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.

When striker-fired guns were first popularized back in the mid-1980s a lot of people, myself included, did not like them and were even a bit derisive. Today it is the manufacturers of striker-fired guns that are laughing as their popularity continues to grow. Indeed, it seems that every major firearms manufacturer is offering one or more striker-fired pistols and now Fabrique Nationale d’Herstal, more commonly known as FN Herstal has entered the fray with a new striker-fired pistol.

Rather than the external hammer of the FNX and FNP lines, the FNS features an internal striker system.

FN’s new FNS is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic, striker-fired pistol with 17+1 capacity in 9mm and 14+1 in .40 S&W. In fact, the “S” in the name stands for striker. FN has been making high-quality firearms for over 120 years and is responsible for some of the most successful and famous guns ever made. This was in no small part due to their partnership with one of the most well known names in firearms design, John Moses Browning. FN has also been relied upon and trusted by militaries worldwide, including our own, to produce firearms that are ultimately reliable and effective.

Gun Details
The FNS is made in FN’s US-based manufacturing facility in Columbia, South Carolina. Fans of FN may recall that the company did offer another striker-fired pistol, the Forty-Nine, which has been discontinued. Like the FN Forty-Nine the new FNS uses a double-action method of operation, but it does lack the earlier model’s double-strike capability. On the FNS the striker must be reset by the movement of the slide, either under recoil or manually. If you squeeze the trigger on a dud round there is no opportunity to squeeze it again (double-strike it), the action/slide must be cycled manually to eject the bad round and feed a fresh one and recharge the striker to be able to fire again.

The trigger measured consistently at 7 pounds with a smooth two-stage design, even break and short reset for faster follow-up shots.

Among life’s little irritations is the proliferation of this annoying phrase “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Of course it could. Show me any statement at all and I will come up with something, which is further from the truth than that. The same rejection can be lodged against “I couldn’t agree more.” I guess that people who write like that must go for “spray-and-pray” in a gunfight—sloppy thinking and sloppy marksmanship.

● It is clear that modern rifles and ammunition are capable of astonishing accuracy at unreasonable ranges, but it is the shooter who does the work, not the weapon, and shots in the “way over yonder” range are not only improbable, they are grossly unsporting. No one who has ever seen a buck mule deer with its lower jaw shot off dying in misery will ever run the risk of bringing that about himself. We say it again loud and clear: Do not brag about how far away your shot was. Brag about how close you were able to get to your target.

● If you do not know history, at least superficially, you will have no idea of where you came from, where you are now, or where you are going. I think a satisfactory word for this condition is “disconnected.” To the extent that you do not know history, you are disconnected, perhaps not technically, but socially and philosophically and emotionally. This may be a harsh view, but it seems to me that a person who is disconnected has no real right to his opinions on any subject of importance. You gain your grasp of history through reading—recreational reading. You certainly cannot get it through class-work. When I was teaching history at the high school level, I remember actually lighting a few intellectual fires. I suppose I did not get through to the majority of my students, but I remember several of them coming up after class and asking me where they could find out more about the subject we had just discussed. These occasions were small triumphs, and I recall them with great pleasure.

NOTE: The intellectual property of Jeff Cooper is owned by Gunsite Academy and reprinted from Gargantuan Gossip 2 with their permission. Jeff Cooper’s books are available from the ProShop at Gunsite (928-636-4565; www.gunsite.com) and www.jeffcooperbooks.com.

There is a lot to be said for short-barreled firearms that are capable of firing rifle caliber ammunition. You get the benefit of using a higher capacity magazine than on most pistols and firing a full power rifle round all in a very compact package suitable for close quarters. A short-barreled rifle (SBR), such as an AR with a stock, would be perfect, but they do require some federal paperwork and added expense.

Fortunately we have the option of AR pistols, essentially a short-barreled rifle minus the stock. While not as steady as an actual SBR, it still provides many of the same benefits—including the ability to accurately engage targets at distances far beyond most any handgun. When it comes to such pistols, the new P415 AR pistol from POF-USA (Patriot Ordnance Factory) may be one of the better ones on the market.

