In June 2011, CorBon opened its Law Enforcement Training Center (CLETC) in Sturgis, South Dakota and while attending the grand opening I recognized that the connection to the local community was clear—this was a community event that encompassed the firearms industry, not simply another range opening. Although put together by CorBon, it was clearly a group effort involving the entire business community as well as the city administration and the local community. Given that many ranges are put in place at great odds with both, this is rare and fantastic to see. It bodes well for the long-term success of CLETC.

Building a successful training facility on police training alone can be problematic at best. The solution is to also offer training for the civilian shooter, for both advanced shooters as well as those that are new to the sport. Given that new shooters are the life’s blood of the sport, it is critical that training be geared towards their needs. The new CLETC is cognizant of this fact, and a recent trip to a Level 1 Pistol Class made this abundantly clear to me.

The Red Creek Tactical M&P Pro was laser accurate and completely reliable — an ideal pistol for high-round intensive training.

Facilities
CLETC is nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota in Sturgis, surrounded by the openly friendly atmosphere of “Middle America.” People are casual, courteous, and those carrying guns are not looked upon as evil. It is easily one of the friendliest atmospheres for gun training you can find. Clean lodging is easily affordable and accessible—hotels and restaurants are within a five minutes drive of CLETC. It truly is an incredibly easy place to get to, accommodating even the most cost-conscious trainee.

It’s funny how some cartridges are considered suitable for just ladies or kids—like if an adult male uses them, they won’t work. It’s also amusing to see how many hunters believe it takes a Magnum or some wicked-sounding cartridge as long and fat as a steel worker’s finger to kill stuff. Those with a lot of miles on their hunting boots know better. Shot placement and bullet performance matter most, and if it’ll work for a kid, it’ll work for Brock Lesnar, too.

Bill Wilson’s son, Ryan, and his grandson, Josh, both like to hunt hogs with Bill. Here is Josh’s latest trophy taken with the Wilson Combat 7.62×40 WT cartridge.

Because the AR-15 was designed around the .223 Remington cartridge, it’s never really been accepted as a big game gun. The result is that over the last several years there have been numerous, larger-caliber cartridges introduced for the AR-15 platform. All with the hopes of making the rifle an honest-to-goodness big game gun.

The 7.62×40 WT cartridge is a great way to increase the hunting potential of an AR-15. With only a barrel change, you essentially have a .30 caliber hunting cartridge that shoots as hard as a .30-30 Winchester.

Until now, the best candidate had been the .30 Remington AR. It essentially duplicates .300 Savage performance from a 20-inch-barreled AR-15. The problem is that Remington stumbled during the introduction of the .30 Remington AR. They’ve been slow to recover and even slower to make brass available to handloaders.

ARs make great youth rifles because they
can be light at about 6 pounds and because of the adjustable stock, which can be positioned to fit even very small kids.

In 2010 TOPS Knives and Buck Knives collaborated on a new design for a heavy-duty folding knife that was purpose-built for use by combat search and rescue personnel, and their CSAR-T tactical folder was released. Now they have teamed up once again to produce the new CSAR-T fixed blade, a larger knife designed for use in rough conditions.

All those familiar with TOPS Knives will immediately recognize the Rocky Mountain Tread handle scales, the strategically placed texture grooves on the upper and lower surfaces of the handle, and the dot-dash-dot pattern of the Morse “R” machined into the blade. The CSAR-T fixed blade is a full-sized knife with an overall length of 10-inches. It has a modified tanto blade that is 4.5 inches long, 1.25 inches wide, and made of 3/16-inch 420HC stainless steel. The blade features a compound-grind edge geometry, and sports Zirblast, ceramic bead blasted, matte finish to reduce reflectivity. The primary edge has a hollow grind for excellent cutting and slicing capability even with a thicker blade, and the tip has a stronger saber grind for added strength and durability. The handle is 5.5 inches long, sports heavily textured G-10 handle scales and has a stout 0.5-inch tang extension that multitasks as a glass/skull breaker, and as a striking point for using the knife in chisel fashion. The lanyard hole also pulls double duty as an attachment point for a driver bit.

In rescue operations, knives can and will be called on to perform unorthodox tasks. A strong, durable tip really comes in handy on those occasions.

