Table of contents for October/November 2024 in Handguns

The Great Model 14 I read with great interest the “Back Page Beauties” article by Stan Trzoniec in the February/March edition about the Smith & Wesson Model 14. The picture caught my attention, and I thought it looked like mine except for the barrel length. Mine is a Model 15-2—known as the Combat Masterpiece—and has the wide serrated hammer and wide, grooved trigger. I have had it several years, bought used. I don’t know if a previous owner had a trigger job done on it or not, but it has the smoothest single-action trigger of any of my handguns, and I have a few. KEN DANIEL, ALABAMA The Snake King Thanks for the article on the Colt King Cobra .22 LR revolver. You’re my go-to for revolvers, both in the…

I HAVE A SOLID AFFECTION FOR WORN, workmanlike handguns. I don’t regard a revolver introduced in my lifetime as vintage, but perhaps I need to adjust my world view. Some of these handguns that were introduced and then went out of production may rightly be called vintage. The Ruger Speed Six is such a revolver and one that will serve as well as any modern revolver. Ruger introduced the Speed Six’s primogenitor, the Security Six, in 1972. Advertised as a massive-frame revolver chambering the powerful .357 Magnum, it featured a solid frame for strength. The action was modular and could be removed from the bottom of the frame. After a few months of Security Six production, Ruger introduced two fixed-sight models. The Service Six was simply a fixed-sight version of…

A RED-DOT SIGHT AFFORDS THE DEFENSIVE handgunner some distinct advantages. A dot simplifies aiming by eliminating the need to align front and rear sights, permitting a threat-first focus. But what if the dot isn’t there when you so desperately need it? This may be the result of a dead battery, a failure of the internal circuitry or serious damage to the sight. If you drive your gun out and realize there’s no dot, you could transition to sights designed to co-witness with the red dot—if you have them. If you don’t have them, you can use the window of the red dot sight to aim. It won’t be nearly as precise, but at typical pistol engagement distances of say 10 yards and closer, centering the target in the optical window…

Depending on your shooting background and your age, the Hammerli brand conjures up visions of the heyday of Olympic-style free pistol competition, athletes stock still at the firing line, a single arm extended toward the target. In the shooter’s hand was a futuristic-looking .22 with a wooden grip that encircled the firing hand. Chances are it was a Hammerli 100 or, later, a 150—for years top choices among elite shooters. Hammerli, which traces its roots to a Swiss barrel-making company established in 1863, is still alive and well in international pistol competition, but now that it is in the hands of the PW Group—a company that owns such firms as Walther and Umarex USA—the Hammerli brand is spreading its wings. Today, Hammerli Arms is producing two .22 rifles, the TAC…

There aren’t a lot of firearm designs that remain relevant more than a century after they were developed, but John Browning’s 1911 semiauto is the exception to that rule. But despite its solid foundation as a reliable fighting pistol, the 1911 has undergone many upgrades over the last 100 years. One of the recent trends is the adoption of the double-stack magazine design, which offers capacities on par with polymer guns. The problem, of course, is that these new double-stacks cost quite a bit more than traditional 1911s. Military Armament Corp.’s new MAC 1911 Double Stack changes that by offering a 1911 9mm high-cap for under $1,100. That’s about $300 less than the Springfield Prodigy and $800 less than Kimber’s new KDS9c pistol, and more than $1,000 less than Staccato’s…

IF YOU GREW UP IN THE ERA BEFORE THE internet, you might remember that once upon a time a polymer-frame pistol was a novelty. Today, however, there are so many polymer-frame 9mm autoloading pistols on the market, from a wide variety of manufacturers, that it’s challenging for any gun to stand out in the field. Tisas is betting that its new PX-9 Gen 3 Carry OR semiauto pistol will win over shooters with its reliability, its affordable price and its long list of extras. The PX-9 Gen 3 Carry OR (Optics Ready) is a double-stack striker-fired 9mm with a polymer frame, forged steel slide, and forged and machined 3.5-inch barrel. The barrel is button rifled, and two 15-round, flush fit P228-pattern metal magazines ship with the gun. The gun also…

