Innehållsförteckning för June 2018 från Guns & Ammo

REVOLVERS are making a bit of a comeback, which is no surprise to those of us that never got away from them in the first place. While I’m in no hurry to trade in my polymer-framed, striker-fired pistol for a six-shooter on my duty belt, I certainly don’t feel under-armed with a lightweight revolver in the pocket of my shorts on a day off. The concealed-carry market is driving this resurgence, and that’s great, but there’s a flip side to this renewed interest in the wheelgun. It’s a sad fact that in the last 20 years, most of the best revolver instructors have retired, leaving the industry full of guys that can show you the latest and greatest techniques to manipulate a semiauto pistol, yet they have to fake-it-until-they-make-it when…

NO ONE WAS MORE SKEPTICAL of polymer-cased ammunition than I. My first experience with this type of ammunition occurred more than 10 years ago with another attempt at replacing brass. To say that I was “unimpressed” is an understatement. I remember that I could squish those black plastic cases in my hand without much effort, and I could press the projectile into the case or pull it out of the neck with my fingertips. I couldn’t believe anyone would spend money on ammunition like that. Several weeks ago, my opinion of polymer-cased ammunition did a complete 180-degree turn after visiting the ammunition facility of True Velocity, Inc. It’s located in the great state of Texas. What is coming out of True Velocity has a good chance of eventually dominating the…

IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE, but in a couple of years, the vaunted Walther PPK turns 90. Still, for an almost-nonagenarian, the little chap’s looking pretty spry. Without question, this very pocketable double-action (DA) semiautomatic is one of the top three or four most recognizable and esteemed hideouts and has a respectable ranking in the pantheon of top self-loading handguns ever. The PPK is certainly one of the most storied and famous members of its clan, probably best known to the greater majority of people — even nongun types — as the trusty companion of author Ian Fleming’s master-spy “James Bond”. The pistol has also been, by choice or issue, the sidearm of countless military personnel, police and civilians. Most importantly, according to some accounts, it performed the world an inestimable…

HANGING IN MY OFFICE is a large, wrinkled poster that I salvaged from a trash pile shortly after being hired as editor of Guns & Ammo’s Special Interest Publications (SIPs). The laminated placard was made to commemorate G&A’s editors during the magazine’s 40th Anniversary in 1998. At that time, there had only been nine: Ken Bayless, Tom Siatos, Buzz Fawcett, Mike Kessee, George Martin, Howard French, Red Bell, Kevin Steele and Garry James. The average time for an editor to hold the position equates to 41/2 years, and even that amount of time is skewed by the fact that George Martin ran the magazine for seven, Howard French for 11 and Red Bell for nine years, respectively. When I look at that poster, I’m humbled by the reminder that I…

RUSSIAN NAGANT REVOLVER Q: My friend and I are having a hard time identifying a gun. Seems his grandfather acquired the piece while overseas and it seems like it came from there. The pistol is marked “HMNEPATOPCKIH”, which I believe is the manufacturer with a date of 1912. There is other writing below. We would like to know where it was manufactured and if it has any value other than a shooter. He claims that his grandfather and father shot .32-20 ammunition through it but I have my own ideas. I read your column first out of every issue and have for a long time. It has helped with a couple of identifications over the years. Thanks for the great column. G.S. Email A: Many thanks. Glad you like…

Single Action Revolver Engraved .45 Colt Standard Manufacturing SA Revolver Engraved Type: Single action, revolver Cartridge: .45 Colt Capacity: 6 Barrel: 5½ in. (as tested) Overall Length: 11 in. Width: 1¾ in. Height: 5½ in. Weight: 2 lbs., 4.5 oz. Finish: Bone-and-charcoal, color-case hardened; blued Sights: Fixed blade (front); U-notch (rear) Trigger: 3 lbs., 12 oz. MSRP: $2,000 Manufacturer: Standard Manufacturing Co., LLC, 860-225-6581, stdgun.com Standard’s take on the SAA was built to endure the test of time. STANDARD’S SINGLE ACTION , i.e., SA, is a tribute to the Colt SAA. I’m among those who are a bit jaded by the fact that so many modern-made replicas of Colt’s legendary wheelguns are not built to the same degree of quality. I’ve found that replicas usually have coarse triggers, lackluster fit…

JOINING GUNS & AMMO’S editorial staff for the June 1959 issue, Robert “Bob” Hutton worked as the magazine’s technical editor among staffers that included P.O. Ackley, Bob Forker, Tom Siatos and Townsend Whelen. Hutton inherited a ranch in Topanga, California, from his father, Superior Court Judge George Hutton, who purchased it from the property’s first homesteading owner Filipe Torres. In 1926, Bob Hutton built a 12-foot-by-9-foot prototype of an authentic adobe house for he and his bride. In 1934, work on the real house began on the foundation of Torres’ original 1890s home, requiring Hutton to hand-form more than 5,000 bricks. Building it room-by-room, it was completed in 1938 and remains today. Hutton developed the property’s box canyon into a rifle range that hosted G&A’s technical staff in testing prototype…