Field Sharp
I have had the pleasure of handling quite a few Buck knives over the years, and I’ve used several of them out in the field, so I am used to them being sharp out of the sheath. The hollow-ground edge of the CSAR-T I received for testing brings a whole new dimension to this usual sharpness, and hardened to RC 60-61, it holds that edge well. After feeling the keenness of the edge I couldn’t wait to put it through one of my personal favorite tests.

A. Even weighing in at just 8.8-ounces, and a blade length of only 4.5 inches, the CSAR-T can still do well at light chopping when needed. The wedge-shaped handle allows for a secure, two-finger, rearward grip that lets the user bring some extra mass to bear in each blow, while the hollow-ground blade bites fairly deeply.

FEATURES

WILSON COMBAT X-TAC COMPACT .45 ACP by David Bahde
Compact and powerful—the ultimate for personal defense!

KAHR CM9 9mm by Dennis Adler
Deep-cover compact pistol that packs performance in an affordable package!

RUGER SR40c .40 by D.K. Pridgen
Powerful new polymer-framed .40-cal. compact in the capable SR series!

CZ 85B 9mm by Paul Scarlata
Military-born design enhanced for self-defense duty!

UMAREX REGENT R100 .45 ACP by D.K. Pridgen
Classic-style 1911 built with everything you need and nothing you don’t!

NAA MINI BLACK JACK .22 MAG by B. Gil Horman
Customized and ported pocket revolver offers stylish self-defense on the go!

STEYR ARMS C9-A1 9mm by Jorge Amselle
Austrian autopistol packed with performance!

ABERNATHY CUSTOM .40 by Paul Scarlata
A custom .40 1911, built from the ground up for total reliability!

COLUMNS

It Happened to Me: Dark Alley

Self-Defense & The Law: Unintentional Discharge Risks

Handgun Hide: Multi-season carry gear for your defensive handgun

Home Defense: Home defense weapon kits

Gun Talk: Cylinder & Slide classic 1911

Basic Training: Virtual reality tactical training

Wheelguns: Pistol-caliber revolvers

Sport Shooting: Multi-level competition

On the Range: Keeping your pistol running

Competitive Edge: Building up your shooting skills

New Products: Guns and gear that caught our eye

Gunsite Gossip: A Jeff Cooper retrospective

Schrade is the latest contender for the title of ultimate survival tool with their new, re-engineered “NaviTool.” Schrade fans might recognize the NaviTool’s basic configuration from an original version that didn’t exactly take the outdoor survival market by storm. Morgan Taylor, President of Schrade’s parent company, Taylor Brands, LLC, understated his resurrection of this good idea as “just reproducing something originally conceived by Schrade before we took over.”

The NaviTool that I took into the field is compact, measuring 6.9 inches x 2.4 inches x 2.5 inches, and weighs 8.1 ounces. The housing is a black molded-plastic body, with a crenellated rubberized grip strip on the palm side of the tool. The unit may be carried on a belt in the included black ballistic nylon case, or it can be clipped securely to almost any belt or strap using the integral (but removable) spring-loaded clip.

Schrade’s newly-redesigned NaviTool might be the most versatile self-contained survival tool yet created.

On the blade side are six fold-out tools, all of which lock in the open position, except for the traditional, largely archaic, corkscrew. There’s a classic thumbnail-notch, 2.7-inch long, drop-point work blade; a clever combination Philips screwdriver/bottle opener/wire-bending notch; a very sharp scissors with spring-loaded handle; a 2.7-inch saw blade with aggressive multi-bevel teeth; finally, a working can opener tipped by a flat screwdriver. All are made from 3Cr13 stainless steel, hardened to a useful, easily-resharpened Rc 54-56.
On the outer side o

Spartan Knives, a company that takes pride in using only U.S.-origin materials, has been known for making “knives with intent” since their Tactical Knives debut in 2009. The newest member of the Spartan family, the Harsey Hunter—designed by renowned knife maker and designer William Harsey—not only upholds this tradition, it steps it up a notch by being designed from the beginning with dual intent. The Hunter is, for the guys at Spartan and Mr. Harsey, the answer to many requests for a knife that not only performs well on the battlefield, but also in the less combative gamefields while hunting back home. With an overall length of 10.5 inches, and a 5.31-inch, drop-point blade made of 3/16-inch CPM S35V stainless steel, which is 1.25 inches wide and features very sharp hollow-ground edge geometry with a powerful point, it is off to a great start just based on specs alone.

