For 2015, IWI US is releasing the UZI® PRO and the Jericho 941 to the U.S. market. I had the chance to take them for a quick spin during SHOT Show day at the range, and some initial impressions plus photos follow. . .

For the U.S. market, IWI has relocated the Jericho’s normally slide-mounted safety to the frame, making it even more like the CZ 75 that it’s based on. Anyone familiar with a CZ will be right at home here. It feels, handles, and shoots like a CZ — comfortably and accurately. From my limited time behind the gun, the trigger struck me as being smoother and nicer than any of the new DA/SA CZs I have owned, but it’s possible that this example has a lot of rounds through it and these triggers absolutely smooth out after 500 to 1,000 rounds.

Steel w/ long slide

It looks like IWI US is planning on selling the Jericho in two slide lengths, each available in either steel frame or polymer frame. From the photos I have seen, it appears to be coming in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.

Polymer w/ short slide

As a pistol, I’m not entirely sure I understand the appeal of the UZI. It’s awkward to hold and awkward to shoot.

As a pistol with an SB Tactical brace, okay. Sure. Or as an SBR so you can even shoulder it. It still just seems odd without the giggle switch, really. But it’s an UZI and that’s fun.

The post Test Driving the IWI US UZI Pro & Jericho 941 appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

When you hear the name Turnbull, you immediately think of the beautiful bone pack charcoal finishing process that they seem to have perfected. But you might not be aware that they have a master engraver on staff as well. Turnbull was displaying samples of his work at SHOT Show, and were evening offering an exquisite sample for sale…for a mere $35,000 . . .

Oh, and did I mention they do color case hardening?

The post Turnbull: Keeping the Traditions Alive appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

I know what you’re thinking, and I agree: this thing is ridiculous. Some loadings of the 5.56 cartridge would probably have the tip of the bullet poking out in front of the muzzle. But at SHOT Show, I had the opportunity to pick it up and talk to the guys at Heizer who make the thing, and their reasoning behind the contraption actually made a lot of sense. In their opinion, this gun is perfect for one application and one application only . . .

Throwing massive fireballs into the sky.

Since all of the powder in the cartridge burns outside the barrel, there’s a massive watermelon sized fireball that accompanies each pull of the trigger. The bullet will never accelerate to anything even close to resembling an acceptable velocity — in fact, it might just land on the ground 10 feet away. But target shooting or home defense are not what the guys at Heizer had in mind when they designed it, they just wanted something that would be loud and pretty and make you smile. Which, after all, is why anyone buys a Mosin Nagant M44.

The pricing makes sense as well, if you don’t look at the whole package. As an add-on (the barrels are interchangeable between the 5.56 and .410 version), the barrel is only $130. Which is less than a Mosin Nagant, and the ammo is easier to get as well.

There’s a word for what this thing is: comedy option.

The post Hands-On with the Heizer Defense Pocket AR appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Zach from CZ-USA walked us through some of their new products for 2015, to include the 1911 A1 (and I asked about Dan Wesson’s hand in it), Scorpion Evo 3 S1, 805 Bren PS1, 40th Anniversary CZ 75, and 455 Trainer. We also get a first look at the production version of the 512 Tactical in .22 WMR and in .22 LR, and glimpse at the new Dan Wessons and a few shotguns. Video tour above, and lots of photos follow. . .

CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

I was definitely impressed with the fit and finish on the 1911. It looked and felt great, and was super smooth mechanically. Very good trigger, too.

The Dan Wesson Valkyrie is DW’s new CCO, with a commander-length slide on an officer frame:

Pretty slick hammer, but check out the slide-to-frame fit and the fit of the extractor (if you can see it):

This is the Dan Wesson Silverback in 10mm, and it’s also available in .45. It’s the only factory dual-tone gun in the DW line:

The 512 Tactical puts CZ’s semi-automatic 512 action into a tactical suit provided by ATI. Aluminum handguard, full length top rail, pistol grip, adjustable stock (that I believe is on a commercial-spec AR-15 buffer tube), etc. A threaded barrel makes it suppressor-ready, and it’s available in both .22 LR and .22 WMR. It accepts the same magazines at CZ’s 455 rifles.

Civilian market Brens and Scorpions:

LE-only Bren, complete with additional red dots:

The post CZ-USA SHOT Show 2015 Booth Tour appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Kudos to TTAG’s team for their SHOT Show coverage. While I was out and about signing-up exhibitors for the 2015 Texas Firearms Festival Nick, Joe, Jeremy and Dan were providing the Internet’s best SHOT Show reportage. Which is not to say our colleagues didn’t produce some amazing work. thefirearmsblog.com brought 12 – count ‘em 12 – writers to the Sands. One of the stories they caught that we missed: Colt’s decision to produce a limited run of the world’s coolest carry gun. Yup, Colt’s crafting 2500 1903 pistols. TFB wanted its readers to know that . . .

I should also mention that this will be a very different type of “re-introduction” than befell the Remington Model 51. Curt Wolf, the man running the project, is very much into historical arms, and his new 1903 will be identical to the original 1903 – no polymer, no big modern sights, no change in caliber, etc. That may be a disappointment to some, but it will be a relief to those of us who appreciate the svelte lines and elegant craftsmanship of the Colt 1903.

TFB wonders if Colt will go on to de-limited edition the new old 1903. Let’ just hope the new model is drop-safe.

The post SHOT Show: Colt to Produce Limited Run of 1903 Pistols appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Beretta told me that the Army/DoD absolutely is reviewing Beretta’s ECP, or Engineering Change Proposal, for the M9 service pistol. The hope is that the M9A3 comes close enough to hitting the requirements proposed in the competition for a new MHS, or Modular Handgun System, that the Army and Air Force forgo the project and just stick with the M9 platform. Indeed, the M9A3 does meet ~86% of the MHS targets, and sticking with it would mean saving hundreds of millions of dollars. Here’s a 1-pager on the M9A3, and above is video of the press conference Beretta held at SHOT Show. They also discussed how this is the 100th anniversary of Beretta’s first semi-automatic handgun, the Model 1915 seen after the jump, as well as the 30th anniversary of the M9 becoming the official sidearm of U.S. armed forces. Photos follow. . .

The Model 1915, Beretta’s first semi-automatic pistol. Note the open slide and muzzle design that has carried forward all the way to the newest M9A3 today.

To commemorate 100 years of Beretta pistols, this special Centennial Edition 92 will be sold:

Frame-mounted safety and all.

1301 Tactical with integrated light:

Gabriele DePlano with the M9A3:

The post Beretta Press Conference on M9A3, Modular Handgun System, Anniversaries, etc. appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Gun guru Rob Pincus loves him some “notch and blade” handgun sights. He’s also enamored with the “claw” rear site for a one-handed rack. My EDC GLOCK 19 is so equipped. That said, there’s a lot to be said for the XS Big Dot site. You put the dot on the bad guy and pull the trigger. Then again, I know folks who swear that Heinie Straight Eights are quicker back on target than any other system. Time to call Leghorn for a scientific experiment. (Mr. Pincus rightly recommends testing all EDC sights against moving targets.) Meanwhile, what sights do you carry and what ones don’t you carry (that you’ve tested) and why?

The post Question of the Day: What Sight System Do You Use on Your Self-Defense Handgun? appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

2 injured when gun goes off at Richland Giant Eagle Pennsylvania’s triblive.com headline proclaims. “Two people suffered superficial wounds from what appeared to be pieces of ceramic tile when a gun accidentally discharged as it hit the floor of a Giant Eagle in Richland.” Drop safe much? Apparently not. Then again, I’m not quite sure what to make of this description of gun owner Gerry R. Good’s negligent discharge . . .

When officers arrived, Good immediately told them that it was his gun that fell out of a fanny pack and accidentally went off, the complaint states. The gun is registered to Good, who has a permit to carry the weapon.

“Apparently when the gun fell out of the bag and onto the floor, it fell in such a way that the barrel hit the floor and somehow the gun went off, leaving the casing and round in the barrel of the gun,” the complaint states.

Speaking of complaining, why was Mr Good arrested for this [scarcely credible] ND when so many police who have a ballistic oopsie aren’t? Just wonderin’ . . .

The post Passively Constructed Negligent Discharge Story of the Day: Drop Safe Edition appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

When Korth announced its PRS along with this great video a bit over a year ago, I was certainly intrigued. However, a fixed-barrel 1911 with a semi-locked, roller-delayed blowback action also seemed like a bit of a gimmick born out of an engineer’s wet dream as a showcase of talent. I also assumed the price would be astronomical. When we saw Korth at the SHOT Show range day with a PRS along with the new Sky Marshal, a 9mm revolver that doesn’t require moon clips, we knew it was hands-on time . . .

As you saw in the beginning of the video, 9×19 rounds drop smoothly and easily into the Sky Marshal’s cylinder. I’m pretty sure they’re headspacing off the case mouth like usual, but at the same time when you work the extractor it does engage the rims and confidently ejects the empty brass.

The revolver itself is quite tiny, with a bit of a funny look due to the super short cylinder. On the right side, the Sky Marshal sports a bunch of picatinny rail estate for your accessory needs.

