There is a variation of the basic pistol that is worthy of a quick look, but is a variation that most of us will never fire, much less own. It’s called a machine pistol, which means a full-auto pistol—illegal without federal registration and tax stamp. Less there be confusion in terminology, understand that the abbreviation MP is sometimes used to describe them, but the Germans use that same abbreviation to describe the submachine gun—MP38, MP5, etc. In common use, the submachine gun is a compact full-auto firearm that fires pistol cartridges. It has a buttstock for support and is very effective in trained hands. In most cases, submachine guns are not easily concealed. Machine pistols, on the other hand, are full-auto guns firing pistol cartridges and having fairly concealable characteristics. More often than not, they do not have stocks or other support devices. I do not believe the machine pistol has characteristics that make it an effective firearm for anything but highly specialized roles.

The basic problem with this type of firearm is simple. Pistols light enough to be carried (2 to 3 pounds) produce recoil that raises the gun’s muzzle upon firing. Second and subsequent shots only increase the recoil and muzzle rise. Even a short burst usually drives the gun well off target. Much of the time, all but the first shot is a miss. You get much noise with repeated shots, lots of muzzle flash and golden streams of brass in the air, but only an occasional hit. You could slow down the rate of fire with more mass to the recoiling parts or more strength to the recoil spring, but there are limits to this approach. One of more familiar versions of the machine pistol is the C96 Mauser in the later Schnelfeuren version. I fired one of these once and found it tough to manage. My late pal, Chuck Karwan, chuckled when I repeated this story, and commented on the utility of the Spanish Astra copy. The gun’s designers worked a rate-of-fire reduction system into the searage, making it much easier to shoot. In handgun history, there have been several machine pistols that have enjoyed modest popularity, such as the Mac-10, Beretta 93R, HK VP70Z and the Russian Steckchin. In prowling around references for these things, I found information on several makers who tried to improve full-auto firing by using less powerful ammo—.380 Auto, .32 ACP and even .25 ACP.

There is an old saying, repeated often enough to be a cliché, which says “Practice makes Perfect.” On the face of it, this might seem to apply to learning the skills of gunhandling and marksmanship. But when you think about the consequences of errors in handling a gun and using it skillfully under stress, then maybe it’s time to refine the cliché’d just a little. How about adding a word, making it “Perfect Practice makes Perfect?” In essence, this simply means that you must execute every aspect of a training regimen to perfection before additional repetitions will produce a beneficial effect. It has been pretty well established that you must do something on the order of 5,000 reps of a physical act before muscle memory takes over and it becomes habit. That’s a tall order.

Let’s take something as simple as presenting the pistol from a holster. As taught at Gunsite, this is a five step sequence that begins with the pistol in a holster and ends with the gun locked into a hard Weaver stance, sights aligned on target and finger on the trigger. Students at the school practice the steps of the exercise enough to understand what the steps are. Performed properly, the presentation of the handgun minimizes the movement of the gun. It just comes out of the holster and goes straight to the final on-target position with no wasted motion. With conscientious effort, the presentation is very smooth and can be very quick. Although your initial practice sessions may seem tediously slow, they will become more productive in the long run.   

On several occasions in the past, I have stated an opinion that I will re-iterate here. When you are choosing a concealed-carry firearm, the most important physical characteristic to consider is weight. As you make your comparisons to narrow the choices, we’ll assume that you chose a gun of a caliber that is well-suited for the job. In autos, nothing smaller than a 9 mm, while .38 Spl. is as light as you should go in a revolver.

Quite often, the perspective concealed-carry handgunner becomes enamored of light guns with polymer or light alloy receivers housing double column magazines. Certainly he or she needs to consider light guns, because the heavier guns are onerous to carry. In short order, the CCW gunner rationalizes away the need to carry a heavy gun for “just a quick trip to the market.” But the high-capacity handgun has an under-appreciated fault, and that is weight.

Before automatic pistols had one piece receivers of best-quality, industrial grade polymer, they came with two pieces of (usually) wood fastened to the sides of the butt. Revolvers go even farther back in the chronology and did the same thing. Wood shapes easily and can even be user-customized. However, what is the correct name for these wood, bone, horn, ivory or whatever plates. For most of my shooting life, I have called them “grips” and I believe the majority of the firearms world does the same.

But years ago, Steve Herrett started a business in building these items and in doing so, steadfastly referred to them as “stocks.” Which term is correct? I frankly do not know, but I believe they are most commonly called grips, and I can point to many other places in industry literature that use that term. However, I freely concede that Herrett has a point. I recently looked at some of the original drawings for the 1911 and they are in fact stocks. I suspect, but cannot prove, that the term stocks was used earlier, but grips eased its way in during recent decades. What is correct? You can call them grips or stocks, or both. Take your pick.

From just before the American Civil War to just after the turn of the century, America underwent a westward expansion unparalleled in history.  Millions migrated with the sun to the new opportunities beyond the wide Missouri. In order to have this happen, the frontier population went armed with the fast-developing firearms of that day. In our time, this movement has been romanticized heavily, including the use of a wide variety of guns. The process has involved a great many so-called “western” motion pictures and TV shows. This, in turn, has created a demand for shooting samples of all of these types of guns. I’m delighted to point out that you can now buy brand-new examples of almost all of the guns that served to conquer the frontier. Made of modern steels and fitted very nicely, these guns come from a variety of factories, most of which are in Italy.