The powerful point of this knife easily handled multiple penetrations into the heavy-duty material of this fuel tank with no deformation of either point or edge. The secure grip provided by the handle really shined in this task.

Sheath System
The first thing I noticed was the double and triple stitching used in putting together the sheath—a visual inspection alone is enough to tell that the carry system for this knife had a lot of thought put into it. The adjustable retention strap is a great feature in that not only does the outer layer provide noise discipline for the metal snap closure, but also allows adjusting the tension to make extra space for securing the lanyard or customizing the handle with camo-form. The straps on the front of the sheath offer multiple options of attaching a utility pouch for extra gear, and the pouch can be turned to suit the styles of carry. The belt loop works on smaller width belts, up to 2-inches wide, when traveling light, and it is set up for use with a drop-leg system with overlapping Velcro-lined loops to keep the sheath in place.

The Spartan MOLLE system is extremely flexible and allows for the knife to be attached to tactical vests in any location, position or direction that suits the user.

The rear of the sheath has a great system for attaching to MOLLE/PALS straps on tactical vests or a drop-leg carry system that utilizes a heavy-duty nylon D-ring, and 4-feet of paracord that is laced through a series of parallel nylon loops. I like how this system is more flexible in placement options than the more rigid nylon strap; it is extremely adaptable and allows for the knife to be mounted in any number of locations and positions.

Have you ever wanted a top of the line 1911 pistol? I don’t mean some tricked out, full house, competition race gun, but one that was designed and built from the ground up—with no expense spared—for one purpose and one purpose alone: to keep its bearer alive? To do this it must be 100% reliable and capable of doing whatever one might require of it. Well, I recently was given the opportunity of testing just such a handgun.

The muzzle end of the pistol’s slide shows crisply cut grasping grooves, a Dawson fiber optic front sight and Abernathy’s trademark logo.

Jeff Abernathy is the son of the late Tommy Abernathy. Tommy was one of the most respected gunsmiths in the Southeast and over the past decades some of the finest examples of the custom 1911 I ever saw emanated from his shop—appropriately named Tommy Guns. Jeff himself was trained as a machinist and in the 1990s began working at his father’s shop where he became acquainted with many amateur and professional action pistol shooters including Todd Jarrett.

The custom 1911’s slide is hard chromed, while the frame has an Ion Black finish. Note the extended safety lever and magazine release.

“In 2007 Todd Jarrett called me and encouraged me to consider working for Para USA when they relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina,” says Jeff. “I did, and in November of 2008 I was the first person hired to help open their new manufacturing facility. Working closely with Todd at Para helped me further my knowledge of the gun industry. One day Todd asked me to build him a .40 single-stack 1911 pistol. Once the gun was complete, he shot it at the 2011 Single Stack Nationals and placed 4th overall. This helped me decide to leave Para in order to focus on building my own gunsmithing business.”

Long experience in the cutlery business has taught me that there are a couple of major problems associated with writing about benchstones of any type. The first is it seems extremely hard to explain the basic back and forth sweeps needed to hone an edge in a manner every reader can understand. I tend to think this is because much of the technique involved with hand sharpening is about “feel” rather than method, and that is really hard to put into words.

The second problem is that benchstones are simply not very photogenic. It doesn’t matter if they are natural or synthetic; they all look like something you would use to build a brick house out of. A good case in point is the Japanese Naniwa Aotoshi 2000 grit stone almost everyone simply calls “the green brick of joy.”

There is a good reason the Naniwa 2000 is referred to as the “Green Brick of Joy.” If you didn’t know it was a benchstone, it would be easy to mistake it for a building block.

The Aotoshi 2000 truly fits the description of looking like a brick. It weighs a massive 3.88 pounds and its 8.25 x 2.75 x 2.25-inch dimensions certainly fit the appearance of a building block. Naniwa’s green brick has become something of a cult following among hardcore foodie people because they feel it produces a much finer edge than its 2000 grit base would indicate. I’ve went on record a number of times that you can take the need for fine grits and smooth polished waterstone edges too far. As a rule, I seldom use anything over 4000 grit on most working knives, and I know 2000 will produce an edge suitable for the majority of materials anyone cuts.