The rear of the Patriot Ordnance P415 lower receiver includes ambidextrous quick detach sling attachment points for carrying convenience.

Gas-Piston Pistol
POF are experts when it comes to gas-piston AR rifle systems and take exceptional pride in the high quality of their products. The P415 is a semi-automatic AR pistol using a short-stroke gas-piston operating system and chambered in 5.56mm NATO. As any AR shooter soon realizes, the standard direct-gas-impingement system used in the M16/AR15 rifle causes a lot of heat and fouling inside the receiver area. Many AR pistols employ this system of operation in which expanding gasses are vented back through the gas tube to directly operate the bolt and carrier.

The monolithic free-floating quad rail offers lots of real estate for extras—note the piston gas adjustment lever just above the barrel.

SIG is a very old company. The Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft began as a wagon maker in 1853, expanded into railcar manufacturing and in 1860, along with the formal adoption of the SIG acronym, entered the arms manufacturing business with a handsome contract from the Swiss Federal Ministry of Defense to build 30,000 Prelaz-Burnand muzzleloading rifles. Thus SIG began a history of arms making that has lasted for over 150 years, but the Swiss manufacturer didn’t become famous for producing handguns for almost another century. That didn’t happen until the late 1930s, when SIG licensed a French design variation of the Browning titling barrel system modified by Swiss designer Charles Gabriel Petter and used for the French military Modèle 1935 pistol. The French semi-automatic had one drawback, it was chambered in 7.65mm and the Swiss wanted a 9×19mm Parabellum. Enter SIG.

Among several improvements in the P210 Legend is the use of a grip frame mounted mag release, a larger thumb safety, and an extended beavertail.

Petter had improved on Browning’s 1911 design by dispensing with the barrel bushing (as would be done on the Browning Hi-Power) and machining the slide in a single piece. Petter actually combined a number of 1930’s designs into the Modèle 1935 including a variation of the Soviet Tokarev, which contained a single assembly for the hammer and lock that could be easily removed for cleaning and repair. After licensing the Petter design SIG’s engineers modified it further by eliminating the 1911-style swivel link and utilizing a camming barrel lug (like the new Browning Hi-Power). SIG also adopted spring-loaded extractors based on the Tokarev. When it was completed the SIG was named the Model SP47/8 for its year of manufacture and cartridge capacity. It was adopted by the Swiss Military as the Pistole 49, becoming the forerunner of the commercial version we know today as the Sig Sauer P210.

The Sig Sauer is easy to fieldstrip and reveals its mixed heritage of Colt Model 1911 and Browning Hi-Power internal characteristics.

Like most gun owners I shoot because it’s fun, and also because I take my personal protection seriously. Unfortunately most of us don’t have the time or resources to engage in significant amounts of training. Going to the range on a regular basis certainly helps but can get tedious. Shooting competitions, however, offer real challenges, training, and fun for anyone.

Whenever you have any manner of competition you will invariably have those who seek to be the best at it and when it comes to shooting lots of practice and outstanding equipment makes all the difference. One company that excels at making sure competition guns perform is SJC Guns (or S&J Customs), co-owned by John Nagel and Steave Breeding.

Built by competitors for competitors, SJC adds match-grade parts and custom touches designed by the owners themselves.

SJC focuses solely on enhancing the Glock pistol for high-speed shooting and its guns have helped several world-class shooters win national championships. In fact, SJC built the first Glock to be used to win the open/race gun category in a world title in 2006, the Winchester World Challenge, which Dave Sevigny won. Sevigny also went on to use an SJC gun to win the 2010 Steel Master title at the World Speed Shooting Championship, and in 2009 Jessie Abbate shot an SJC to win Ladies Steel Master at the Steel Challenge. Dozens of world championships have been won with SJC guns.

SJC’s custom enhancements to the Glock platform include longslide assemblies, oversized magazine release buttons and significantly enlarged magazine wells.

The record is unclear on who coined the term “belly gun” but the term generally refers to a short barrel revolver that is designed for combat at an extremely close range. This was the concept of the Fitz Special, a large bore Colt revolver that was cut down by Colt’s John Fitzgerald. Proponents of the Fitz Specials included veteran gunfighters like Rex Applegate, William Fairbairn, and Charles Askins. As times changed, the large bore revolvers fell out of favor and smaller revolvers, such as the .38 caliber Colt Detective Special and Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special, came into favor.