While long arms of many brands are available (including such gems as Sharps and Spencers), we’ll stick with the handguns. Some of the very earliest revolvers were imported from Italy by Val Forgett in the late ‘50s. They were the black powder, caplock revolvers of Colt and Remington. The Colts were in greater variety and are still available for those fond of shooting cap-and ball guns. Eventually, other black powder guns came along, including the ’58 Remington and even the exotic LeMat.

The course of fire known as the PPC was developed to give peace officers a more realistic training experience than the bullseye courses that used to be in police basements all across the country. For administrative reasons, the Practical Pistol Course needed several important characteristics. It had to be easy to run and require a minimum of space. Also, there was a need for an easy-to-score system and a minimum of range staff. There was a bit of fiddling around with the course, but it eventually settled into a routine with stages as 7, 15, 25 and 50 yards. All you needed was a flat piece of ground with a berm to contain the bullet strikes and lines at the four ranges. After my Marine service, I started shooting this course for qualification and in competition. I fired it early and often, shooting the course probably 1,000 times in the years I was a deputy sheriff. It was fun meeting other officers on the competition circuit and my revolver skills improved along the way. Eventually, however, the use of the PPC course as a competition device produced some problems.

Intended as a qualification and training tool, the PPC simulated combat conditions. It offered generous time limits and huge scoring rings on the old Colt target. In no time at all, the good shooters began to take their time and run the course “clean” with no misses at all. Therefore, for competition use, they began to use a Prehle target with the same oversized silhouette and Olympic rapid fire scoring rings thereon. This spread the scores out nicely and running clean was more difficult—much better for scoring. But it was not realistic in times distances and scoring, as was the original intent. At this point, a new piece of equipment came along—the PPC revolver. 

Everybody loves a bargain, but there are a lot of shooters in these hard economic times who absolutely need a bargain if they are going to keep shooting. Where handguns are concerned, you might want to consider what’s available in the pre-owned category. In doing so, know that there is a difference between worn out junk and a well-maintained service handgun.

In the computer and television world, they re-certify products all the time. At least one of our major handgun makers is doing something similar. SIG Sauer has been selling large blocks of various pistols to police agencies for many years. When these agencies decide to upgrade to another SIG model, the older guns are sometimes turned in for credit. Factory personnel examine the guns carefully, make repairs as needed and completely re-finish each gun. These guns are then sold to distributors in packaging that clearly identifies them as “Certified Pre-Owned.” There is what amounts to a new gun guarantee included. This is about as straightforward and honest a program as I can possibly imagine and is an excellent source of some of the best of modern pistols as you can possibly find. Naturally, the guns are sold at prices lower than brand-new models.

In the 1970s, I lived and worked in an area with a number of excellent gun stores. One of them was in a coastal city, and about half the salesmen were off-duty deputy sheriffs. This store was big enough to have an enormous array of guns, both new and used, and it was well connected to the major makers, so rare guns were not uncommon. It was in this cop-friendly emporium that I saw my first Smith & Wesson pinto revolver. Now, what is a Smith & Wesson “pinto” handgun?

The term is collector slang for a S&W handgun with different parts finished in standard blue and nickel plate. This two-tone finish is somewhat reminiscent of the sharply contrasting colors of a pinto pony, providing the name. Most commonly, the pintos involved a J, K or N frame revolver with nickel barrel and cylinder with the rest of the gun blued, though exceptions have been noted by the avid collectors. Only a few autos have been seen, usually Model 39s and 59s. 

Centennial denotes a period of 100 years. When those 100 years are identified as a specific period, such as 1901 to 2000, it’s called a century. The 20th century was a milestone time in history, both in general and in the history of arms and their use. We witnessed enormous changes in guns and ammunition in the 20th century, from the U.S. Army riding to battle on horseback to Marines using Osprey VTOL airplanes in the Gulf wars. Similar changes occurred in police and civilian arms. It struck me the other day that there are a few significant items that literally span a century, being popular and meaningful throughout. Take the revolver cartridge, for example. At the beginning of the century we had two that merit our attention.

First, there was the .38 Spl. It was introduced with the new K frame Hand Ejector revolver in 1899. This was an attempt to build a gun/cartridge combo that would meet the long term needs of police, military and civilian handgunners. You can still buy an M&P revolver from Smith & Wesson and the ammo is universally available. Over the years, .38 Spl. rounds have been loaded in a great many ways, including .38-44s, high speed-metal piercing loads and even flush seated wadcutters for competition use. Amazingly versatile, the .38 Spl. adds an additional dimension to every .357 Mag. revolver ever made. At 100 years, the .38 Spl. JHP (sometimes +P) has evolved into one of our top choices for defensive use in short-barreled revolvers.

Take a close look at your handgun barrel the next time you are cleaning it. Since we never clean loaded gun, it will have been carefully unloaded and the ammunition put away. As you check the bore to be sure you have done a proper job of removing the debris, take note of its spiral grooves. They weren’t always there.

These grooves were pressed, cut or hammered into place when the barrel was a smooth tube. This process is known as rifling the barrel and the end result is also called rifling, so the word is both a verb and a noun. Rifling induces a spinning motion to the bullet as it makes its speedy way down the barrel.