Despite my own feelings that it looks awfully tacticool and therefore aesthetically like something you’re more likely to see out of a lower-end manufacturer, it’s definitely a Korth. It’s oh-so-darn smooth. The cylinder inserts like hot butter into Rosie O’Donnell’s mouth, and the double action trigger pull is unbelievably light and smooth. Everything about it is tight and precise and smooth as silk. It kicks a fair bit for a 9mm because it’s so light, but it was still a pleasure to shoot.

What surprised me most is an MSRP in the $900-something range! That may be a record low for a Korth (at least adjusted for inflation and such).

And then we get to the PRS:

From photos online I thought it looked a bit silly with a taller-than-normal slide for a 1911 — Korth had to make space for all of the roller locker shenanigans. The thing is like a dang Swiss watch inside (check out that previously-linked video).
But it feels like every last one of those parts was hand polished and fitted, along with every other part on the pistol. It’s easily the smoothest 1911 I have ever felt. A lot of that is the fact that there is no real lockup, so there’s basically no initial resistance to overcome when you rack the slide (assuming the hammer is cocked). The recoil spring did not feel very stiff at all, so pulling back on the slide was as easy as [eating] pie and as smooth as a greased mirror.

Considering how light that recoil spring is and the fact that the blowback action seems only barely delayed, I can’t believe it didn’t feel like the thing was beating itself to death upon firing. It was smooth and gentle, though, and it did not feel to me like the slide was impacting the frame with undue force. I can’t exactly explain this, but I can say that it was accurate, controllable, refined, and quite impressive.

My only complaint would be the trigger. It seemed too light and a little bit wobbly. The break was fine, just soft. As the rest of the pistol feels like indestructible billet, the trigger just stood out as feeling fragile in comparison. Too dainty, maybe.

MSRP is apparently $3,000. Not cheap, obviously, but it’s literally half or less of what I expected to hear. For those who enjoy fancy mechanical watches with lots of complications, I’m not sure how you’re going to prevent a PRS from living in your safe eventually. As I’m a bit of an engineering geek myself and my expectations were exceeded with the PRS, plus the possibilities for barrel accessories as seen in Korth’s PRS video, I’m going to have a hard time staying away from this thing myself. Even if it’s literally worth more than the car I drive. It would probably be pretty chummy with my HK P7, though.

The post Test Driving Korth’s PRS and Sky Marshal at SHOT Show 2015 appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Smith & Wesson’s 460XVR (X-treme Velocity Revolver) is a Performance Center hand cannon aimed squarely at the handgun hunting market. As if to evince the seriousness of its purpose, the snub-nosed 460XVR comes packaged in a plain white corrugated box, not the usual cardboard container gaily decorated with the vivid blue and white S&W colors. The box is highly utilitarian and can be used for many other purposes, such as shipping heavy machine parts or an improvised midnight burial of the neighbor’s Labrador . . .

Inside the big white box is the usual paperwork, a big black soft case gaily decorated with the gold Performance Center logo, and an expended cartridge that, with just a little rock salt on the case mouth, would be suitable for dainty shots of Tequila.

Open the soft case and there it is – a BFG. Yup, a Big Gun. A picture of the 460XVR next to an S&W 642 Airweight is included for a sense of scale. The pic is kinda reminiscent of a father-and-son range photo, although it seems that young Mister 642, with his fluted cylinder and fancy wood grips, must take after his mom even though he does have his dad’s snubby little nose.

The 460XVR is robustly built to handle the very powerful .460 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge, which is based on the .454 Casull, which in turn is based on the familiar .45 (Long) Colt. The little Airweight son-of-a-gun in the picture is chambered for the ancient (vintage 1898) and familiar .38Spl. The photo below illustrates the size difference between the .38Spl, .45LC and .460S&W cartridges.

The pictured .460S&W round is a 2 1/8” long, 300 gr. JHP that escapes an XVR’s muzzle at an astonishing 1750 fps, although that speed might require a longer barrel. We don’t know for sure because, when ShootingtheBull410 previewed this very XVR revolver, his chrony had a nervous breakdown.

For serious handgun hunting of big game at distance, the XVR is available with barrel lengths up to 14” and a fitted bipod. With a long barrel, a lighter 200 gr. bullet can reach 2250 fps at the muzzle and still be zooming along at 1715 fps when it’s 100 yards downrange. That’s almost twice the speed of sound at the muzzle, which is approaching Ludicrous Speed from a handgun.

The XVR can also fire the .45 Colt, the All-American standard that was first used by Roy Rogers to tame the west way back in 1872. The XVR is equally at home with the .454 Casull, which for all I know was used by Dale Evans to tame old Roy if he stepped out of line. While neither the traditional .45 nor the Casull are lightweights, they do not compare to the power of the.460S&W round that when used as directed in the XVR, according to Smith & Wesson, “has the highest muzzle velocity of any production revolver on earth.” On Mars, not so much.

Both the .460 and the .454 are first and foremost hunting cartridges. Commercially loaded .460 cartridges are available with bullet weights up to 395 grains, which should be more than adequate to vaporize most North American big game short of the infrequently-encountered escaped circus rhinoceros. The comparatively weak .45LC remains a very capable man-stopper even now, more than 140 years after it was first adopted by the US Army. So, although the XVR has a hunting focus, it is a versatile revolver that can be used effectively for self-defense without evaporating the bad guy, taking out a couple of walls of the garage and exploding an electrical power substation in the adjacent zip code.

XVR Fly-By
The XVR is a Performance Center piece, and right from the get-go it looks like quality. I’m not a fan of the appearance of the unfluted cylinder, but based on that unfortunate Titanic incident it seems that removing metal right where it is needed most might be a bad idea. The whole piece is glass bead-finished stainless steel, and it appears expensive.

The barrel sports a neatly tapered full under-lug and an attractive polygonal sculptural profile. The teardrop hammer and the trigger are both chromed. While the 460XVR is a serious hunting machine, it’s very clear that some folks at S&W wanted it to look good, too. They succeeded.

The well-contoured one-piece synthetic grip completely covers the back strap to promote shooting comfort. The grip, with its pebbly texture and pleasing color, looks better than the same old nondescript black rubber grip pictured on S&W’s web site.

The sighting system consists of a fixed HI-VIZ green fiox front and a fully adjustable square notch rear. The front sight is bright under incandescent lighting and in natural sunlight can be used to signal ships at sea. The rear sight’s elevation and windage can be set by turning two screws, one on the right side of sight for windage and one on the top handling elevation. Both require a simple, flat head screwdriver. One warning about such screwdrivers – they will not do the job unless they are actually in your range bag when you take the XVR out to play. More on that later.

There is the obligatory and much-hated internal lock on the left side of the frame. If I owned this revolver, the lock would be the first thing to go. In fact, it would be the only thing to go. Everything else seems pretty damn squared away.

Handling and Shooting the XVR
When it’s loaded, the XVR weighs about a pound less than a Ruger 10/22. Yeah, it’s on the heavy side, but because the XVR is so well balanced, it doesn’t feel awkward. Unlike a big bore semi-automatic handgun like the Desert Eagle .50AE that I reviewed a while back, the XVR’s stock isn’t oversized or boxy and provides a reassuring grip. Normally, I’m suspicious of grips with deep finger grooves. They never seem to fit me, and my fingers usually end up riding the high points instead of snuggling comfortably into the grooves. Not so with the XVR. The stock fit me just fine, and also fit several other experienced shooters with disparate hand sizes. One size rarely fits all, but this one size will fit most.

I started out firing .45 Colt LRN (lead round nose) target ammo so that I could get a feel for the XVR before embarrassing myself with magnum ammo. There was an immediate problem – at 25 yards offhand, I wasn’t even on paper. It took a couple of shots until I figured out that the XVR was shooting high and left. No big deal, thought I. The rear sight could be easily adjusted — with the screwdriver that I left at home.

Once again, no big deal. I simply adjusted my point of aim until I was on paper, and then walked them in. Once I figured out the proper point of aim, I ended up with a nice group solidly in the 10 ring. This is an accurate revolver despite its short sight radius.

Then it was time for something a little more challenging, so I loaded five 200 grain Hornady hollowpoints. In ShootingtheBull410’s XVR preview, he noted the prodigious recoil inherent in 460 S&W loadings, so I was pleasantly surprised. There was plenty of recoil to be sure, but it certainly wasn’t punishing. In fact, it was exhilarating, like riding a Brahma bull for the full 8 seconds and dismounting without catching a gigantic horn right up the coolie. Because I believe in spreading joy wherever I am, I asked a couple of well-qualified doods to shoot the XVR with the Hornady ammo, and they both reported a similar sensation, albeit in less colorful language.

With my confidence now higher than a Colorado pot salesman, I loaded the XVR with some 300 grain JHP and let loose. And that’s when the XVR revealed both its mighty roar and even mightier kick. Every head in the indoor range swiveled around just to see what I was shooting. I even got a couple of “what the hell was thats” from my fellow range denizens. Although the range was far from full, by now everybody was watching the XVR, which put a lot of pressure on me. It was like taking a whiz with people watching. I really wanted to be accurate.