SHOOTERS TAKE UP HANDLOADING FOR A variety of reasons. Volume shooters do it to save a couple bucks. Weirdos like me who gravitate toward cartridges like the .41 Magnum and .44 Special do it because it ensures we aren’t completely dependent on the retail ammo market. And if we learned anything from the pandemic and the massive shortages caused by hoarding, maintaining a supply of handloading components can bring peace of mind for rounds like 9mm. While handloading pistol and revolver cartridges requires no less care, in many ways it’s easier than reloading bottleneck rifle cartridges. The nice thing about common handgun cartridges is you can use dies that eliminate the need to lube the cases beforehand, typically through the use of carbide or titanium on the inner die surfaces.…

TAURUS TX 22 T.O.R.O. A great .22 semiauto gets even better with the upgraded TX 22 T.O.R.O. Because it’s a Taurus Optics Ready Option gun, the slide is cut for optics on the RMSc footprint, and it has lightening cuts for faster cycling. This new version has enhanced iron sights that include a drift-adjustable, serrated black rear sight and a white-dot front. The frame now has a Picatinny rail, and the muzzle is threaded; a thread cap and suppressor adapter collar are included. The gun also has the Taurus Performance Trigger System, which delivers a short, smooth pull, and it comes with 16- and 22-round magazines. {$364, TAURUSUSA.COM} FEDERAL PUNCH .25 AUTO Fans of the .25 now have a new defensive option courtesy of Federal, and it’s not a hollowpoint.…

IF YOU SIMPLY CAN’T GET ENOUGH GUNS and shooting, the My Outdoor TV (MOTV) app is a resource like no other, a curated treasure trove of firearms- and outdoor-oriented television shows and videos. For example, MOTV offers nine seasons—102 episodes—of “Handguns” (formerly “Handguns & Defensive Weapons”) alone. The show focuses primarily on personal protection and includes plenty of recreational shooting activities such as plinking and action-shooting competitions. It features reviews of the latest firearms, ammunition and shooting accessories, as well as advice on marksmanship, gun handling, self-defense techniques and a host of other handgun-related topics. But wait, there’s more! There are 10-plus seasons of the popular “Guns & Ammo” television shows, encompassing more than 200 episodes available on the app. You can also check out past episodes of shows like…

Apache is a tough-sounding name. This tribe was the last in North America to be conquered, and its warriors, led by Geronimo, were greatly feared. “Operation Apache Snow” was the code name for a battle in which U.S. Army and South Vietnamese forces displaced the North Vietnamese from Hill 937—aka Hamburger Hill. So if you’re going to name a pistol Apache, it better be tough. This new double-stack Government 1911 is made by Watchtower Firearms, a veteran-owned company headquartered in Spring, Texas. The firm names each of its firearms after a particular U.S. military operation. In fact, its own name is derived from Operation Watchtower, in which American forces seized Guadalcanal from the Japanese in 1943. The Apache is something any warrior would be proud to carry onto the battlefield,…

A FEW YEARS BACK, SPRINGFIELD ARmory added an external compensator to its Hellcat to reduce recoil, and the results were exceptional—but at the expense of holster compatibility and concealment. The Illinois-based company set out to accomplish more. By reconfiguring the slide and porting the barrel itself, the Hellcat Pro Comp OSP (optical sight pistol) was born, delivering recoil management without changing the Hellcat Pro footprint. The Pro Comp features an outstanding capacity for a micro-compact, with a flush-fit 15-round and an extended 17-round magazine included. Versions with 10- and 15-round magazines are also available as well. The gun has a 3.7-inch hammer-forged barrel for an overall length of 6.6 inches. Height is 4.8 inches with the flush-fit mag, and weight with that same magazine is just 21 ounces. The grip…

