Tabla de contenidos para January/February 2023 en Combat Handguns

With midterm elections on the near horizon, now’s a good time to cut through the BS politicians—many funded by anti-civil-rights groups—are spewing. Gun-ban proponents and anti-gun politicians tell a lot of lies about guns and lawful gun owners. But few are as dangerous as what they often say about armed self-defense—an important aspect of this magazine’s focus in each issue. Even though reliable research and daily life in these United States prove otherwise, many on the anti-gun side of the battle for the future of the Second Amendment repeatedly claim that owning a gun makes you less safe, and that guns are hardly ever successfully used for self-defense. Here are just a few very recent examples. “People very rarely use guns successfully to defend themselves from crimes—both in their homes…

For well over a century, John Moses Browning’s extraordinary M1911 pistol has captivated shooters around the globe. Despite its advanced age, this combat-proven warhorse remains in series production both at home and abroad. Offerings range from mass-produced utility guns to handbuilt martial objets d’art with everything in between. Kimber has a well-earned reputation for producing reliably superb M1911 pistols in a wide variety of guises. The 10mm Auto is considered a counter-bear cartridge in some climes, and the .40 S&W seems to have already had its day in the sun. .22LR is for recreation, while the .380 ACP will do the job but only just. The only two really serious players in the pantheon of today’s defensive handgun cartridges are the .45 ACP and 9mm. When I had an opportunity…

There are moments in the firearms industry when a company releases a gun that almost immediately moves into legendary status. This was the case when CZ released the CZ Scorpion EVO 3. The original gun was designed to run full-auto with an eye on the military and law enfowrcement market. It was an evolution in submachine gun design and was successful. The gun became wildly popular, and CZ saw a huge demand for a civilian model. In a fantastic business move, CZ released the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 Pistol in 2014. The gun was an instant hit and, as they say, the rest is history. Like all things CZ, though, the Scorpion would see improvements and modifications based on shooter feedback. In fact, we first got eyes and mitts on…

While millennials and Gen Xers carry out the debate between 9mm Luger and .40 S&W, there is a Boomer at the end of every gun counter smiling to himself because he ended it long before it even started. He’s smiling because he knows that no matter how effective these rounds become, they will still be far behind in downrange energy when compared to the .357 Magnum. Furthermore, no matter how reliable semiautos get, they can’t hold a candle to the ol’ wheelgun. Of course, getting .357 up to its intended velocity requires a little more barrel length than conventional snubbies, and affordable options are far and few in between. As Taurus has a great reputation for identifying these market gaps, in early 2022 it introduced a lengthened version of an…

In May of 2022, Walther Arms introduced the WMP—a semi-auto pistol chambered for the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) round with a healthy capacity of 15+1 and the type of accuracy and reliability we’ve come to expect from Walther. Its lineage is undeniable with clean uncluttered lines that very much resemble those of Walther’s immensely popular PPQ line of pistols. That might be where the similarity ends, though, as a significant number of design changes were required for the gun to function with .22 WMR rimfire ammunition. PROBLEM SOLVING Over the years, we have seen numerous manufacturers attempt to market semi-auto pistols chambered for the .22 WMR cartridge, and for a number of reasons, they have been dropped from production. The cartridge is powerful enough that a simple blowback action…

IT WASN’T ALL THAT LONG AGO (2018) that FN shook up the gun world with its announcement of plans to discontinue the production of the venerable Hi-Power pistol line. As everyone was getting acclimated to the new landscape and with companies introducing their own iterations of the iconic design to fill the void, FN made yet another surprise announcement at the 2022 SHOT Show. The company was bringing the Hi-Power back…. well, sort of anyways. The newly announced High Power pistol was supposed to be the next evolution of John Moses Browning’s legendary design. With its introduction came a raft of changes, or improvements, that would keep the spirit of the Hi-Power alive well into this next century. The question we’ll examine during this review is whether or not FN…

In the summer of 2022, I was a speaker at the annual meeting of FACDL, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. It was heavy on CLE, Continuing Legal Education for practicing attorneys, and was most ably administered by incoming organization President Ernie Chang. I picked up a lot of tips from the various speakers, some of which are very much on point for law-abiding citizens who keep or carry firearms for self-defense. Hence, this special installment of “Self-Defense & The Law.” DOCTOR’S REPORT The program’s first speaker was Dr. Jonathan Arden, a very experienced forensic pathologist and former medical examiner for the District of Columbia, who I was happy to hear say something I tell my students: Many people in the jury pool can’t tell the difference between homicide…

The urge to capitalize on AR modularity, firepower, ergonomics and accuracy potential has constantly appealed to the shooting community. CMMG was an early soothsayer that tapped into this sentiment. Models and configurations have grown significantly since 2002 with 15 different calibers currently offered across four product lines. The latest CMMG introduction—the Dissent—is sure to attract attention via diminutive size/firepower ratio offered in a large format pistol configuration. The CMMG Dissent is not just another chopped AR platform. The lack of receiver extension and buffer tube are big indicators of this. The rear receiver features a 1913 Picatinny rail that can accommodate a pistol brace, which is not provided by CMMG. SOMETHING NEW The Dissent is available in 5.56mm (tested herein), 300 BLK and 5.7x28. The Dissent utilizes CMMG’s patent-pending Compact…