I loosed another round and a guy a few lanes to port wandered over to let me know that he could actually see a donut-shaped pressure wave blowing out of the muzzle. I couldn’t see that from my vantage point behind the revolver, but I did see the muzzle flash that reminded me of firing my Mosin M44 carbine. Oh, how I wanted to shoot the XVR in the dark!

My wrist gave out before my ammo did, so I decided that discretion was the better part of tendonitis and saved the rest of the ammo for my next range session.

The following week, I headed to an outdoor range, loaded up with plenty of ammo and multiple screwdrivers. I joined TTAG commenter Greg in Allston and our pal Dave (the master of the Alexander Arms .50 Beowulf that I reported on last year) for a little fun in the bitter, biting New England cold. I think that the temperature was -346°F when we started shooting and dropped from there to nearly absolute aero. Anyway, it was cold.

I was on target pretty quickly after tweaking the XVR’s windage and cranking down the elevation screw. There was a light frosting of snow on the ground and the roof of the shed when Greg started getting jiggy wit’ it.

What Greg is looking around for in the next viddy is the snow which has been knocked off the roof by the concussive blast of the XVR.

There was a guy a few lanes down who was shooting a nice SMLE in .303 British. He couldn’t make it snow, but the XVR did. And that was with the “little” 200 grain Hornadys. The heftier 300 grain time-bombs cleared the snow off of nearby trees, so I recommend them for Alpine avalanche control. Nevertheless, Greg maintained complete control of the XVR and no wrists were harmed during the making of these videos.

All in all, shooting the XVR, especially with the Hornady ammo, was infectious. The more we shot, the better we got and the more fun we had, which is almost axiomatic. The only difficulty we had was maintaining a secure grip with gloves on after our fingers were near amputation because of frostbite.

Likes and Dislikes
What didn’t I like? Not much. I didn’t care for shooting the XVR with .45 Colt ammo because it felt like I had dumped a 1.8 liter Honda Civic engine into a Ferrari 458 Italia. Now, that Honda is a nice little mill, but c’mon man. It would hardly be satisfying to drive a Ferrari body that was made for greasy fast speed but hampered with a mild street motor. So too, the XVR was meant for bigger and better (and badder) things.

As for price and availability of ammo for the XVR, well, it’s readily available now and was even during the recent Great Ammunition Extinction. Cost of ammo is always an issue, although not as critical a problem for the XVR as might be expected. Figure on two bucks a round for 460 S&W Mag ammo and you’re in the ballpark. .454 Casull will be about half a buck less, and .45 Colt is out there for south of 75 cents a pop. It sounds like a lot for the Casull and 460 S&W, but most shooters won’t be sending hundreds of rounds of heavy, store-bought magnum stuff down range. They will reload.

I wasn’t thrilled with the heavy, but silky smooth, double action trigger pull. The pull was long, too. How long? Bring a book, that’s how long. Single action, the XVR’s trigger is more like a button, with (I’m being generous here) maybe 1/16^th of an inch of travel before it goes boom.

Fit and finish from the Performance Center product are perfect. I expected nothing less, and I got nothing less. Firing dirty lead ammo will leave sooty marks on the cylinder, which I believe can be removed with an eraser, crocus cloth or similar lightly abrasive polishing thingamabob. Unfortunately, while I finally remembered to bring screwdrivers to the range, I forgot to bring my eraser back home from the range.

Everything else about this big revolver was serious fun.

Last Shots
Because the XVR snubby has such a short (3.5”) barrel and a correspondingly short-ish 6” sight radius, it’s not a long-range hunter unless your name is Miculek. Long-barrel models (up to 14”) will do the business on deer, elk and other large critters at rifle and shotgun distances, but it seems that the snubby version has “feral hog” written all over it.

Is it the definitive bear country sidearm? I’ll leave that up to shooters who are more experienced at hiking in definitive bear country. But if I were camping in said country, the XVR snubby would be the kind of revolver that would allow me sleep well at night. It’s powerful, easy to pack, won’t take up as much room as a long gun and would be very useful at distances of, say, 50 yards or in tight spaces. And it should knock down a grizzly.

So it comes down to this compound question: if I don’t hunt with it, or protect myself from bears with it, is the pure fun of shooting the XVR worth the cost?

It is for me. 

SPECIFICATIONS:

Model: Smith & Wesson 460XVR Performance Center
Caliber: .460 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .454 Casull and .45 Colt
Cylinder capacity: 5 rounds
Materials: Steel, baby. Steel! With a composite grip.
Weight: 59.5 oz., unloaded
Barrel length: 3.5″
Action: Double and single action revolver
Price: $1609 MSRP

RATINGS (out of five stars):

Style * * * *
With its unfluted cylinder, you will like the looks or you won’t. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. It grew on me. Everything else about this big revolver is pure, unadulterated class.

Ergonomics * * *
It’s a fairly heavy gun, which it needs to be given its task. But despite its recoil-absorbing mass, the XVR isn’t clumsy to handle. For carry, S&W offers some beautiful leather (or nylon, for those so inclined) retention holsters for belt or shoulder, in left and right hand models. For hip carry, get a good belt. A really good belt.

Ergonomics (firing) * * * *
There’s mild recoil with .45 Colt ammo, and exciting but manageable recoil with light 460s. The heavier the bullet, the more likely this revolver will leave an impression on your psyche if not your shooting hand. But the grip is absolutely fantastic. An Airweight shooting plain-Jane .38Spls will sting more.

Reliability * * * * *
C’mon, man. It’s a Smith & Wesson revolver. And a damn well made one at that. Five for sure.

Customize This 0
Absolutely not.

OVERALL * * * *
Hog hunters will probably award the XVR five stars. Hikers too. As a range toy, it’s worth – well, what price do you place on fun?

The post Gun Review: Smith & Wesson 460XVR 3.5″ appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Reader SACorey writes:

Speculation about the upcoming U.S. Army pistol evaluations and Beretta’s new M9A3 abounds. The Army says they want a new modular handgun to replace the venerable 9mm Beretta, but if history is any indication, the guidelines put forth for the evaluation process are meaningless. All the murky visions in everyone’s crystal balls that seem to be pointing toward candidates like the FNX-45, S&W M&P, and GLOCKs will prove to be unfounded . . .

The U.S. military procurement process — mercurial to say the least — has shown that stipulations set forth for designs are meaningless. The Army is known to capriciously select equipment before any evaluations are performed. They’ll then declare any results that are contrary to their selection as moot. We saw this most recently in the process to evaluate a M4 replacement, where it was clear the decision was made before the competition even began.

But in the event that the procurement process gets past this first hurdle, the Army tends to select a product they didn’t know they needed until they saw it. That was the case when Harley Davidson went outside the specifications and subsequently won the contract for motorcycles.

Also, never forget that bias towards old technology dominates all governmental and bureaucratic processes as demonstrated by the selection of the M14 (in 7.62x51mm designed to perform exactly like .30-06) over the AR10 and FAL (the right arm of the free world). That demonstrated that the Army didn’t necessarily want something new (just a Garand with removable magazines and full auto capability … and who doesn’t want that?). Similarly, I’d like my next girlfriend to cook and clean like my ex, but with a better attitude and the body of a pin-up model.

Given these trends in Army procurement, let’s look at a rundown of potential pistol competitors:

Any of these models can be made to work with suppressors and all are offered in non-reflective finishes and should pass all other stipulations set forth for the evaluation process.

Moving forward, let’s engage in a little speculation:

• The Army will not take a pistol that is not DA/SA in keeping with ye olde ideas regarding second strike capability, so we can effectively eliminate S&W, GLOCK, and the SIG 320.
• Modularity is moot since no DA/SA pistol (aside from the SIG 250) is offered with such capability.
• Aluminum frames make generals feel warm inside (otherwise we would already have the FNX).
• Only one other competitor has been deemed better than the M9 in the past (I’m looking at you, SIG)

Given those assumptions, there are only three real competitors in the race; the default M9A3, and the Sisters SIG, 226 and 227. The deciding factor will be the ammunition choice … and any real willingness to actually spend money. Since the Army hates change almost as much as it does writing checks, the M9A3 will win despite the fact that a preferred move to .45 ACP would make the SIG 227 the likely winner.

The SIG 227 is the pistol the USMC should have chosen instead of a Series 80 1911. Sadly, I was not appointed to make that decision.

The post Why the Army Will Choose the Beretta M9A3 appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

This article was originally published by Texas Law Shield and is reprinted here with permission.

Last year, over 1,800 guns were confiscated in airports across the country by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the majority of them loaded and in travelers’ carry-on luggage. Despite many of these cases being accidental, there are potentially devastating consequences that accompany being found with a handgun in your carry-on luggage, or a firearm that has not been properly processed in accordance with TSA policies and federal, state, and local law. We hope that this article will give you the knowledge necessary to avoid the unnecessary hardship of being caught at the airport with a prohibited weapon . . .

The TSA has a number of rules which must be followed in order to carry a firearm and/or ammunition aboard a commercial airliner or in the “sterile area” of an airport (the portion of an airport that provides passengers access to boarding aircraft and is controlled with metal detectors and x-ray machines by the TSA). These rules follow federal statutory law, and complying with them will prevent you from violating federal laws which carry harsh penalties.