Over the years, Smith & Wesson has produced J-frames in various calibers and models. However, the quintessential belly gun is the Centennial in .38 Special. The Centennial was first introduced in 1952 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Smith & Wesson. The concealed hammer design gave the little gun a sleek profile that enabled it to be easily carried in a pocket. As popular as the Centennials were, turmoil in Springfield caused Smith to discontinue the line in 1974.

The author equipped the 640 Pro with a set of Crimson Trace Lasergrips for testing. Note the laser housing unit to the rear of the cylinder.

.38 Special +P
Continuing improvement in ammunition has kept the .38 Special a viable option for personal defense for over 100 years. One of the real pioneers in ammunition improvements was Lee Jurras. Jurras founded Super Vel, short for super velocity, in 1963. He introduced the world to lightweight jacketed hollow point bullets that were pushed to unheard of velocities. His .38 Special 110-grain JHP load became a favorite load of many federal agencies. The “rumor” was that the load broke 1,000 feet per second (fps) from the issued Model 60 stainless steel Chiefs Special.

The 640 Pro’s cylinder is relieved so it can accept moon clips, or it can also work without them.

A few years back, Taurus started the trend of revolvers chambered with the .45 Colt cartridge that also took .410 bore shotshells with its five-shot Judge revolver. Since then, it has been so successful that their website now lists some 18 different models. Not to be outdone, Smith & Wesson introduced its Governor .45 Colt/.410 revolver and not only is it a six-shooter, but it will also chamber the .45 ACP cartridge using half-moon clips. Now along comes Heritage Manufacturing. The small, family-owned outfit in South Florida has introduced a new variation of the Rough Rider line it calls the .45/.410.

Revolver Details
The Heritage .45/.410 revolver differs from the rest in that it is a single-action (SA) rather than a double-action (DA) revolver like the Taurus and S&W. They have basically taken the Big Bore Rough Rider in .45 Colt and done a “stretch job” on the cylinder and frame. The result is the cylinder is now 2.75 inches long, which necessitated elongating the frame to 4.25 inches, giving this revolver an overall length of about 11.5 inches from muzzle to butt. While the cylinder is long, to keep it within reason the revolver is limited to 2½-inch .410 shotshells only. The cylinder is not fluted and the chambers are recessed to enclose the case heads in a protective ring of steel.

With the loading gate open, it’s easy to see the rear of the cylinder is counter-bored for extra safety. Also note the firing pin that is frame-mounted.

One feature you will find on the .45/.410 Rough Rider that is unique to Heritage SA revolvers is a safety. Located within the recoil shield on the left side of the frame; the safety lever (when pushed up into the “on” position), interposes a steel bar between the hammer face and the frame-mounted firing pin. With the lever down in the “off” position, a red dot is exposed on the back of the recoil shield and the bar is now flush with the inside of the frame allowing the hammer nose to contact the firing pin.

Standard on the Heritage Rough Rider .45/.410 single-action revolver are smooth, oversized rosewood grips with finger grooves.

There you are, comfortably asleep in your bed while all through the house not a creature is stirring, except for the sociopath kicking open your front door—not exactly the scenario that elicits visions of sugarplums dancing around. The reality is that the statistics on home invasions cut both ways.

It has always been the case that American criminals are less likely to break into homes where the occupants are present. Home invasions used to be called “hot” burglary, describing a situation where a criminal would break into your home and assault you in order to rob you. Yet American criminals intent on property theft prefer to avoid “hot” burglaries, due to the inconvenient fact that American homeowners have a tendency to shoot them.

The downside here is that if someone breaks into your home knowing that you are there, their likely intent is not theft but rather bodily assault. In fact, true home invasion statistics are hard to come by as most such incidents are categorized under murder, assault and forcible rape crimes instead.

Lights, magazines, and action—the Defender is ready for it all when it comes to home defense, and includes a pocket for ID and cellphone.