The list of big-name firearms manufacturers that have been in continuous operation since the era of the American Civil War is not particularly long, but the few names that make the list are immediately recognizable to shooters worldwide. One of them is Austrian gunmaker Steyr Arms, also known as Steyr-Mannlicher.

Known best for its now-classic bullpup rifle, the AUG, the company was also an early developer of innovative autoloading semi-automatic pistols. So it is only fitting that Steyr continues to introduce new improvements in pistol design for American shooters. Based on the original M9 pistol, introduced in 1999, the newly improved Steyr Arms C9-A1 is a synthetic polymer-framed, striker-fired, recoil-operated, semiautomatic, in 9mm with 15+1 capacity.

The push button above the trigger of the C9-A1, which releases the takedown lever to disassemble the pistol, also functions as an internal lock for the action with the provided key.

I teach a lot of beginning shooters, and they all want the same thing—a gun that is good for personal protection in the home but could also fit their needs for concealed carry. Let’s face it, guns aren’t all that cheap to most folks and first time shooters don’t often buy multiple guns all at once. No one gun can be all things to all people but most of these first time buyers also want one gun that everyone in the family can comfortably use. In this regard the Steyr really stands out thanks to its ergonomics and other thoughtful touches.

The ultra-smooth, 5-pound double-action-only trigger of the C9-A1 helped the author obtain extremely good accuracy during testing.

Want to shooter faster and better? There is a reason why the best handgunners in the world use a thumbs-forward grip. This technique gives the operator balanced contact on the pistol grip and improves recoil control with predictable sight tracking. I learned early in my shooting career that gripping higher with the support-hand wrist rolled forward provides more control than any other method.

Here is an example of a correct grip. The thumbs are forward, the hands are together and they have a 360 degree hold on the pistol.

Position the web of your firing hand high along the backstrap leaving no space between the top of your hand and the beavertail. The middle finger should be firmly pressed along the bottom of the triggerguard with all fingers touching one another. Keep your thumb straight and on top of the manual safety if your pistol has one. The pistol slide should be oriented in line with your forearm.

With the support hand, keep all four fingers together as you contact the bottom of the triggerguard. The heel of the support hand should mate with the bottom of the firing-hand thumb. Keep the thumbs pointed forward and contact all sides of the pistol. Again, this thumbs-forward wrist locking action will help sight recovery between shots. It is simple to reacquire this grip when the support hand is on and off the pistol during magazine changes or other tasks requiring use of the non-firing hand.

Establishing a solid, wide base combined with keeping your shoulders slightly forward will help to keep your accuracy consistent.

I’m a chopper guy. I know, I know, I’ve heard all the technical arguments that a cheap machete is more efficient in softer woods and brush or that an axe or hatchet chops quicker on hard woods. However, there’s just something about holding a big, thick monster of a blade that makes me want to hit the woods, build a shelter and baton some firewood. I also like the idea that one tool can “do it all,” even though we all know that’s a pretty tall, almost unattainable goal. So the first time I saw the Chris Caine Scorpion Survival Tool, I knew I needed one. I love unusual and the Survival Tool has that wrapped up in spades.

Of course the Survival Tool could chop. Make contact with the “sweet spot” and the chips flew, easily keeping up with a hatchet and burning right through soft pine.

Survival Background
Chris Caine, the designer of the parang-inspired knife, is a man that knows what he preaches. Chris is an accomplished British survival instructor, but that title only really scratches the surface of the depth of knowledge that this fellow holds. Chris doesn’t just practice the trade, he lives it. For the past 15 years Chris has lived without a typical home, traveling from woodland to forest, living off the land and honing and perfecting his craft.

The curvaceous handle allows for a variety of different grips and enhances the tools capability. The generous choil allows for a high grip.

