|
|
No, I was not suggesting a title for a new folk song when I wrote that line. In a recent phone conversation with American Rifleman editor Mark Keefe, we were both perplexed about the absence of hammers on new automatic pistols. Almost everything in the way of new designs is a striker-fired pistol. Sure, hammers persist on still-produced classics like the 1911 and Browning Hi Power, as well as several veterans of the Wondernine Wars like the Beretta and SIG Sauer. But look at the basic 9 mm service pistols of Glock, S&W, Springfield, Ruger, Taurus, Caracel and possibly others. They all use some form of spring-loaded, in-line striker that moves straight forward to smack the primer, rather than a floating firing pin that is struck by a pivoting hammer. Why?
January 23, 2013
|
|
|
As some readers may be aware, I am a big fan of the Gun Digest, a great gun book that has been produced annually since 1944. In the early years, the book evolved a unique format that gave it a distinct character. It has pretty much stayed with the same format through 60-plus years, which includes a selection of detailed articles on a variety of gun topics, a catalog type section with all major models listed and even a bibliography. One of the more interesting features is a well-done roundup on pistols, another on revolvers, shotguns, etc.
January 10, 2013
|
|
|
One of the sought-after “Holy Grails” of Smith & Wesson collecting is a nice clean specimen of the 1st Model .44 Hand Ejector—the Triple Lock. This classic revolver was introduced as the “New Century” model and was produced from 1908 to 1915. Approximately 20,000 revolvers were made in this short period of time. It was an expensive gun that required a great deal of hand-fitting. Since it was popular with military officers who liked the big .44 and .45 cartridges for which it was chambered, many of the guns were pressed into service in the early months of World War I. Wartime experience with the gun’s finest feature—a precisely fitted third cylinder lock—may have caused the gun to be discontinued. That lock system was not fully reliable under the muddy, dirty conditions of trench warfare.
January 07, 2013
|
|
|
A few months back, I walked into a gun store in California that I frequented in the early 1970s. It hasn’t changed very much—same large log building with no change in floor space or show cases. This is a full-service gun shop that is deep into everything available. In the old days, there was room for several samples of everything current in handguns. Today, there are so many kinds of competing handguns that usually there is one example of each on display with more under the counter. In essence, that’s the difference between then and now—there is a lot more from which to choose. That is particularly true in the field of automatic pistols. For reasons that don’t seem to make much sense now, in those days everybody was mad for pistols with DA/SA triggers, particularly .45s. They were perceived to be somehow “safer.” Many current 21st century models fill the bill, but there weren’t that many in the 70s.
December 31, 2012
|
|
|
When Single Action Army revolver No.1 left the old plant on the river in Hartford, it had a barrel that ran some 7 1/2 inches from forcing cone to muzzle. In time, other guns came along with shorter barrels, most commonly 5 1/2 or 4 3/4 inches. These three lengths served the interests of handgunners about 99 percent of the time. One of the three lengths worked well for most shooter’s since 1873, when all of this Peacemaker business began. In the so-called “first generation SAA” period, which was basically before World War II, Colt was willing to fill special orders for other lengths. We know of a handful of guns made with extra-long barrels, some of them the Buntline Specials. And we also recall a larger quantity of Sheriff’s or Storekeeper’s Models with no ejector rod assembly on the lower right side of the barrel. I always wondered what the Frontier handgunner used to poke out his empties when equipped with one of these guns. Most likely, it was a pencil or plain old stick. Most of these guns, however, were one of the three standard barrel lengths and that remains true to the present.
December 18, 2012
|
|
|
The idea is so deceptively simple that I’m surprised someone had not tried it before 2003, which is the year that Gaston Glock did try and success. In a world gone mad over high-capacity magazines on the one hand and big bore pistols on the other, Glock made a monumental effort to give shooters both. Most shooters are uncomfortable with a high-capacity, big-bore pistol and the double-wide magazine that is required. They are much happier with two columns of the shorter 9 mm or 40 S&W rounds. These are the people that I call Capacitonians, those who fill the air with metal and hope for the best. Their opposite number is the Caliberite, the worshiper of cavernous barrels and the massive projectiles that issue forth therefrom. Both would profit mightily from the application of the principles of marksmanship, but that’s another story.