In February, the 2012 Smith & Wesson IDPA Indoor Nationals took place at the Smith & Wesson Shooting Sports Center located in Springfield, Massachusetts. During the course of the event, the facility was filled with more than 300 shooters blazing down stages set up in every available nook and cranny. As snow fell outside, shooters stayed warm in the Shooter Sports Center competing for personal bests and national titles.

Background
Founded in 1996, the International Defensive Pistol Association focuses on simulated self-defense scenarios in a real-world setting. The next year saw the beginning of what would become the Indoor National Championship. Celebrating 15 years with the 2012 match, the Smith & Wesson Indoor Nationals is now one of the best matches in all of shooting sports.

The competition tested the CQB-shooting skills of the entrants in numerous realistic settings.

Because of IDPA’s roots as a defensive handgunning sport, the Indoor Nationals tests skills not often used in other practical shooting sports. Foremost of these skills is the ability to shoot in no light whatsoever. The gear requirements for the Indoor Nationals are the same as every other IDPA match, with one small addition—a flashlight. At the 2012 match, the shooter’s flashlight provided the only light available on two stages, and a third stage had the option of using a flashlight. For many shooters, including a certain gunwriter/shooter, those three stages would determine their ultimate finish in the match.

Various creative real-world settings were employed, such as the “Ambush at the Gym” scene pictured here.

Sometimes there just isn’t a practical way to wear a conventional holster, especially in hot or humid climates where lightweight clothing is worn, or situations where a belt holster, traditional shoulder rig or even an IWB holster cannot be used. These are circumstances that cannot only limit how you carry concealed, but what you can carry. There are, however, ways to get around even the most difficult of circumstances.

There are new and innovative concealed carry methods that do not require conventional holsters (though some of the rigs shown qualify as “unconventional”) and for each method of carry I will show how it is used and how it works.

Hot Topic
This past summer has certainly driven home the point of heat and humidity and the limitations it places on concealed carry. Having had a CCW permit for almost 20 years, I have tried dozens of different methods under all extremes of weather. And when the temperature and dew point increases, the amount of clothing one wears usually decreases exponentially. The most common option for hot weather carry is a small .38 caliber revolver or .380 semi-automatic in a pocket holster. But sometimes that can be an issue too, because even pocket pistols print through with certain fabrics. The general solution is to wear an oversized T-shirt hanging over your pant’s waist and pockets. This works, but can also be a potential impediment to efficiently retrieving your gun in an emergency. The author’s general solution has been an unbuttoned casual shirt (short sleeve or sleeves rolled up) that can be quickly swept aside to allow a pocket draw.

The Recluse pocket holster is a unique design. It remains one of the author’s favorites for discrete carry of a pocket-sized pistol.

Serious students of armed defense know that the “warning shot” is a bad idea, an act expressly forbidden by most police departments insofar as their own officers’ “rules of engagement.” Unfortunately, much of the public and apparently even some members of the bar have not gotten the word.

You would think a law school graduate and a veteran prosecutor would know that warning shots are not a good thing. Yet last summer I testified as an expert witness for the defense in what I’ll call Case One, in which a woman had to shoot her estranged husband in self-defense after he violently attacked her and beat her to the ground. She was criminally charged with Manslaughter. The prosecutor made a huge deal out of the fact that the single gunshot wound sustained by the deceased was fired into his torso, and he railed histrionically to the jury that the fact that she hadn’t fired a warning shot, or shot to wound, was evidence of guilt. The defense team explained the matter, and a wise and attentive jury very quickly found her Not Guilty of all charges. Yet, I was appalled that in the year 2011 an officer of the court could make an argument so out of touch with reality.

It happens, and the lesson is, you may have to explain why you didn’t fire a warning shot. A few years ago in a famous incident in Arizona, Case Two revolved around a retired schoolteacher who was attacked by two large dogs as he finished a hike at a trailhead. He fired two warning shots from his Kimber 10mm pistol, which alarmed the animals enough that they did indeed break off their attack. However, their owner—a person diagnosed to be mentally ill, and with a long history of violent, unprovoked assaults—attacked the older man, who shot him in self-defense. The defender wound up convicted of a wrongful killing, and spent considerable time in prison before winning an appeal. The prosecutor chose not to take him to court again, leaving him a free man, but he is still hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after his long legal battle.