My first conversation with Chris lasted well over an hour on the phone and left me nodding my head at the “sacred cows” of survivalism that Chris could so logically disassemble and disprove, and we became fast friends. He started his quest at the age of seven under the supervision of his father, a British Special Forces survival instructor. In the early 90‘s, Chris was introduced by his father to fellow SAS instructor John “Lofty” Wiseman, who helped Chris shape his skills and start Trueways Survival School.

A clean handgun is a reliable handgun, and reliable is a good thing. No matter if it’s used to protect your life or win an important match, any handgun has to work.

Still, cleaning guns is a disagreeable way to spend your time—I rank it right up there with taking out the trash and mowing the lawn. It has to be done, and frankly, unlike the lawn or trash, I don’t trust anybody else messing with my guns.

Spray in a light viscosity gun oil to lubricate and protect the metal. In addition, use compressed air to blow out any excess oil.

First off, make sure the gun is unloaded, with the magazine removed and the chamber empty. It puzzles me when I read about some fool shooting himself while “cleaning his gun.” You can’t clean a loaded gun properly and it’s a huge inconvenience to shoot yourself, so avoid the hassle and unload the thing.

Cleaning the bore is a two-step process. Start with a general solvent to remove the powder fouling and then follow with a copper-removing solvent.

In the last few years, it would seem that several gun manufacturers have been striving to produce as many compact pocket pistols as they can. But try as they might, they’ve had a hard time coming up with anything as deeply concealable as the North American Arms (NAA) Mini revolver. Working in conjunction with Talo Distributors, NAA has released a new Mini that’s both a collectable and a practical pocket defense option—the limited edition Black Jack.

Following the theme of the gun line, the Mini Black Jack’s Rosewood birdshead-style grips are engraved with playing card spades.

NAA Minis are traditional single-action revolvers based on a design developed by Dick Casull in the late 1960s. Casull, better known for his high-powered hunting handguns and the .454 cartridge that bears his name, also knew how to think small. The Mini is an exercise in compressing features until a single-action revolver is as small as possible while remaining a functional and reliable defensive handgun. In the 1970s, NAA picked up where the short-lived Rocky Mountain Arms left off and has been successfully producing mini revolvers ever since. The line has grown to include a variety of configurations, barrel lengths and limited editions.

The Black Jack’s hammer is easy to cock with either the shooting or support hand, offering a distinctive three-click revolver sound.

One company that NAA has teamed up with before to provide limited-run guns is Talo Distributors, Inc. Since 1965, the Talo wholesale buying cooperative has been supplying independent sporting goods dealers with unique firearms. Their goal is to provide customers with special and limited editions at a reasonable price. The ideas and designs driving the limited runs often come from Talo members and customers. This includes the NAA playing card series, which boasts the River Boat, Snake Eyes, Queen of Hearts, and King of Hearts limited editions. Now this popular series has grown by one more with the addition of the Black Jack.

As small as they are, the barrel ports of the Black Jack do reduce felt recoil, helping with controllability and follow-up shots.

Like most police officers, most of my early firearms training involved little in the way of competition. Pistol competitions are looked upon as mere “games” that real combat shooters never attend. As ignorant and arrogant as this attitude may be, you still hear it from many. My entrance into the precision rifle competition world confirmed my hunch that this prejudgment was not true. While competitions have their issues, on the whole they are incredibly valuable.

It was several years before the same opportunity arose in the pistol world. A good friend finally dragged me to a local club match, where the value of competing was confirmed. Not only was it incredibly valuable training, it was a ton of fun. Eventually the plunge was taken when a USPSA membership was secured and some training in earnest began. While undertaking this process, a couple of things struck me. First of all, the vast majority of shooters are not going to compete in the near future with the likes of Todd Jarrett or Dave Sevigny. Secondly, getting to the upper ranks is really tough, and not something most would even care to do.

USPSA competitions offer shooters a great way to test their skills, using either a full “race gun” or the basic everyday pistol they might carry.

Given my local experience, when the opportunity to cover the USPSA Handgun Nationals came up, I jumped at the chance. Given this event would bring the biggest names it was going to prove very interesting. It is the first national level pistol competition I have attended, and it turned out to be a very educational and interesting experience.

Real world defensive scenarios seldom provide stable or familiar platforms from which to shoot, and many of the stages at the Nationals reflected this reality.