The TSA uses a fairly broad characterization, taken from federal law, of what constitutes a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3) states that a firearm is “any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any firearm muffler or firearm silencer, or any destructive device.” Thus, if you want to travel with a starter gun, any pistol/rifle/shotgun, silencer, or flare gun, you will need to follow all TSA policies regarding firearms. Other weapons similar to, but not classified as firearms, such as BB guns, compressed air guns, and pellet guns, may be included in checked baggage in accordance with rules governing their transportation.

Any and all firearms must be unloaded, stored in a locked, hard-sided container, and in checked baggage. The TSA uses the definition of “loaded firearm” from federal regulation 49 C.F.R. 1540.5: “a firearm that has a live round of ammunition, or any component thereof, in the chamber or cylinder or in a magazine inserted in the firearm.” It should be mentioned, however, that it is wise to check the laws of your destination state, as that state may use a different definition of “loaded firearm” than your home state. For example, under New York Penal Law § 265.00, a “loaded firearm” is a firearm that is possessed by a person who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge a firearm. Therefore, if you travel to a state with more restrictive laws on firearms possession, be sure that beforehand, you have packed so that you will not be violating that state’s laws when you arrive.

The TSA allows plastic or metal hard-sided cases, as long as the case completely secures the firearm from being accessed (e.g. it cannot be easily pulled apart), and you are the only person who has the key or combination to the lock, though TSA-approved locks are acceptable on checked firearms and ammunition. No tag is required on the outside of the case(s), and in fact, federal statute 18 U.S.C. 922(e) prohibits an airline from requiring any label or tag on your checked luggage indicating that a firearm is inside. Any magazines or clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within the hard-sided case.

No firearms, firearms parts (e.g. frames, receivers, etc.), or ammunition are allowed in carry-on baggage; these must be declared and checked with the airline. Different airlines and airports have varying policies on how they want you to declare your firearms and/or ammunition, but generally, these must be declared orally or in writing according to the airline carrier’s instructions when you check-in with the ticket counter. Some airlines might have you fill out an “unloaded firearms declaration” tag to be included within the locked, hard-sided case containing the firearm(s) or ammunition. Additionally, it is a good idea to ask about any limitations or fees that might apply. If your firearm(s) are not properly declared (or packaged), the TSA will give the checked bag to law enforcement for resolution with the airline. This may lead to a delay that could prevent you from making your flight, so it is very important to properly declare all firearm(s) and ammunition with the airline.

The TSA requires that all small arms ammunition be checked-in in addition to firearms. All ammunition must be securely packed in fiber (e.g. cardboard), wood, or metal boxes, or in other packaging specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition. It can also be loaded into magazines that are securely boxed or placed in the hard-sided, locked container holding the firearm. Additionally, airlines may have their own preferences as to how they want ammunition packaged and the amount you may have in checked baggage. For example, American Airlines prefers that all ammunition be in its original packaging from the manufacturer, and will accept no more than 11 pounds of ammunition per person. Ammunition containing explosive or incendiary projectiles may not be accepted by a particular airline, as well as loose ammunition, magazines, or clips. Gunpowder and black powder are prohibited from commercial flights by the TSA. Before bringing ammunition to the airport, check with the airline for guidance on how it should be packed.=

Even for concealed handgun license or permit holders, carrying a concealed handgun onto an aircraft or in a sterile area is a very serious crime! Several federal statutes make it illegal to carry a handgun, either concealed or unconcealed onto an aircraft or in a sterile area (14 C.F.R. § 135.119, 49 C.F.R. § 1544.201(d), 49 C.F.R. § 1540.111). Being on, or attempting to get on an aircraft while carrying a concealed handgun carries with it a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to $250,000! Also, attempting to place or having placed a loaded firearm in property that is inaccessible to passengers in flight (e.g. having a loaded handgun in your checked baggage), carries with it a potential 10 year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. In addition to potential criminal penalties, 49 U.S.C. § 46303 provides that anyone who is on or attempts to board an aircraft intended for air transportation that has a concealed handgun or other firearm that would be accessible in flight, is liable to the U.S. Government for a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation. This civil penalty is usually imposed regardless of whether or not any criminal prosecution is pursued.

All states have enacted laws that criminalize carrying an unsecured firearm into the sterile area of an airport. Some states prohibit bringing an unsecured firearm into any part of the airport terminal. Generally, if a person is found to be at the airport screening area with a firearm on their person or in their carry-on, the TSA will turn them over to local law enforcement for arrest and prosecution under state law. Be aware of your destination state’s laws; even if you comply with all TSA declaration and packing policies, you may still be prosecuted for an offense in another state that has more restrictive firearms and/or ammunition policies than your home state. For example, last year a North Dakota resident was arrested at La Guardia International Airport while trying to return home on a flight, because she had ammunition in a separate box, but in the same container as her handgun in checked baggage. While this was in compliance with North Dakota law, she was charged with a serious felony under New York law, which holds a much more strict definition of what constitutes a “loaded firearm.”

The two most important things to do before traveling with your firearm(s) and/or ammunition is: 1) to check with every airport you will be flying through to verify what their firearms policies are, and 2) to learn about the laws of the state you will be flying into, and ultimately out of. If you have any questions about how you can ensure a smooth and safe travel experience with your firearms and/or ammunition, please don’t hesitate to call a Texas Law Shield program attorney. The law is complicated, and we are here to help with any questions. However, being caught with a firearm at the airport, whether intentional or accidental is not a “use of a firearm” covered by the Texas Law Shield program.

We wish you safe travels and will update you on any changes in these laws that may impact your Second Amendment rights.

The post How to Fly With A Gun appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Thanks to importer and distributor KRISS USA, the SPHINX SDP Compact Alpha has been available in the U.S. for about a year. I got my hands on one to do a deep dive comparison between it and a couple CZs, as the SPHINX is effectively a high-end, Swiss-made, CZ 75-based pistol. New to the U.S. market this year will be the SDP Standard Alpha and the SDP Subcompact Alpha. Interestingly enough, the trigger pull. . .

…on the SDP Subcompact was significantly nicer. While some reviewers have claimed otherwise, the SDP I borrowed plus the SDP Standard and Compact at the SHOT Show booth had triggers that I find only barely nicer than a factory CZ 75 B trigger. They’re still gritty, and they stack — suddenly increase in weight — at the end of the double action pull. Conversely, the SDP Subcompact’s trigger felt closer to a CZ Shadow variant. Significantly lighter and smoother in double action and totally consistent through the entire pull. Extremely nice.

Unfortunately, I can’t quite say if this is to be expected or if it was just this specific demo model at the booth. The folks there were not aware of any specific changes, but definitely corroborated the difference.

The post New From SPHINX: SDP Standard and Sub-Compact Pistols appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

GLOCKs are perfect. Well, they’re profitable. Wildly profitable. If Gaston Glock’s mob set out to improve GLOCK perfection – as oxymoronic as that might seem – every penny spent upgrading the gun would come out of the company’s bottom line. And, potentially, raise the gun’s price. Why bother? Why perfect perfection and punt profits? How many pistoleros say “I wish my GLOCK was more accurate?” Enough, apparently, for Wilson Combat to stretch its 1911-o-centric brand to sell upgraded GLOCK barrels. For $159. Is it worth it? How much accuracy do you need in an everyday carry gun? As much as possible, I reckon. In other words, shut up and take my money. Or does that decision evoke the old “fool and his money” paradigm?

The post Wilson Combat GLOCK Barrel: GLOCK Perfection Perfected? appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Ahhh yeah. I do love me some pistol-caliber carbines, and a civvie version of a legit SMG is always good for some smiles. On Friday I picked up a CZ Scorpion Evo 3 S1 pistol. It won’t be a pistol for long, though, as I’ve already e-filed my Form 1 to turn it into an SBR. Field stripping video plus lots of photos and notes — that bolt is really something! — follow. . .

With an MSRP of $849, I’m guessing this thing is going to be popular. Therefore, if there are questions, concerns, or specific topics/details you definitely want covered in the review but I might not think about, please put ‘em in the comments!

Things that stood out right away:

• The barrel is threaded 18×1 mm RH. There is, like, nothing in the U.S. threaded for that so mounting a suppressor becomes a trick. A couple companies are already planning on releasing 18×1 to 1/2×28 thread adapters, but I don’t think they’re available yet. Thankfully, Liberty Suppressors rocks harder than a convertible on prom night, and I received an 18×1 mm RH fixed mount for my Mystic two days before receiving the Scorpion.

• The pistol grip does something I don’t believe I have ever seen before — it’s on a rail and slides forwards and rearwards. A bolt clamps it in place on that rail. This allows you to adjust the length of reach to the trigger. When I first held the gun, I thought the trigger was a bit close to my hand, and upon reading the manual I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was adjustable. Sweet.

Extreme forwards vs. extreme rearwards positions

• It’s a combat gun, and it has a trigger to match. Not horrific or anything, but with a pull weight of 10.5 lbs and a fair bit of travel before the break, you aren’t going to see it praised in reviews. That said, the fire control group is a drop-in unit, so I’d bet dollars to donuts that we’ll see aftermarket options like the ones I reviewed for the Tavor. There are further notes I’d add about the FCG and the safety, but those will come in the full review.