STREET CURB SHOWDOWN
I had been hired by the state as a correctional officer and was on my way home from work on the swing shift. Recently, we had been informed that our names and addresses had been obtained by a white supremacist gang in the state and to be cautious driving to and from work. We found out later that a woman working for the state had given the names and addresses of many on the staff to the Aryan Brotherhood, including mine because I worked in a security housing unit as a yard gunner that housed several Aryan Brotherhood members.

Because of the danger, I made sure that I wore a “cover” over my uniform while driving. I also made sure that I was qualified with my concealed carry weapon. About three miles from my home, I noticed a pickup truck that had been behind me for a while. I decided to change directions just as a precaution. The truck changed direction with me and accelerated to just behind my pickup’s rear. I sped up a little and turned right onto a street that I wasn’t familiar with.
Suddenly, he sped up and forced me over to the curb. Unfortunately, I wound up right behind a parked car with his truck behind me. My window was partially rolled down, and when I tried to roll it up, the window jammed. The man was about 5’11” and as he approached my truck, I prepared for a confrontation. He kept approaching me and began yelling at me—that he “knew what I was about” and he had been looking for me. I told him that I didn’t know him and to go away. He swore several times and said, “You’ll be sorry.” Then he reached behind his waist.

As he did this, I reached inside of my jacket for my concealed weapon. It was a Smith & Wesson 629 .44 Mag. He pulled out a long knife. As I saw the knife, I leaned away from him a bit, to put a little room between us, drew the gun up to the window level and said loudly, “Go away now!”

I know all he saw was the business end of my .44 Mag pointed right at him. His eyes got as big as silver dollars. He stepped back and said, “Hey man, I don’t want any trouble.”

I said, “Go away and there won’t be.” He ran back to his truck and left. I’ll never forget that evening when having my concealed carry weapon saved me from certain harm.

As my friend Butch and I examined the targets I opined, “Didn’t I tell you that this thing was going to be accurate.” Butch just nodded his head. The “thing” under discussion was the new Nighthawk Custom Bob Marvel Special pistol and yes, it was accurate.

Nighthawk Custom specializes in building some the finest custom 1911 pistols available today. Their staff includes some of the most noted 1911 master craftsmen in the industry today with over 75 years of combined experience. As behooves any entrepreneur wishing to make a profit, Nighthawk will build a pistol to the customer’s exact specifications but an examination of their catalog shows that they offer a number of “off the shelf” models that are designed for just about any conceivable use to which one might care to put a 1911. This includes police/military service, personal protection, concealed carry or competition shooting—from no-frills to fancy.

Looking down the muzzle shows the special bushingless sleeved barrel. Texturing on the top of the slide extends into the angled grasping grooves.

Now, “no frills” does not mean that their pistols are not attractive, but several of them display a subdued exterior that, to my way of thinking, emphasizes their intended role as serious fighting handguns. You might say that while Nighthawk pistols don’t have any features that are not absolutely necessary to the task at hand, they do possess every feature that is necessary for that task.

The rear of the slide is also textured. Note the extended thumb safety, Commander-style hammer and Bob Marvel/Trijicon adjustable rear sight.

There are very few guns that are as iconic as Magnum Research’s massive Desert Eagle. But in the last few years the Desert Eagle has been tough to find on dealer’s shelves. That’s all about to change. Kahr Arms purchased Magnum Research Inc. (MRI) in summer of 2010 and is doing their best to fill the pipeline and satisfy the demand for the Desert Eagle.

In 1979 Magnum Researcher’s founders, Jim Skildum and John Risdall started the process of transforming paper blueprints into a behemoth autopistol. Pistols were originally manufactured in Israel by Israel Military Industries (IMI) until 1995 when MRI relocated manufacturing to Saco Defense in Maine. In 1998 MRI moved its manufacturing back to IMI, which had been reorganized as Israel Weapons Industries (IWI). In 2009 MRI started manufacturing the Desert Eagle at their Pillager, Minnesota factory, but to help bolster their supply of guns while they were bringing domestic production fully on line, MRI contracted with IWI to again produce guns. My test sample is a version of this Israeli-made gun. It should be noted that while the gun is machined overseas that MRI controls the specifications, patents and all licenses for the Desert Eagle. IWI is simply a contractor to help MRI satisfy the seemingly endless demand for this gun.

