The Sig Sauer P225 is a classic. It was introduced way back in the mid-1970s as a more compact version of the Sig Sauer P220. It was adopted by the West German police and called the P6. Over time as the company released more compact double-stack models like the P229, the P225 was phased out. […]
Winning with the Smith & Wesson SW22 Victory
Who needs yet another .22 Long Rifle Pistol? That’s what I thought when I got my hands on a Smith & Wesson Victory at a pre-launch showing a few years back. In fact, it looked like other pistols already on the market, like the Smith 22A pistol for example. This single Allen screw releases the […]
Smith & Wesson M&P 40 Ported: A One-Caliber Recoil Reduction
Here’s a neat fact about the F-16 fighter jet. The pilot’s seat is far more reclined than those in other planes. That’s a bit of physics and biology trickery to help the pilot deal with high G forces. What does that have to do with pistols? If you create gas ports in a pistol barrel, […]
FN’s Fast and Tiny Five-Seven Pistol
Imagine the 9mm versus .45 ACP argument on steroids. In the 9 v. 45 debate, most arguments boil down to whether fat and slow are better than skinny and fast. With the FN Five-Seven pistol’s 5.7x28mm caliber, what is thin and fast is completely redefined. What? The Five-Seven pistol uses teeny, tiny centerfire cartridges labeled […]
Springfield Armory 1911 Range Officer Elite Operator 10mm
If you ever find yourself competing in a brass flinging contest, we’ve found the perfect gunfor you. The new Springfield Armory Range Officer Elite 10mm tosses brass as good as any Olympic Hammer Throw contestant. OK, so maybe aeronautical brass engineering isn’t the most useful criteria for selecting a handgun, but it did add some entertainment to our testing sessions. On a more […]
Resurrecting a Walther PPK/S
A long, long time ago during an internet shopping binge far away, I spotted an old Interarms model of a Walther PPK/S “gunsmith special.” I’m not a gunsmith, but do like to tinker. Oh, and I’ve always had a thing for the Walther PPK family of pistols. Why? I don’t know. I guess I just […]
Springfield’s EMP: The Scaled Down 1911
I like big guns and I cannot lie. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate luxury in a smaller package. I usually carry a full-size gun. While some of the pistols I like to tote around might be called “compacts,” they’re not exactly small, unless you consider double-stack 9mm pistols like the Sig Sauer P229 […]
Test Driving Smith & Wesson’s M&P 2.0 9mm Pistols – The Mag Life
The original Smith & Wesson M&P polymer service pistols aren’t new – they’ve been on the market now for over ten years. Like the pervasive Glock, they do an excellent job of meeting a wide variety of “mission” requirements. They’re suitable for duty use and have made big inroads at law enforcement departments across the […]
Should You Consider an AR-15 for Home Defense?
Everyone knows, at least according to the news, that an AR-15 rifle is capable of leveling an entire city block and creating a rupture in the San Andreas fault. So, why on earth would anyone want to choose an AR-15 or similar rifle for home defense? Well, when you examine the issue with consideration of […]
A Look at Beretta’s Optics-Ready APX Pistol
This article originally appeared at Ammoland. One good thing about the recent Army Modular Handgun System Trials is that the process lit a fire at many gun companies to create an entry pistol capable of winning the big bucks government contract. Of course, the intangible value of being chosen as the U.S. Military’s sidearm and […]