• The bolt is one gigantic piece of milled steel. By gigantic, I mean it literally accounts for 32.8% of the assembled pistol’s total weight. A heavy bolt (or slide) is the norm in a straight blowback action…but…wow. Still, the entire pistol only weighs 4.33 lbs. I just put close to 100 rounds through it, and it’s quieter when suppressed than the 9mm ARs I’ve shot. I think the mass of the bolt really helps (the bullet may be long gone before the case clears the chamber).

• The extractor is ginormous. Covers about 90 degrees of the breech face and it’s one thick, massive, machined billet piece of work.

• The “iron” sights are just awesome. I really hope CZ sells these separately. If they do, they’re going to sell extremely well. I’d like a set on my go-to AR for sure. They’re steel, quality is top notch, the rear sight has four apertures that spin one to the next, and the front appears to accept a standard AR front sight post. The front is adjustable for elevation and the rear for windage. They mount on a standard picatinny rail. On the downside, they’re low and somewhat sleek, meaning they won’t co-witness at a normal AR height. I think a small red dot (e.g. the Bushnell TRS-25 I tend to swap between firearms for testing) without a riser may work, though.

• Controls are good. The ambi safety is in a familiar place, and the throw is super short. I do have a couple big gripes regarding the safety, though (it’s fully functional, don’t worry). The ambi mag release is excellent. It can be hit with your strong hand index finger for a “speed reload” or grabbed with your weak hand thumb while stripping out the mag for a “tactical reload.” The magwell itself is awesome — size, angle, location…all great. Can’t miss the thing. Bolt release, for when it has locked back on empty, is right there for your weak hand thumb when you insert that fresh mag. If you’ve locked the bolt back with the non-reciprocating charging handle — which can be switched from one side of the Scorpion to the other — then an HK MP5-style pop to the handle sends it home.

• Field stripping is easily accomplished without tools (video also shows the great magwell function & mag release lever):

• The handguard, pistol grip, and some other pieces all remove with the help of a hex wrench. Along with the trigger, I expect the aftermarket will respond here as well. The included receiver rear plate adapter, by the way, has various slots for mounting a strap sling. CZ-USA will also be providing at least one other rear plate, which allows for the mounting of an AR-15 buffer tube. Obviously with the Evo S1 pistol, this would be used for an SB15 pistol stabilizing brace. Or, of course, a buttstock once your Form 1 is approved. I do hope a folding AR-15 buffer tube adapter plate will become available at some point as well, whether CZ-provided or aftermarket. Removal of that receiver rear plate didn’t seem completely intuitive, so I did a quick how-to for that also:

• Nearly everything you can see when the gun is assembled is polymer. The only exceptions are the flash hider, the sights, the bolt release lever, the sling loops, the bolt itself if you’re looking at the right side of the gun, and the rear plate. Oh and some bolt heads here and there. I think every single other thing visible from the outside is polymer, including the receivers, the grip, the handguard, all of the rails you see, the safety lever, the trigger (at least on the outside, it may have a metal insert or something), the hand stop, the magazine release lever, the knob on the charging handle, etc. I’d say it has a sufficient amount of steel on the inside though and seems fairly stout and well thought out. But we’ll see what it looks like in there after 500 rounds…

That about covers it. Leghorn has had his Scorpion for a few weeks already, and his review should be out early this coming week. He’s been shooting it in factory pistol configuration and will review it as such. I’ve obviously jumped right into slapping stuff onto mine, so I’ll try to expand on what Nick has already covered and we’ll get straight to fisticuffs over any conflicting opinions.

The post Just Arrived: CZ Scorpion Evo 3 S1… Plus a Glimpse Inside appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

The CZ Scorpion for this review was provided by Kentucky Gun Company. 

My favorite SMG of all time is the Škorpion vz. 61. It’s not the prettiest or the most powerful, but it’s an absolute joy to shoot and (much like the AR-15) is a bare-essentials kind of gun. Nothing was added that didn’t need to be there. When I heard that CZ was coming out with a new version of the Scorpion updated for 2015 I was extremely interested, and the instant one of our regular suppliers mentioned they had one in stock I was all over that like a fat kid on a Twinkie. Pistol caliber carbines are so hot right now, and if the Scorpion EVO 3 S1 lives up to the hype it could be a top contender for those looking for something to SBR . . .

The new Scorpion EVO 3 is very nearly a completely different beast from that original 1960s invention. The two firearms share a common operating system (direct gas blowback) and a common manufacturer…and that’s where the common features end. This new gun has been modernized in every way imaginable.

The predominant manufacturing material here is plastic, not metal. OK, the technical term is “fiber reinforced polymer,” but “plastic fantastic” just sounds better. The outer shell, trigger/magazine assembly, and grip are all made from high grade polymer instead of the stamped sheet metal and bakelite of yesteryear.

The barrel and trigger pack are still metal (cold hammer forged in the case of the barrel, which is actually impressive), as is the massive bolt that keeps this thing running, but every part that could be molded or cast in plastic has been. Normally I bemoan the presence of plastic in a firearm, but in this case it looks like they’ve done a remarkably good job with the design ensuring that the frame is strong enough for regular use, but light enough to be carried around.

Another major change is the addition of Picatinny rails over every inch of available space. There’s a full length top rail for mounting optics or sling accessories, and while the handguard is a separate molding from the receiver, the top rail flows seamlessly from one to the next. At the front and back of that rail are some custom low-profile rail mounted sights, which are actually pretty nice and easy to use.

The adjustments on the rear are simple and firm, and the front sight works like any other AR-15 or AK-47 in the world. The gun also ships with a hand stop at the end of the bottom rail to keep shooters from putting their hand too close to the business end of the firearm, which is definitely an appreciated addition.

Speaking of appreciated additions, there’s an MP5-style charging handle setup on the gun. As on the MP5, the charging handle is not permanently attached to the bolt, allowing the gun to cycle without the charging handle moving at all. There’s also a similar cutout at the rear of the charging handle’s travel allowing the shooter to park the charging handle for unloading the gun or malfunction drills. Slapping it downwards releases the bolt in a satisfying 80’s action movie kind of way.

Since the “charging handle” on the old Scorpion was little more than a pair of ridged nubs on either side of the gun, the updated version definitely improves the operation. I’d complain that the charging handle is only on one side, but at the push of a pin you can easily swap it from one side to the other.

Out front, the barrel comes threaded from the factory. In states that still fully observe civil liberties and individual freedoms you’ll be able to remove the muzzle device on the front of the gun and substitute whatever muzzle device you choose, from an obnoxious brake to a polite and effective suppressor. Well, you could, if anything in the United States was threaded 18x1mm RH. The more common thread pitch for 9mm stuff is 1/2×28 inches (as on an AR-15) or even 5/8×24 (like the AR-10) but alas the Scropion’s is neither.

That means you’ll need a custom adapter to mount your can of choice. Liberty Suppressors has apparently already worked one up for this gun. The barrel length on the gun is a touch over 7 inches, meaning that the 9mm bullet will be traveling a little quicker than from your GLOCK 19 and the gas pressure at the muzzle should be slightly reduced due to the longer dwell time. Whether this will actually make the gun quieter is yet to be seen, especially with that chunky metal operating system.

Moving a little further back on the gun we arrive that the fire controls. There’s definitely some more MP5 influence here, specifically in the shape of the safety selector switch. The magazine release is a very European design, too, as it’s integrated into the trigger guard. The inclusion of some ergonomic shaping around the release as well as some ridges make it relatively easy to use and easy to hit. Coming from the more traditional button-based release on other guns there is a learning curve to using the device properly, but it works pretty well as engineered. As with all magazine releases of this type I always worry a bit about a finger slipping onto the trigger accidentally, though.

The bolt release may be secondary (the charging handle works perfectly well in this role), but it’s massive. Compared to an AR-15 paddle this is about three times the size. The difference is that with an AR-15 you push the button to release the bolt, and here you are pulling down on the tab instead. This keeps the profile of the gun slimmer (since there’s nothing sticking out from the side), but might be hard to use in an emergency as that pulling motion is more complex than a simple paddle press. Then again, that’s what the charging handle is for.

The grip is a little on the small side for me, but admittedly I have massive hands. At the moment there’s only one grip available for the gun, but given that it’s extremely easy to swap out (there’s one readily accessible bolt holding it in place) I’m betting that replacement grips will be available sometime in the future.

Installed from the factory on the left side of the gun is a sling loop. There are a couple alternate locations on the gun to mount this loop if that location doesn’t meet standards, or there’s an entire top rail to use if you want to go that route. Either way, weapons retention is definitely something that CZ thought about and included in their design from the beginning.

The last major change is the magazine. The EVO 3 uses its own proprietary mags. This is both a blessing and a curse. The magazines seem to reliably feed into the gun and are definitely pretty to look at, but since there’s currently so little demand for them I wouldn’t hold my breath for replacement magazines being easy to find (or reasonably priced) for quite some time.

As a small aside about the magazines, they’re the reason that there are no stock kits currently available from CZ. Jeremy S. appears to have gotten his hands on something similar, but CZ is holding off on providing any to the market. The problem is that pesky 922(r) compliance issue — since the pistol is made overseas by the CZ mothership and imported, adding a stock to the gun might make it illegal to own as an “imported evil assault rifle.”