December 10, 2012
|
|
|
Smokeless powder is powder that burns with little or no smoke. And of course, stainless steel is steel that won’t stain. So a hammerless revolver must be one that has no hammer, right? Uh-uh, I afraid not. The term is often misused. The user of the term is trying to describe an internal hammer revolver or a spur-less hammer revolver. This type of gun has a long history in America, with some models dating to before the cartridge era. The advantages of such a firearm are considerable, but let’s look at the standard features. Usually, there is a humped or rounded upper rear corner on the receiver. Within the receiver, there is a pivoting hammer that includes or contacts a firing pin to fire a round. Since there is no way to get to the hammer from the outside, it cannot be cocked and is fired via long-arc DA trigger pull, or in more modern terminology, a DAO. There’s an advantage to a gun with a closed action that keeps debris out and even more of an advantage to a pocket gun with little in the way of latches, levers and what-not to snag on clothes and equipment. That’s why these internal hammer wheelguns have been on the scene almost from the earliest days. They are not new.
December 03, 2012
|
|
|
As a rookie cop, I was issued the typical Saw Browne rig, complete with handcuff case, baton ring, key holder and Border Patrol holster (a crummy one that I quickly replaced with a Don Hume). In those days, ammo rode in dump pouches or a belt slide with cartridge loops. We got dump pouches and thus equipped, I went forth to protect the good people of Orange County. A year or two into my new career, someone came up with a marvelous new device called the speed loader. The first that I saw were made of rubber and were somewhat bell shaped with a flat bottom that had six cartridge slots. The shooter dumped his fired rounds on the ground, indexed a loaded speedloader into the six chambers of a cylinder and peeled the loader away. Thus did the reloading process speed up. In the years that followed, many such devices came on the market and I tried every one I could find. There was something to commend each of them and you had to wonder why no one had ever thought of this before.
November 28, 2012
|
|
|
Not too many years ago, the Spanish arms industry was alive and producing guns in quantity, particularly with handguns. Like any product-driven industry, the Spanish companies made pistols and revolvers designed to sell at many price points. The best of these guns, particularly the automatic pistols, were fully competitive with other European designs. Then, almost overnight, and for reasons unknown to me, everything stopped. There were different companies producing firearms in the post-war era, but most of the well-made pistols came from one of three companies—Llama, Astra and Star. Look through any decent handgun encyclopedia and you will find many of the Spanish guns that bear a strong resemblance to the Colt 1911 pistol. This is particularly true of the 9 mm Luger Star Model B.
November 20, 2012
|
|
|
My buddy Mike Bussard has been rattling around this industry far longer than I have and I’ve been at it quite a while. In the process of working at various jobs, Mike has amassed virtually encyclopedic knowledge of ammunition, which makes him very well-suited to write books on the subject.
November 13, 2012
|
|
|
Once in a while, a gun comes along that offers such a unique combination of features that it is quickly popular, occasionally beyond logic. Sometimes, it takes a few years for a gun to achieve that almost iconic status. I am not sure how it went with the gun in question, but it is certain that the pre-war Colt Woodsman is a classic handgun that enjoys cult favorite status. As most handgunners are aware, the Woodsman is a handy-size .22 auto that was the gold standard in this type of gun during the period before and immediately after World War II.
November 06, 2012
|
|
|
A wadcutter is a style of bullet that is almost completely cylindrical in shape. While there have been a few jacketed wadcutters, the majority are lead. Most commercially loaded wadcutters are swaged from lead alloys and some even have a hollow base. Cast lead wadcutters are often double-ended, particularly those used by handloaders.
October 31, 2012
|
|
|
After the legendary Miami shootout, the FBI’s firearms people were faced with a fistful of problems. Not only were they charged with the responsibility for developing or selecting a new gun for their agents, they also had to come up with a protocol for selecting cartridges and loads. Some dedicated people went at it hard for a considerable period of time, and came up a standard procedure of shooting a series of shots of a given load into properly calibrated ordnance gelatin and through various kinds of intervening barriers. After a while, the so-called “FBI protocol” came to be accepted as the best means of evaluating defensive cartridge performance. Routinely used by the major ammunition makers, it is a reliable standard. That portion of the effort was a resounding success.
October 18, 2012
|
|
|
Apparently, enough American gun owners are making their feelings known to the politicians, because the majority of states have enacted laws that permit some form of CCW permits. Better yet, there is a bill under consideration that would require all states to honor permits issued by other states. This is a positive step forward and is much closer to the day when every American can be licensed to carry if he or she so chooses. I have no trouble understanding the intent of the 2nd Amendment, but politicians sometimes have difficulty fully grasping some very simple language. So we have to spend all kinds of time and money. OK, so be it—but we are making progress.
October 10, 2012
|
|
|
In the Marine Corps, we grew accustomed to the term “snapping in,” meaning practice firing without the use of ammunition, or dry firing. In view of the cost of ammunition in these troubled economic times, many of us are forced to dry fire in order to develop handgun marksmanship. I have personally spent hundreds of hours in dry fire, and have developed basic competence with the pistol, maybe a little more. It makes me wonder what might have happened if I had spent thousands, but I digress....
October 05, 2012
|
|
|
|
|