THE 1911 HAS TURNED INTO A STAPLE FOR many shooters, and while the list is long for both production and custom models, when something really special comes along, you do stand up and take notice. Such is the case with the Pair of Aces from Ed Brown Products of Perry, Missouri. Built of stainless steel, polished and carrying consecutive serial numbers, these heavily engraved guns are state-of-the-art “art” guns for those looking for something unique in their display case. The pair consists of a full-size Government model and a Commander Bobtail model. Both are precisely fit by Brown’s skilled craftsmen and finished with full-coverage engraving. Master engraver James White did the honors on the hand-relief pattern. Executed in a classic floral pattern, the detail is outstanding and without fault. In…

SWAMPFOX’S SENTINEL II IS A STRAIGHT-forward reflex sight built on the RMSc footprint, which is very common on today’s small guns. Its three m.o.a. dot is available in red or green, and it has a generous 20mm window. It’s built of 7075-T6 aluminum, with anti-glare serrations on the hood. The Sentinel II has 10 brightness settings, which are controlled manually. Press the up arrow button on the left to increase intensity and the down arrow on the right to decrease it—which I prefer over having both buttons on the same side. It features shake-awake, which puts the sight asleep after four minutes of motionlessness. This feature can’t be deactivated, so you don’t have to fret about what mode it’s in. The dot automatically comes on at its last setting. The…

THERE’S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT the look and feel of leather holsters. Bianchi agrees, and that’s why it has launched a new line of leather holsters for inside-the-waistband and outside-the-waistband carry. Known as the Old Tuscany line, it offers four options for shooters that will fit any carry style. I’ll begin with the Cortona ($84), the sole IWB holster among the Old Tuscany line. It’s crafted from premium full grain leather and comes with one-piece construction. There’s a sturdy steel slip that will accommodate belts up to two inches, and the black metal slip features a U-shape retention point at the base. When the holster is in place on the belt, it won’t pull free when you draw, but you can apply light upward pressure to the base of the clip…

SIG Sauer is a company on the cutting edge of firearm design, engineering 21st century solutions for military, law enforcement and civilian use. The company’s Next Generation Squad Weapon is proving to be as much a game-changer for the military as the P365 and P320 have been for the general public. Given this emphasis on the future, some might wonder why the company is continuing to innovate on a 113-year-old handgun design. Maybe some things are just too good to die. The 1911-XFull is the company’s latest product in the single-stack .45 lineup, combining the classic features that made the 1911 great with some modern twists. The 1911 can be a tricky handgun to build. John Browning’s design didn’t always lend itself well to mass production outside of the institutional…

There are guns you know you want, and then there are guns you don’t know you want—until someone builds them. Bill Ruger had a knack for dreaming up guns that captured Americans’ imaginations and producing designs that shooters just had to have. So he would have been proud of the new Super Redhawk .22 Hornet. Bill had a hand in the design of the Redhawk and Super Redhawk, the hefty double actions chambered for the big boomers like the .44 Magnum—and in the case of the Super Redhawk the .454 Casull and .480 Ruger as well. And while the .22 Hornet seems an odd choice for this beefy revolver, according to Ruger product manager Graham Rockwell, Bill actually had an interest in chambering this particular revolver for the Hornet as…

OVER ITS 33-YEAR HISTORY, KELTEC HAS offered a wide variety of handguns, but until relatively recently if you wanted a striker-fired 9mm you had to look elsewhere. That changed with the introduction of the P15, which is offered in polymer- and aluminum-frame versions. My sample was the former. The P15 offers a 15-round capacity with its extended magazine while weighing just 16 ounces. It sports a four-inch barrel, with an overall length of 6.6 inches. Height is five inches, and it’s 0.875 inch across the slide. Numbers like those put the P15 right in the concealed-carry wheelhouse. The steel slide has serrations front and back. The sights are a cut above what you might expect to find on a pistol with a suggested retail price of $450. The front is…