Word is that CZ is waiting on an American manufacturer to start putting out American-made magazines so that the gun can be 922(r) compliant before they release any stocks, which is a pretty responsible thing to do actually. It would be better if they made a couple parts in the USA to begin with, but this is only the first production run after all. MSRP on supplemental factory 30 round magazines is rumored to be $19.95, BTW.

Taking the gun apart is actually not too bad. As Jeremy shows, there’s not much to it. As a note, Jeremy’s gun came with a stock adapter in the box as well as a buffer tube, but I got no such present in my box (Jeremy got his directly from CZ, I got ours from our friends at Kentucky Gun Co.). Apparently the plan is for CZ to sell the buffer tube and adapter separately in the future, but Jeremy got the added special sauce in the box for asking nicely.

What’s particularly notable from this video is how simple the disassembly process is — no non-captured bolts or springs to worry about, and very few parts to lose on the kitchen counter. High marks for ease of use, but with the grip still attached it might be tough to get into all the nooks and crannies of the gun for cleaning.

Speaking of stock kits, the rear plate is laughably easy to remove. The design is similar to a SCAR stock, but there’s a button in the center of the plate that needs to be depressed for it to slide free of the gun. It looks like a hex screw when you shine a light on it, but trust me it’s just a detent you need to push down to slide the plate off.

Out on the range, the gun feels pretty good. The plastic shell is somewhat slick, but there’s enough grip to make me happy that it isn’t going to fly out of my hand. The forward hand stop is definitely a helpful addition. It not only makes holding the gun with two hands easier and more comfortable, but also makes it easy to hook onto barricades and such for stability. Even holding it with one hand, the gun balances well and doesn’t feel uncomfortable to hold.

Until you flip off the safety.

The safety selector switch on this gun is ambidextrous, meaning that the large paddle that allows your thumb to depress it on one side is also present on the other. The design is basically identical to the old MP5 safety, except that on the MP5 the selector is mounted far above the shooter’s hand. With the safety position on the EVO 3, when the safety is flipped to the “off” position, the paddle digs into the trigger finger of your shooting hand. And when you fire the gun, that paddle is hammered into your flesh and beats on your bone.

I have to be honest here, this design feature made the gun physically painful to fire. I thought I might be doing something wrong so I consulted the manual, but there was nothing in there regarding my situation. I get the feeling that this is a result of actually using the gun as a pistol when it was designed as an SBR/SMG with the expectation that it would have a stock.

Without the stock all the weight from the back of the pistol is supported by your firing hand. Consequently all of that recoil is transmitted to that hand (and directly into your finger). With a stock, this shouldn’t be an issue, but as a pistol this is a huge problem. It made me stop shooting after two magazines because it hurt so much. I asked a couple other people at the range to try the gun and they all reported the same thing.

My recommendation for those who want to buy this gun: judicious application of a Dremel tool. There aren’t any replacement safety selectors available yet, and you’ll want to shave yours down until an alternate is available.

On the bright side, recoil is pretty tame and controllable, but I confess I was focusing more on the sharp pain in my trigger finger at the time.

Accuracy is acceptable. Shooting this gun as a pistol is decidedly harder than it looks, but once you get a stock on this puppy it should be accurate enough for a PDW.

The problem with this version of the Scorpion is that it’s being sold as a pistol. The gun was designed to use a stock, and while it can legally be sold as a pistol it should probably only ever be sold as a do-it-yourself SBR kit. The ergonomics make a lot more sense as a rifle or SBR, and certain painful design features can be avoided when using it as the original designers intended.

I applaud CZ for shipping it as a pistol so that we can enjoy it while waiting for our Form 1 to come back, but that’s not the definitive form of this gun. This Scorpion needs a stock to work properly, and with a stock this would be a rocking awesome PDW or pistol caliber carbine. Without a stock, it desperately needs a different safety lever.

Specifications: CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 Pistol

Caliber: 9mm Parabellum
Action: Semi-auto
Barrel: 7.72 inches, 18x1mm RH thread
Weight: 5.0 lbs
Length: 16.1 Inches
Magazine: Proprietary 20 round
MSRP: $849
Website: http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-scorpion-evo-3-s1-pistol/

Ratings (out of five stars):

Accuracy: * * * *
The pain keeps small groups from appearing. Plus, as a pistol the thing is a bit awkward and chunky to hold.

Ergonomics: * 
I can’t remember another firearm I’ve tested that has inflicted physical pain on me as I was shooting it. Even the Armalite AR-50 was a pleasure to shoot as long as you were behind it and not to the side. That can all be fixed on the Scorpion with a stock, though.

Reliability: * * * * *
No issues. Hundreds of painful rounds later with no cleaning in the Texas dust and she still works like a Swiss clock. Or Czech. Or whatever.

Customization: * * * *
Swapping the butt plate for a stock adapter is dead simple. The rails all over the gun make it easy to attach whatever you want, from a red dot to a Mr. Coffee. The only issue is the thread pitch on the barrel, which means no commercially available silencer will fit on it.

Overall: * * *
Let me put this in perspective. For $50 more than MSRP, you can buy an Uzi pistol that has none of the ergonomic problems and comes in a smaller package. If you’re looking for a high capacity direct blowback 9mm, that’s your ticket. But if you’re looking to SBR this gun, then you’ve chosen wisely — the POF MP5 clones are massively more expensive. The SIG SAUER MPX still hasn’t hit store shelves, but will apparently be priced about twice as much. And while MasterPiece Arms is getting on the right track, their MAC-10 like pistols just aren’t my speed. Keep in mind that we review guns based on how they come from the factory, not based on how they could possibly be configured.

The CZ Scorpion for this review was provided by Kentucky Gun Company. 

The post Gun Review: CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 Pistol appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

By Thomas Conroy. Republished from ammoland.com

Midwest --(Ammoland.com)- Like any other sport or hobby, shooting can be done on the cheap. While cheap plinking is certainly possible, frugality is not always the best policy when it comes to the shooting sports. I have learned, many times over, the truth and wisdom of the old saying “You get what you pay for.” If you’re serious about shooting, then it is probably better to “cry only once” when you buy, and lay down some long green for really nice things that will make your shooting that much more enjoyable. So here’s my list of the Top 5 Really Expensive Things that every serious shooter should try to own at least once in a lifetime . . .

5. Moving Target Systems

I like printing groups on paper with an accurate rifle, but that gets stale after a while. Moving targets can make almost any kind of shooting a lot more fun in a hurry.

For shotgunners, there’s nothing quite like the Crazy Quail (www.crazyquail.com ) system. It’s a carnival ride for clay target machines that spins and whirls, flinging up to 1,632 clay pigeons at every direction, angle and speed imaginable. The Big Quad, equipped with 4 clay-target machines will cost around $18,000. Sounds pricey, but I know people willing to spend more than that on a used bass boat. I have fished off many bass boats, and shot Crazy Quail once. I know which one I’d rather plunk down 18 Grand for – Crazy Quail!  And I don’t consider myself to be much of a shotgun guy, either.

If you’re a rifle or pistol shooter, you can have a moving target for a lot less than the Crazy Quail Big Quad. Action Target’s Portable Runner ( goo.gl/U9VxZJ ) will cost around $1,500 from retailers like Brownells. It can be set up anywhere it’s safe to shoot, and runs on a rechargeable battery system.

For even more flexibility, you can also get remote-control targets that can move in any direction at different speeds, like the Target Tracker, available in several models for right around $2,000.

4. Expensive Optics

I’m a rifle guy, and I cannot tell you how much it annoys me to see a good, accurate rifle topped with a nasty cheap scope. It annoys me even more to hear some shooters brag about how they spent $100 to scope their $1,000-dollar rifle.

With optical devices, you really do get what you pay for. And if you enjoy shooting, you need to own some serious glass, on at least one of your guns. One example would be the $3,000 scopes from US Optics ( goo.gl/z6Zi1b ) . For rifle shooters, these babies have every bell and whistle, and can help you reach the absolute maximum ranges.

What? You’re not a spec ops sniper engaging insurgents in the mountains? Even if you’re just shooting paper targets at the range and hunting deer once a season, a high-quality, lower-power scope like a Swarovski Z6I ( goo.gl/JZovC7 ) can really improve the experience.

I used to think that the $300 scope at the department store was just as a good as the fancy-schmancy scopes with prices of at least 4 digits. I realized my error the second I picked up a Swarovski and looked through it. There is simply no comparison in the optical quality and clarity of a high-end scope alongside a bargain basement scope. And that’s not considering durability, toughness, and the repeatability and precision of the click adjustments, either.

The same goes for any other shooting-related optics, like spotting scopes ( tiny.cc/cnk5rx ) or night vision or even thermal imaging sights ( goo.gl/euFP8R ) that can cost more than $10,000.

If you’re trying to shoot in the dark, or hunt varmints at night, nothing beats having top-notch gear that actually works well.

