Innehållsförteckning för April 2021 från Guns & Ammo

NRA LETTERS Editor’s Note: Keith Wood’s February column, “Diminished Support,” sparked the largest-ever intake of letters from Guns & Ammo’s readers. Below is a sampling that features the variety of positions and opinions we received. DRAIN THE SWAMP First, I’ve been a member of the NRA since I was 10 years old, and I’m more than 70 years now. Second, I am concerned that the members have been unwittingly supporting Wayne LaPierre’s lavish lifestyle. Where in the NRA’s charter does it require that members’ dues be spent on LaPierre’s personal clothing at a cost of more than $275,000? And how does he justify luxuriously traveling to Budapest, Italy and the Bahamas for $253,000? What possible roles do these countries play in the NRA’s mission? Why travel to the Bahamas? To…

A fine-condition Colt Super Match Model 1911 realized a very respectable $17,000, not including the buyer’s premium at the October 24, 2020, Carol Watson Orange Coast Auctions sale. Manufactured in 1934, the .38 Colt Auto-chambered pistol’s original blue finish is in approximately 98 percent condition with only minimal thinning. It sports a King’s red-dot mirror reflector front sight and windage-adjustable notch rear. This is a superb example of a scarce, elegantly understated handgun. For more information about this and future sales, contact Carol Watson’s West Coast Auctions at cwocauctions.com or call 714-213-8709.…

MANY OF MY GUNS seem to speak German, but not this one. The new Personal Defense Pistol (PDP) wears Walther branding and has some familiarity with the PPQ, but it’s different. It’s as if it was made for America. Sure, there’s still a German accent to the PDP, but I can easily understand what this pistol says for Walther. Don’t get me wrong, I respect the outgoing PPQ. When I learned that Walther was going to discontinue the PPQ, I asked “Why?” exclaiming, “It’s a great gun!” Introduced in 2011, it doesn’t seem as though the PPQ was with us that long. I suppose that’s why it seems unfortunate, especially given that the PPQ was decidedly a better pistol than the P99 it replaced. In my opinion, the PPQ matured…

THE LINES BETWEEN HANDGUNS used for defense and competition are sometimes blurred. Lightened slides, electro-optics and features such as flared magazine wells used to be exclusive to race guns for competition. No longer. More than two decades of constant warfare, much of it at close quarters, has driven significant innovations in the firearms industry. As a result, fighting handguns have increasingly adopted those performance-based features. Custom companies may have driven the change, but major gun manufacturers are adapting as well. One of the best examples of this emerging hybrid breed of production handguns is the new FN 509 LS Edge, a pistol that’s certain to make waves. FN is one of the oldest names in firearm manufacturing, having manufactured iconic battle-tested small arms from the P.35 to the FAL. The…

DRY FIRE is like eating healthy and exercising. We know it’s good for us, but many don’t enjoy it. The problem with dry fire is that it’s, well, dry. Nothing happens but a click . There’s no feedback, no hole on a paper target, and no ting sound as a bullet strikes a steel target. No feedback means less fun, and training can turn into a chore. Unlike some dry-fire training systems, the G-Sight ELMS is a simple system to set up, and it’s easy to use. The kit includes a caliber-specific training cartridge such as 9mm, 9x18 Makarov, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .380 ACP, 10mm and .45 Colt, as well as spare O-rings and batteries. There’s also a tripod and a smart-phone holder. Download the free Laser Training Pro…

BOLT-ACTION RIFLES are an American past time, and a pillar of shooting and sporting culture in the United States. It was shortly after World War I that the lever guns responsible for winning the West began to give way to sporterized service rifles in the hands of hunters, but purpose built bolt action rifles followed soon after. For more than a century, these guns have remained our countrys most popular tool for hunting and precision shooting. A leading American firearms manufacturer, Savage Arms enjoys a place among the country’s most tenured and popular gunmakers. Founded in 1894, the Massachusetts based firm builds some of the market’s most accurate and financially accessible rifles with its flagship Model 10 and 110 series. Considering Savage’s penchant for innovation, adaptability and safety, it’s small…

MOST OF THE PRESS about blackpowder firearms involves long guns and hunting. But there is another aspect of blackpowder shooting that highlights historically significant firearms that are just fun to shoot: cap - and-ball revolvers. The cap-and-ball revolver was patented by Samuel Colt on February 25, 1836, resulting in the Colt Paterson. Until the Colt Paterson, pistols were either a single-shot affair or employed multiple barrels, which were often heavy and cumbersome. The Colt Paterson revolver was the first single-barrel pistol that featured a revolving cylinder and gave the shooter five shots from separate chambers. Even as inconvenient as a blackpowder revolver is by modern standards, the Colt Paterson was a step forward at the time in terms of firepower and convenience. The Colt Paterson ushered in a new design…

A SUPPRESSOR SHOULD BE CONSIDERED a key piece of equipment in personal protection scenarios. Anytime a firearm is needed for defense, there’s a good chance that a shooting will occur indoors. If you have a family, there’s likely to be children about. And even if you live alone, a suppressor belongs on any home-defense firearm. Your hearing will thank me. Noise and recoil reduction are the reasons why I’m a proponent of suppressors. Anytime we shoot firearms, we use ear protection, right? It not only protects our hearing, but also minimizes the effect that flinch-inducing muzzleblast can have on our performance. However, even with a good set of earmuffs or plugs, helping newer shooters avoid flinching is an uphill battle. The concussive force emanating from the muzzle when the gun…

FIREARMS ENTHUSIASTS were surprised when Stoeger Industries’ semiautomatic, striker-fired STR-9 appeared on the cover of Guns & Ammo’s March 2019 issue. The STR-9 quickly established a positive reptutation for reliability and accuracy at a price ($379) others couldn’t match. Those same qualities and and value appear in the new Stoeger STR-9 Optic Ready. The combination of features, price and reliability make the STR-9 platform one of the most appealing red-dot-ready pistols in the market. STR-9 pistols are made in Turkey and imported by Stoeger. Much like shotguns manufactured in that country, these pistols rival many similar designs costing more money. The recoil-operated design is similar in function to other striker-fired, polymer-frame pistols stemming from the expired Glock patent. Recoil-operated systems have demonstrated reliable use with the wide range of 9mm…