have eliminated most of the niggling little local ordinances that made carrying a pocket knife legally dangerous.

By the same token, the idea that an openly carried firearm would endanger the public would have seemed ludicrous. As Texas considers becoming an open carry state, as gun owners in open carry states wake up to the fact that OC helps protect gun rights, it’s a good idea to thank those that already open carry for exercising their gun rights.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Gun Watch

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Versions of the Jericho have been imported, on and off, for years. Now IWI US will be importing the Jericho in both steel and polymer framed models in all your favorite flavors. Press release after the jump . . .

Harrisburg, Pa. (January 2014) – IWI US, Inc., a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., proudly announce the return of the Jericho® brand of pistols to the U.S. market. The Jericho® 941™, designed specifically for the U.S. market will be available in both steel frame and polymer frame models.

“Ever since the Jericho was launched in 1990 by – IMI, it has been a very popular pistol for civilians and law enforcement, worldwide,” Michael Kassnar, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for IWI US explained. “Since it was originally designed based upon the highly regarded CZ-75 model, the Jericho has been imported into the U.S. under several names including Jericho 941 from KBI when first introduced, UZI Eagle from Mossberg and Magnum Research’s Baby Eagle. We are very pleased that the Jericho 941 has come full circle and arrived home here at IWI US.”

The Jericho 941 steel frame, semi-auto, short-recoil model will be available in full-size and semi-compact in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP caliber. The pistol features adjustable sights, an integral MIL-STD 1913 rail, an ergonomic grooved pistol grip and ships with 2 magazines in a lockable carry case.

The Jericho 941 polymer frame with steel slide, semi-auto, short recoil model is also available in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP calibers in a full-size and semi-compact frame. All features are the same in the polymer version with the benefit of reduced weight.

Unlike the Baby Eagle, UZI Eagle and earlier versions of the Jericho 941 imported by KBI that had a slide mounted de-cocker system, this new Jericho 941 utilizes the more desirable frame mounted safety, a la CZ75. Jericho 941 pistols are used by civilians and elite forces around the world including the Israeli police. IWI US will also carry CO, CT, DC, HI, IL, MD, NJ and NY compliant pistols with 10-round magazines (no models available for CA and MA). The Jericho 941 pistol will be available in early 2015.

The post New(ish) From IWI US: Jericho 941 Pistols appeared first on The Truth About Guns.