3. Large Amounts Of High-Quality Ammo

We’ve all either seen it or done it. Somebody saves up for a nice gun, and then ends up shooting the cheapest ammo possible through it. Sure, that imported steel case stuff costs less, goes bang, and functions well enough, but it’s not always the most accurate, and can leave your gun downright filthy after a long shooting session.

And don’t get me started about using those cheapo handloads you bought out of the back of a van at a gun show. That’s a great way to turn your gun into a very expensive pile of scrap metal and wood splinters.

Then there’s the guy who buys only one or two boxes of really good ammo, and shoots only four or five rounds on the rare occasions he actually takes his gun out of the safe, because he thinks the ammunition is just too expensive. That’s no way to improve your shooting skills, much less enjoy owning and shooting a nice firearm.

Ideally, we all should find ways to afford lots really good ammo and shoot it up, frequently. I’ve fired tons of cheap ammo, and slightly smaller amounts of really good ammo. I find good ammo to usually be more than worth the cost. Good ammo is more consistent and made with better-quality components, improving repeatability and precision.

Does it sound a little kooky to run your AR-15 with ammo that costs over $1.00 a round, or shoot your .308 with ammo that costs around $2.00 a round, like Winchester ASYM Precision Ammunition? How much do you like hitting targets and having your gun run reliabliy and smoothly at the range? How about at a shooting match?

And when it comes to hunting ammo, you really do need to get more-expensive, high-quality ammo made for hunting, and practice frequently with it. You owe it to the game you hunt to have the skill to make ethical shots, and to use good ammo that will quickly and efficiently put the animals down.

2. Truly Custom Guns

If you are into guns at all, and find any sort of pleasure or fun in target shooting, competition shooting or just backyard plinking, you owe it to yourself at some point to own a custom gun.

Because there are so many types of guns, and so many types of shooting, here’s how I’ll define “custom gun” in this case.

For this article, a custom gun is one built to your personal specifications, with the accessories and upgrades you want to help you perform better at your favorite type of shooting. Maybe that custom gun is a $20,000 Perazzi Shotgun with the length of pull and cast set just for you? Or is it a $6,000 contemporary Pennsylvania flintlock crafted by a known artisan? Or maybe it’s a $5,000 handbuilt 1911?

And I want to be clear. I’m not talking about guns that are merely expensive. If you really want, you can drop close to a cool million on a rifle from VO Vapen. And I don’t mean rare, museum-grade collector pieces either, like an original Colt Walker or one of the .45 ACP Lugers from the U.S. Army tests of 1907.

The gun I’m talking about is not supposed to be the Mother of All Safe Queens, and won’t be displayed under glass that’s surrounded by state of the art security systems. The gun I’m talking about may cost quite a bit, but it is built and designed to be shot, a lot, by you, at whatever type of shooting you like best. The gun I’m talking about is going to be fired, and most certainly will get some scratches and dings on it.

My personal favorite custom gun is a professionally-accurized Remington 700 that cost me more than $2,000 about 16 years ago, and would probably cost me around twice that if I bought it brand new today. I have taken that rifle to shooting classes, and competed in matches with it. I’ve spent hours upon hours shooting long-range targets, both by myself and with buddies.

Over the years, that rifle has brought me way more than $2,000 worth of fun and enjoyment, and is still running strong.

That’s what I mean by a custom gun – one that you will shoot and shoot and enjoy for years, perhaps a lifetime. And getting that much enjoyment over a lifetime of shooting is easily worth a few thousand dollars.

1. Land To Shoot On

This is, by far, the most expensive thing on the list. More and more urbanites are getting into shooting, and owning their own piece of rural land that’s safe to shoot on may seem like a dream. But if you can ever make that dream happen, it can provide freedom and fun beyond anything you may experience at a formal, commercial range or organized gun club.

Before I moved to my present home, I used to live on about 30 very rural acres in a gun-friendly state. In one spot, I made a berm out of old tires completely covered with several feet of rock-free river bottom soil I had trucked in. That became my pistol and short rifle range, where I could back up to about 50 yards. On another section, I had a large hill that served as a natural backstop for my 200-yard rifle range. And so long as I kept my shots pointed to the west, I could shoot aerial shotgun targets pretty much anywhere on the property.

Whenever I wanted to shoot, I just grabbed a gun, ammo, and eye and ear protection, and sauntered out the door. If I wanted to test a new batch of handloads, the range was only 45 seconds away at a slow walk.

I was very safe on all my ranges, and insisted that anyone else who shot with me also followed all the standard safety rules.

But so long as we practiced safe gun handling, we were free, totally free to shoot whatever and however we wanted.

We shot cans of shaving cream and cheap two-liter sodas by the cart load. We secured an axe to a log and tried to split soft lead bullets on the edge. We tried to light strike-anywhere matches with .22s. One year, I gathered up about 20 leftover Halloween pumpkins and invited a bunch of friends over for the Great Pumpkin Massacre.

I was so free on my own personal ranges that I hated going to official gun clubs or commercial ranges that had all sorts of rules about approved targets and ammo, set shooting positions and prohibitions against “rapid fire” shooting. Now that I live inside city limits, I really miss the freedom of my personal backyard range.

Land is expensive, and a big commitment, and you need to do your homework before you buy a piece of property to shoot on. Are the people in that area accepting of backyard target practice? What are the laws regarding shooting in that locale? Can you actually shoot safely on the property without endangering anyone else? Do you plan to live on the property, or just use it as a range, and maybe a hunting area? These are all questions that must be answered before you get your own place to shoot on.

But if you find that perfect piece of land to shoot on, you’ll have a place to put your moving target system, get the most out of your high-quality optics, and burn all the really good ammo you want through your favorite custom gun. It’s your own little slice of ballistic heaven on earth.

Thomas Conroy is a firearms aficionado and writer who lives in the Midwest.

The post Five Really Expensive Things Every Shooter Should Own appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

FNH makes a mountain of money milking the military market with firearms in a kaleidoscope of calibers and configurations. Perhaps that’s why the Belgian gunmaker hasn’t been chasing American handgun buyers with the kind of fervor of, well, anyone else. The long wait for FN’s entry into the striker-fired everyday carry handgun market indicates a laissez faire attitude towards the job of winning converts to John Moses Browning’s vieux amis. Then again, some things are worth the wait. Does the new FNS-9 Compact finally knock GLOCK from its perch at atop of the U.S. carry gun sales chart? One thing’s for certain . . .

The FNS-9 Compact comes dressed to kill. Don’t get me wrong. The FNS-9 Compact’s curves have none of the Ruger SR9c’s James Bondian elegance. Nor does the 9C’s stark angularity share anything with the GLOCK 19’s What Me Worry? minimalism. The FNS-9C is all about the base. The military base. You can easily imagine hundreds of tank-like FNS-9 Compacts stacked-up in an Army armory, waiting for deployment. Fredericksburg’s finest is, in short, a brutal looking thing.

Part of that’s down to the FNS-9 Compact’s slide. Indented from the ejection port forward, the funky chunky shape naturally positions your hand for maximum combat-rack grip and efficiency. Combined with the gun’s aggressive forward slide striations, the indentation makes press checks a doddle. Like the Springfield XD and GLOCK 26 (and unlike the Ruger SR9c), the front of the FNS-9C ‘s trigger guard is shaped and stippled to accommodate your support hand’s index finger – a feature bear-pawed owners will no doubt appreciate.

OCD FNS-9C owners will be thankful for the gun’s easy takedown procedure (as demonstrated above by Sportsman’s Finest gunsmith Adam Villegas). The 9C’s controls – slide stop, frame-mounted safety and magazine release – are all ambidextrous, providing lefties with all-areas access to the firearms functionality. Sensitive souls might gripe at the aggressive grip stippling, but I reckon that’s a net positive for a firearm designed for any and all possible environmental conditions. Suffice it to say, it’s not enough to put you off practice or inspire “that’ll leave a mark” sarcastic asides from ballistic BFFs.

Not being a fan of weapons-mounted flashlights, my boat is not floated by the FNS-9C’s accessory mounting rail. That said, the MIL-STD 1913 rail holds a snout-mounted laser, enabling a sighting method should you mod your 9C with a threaded barrel and suppressor. Meanwhile, what the Compact’s jumbo-sized three-dot sights offer in terms of clarity (someone’s been talking to Big Dot) they lack in terms of utility. Snag-free be damned. I reckon all carry guns should come with standard night sights and a claw-style rear sight for emergency one-handed racking.

Hey, what do I know? That stuff costs money and price points count. Luckily, you can upgrade to FN night sights. Even better, the company’s bean counters OK’d the marketing department’s decision to include three magazines – two 12-rounders and one 17-rounder – with the sub-$600 Compact. None of which falls from the gun until and unless you release your pinkie from the mags’ onboard extensions and move your palm out of the way. And maybe even strip the mag. As with all two-finger compact guns, you have to train yourself not to grip the gun like grim death when it’s reload time. Removing the stippled sleeve extension from the FN’s 17-round mag is an ugly but effective answer for a more efficient mag change.

The FNS-9 Compact’s flat, river stone-smooth trigger makes rapid fire as easy as ringing a bell. After minimal grit-free take-up, the C’s trigger hits a great big bloody brick wall. Apply somewhere around six pounds of index finger pressure and your digit smashes through the barrier with Hulk-like conviction. Release the go-pedal and the reset is as positive as a paternity test. Wash, rinse and repeat – only on fast forward. With the possible exception of the Walthar PPQ, the FNS-9 Compact boasts the best out-of-the-box striker-fired firearm trigger money can buy.