Back in 2007 representatives from Benchmade were attending the 2007 Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning, Georgia—the home of the U.S. Army Ranger School. The Best Ranger Competition is an Olympic-level military competition, in which only the very best trained and physically conditioned Spec Ops troops participate. At the competition was Major Jeff Struecker, who served in the US Army from 1987 to 2011, most of that time with the Rangers. Major Struecker, then a squad leader, took part in the battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down. He also served in Operation: Just Cause in Panama, Operation: Desert Storm, and Operation: Iraqi Freedom. To top that all off, he won the Best Ranger Competition in 1996.

After four days in the rain, frost, a little snow and frozen in ice, no corrosion was noted, even on the exposed sharpened edge of the D2, 375 Adamas fixed blade.

Major Struecker had been a fan of Benchmade for a long time, always deploying with at least one of Benchmade’s knives. Shane James, who works at Benchmade and is a former Ranger, was a medic with Struecker in Mogadishu. James is the man who introduced Struecker to the folks at Benchmade, and Struecker asked if Benchmade would consider working on a knife project to help raise funds for the Ranger Assistance Foundation.

You can just see the oil impregnated bronze washers that make opening and closing the 275 Adamas folder so smooth and easy. The open construction of the 275 makes it easy to clean, if any dirt or sand gets into the handle.

Part of the Ranger Creed is that they will “never fail their comrades” and they will “never leave a fallen comrade.” This extends to the family members of wounded or fallen Rangers. The Ranger Assistance Foundation’s President is another Ranger Neal Gentry (Ret.), who was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in its first year back in 1993.

Undoubtedly among the most ergonomically designed pistols, the 1911 was designed as the successor to the .45 Caliber Colt SAA used successfully by the U.S. Cavalry. As he did with all his designs, John Browning imbued not only excellent ergonomics but also a “synergy” that allows the parts to work in unison to deliver outstanding performance.

I received my first 1911, a Spanish clone actually, as a gift from my wife forty years ago. As basic as can be, it was my own 1911, just like everyone was talking about in the gun magazines (thanks to Colonel Jeff Cooper). I still have it, residing in my safe with—well, let’s just say a few others.

Keeping with the basic, no-frills theme of the design, the Regent R100’s grip safety does not feature an extended beavertail sweep at its top.

I eventually added a Colt Series 70, again thanks to my bride. (See a trend here?) As were all the off-the-shelf-1911s of the time, this Colt was plain-Jane. Let’s get this straight, though, by that time functioning plain-Jane 1911s had dropped many a bad guy into a grave during military activities, law enforcement difficulties, and civilian self-defense shootings. That continues even today, although most 1911s roll off the assembly with more features than I had on either of my first two John Browning-inspired pistols.

The author found that the Umarex Regent R100 was a tried-and-true 1911, with the familiar breakdown procedure and parts interchangeability with a Colt 1911 pistol he had on hand.

A few years ago I would have told you that it could never happen, but we really do seem to be living in a golden age of auto-opening folders. One of the primary reasons given back in 1958 for putting the Federal restrictions on these knives was that they had no useful purpose besides crime. While there actually were push-button utility knives around in those days, it was the long, mean Italian switchblade “stilettos” the politicians focused on. Even I would have a difficult time saying those folders had an everyday use that couldn’t be done better by some other type of knife. The main point here is that how a knife opens doesn’t determine its practicality and there is no reason that autos can’t be functional everyday tools. Modern makers like Pro-Tech Knives are constantly proving that to any reasonable person’s satisfaction.

The full line up of standard model TR-4 folders shown in both aluminum and stainless steel handle variations. Note the non-auto knife in the center lacks the safety found the spring activated folders. All versions are available with partially serrated blades like the second to right.

Tactical Response Folders
Recently, I was allowed an opportunity to give Pro-Tech’s TR-4 (Tactical Response) family of autos an extended evaluation. The basic specs for this model include a 4-inch leaf shaped drop-point blade of 154CM stainless, 1.35 inches wide and 1/8-inch thick. Both “stone wash” and DLC black finishes with either a plain or partially serrated edge are available on all variations. The 5.25-inch handle is either T6 6061 anodized black aluminum or 416 stainless steel. An extension of the frame forms both a lanyard loop and a window breaker/striking point on the butt of the handle. On the auto version (Pro-Tech also offers a street legal non-auto for those in parts of the country where this is a legal necessity) a securely recessed push button on the left side of the handle releases the blade. A precision-machined sliding safety is also provided behind the release button.