The slide-mounted ambidextrous safety of the Desert Eagle is swept up to disengage.

Gun Details
If you’ve never picked up the Desert Eagle you’re in for a surprise. It is a monster! Weighing close to 4.5 pounds it is truly a handful. But what makes the Desert Eagle a truly unique gun is its design. The Desert Eagle uses a short-stroke piston not unlike that used in the M1 Carbine. Gas passes through a hole underneath the bore into the gas cylinder where it pushes the piston. This inertia drives the slide back where the bolt unlocks after the pressure subsides and the extraction, ejection and feeding cycle begin. The Desert Eagle uses twin recoil springs to retard the slide’s rearward movement and then push it forward to strip a cartridge from the magazine.

Magnum Research ships the Desert Eagle with a 5 in 1 tool. It can be used to ream accumulated fouling from the gas cylinder of the autopistol.

Wilson Combat’s CQB pistols are among the most popular pistols for operators on the market today, being used for both concealed carry and duty use. I personally recall working the retail counter at a gun store when they first came out. It was about impossible to keep them in stock since it was a pistol that many had been asking to see built for years. Long known for its higher end custom pistols, the CQB was a custom pistol at a price more attainable for the average person. It was pretty bare bones, had all the features you really need in a working pistol, yet still built with the attention to detail seen in custom pistols. Although not an entry-level pistol by any means, it was really no-nonsense and void of some of the gadgets many other custom pistols sported. It was a strong seller then and maintains that strength to this day.

Serrations run the length of the top of the slide to prevent glare in direct sunlight, while a flared ejection port ensures reliable ejection.

Gun Details
The Elite really offers the best of the features typically seen in a combat pistol. Like all Wilson pistols, it is built one at a time to the specifications of the buyer. The basic package of this pistol has it all though—starting with a forged-steel frame and slide, it is constructed with Wilson Combat’s finest internal components. An extended magazine well is added, hand-fitted and contoured to the frame for fast and accurate magazine changes under stress. It is fitted with their new and very popular Pyramid “U” notch rear sight and a green fiber optic front sight. Having a good deal of time on these sights they are some of the fastest to acquire on the market.

The frontstrap is cut high with 30 lines-per-inch (lpi) checkering as well as the 30-lpi mainspring housing. This housing has a lanyard loop, a feature becoming common in duty pistols. The match grade barrel is hand-fitted using a standard guide rod. Along with checkering, the top and rear of the slide have serrations assisting with glare reduction. There are cocking serrations both on the front and the rear of the slide. It is completely dehorned for concealed carry and covered in Armor-Tuff on the colors of your choosing.

Solid G-10 Starburst grips grant exceptional control of the pistol without tearing up shooters’ hands during long days on the range.

In Samuel Colt’s lifetime his guns always bore simple names; Paterson, because the first Colts were manufactured in Paterson, New Jersey, and sub-classifications such as Holster Model or Belt Model. The first use of an individual’s name was in 1847 as a posthumous tribute by Colt to honor fallen Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Walker, who had collaborated on the design of the .44 caliber Model of 1847 Army Pistol made famous during the war with Mexico.

A dozen years after being discontinued the Colt .380 Mustang Pocketlite is back. Reengineered to new standards combining an aluminum alloy frame and stainless steel slide, the Pocketlite falls right into the heart of the current CCW trend for small .380 ACPs.

Aside from that exception, Colt generally gave his guns numerical designations based upon the year in which they were introduced and caliber: .44 for Army, .36 for Navy, or by size, such as the 1848 Pocket Revolver. There is one other notable exception, the entire line of .44 caliber revolvers produced after the Walker, all known as Dragoons in honor of the U.S.M.R. (United States Mounted Rifles). Colt’s personal naming process accounts for popularly known examples like the 1851 Navy, 1860 Army, Pocket Model of Navy Caliber, and Pocket Police.