I first met my orthopedic surgeon while we were both students at the University of Arizona. John was just a skinny farm kid from Casa Grande and was an undergraduate biology major then. I ran into him again about 15 years ago at a gun show in Tucson and over the years I’ve handled a number of firearms transfers for him. He’s a serious gun guy and shooter and buys museum-quality firearms. John is also one of the few people who know what I look like on the inside, having replaced my hip in 2010 and assisted another colleague by replacing both ankles that same day. Yeah, that was a rough year, but I recovered thanks to the two talented docs! “How’d you hurt your shoulder,” he asked, as he…

On paper, Stoeger’s new STR-9F with its specs and construction, make it seem like just another polymer-framed pistol with its price tag being its biggest selling point. However, it was only when I and a few friends gave it a workout at the range that we actually discovered how good of a pistol the STR-9F was—despite its bargain basement price. Stoeger has been in the striker-fired pistol game for a few years, though I haven’t had much experience with the product line until now. The original STR-9, a mid-size offering with a 15+1 capacity, was introduced in 2019, followed by several variants including a compact model, optics-ready versions and a couple of tactical options. The one thing they all had in common was a relatively low price for the features…

Beauty, strength, grit and grace. Singularly, these attributes are often achieved by many women. Every now and again, however, there is a woman who effortlessly possesses them all. One such woman is Kristy Titus. BACKGROUND Born and raised in Oregon, Titus grew up immersed in outdoor life. From a very young age, she was packing and riding the mules her parents owned throughout Oregon’s backcountry. Her very first hunt was on the back of one of these mules with her father—a young girl embracing the very passion that inspires so many today. A true patriot at heart, Titus is woven with strong American values and tradition. She is a well-known advocate for adventure, wildlife and land stewardship, conservation through hunting, the Second Amendment and shooting sports. Her advocacy goes beyond…

My first time shooting the Beretta 92X Performance was an eye-opening experience. It was at Athlon Outdoors’ Rendezvous event a couple of years ago in Idaho. The all-steel 92X sat great in my hand and it had a frame-mounted safety, which is good for me because I’m no fan of slide-mounted safeties. I simply couldn’t miss with that gun. I was knocking down plates with speed and ease, in fact, it was shocking how quickly I was doing it. I was in love. But unfortunately, it was only a short-lived relationship, I couldn’t justify bringing her back home. It has been years since my brief but memorable encounter with the 92X Performance. Then I heard some great news, Beretta was coming out with the 92X Performance Carry Optic. I had…

SIG SAUER P320-XTEN CALIBER 10mm BARREL 5 inches OA LENGTH 8.5 inches WEIGHT 33 ounces (empty) GRIP Polymer SIGHTS XRAY3 Night Sights XRAY3 N ACTION FINISH Nitron CAPACITY 15+1 MSRP $880 More and more people are turning to semi-automatic pistols, particularly 10mm pistols, as their carry gun of choice for the outdoors. The 10mm cartridge offers up a solid increase in power and terminal performance for use against dangerous wildlife, especially with the proper load, yet it’s still easier to shoot than more standard outdoors chamberings like .44 Magnum. Additionally, 10mm pistols have a significant advantage in capacity as well, with some pistols offering 15 or more rounds. With the resurgence of 10mm in the market, both Springfield Armory and Sig Sauer have introduced new polymer-framed, striker-fired models that offer a…

Back in 1979, I transferred to the University of Arizona to finish my college career. It didn’t take me long to learn the city, as I used my breaks from study to visit local gun shops. One of my favorites was and still is Murphy’s Gun Shop. Owner Brian Murray is one of the few people in this business that really understands the value of stocking lots of used guns. He has hundreds of guns in inventory, and I love to spend my time looking around. Last year, I ran across a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug chambered in .44 Special. It had had a rough life and its exterior was very scarred, but it was priced accordingly. So much so, I almost passed it by. As I was leaving, I…

What do you get when you take an Army vet who is also a competitive shooter and former law enforcement officer and you put him in the same room with an aerospace engineer with a manufacturing background? Well, you get one incredibly badass pistol from a company with one of the most patriotic names in the industry—Live Free Armory. I ran into these guys in a small booth in the basement of the Venetian during SHOT Show 2022. They had these two stands sitting out in front of their booth with pistols on them. They looked sort of like a Glock 19, but something was very different with these pistols. Plus, their booth signs screamed ’Merica, so naturally, I had to stop and see what this was all about. This…

When I first heard the tale of 30 Super Carry, it went something to the tune of “a fast-moving .30-caliber bullet hits about as hard as a slow-moving 9mm (.355 inches).” Immediately, I thought, “Now, where have I heard this before?” And then it dawned on me, the old Russian 7.62x25 round. Typically fired by Tokarev pistols and PPSH-41 submachine guns, this zippy little cartridge used to launch 85-grain projectiles in excess of 1,400 feet per second. That’s a lot of heat for a handgun round and, as it is of a smaller diameter, doesn’t produce the kick that one might expect. Federal took a page out of this playbook when it crafted the 30 Super Carry, except the ultimate goal was to top .380 ACP in power while beating…