To make things more interesting, the handles are all available with custom laser engraving of your favorite motto and/or unit insignia. If supplied with a clean, black and white computer image, Pro-Tech can customize the knives with no setup fee. All knives come in a MOLLE compatible ballistic nylon sheath as an alternative to using the standard pocket clip. Prices start around $300 and go up depending on the variation and options requested.

The top blade is the TR-4 at the end of the evaluation and the bottom is an unused one. As you can see, there was very little wear to the finish.

ARABIAN NIGHTS: Mickey Yurco’s “Persian” provides a 5.25-inch blade of 440C stainless on a handle of G-10. A tooled, black leather sheath is included with each knife. Get in touch with Yurco at shorinki@aol.com.

ROCK SOLID: Scott Davidson’s “Reversed Edge Fighter,” designed by Mark Goldsworthy, provides a 7.5-inch blade in a choice of 440C, ATS-34, or S30V stainless with a handle of black Micarta. Scott Davidson can be reached at 770-869-3173; solidrockknives.com.

In the never-ending debate about which handgun cartridges are the most effective, shooters traditionally argue for their favorites within the subcategories of pistol cartridges or revolver cartridges. For pistol cartridges, generally the arguments stay within three popular cartridges: 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP. For revolver cartridges, generally the arguments include two calibers: .38 Special and .357 Magnum.

The Charter Arms Pit Bull is designed to fire the popular .40 S&W autopistol cartridge. Of note is the fact that its specially designed ejector system negates the need for “moon clips.” Photos by Steve Woods

Police departments primarily deploy pistols as sidearms, and usually in one of the three aforementioned pistol calibers. In addition to their duty pistols, police officers often carry backup weapons—usually a subcompact pistol or snub-nosed revolver. Often the duty pistol caliber is different from the caliber of the backup gun. Sometimes the differences can be significant enough to affect performance. Imagine shooting a .45 ACP duty pistol and then quickly changing to a .38 Special snub-nosed revolver while under duress.

The Smith & Wesson Governor is an ideal self-defense revolver due to its uniquely adaptable nature—it’s designed to fire not only .45 ACP through the use of “moon clips”, but also to fire .410 shotshells and .45 Colt cartridges. Photos by Steve Woods

Yes, in a desperate situation a police officer or legally armed civilian will of course be thankful for any backup gun. Moreover, the analysis of life-or-death situations involving firearms rarely offers clear-cut universal conclusions. In the pistol/revolver caliber debate, however, consider the potential advantages of carrying a revolver chambered in a pistol caliber. While not an entirely new concept, several firearms manufacturers are currently producing pistol caliber revolvers to serve as backup guns or self-defense/concealed carry guns.

The Czechs have a long tradition of small arms production dating back to the 17th century. In 1919, the Jihoceska Zbrojovka (South Bohemian Arms Factory) was established to manufacture pocket pistols for the commercial market. They merged with the Hubertus Engineering firm in 1921 to create Ceska Zbrojovka (Bohemian Arms Factory), which became better known by its initials “CZ.”

Between 1922 and 1938, CZ designed a series of pistols that were adopted by the Czechoslovak army and police, as well as exported in large numbers. During World War II, pistol production continued to supply the German Wehrmacht.

The CZ 85B features ambidextrous safety and slide release levers, as well as a squared off triggerguard. Note the generous size of the ejection port.

After World War II, a coup installed a communist government in Prague. Shortly afterwards, bowing to demands from the USSR, the Czechs agreed to adopt Soviet caliber cartridges while clinging to their tradition of using weapons of native—and often superior—design. Thus it was for the next half a century that the Czech armed forces and police used CZ-designed pistols chambered for the 7.62×25 Tokarev and 9×18 Makarov cartridges.
But while these cartridges were standard in Warsaw Pact armies, the rest of the world wanted 9mm pistols. With traditional non-socialistic Czech business acumen, CZ set about addressing this burgeoning market.