There is still a great demand for custom holsters and accessories, made one at a time from leather, though I am well aware that Kydex and other forms of synthetic materials are on their way to dominating the gun-carrying business. That's progress, I guess and I have to confess that I often use such holsters when attending various shooting schools. There are many advantages to synthetics, not the least of them being the reduced cost of materials. But, having carried various pistols and revolvers in my military and law enforcement years, I am inclined to fondly recall the leather holsters that were then the norm. “Leather” was even the policeman's slang for the entire ensemble of belt, holster and all the various other pouches and pockets that went along with it. It was cool stuff and the best of leather gear displayed exceptional quality.

As an infantry guy, I called for illumination quite often. It usually came from mortars or howitzers, but occasionally from naval gunfire or aerial flares. As a cop, I used my big 4-cell Kel-Lite far more than my Model 19. And as the saying goes, you can't fight 'em if you can't see 'em. Of all the possible accessories to a good fighting handgun you could possibly buy, one of the most important is an effective light. It's so important that the synonym for flashlight in the tactical sense is “target identifier.” There's a vast liability issue awaiting the police officer or even armed citizen who lets fly with old Betsy without positively identifying the target, but that's only part of the handgunner's need for a good light.

I recently picked up a brand new pistol. The gun was the new Taurus 709 SLIM and it appeared to be the latest in a seemingly unending string of polymer receiver autos with simple DAO lockwork. This is a highly successful system, used by many makers and available in all the popular calibers. Most models follow the example set by Glock, where the slide's movement to the rear partially cocks the internal striker while trigger pressure completes the cocking action before releasing the striker to fire. The new Taurus model appeared to be another DAO, but I should have seen that it was not. This was particularly true when I couldn't get the pistol to fire and blamed the good folks at Taurus for sending me a broke gun.

I'm not sure where this underlug business really got its start, but I was around when it really got rolling. A term that relates most commonly to DA/SA revolvers, underlug refers to an integral extension of metal that runs along the bottom side of the barrel. Although underlug-like fixtures are found on some of the Frontier-era S&W break tops, I think the first gun to have one (in the modern sense) was the Triple Lock of 1908. It was necessary for the complex locking system of that magnificent old gun, but it came to be highly regarded because it protected (or shrouded) the revolver's ejector rod. These shrouds are still a regular feature on most of S&W's N-frame revolver models. However, not until the 1950s did we see a shroud on the barrel of a K frame. It was on the Model 19, developed at the instigation of the late Bill Jordan. Bill was a real humorist at times; I can remember him chuckling over the use of an ejector rod shroud like it was a Holy Grail. He called it a “stroud,” solemnly assuring his listeners that every gun needed a good “stroud.”

Question: You have said that a handgun is the worst possible weapon for personal defense. How about telling us what are better choices and ranking them in order, 1 through 10.