There is a stylish contrast between the stainless steel slide and the aluminum alloy electroless nickel frame.

It wasn’t until almost a decade after Sam Colt’s death that the company again used an individual’s name to designate a new model, and as before, it was that of the designers: Alexander Thuer, C.B. Richards, and William Mason, respectively. The first use of a popular name didn’t occur until the 1873 Single Action Army picked up the catchy epithet “Peacemaker.” In 1877 Colt took the idea to heart and introduced a double-action Colt named Lightning; in 1894 the Bisley target model; and by the early 20th century the New Service, Police Positive, Banker’s Special, Detective Special, and Woodsman, all now legendary names. The Colt play on the “horse” theme didn’t come along until 1986, for a little .380 auto named the Mustang.

The lightweight aluminum frame of the Pocketlite features a matte nickel finish.

One question a writer can expect to receive occasionally is “What handgun should I buy?” While it might be reasonable to assume we would have a little more knowledge than many folks, without knowing what your experience, needs and intended uses are, it is difficult to recommend a handgun for you. I personally have a standard litany of questions I ask before answering, beginning with, “Have you shot handguns before?” and followed by, “What are you buying it for, and how much do you want to spend?”

Expense is quite important for everyone. Spending way more than what may be necessary can cause a number of problems, not to mention losing money that would be better spent on practice ammunition and/or training. I love the high-end handguns as much as anyone else, but it is certainly not necessary to spend thousands of dollars for a defensive handgun of that will be fired relatively little in the span of a year!

The barrel mates directly to the slide with no bushing. Note the integral accessory rail machined into the pistol’s frame.

Also, basic handguns from virtually all manufacturers have come a long way in recent times. It is now quite possible to get a quality, reliable pistol at a price that does not leave you gasping.

Everyone should be able to afford a reliable firearm to defend lives. Decades ago, a cousin purchased a Bersa pistol, in .380 if memory serves me. Last I heard it was still functioning quite well. At the time, Bersa’s offering was perfect for his budget, and he was glad to acquire a reliable pistol for self-defense. For a number of years now (since the early 1950s, actually) Bersa, headquartered in Ramos Mejia, Argentina, has been helping folks do just that.

The HC 40 features ambidextrous controls for ease of use by southpaws. The external extractor gripped cases firmly and positively.

FEATURES

FNS 9×19mm by Jorge Amselle
Fabrique Nationale’s striker-fired auto boasting 17+1 rounds of firepower!

BERSA THUNDER PRO HC 40 by D.K. Pridgen
An affordable and reliable high-capacity .40 caliber ideal for self-defense!

COLT MUSTANG POCKETLITE .380 ACP by Dennis Alder
A pint-sized thoroughbred that breaks out from the pack!

WILSON COMBAT CQB ELITE .45 ACP by David Bahde
A 1911 package designed to meet the needs of tactical shooting professionals!

MARK XIX DESERT EAGLE .44 MAG by Mike Detty
Israeli-produced powerhouse that sets the standard for magnum performance!

NIGHTHAWK BOB MARVEL SPECIAL .45 ACP by Paul Scarlata
Custom 1911 with 10,000+ round EVERLAST recoil system!

SMITH & WESSON M640 PRO .357 MAG by Rob Garrett
Next evolutionary step for the J-frame—maximum performance for everyday carry!

PATRIOT ORDNANCE P415 5.56mm by Jorge Amselle
Ultimate close-range support weapon harnessing rifle-grade firepower!

COLUMNS

It Happened to Me —Street corner showdown

Self-Defense & the Law — Warning shot misconceptions

Handgun Hide — Innovative concealed carry methods

Sport Shooting — 2012 Championship test: IDPA Indoor Nationals

Home Defense — U.S. Palm Defender Handgun Armor system

Wheelguns — Heritage Rough Rider .45/.410

Competitive Edge — High-speed Glocks customized by SJC Guns

Gun Talk — Timeless military pistol—Sig Sauer P210 9mm

Gunsite Gossip — A Jeff Cooper retrospective