As for hitting things, first you’ve got switch off the FNS-9 Compact’s Chicklet-sized ambidextrous frame-mounted safety. Better yet, Locktite it down or buy the gun without one. (‘Nuff said?) At combat distance, the FNS-9 Compact turns minute-of-bad-guy into second-of-bad-guy. That’s in terms of speed. As for group-size, Jonathan and I both averaged a 6.5″ spread at 25 yards feeding the FN’s cold-hammer forged barrel 115-grain American Eagle pills, shooting from (in my case through) a rest. I achieved the same sort of groups at seven yards rapid-firing every brand of 9mm ammo I could find (including hollow points), freehand.

And man did I feed it ammo; well over 1000 rounds at last count. No lubrication. No cleaning. No love whatsoever. (See: Adam’s hands in the disassembly video above.) While I didn’t experience a single problem slinging lead down range, the FNS-9 Compact’s stainless steel slide failed to lock back a few times for our man Jonathan. Who, it must be said, is something of an anti-Fonzi when it comes to making things mechanical do his bidding. Having visited FN’s South Carolina factory and seen the company’s dedication to quality materials and manufacturing – born of their military service culture – I’d have been surprised at anything less than GLOCK-like reliability.

Speaking of which . . .

If one carry gun stands between the FNS-9 Compact and its long-delayed trek towards the top of the sales chart, it’s the GLOCK 19. Gaston’s compact carry gun is only half an inch longer from nose to tail than FN’s gat, slightly narrower across the beam and identical in total grip length. The GLOCK takes 15-round flush-fit magazines; carry one in the pipe and a spare mag in your pocket and you’ve got 31 rounds on tap. A brace of FN mags adds 12 plus 17 for a total of 30 cartridges. As reliability is a wash – yes, I’d pit the FN against GLOCK for steadfast shooting – I reckon the FNS-9 Compact deserves a place aside (if not atop) GLOCK in the plastic pistol pantheon.

Where the FN loses – the genre-standard mag dump and reload issue – it gains in trigger feel, price and pedigree. Again, you can train yourself to strip out the empty mag and not reload a bit of your hand along with your replacement ammo. Which is why I’m happy carrying either my [GHOST-trigger modified] G19 or the [as-is] FNS-9 Compact. Both guns are great shooters. Both guns can go the distance. But one looks encore macho than the other. Guess which one I prefer.

SPECIFICATIONS

Caliber: 9mm
Operation: Striker-fired, double-action
Sights: Fixed 3-dot or fixed 3-dot night
Safety: Frame-mounted (optional)
Magazines: two 12-round magazines with pinkie extensions and one 17-round magazine
Weight: 23.4 oz. (empty)
Width: 1.35″
Barrel Length: 3.6″
Overall Length: 6.7″
Price: $599 MSRP

RATINGS (out of five)

Style * * * * *
Brutal. (That’s a good thing not a bad thing.)

Ergonomics (carry) * * * *
Finally, a “right-sized” FN for everyday carry. Like all double-stack compacts, it’s a little fat around the hips. But who isn’t? One star withheld for the lack of immediately available holsters.

Ergonomics (firing) * * * * *
Silky smooth take-up, brick wall breaking point and firm, positive, early reset – a trigger to die for. I mean, to make the bad guy die for. She shoots high. Then again, so do people in Colorado. Adapt, improvise, survive.

Reliability * * * *
GLOCK reliability [almost] meets Belgian ballistics. Over a thousand rounds of every kind of 9mm ammo imaginable, no cleaning, no lube, nothing untoward to report in terms of feeding or firing. Star deducted for three failures to lock back the slide on empty.

Customize This * * *
Gizmo gun guys and suppressor Sallys will appreciate the FN-9C’s under-snout MIL-STD 1913 accessory mounting rail, but there’s not a lot else available for customization – especially compared to the customization cornucopia available to owners of Gaston’s gats.

Overall * * * * *
For those who like their carry gun to conform to the brick-you-know-what-house school of self-defense, the FNS-9 Compact is a better looking alternative to the market leader. Just don’t buy one with an external frame-mounted safety.

The post Gun Review: FNS-9 Compact 9mm Handgun appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

By Jake Zweig

A gun is a tool. You choose the tool that best fits the job. My job every day: protecting myself and my family. As a Navy SEAL, that’s what I went looking for. The right gun would be practical for everyday carry in a side pocket, and it would shoot when I needed it to shoot, where I needed to shoot it. I spent a year making the choice and decided to go with the Ruger LCP .380. Of course, the gun would undergo a few modifications before I would be completely happy with it . . .

This gun was purchased used, for $200, from my gun guy in Maine (you the man, Phil). I wasn’t planning to decorate my library with this firearm, so I asked for a gun that was cosmetically beat up but ready to be reborn and fulfill its promise. I was already planning the changes I would make to this gun, to make it work the way I wanted.

Ergonomics
I don’t give two cents what the gun looks like, only that it’s solid and well made. It has to be easy to carry, which is the entire purpose of this gun. And must be reliable. Once I got it, I put 200 rounds through this one without a single malfunction.

The Ruger LCP comes with a press check window so that you just have to look to the side to see if there is a round in the chamber. The double action trigger pull is long, which might keep you from shooting yourself or the wrong person in an adrenaline-spiked reach for your gun.

With extended magazines that are readily available in the marketplace, the gun was easy to control and keep on target. I was drilling double-taps at 15 yards, and able to hit the kill zone of the target with very controlled fire from 25 yards. Inside of 15 yards, the gun shoots as well as many a full-sized pistol, just not as comfortably.

I had a few issues with the LCP, but nothing I didn’t know about going in. It’s a good gun. Ruger did a good job. However, Navy SEAL Real World Gun Rule: when it comes to protecting me and my family, good isn’t good enough.

Improvements
First, the sights suck. SUCK. Ruger shouldn’t sell a gun with sights like these. You will need to replace the front sight at the very least to make this pocket pistol go. Innovative Arms did a kick butt job on my LCP with a respectable turnaround time. They milled out the slide and installed a low-profile, nicely rounded tritium front sight and a matching custom dovetail in the rear. You can expect to spend about a buck fifty on this mod, but it is worth every dollar.

Second, I was having an impossible time changing magazines. The small mag release button goes flush with, and recesses into the hand grip once you start to push on it. Larger thumbs like mine don’t depress the release far enough.

Compounding the problem is a strong combat grip while squeezing gun. Trust me, if you every need it for self defense, you will be squeezing the gun. But your squeezy finger would be on the back side of the magazine release, blocking its movement. If the shit goes down, I want to be fighting with my gun, not fighting with my gun.

I pulled the magazine release out of the gun and welded another 3/16 onto the button side of the release, then sanded 3/16 off of the opposite side. Now it works like a champ.

Lastly, there’s appearance. I know I said I don’t give two cents what the gun look like, as long as it go bang. That’s not completely true, but only for practical reasons. I was going to give it a Cerakote finish, but they wanted $100 to do the job. So I went with the color spray paint that best matches my skin tone.

If I have to confront somebody head-on and they see me, they will spend a half second figuring out if that’s a gun in my hand or something else. That’s all the time I’ll need to double tap their ass.

I choose to carry with a stock 6-round magazine with a 1.25 inch Garrison magazine extender, so that my whole hand is on the grip. I back that up with two 15-round magazines from ProMag, and they work flawlessly.

A note on round selection
I add this section because it’s a very important part of this gun choice. With all the hyper-expanding rounds on the market today, it’s key to understand that this gun is pushing bullets out at about 1000 fps. There isn’t enough ass in the bullet to get it to expand and do damage. For this reason I am running FMJ and in the future will have some homemade SUPER +P rounds in FMJ.

Summary
I wish it came in 9mm (in the same size) and double/single action, but those are the only things that could make this gun better.

I am very happy with my ability to shoot, move, and communicate while employing this firearm. With just a few minor modifications to the sights and magazine release, a good gun becomes an awesome choice for everyday personal and family protection.

Ease of carry, combined with the ability to put rounds on target in stressful situations makes this Ruger LCP an absolute keeper!

The post Customizing My Ruger LCP for Everyday Carry appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

F.A.P. di Pietta or F.LLI Pietta, commonly just referred to as Pietta and sold in the U.S. under the Pietta and other brand names, is best known for post-Civil War and “Wild West” era Single Action Army revolver replicas in both black powder and cartridge flavors. A real showman, Pietta’s Bryce Huddleston gave us an entertaining booth tour to show off some of their revolver offerings, from bird’s head grips to buntlines. The Pietta crew may also have won the “most tactical” attire award. . .

Just, you know, 120-some-odd years behind the tacticool fashion trends.

I’m now blanking on what the term is for the frame extension on the top of the bird’s head grip seen below. That little lip is sort of like a Wild West beavertail. I found it really comfortable and it allowed for a high, confident grip.

The post SHOT Show: Pietta Single Action Revolvers appeared first on The Truth About Guns.