Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 76, Issue 12 i Firearms News

The Turkish firearms industry has been on a roll of late. This is due in no small part to their adoption of modern manufacturing methods. I have talked to other gun writers who have visited firearms manufacturers there (the last time I was in Turkey, I spent most of my time clambering over Roman sites) that they were greeted by the sight of large modern buildings, filled with lots of light and brand-new CNC machining centers. As for the product, the Turkish makers (in this review, Tisas) have been doing clones and upgrades of existing designs. The PX-9 GEN3 is more than just a clone, because they didn’t clone just one pistol. The one resting here on my bench is the PX-9 GEN3 Duty Threaded. If this wasn’t a full-sized…

On a Sunday afternoon almost 35 years ago, my friend Tim Mullin and I went shooting as we often do. As we were laying out the handguns, we planned to shoot that day, Tim uncased his latest acquisition, a pre-World War II Colt National Match pistol. I admired it and I shot it and was impressed with both the craftsmanship shown in its manufacture and its accuracy. Little did I know that in the ensuing years, Tim would become an avid collector of the Pre-War National Match pistols and would write the definitive book on them (see below). Oh, and my first impressions were strong enough that I eventually acquired a pair of the pistols for myself. The Colt 1911 and later the 1911A1 had been used in competition since…

The 1860s and 1870s were a time of rapid changes in military small arms. During the American Civil War, the practicality of metallic cartridges, repeating rifles and the revolver were established. With their victories over the Austrians and French, in 1866 and 1871 respectively, the Prussians convinced the world’s military establishments, once and for all, of the supremacy of the breech loading rifle. The major powers, and most minor ones, rushed to reequip their armies with cartridge firing small arms. While the military handgun did not receive the same amount of attention that long arms did, modernization occurred gradually. Between the French navy’s adoption of the Lefaucheux pinfire revolver in 1856 and the German army’s begrudging acceptance of the M.1879 Commission revolver, all the Continental armies opted some form of…

The U.S. Army recently announced that it has chosen an optic for its Next Generation Squad Weapon system. The choices for the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Fire Control (NGSW-FC) had been down to offerings from L3Harris and Vortex Optics, and on January 7 it was announced the Vortex unit won the selection process. The Army/Marine Corps still hasn’t decided on exactly what the Next Generation Squad Weapon will be (it has yet to choose between three final choices), but this optic is garnering a lot of attention. The Vortex Optics subsidiary, Sheltered Wings, will be building as many as 250,000 of the optics systems over the next ten years, for a starting price of about $2.7 billion—in case you’re wondering, that works out to $10,800 per unit, although that price doesn’t…

Smith & Wesson currently has fourteen offerings in their Classic line. Except for the snubbie Model 36, they are all large revolvers with barrels of at least four inches, offered with grips and finishes designed to imitate the looks of their original iterations. The Model 19 is one of the latest models in the Classic line Smith & Wesson introduced in 2014, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more popular revolver in S&W’s history. It would be hard to find a police department in this country which didn’t issue or authorize some version of the Model 19 at some point in its history. The Smith & Wesson Model 19 Classic is only offered in one 4.25-inch-barreled configuration, and I secured a sample of this .357 Magnum revolver for…

Gemtech has been making suppressors for a long time. At least, in terms of suppressor manufacture here in the states. My 9mm is their GM9, which was a step up from the previous model (which I also have one of) the Multimount. The Multi was a baffle-stack silencer, while the GM9 is a monocore. The mount system wasn’t changed, so if you are familiar with, or have the hardware for, a Multimount, then the GM9 is the same on the back end. The GM9 monocore starts as a single cylinder of aluminum, and Gemtech machines the expansion chamber and baffles out of that single piece. The serial numbered part is the sleeve, the plain cylinder that encloses the monocore. To disassemble, you unscrew the rear-most knurled shoulder, which removes the…

In addition to putting out some very excellent products, like the Honey Badger, Kevin Brittingham of Q (LiveQOrDie.com) is one of the best marketers on the planet. Take the name of his company’s newest product—Literally The Best Trigger Ever Made. No, that’s actually—literally—its name, Literally The Best Trigger Ever Made (which I will shorten to LTBTEM as I’m not typing that out every time). That title alone is sure to get it all sorts of free publicity, but I wanted to see if it at least attempted to live up to the name, and secured a sample. Technical information about the trigger, even on the Q website, is a bit sparse. It is a drop-in cassette trigger, with an advertised two-stage pull and very short reset. They also advertise that…

Gun guys are generally knife guys. I’ve been an avid knife collector, and user, since before I was old enough to own guns. I own a first-generation A. G. Russell Sting, Cold Steel Tanto, and Gerber Mark II. I’ve dug meat out of a campfire with a USMC Ka-Bar. I own a custom folder handmade by Allen Elishewitz. I remember when Spydercos, the first factory one-hand-opening folding knives, came out. Thirty years later Spyderco is still selling the same $30 knives…only for five and ten times as much, trading on their name recognition. So, I understand quality, as well as getting what you paid for. I carry a pocket knife every day. I use it (and my flashlight) on a daily basis as there always seems to be something that…

A holster is a tool, much like a firearm. However, not all firearms are created equal. Glocks, for example, are soulless ugly chunks of utilitarian function. A Kydex or polymer holster designed for performance rather than appearance will do just fine for Glocks and their ilk. The Smith & Wesson Model 19 Classic with its high-polish blued finish, on the other hand, deserves something with more style. More class. More history. Leather holsters, however, are what you buy when you don’t know any better. Or don’t have the money for something better. Which leads me to horsehide holsters. “Horsehide looks like leather and wears like plastic.” I’ve said that for years and it is true. Horsehide is denser than leather (cowhide), and so it is much more resistant to stretching…

“ I can tell you’re a gunwriter, you’ve confused your opinion with fact. I’ve used this line on a number of my peers, and I try to remind myself of it whenever I start making assumptions and “informed” proclamations about products I’ve never seen in person or handled. But, still, I’m only human, so I still occasionally screw up. I assumed I would be underwhelmed by the American Classic II 1911 you see here, imported by TriStar and manufactured by Metro Arms in the Philippines. I expected to have to struggle to say nice things about it, find polite ways of saying mean things about it, or worst of all, find new and different ways to celebrate its mediocrity. None of that happened. This isn’t just the nicest 1911 I’ve…

In the Fall of 1683, the Ottoman Empire had had Vienna under siege for several months. They had broken through some of the outer defenses, and were poised to take Vienna, and thus preclude any attempt to re-take the Balkans from the Ottomans by any European power, or any other part of Europe that the Ottoman Empire had conquered. But then the Polish forces, who had marched all the way to Vienna, arrived. The final charge of the Flying Hussars, heavy cavalry, led by Polish King Sobieski himself, swept through the Ottoman forces. Using their lances to good effect, they would ride through enemy infantry, return, regroup, and charge again. If a lance broke, they’d grab another from the supply wagons, and get back into the fight. Vienna was saved.…

With the approach of the Soviets in the Summer of 1944, the Polish Resistance decided to kick the Germans out before the Soviets arrived and have a free Warsaw. (Perhaps to reduce destruction in Warsaw, from combat between the Germans and the Soviets) Beginning on the first of August, they began combat operations. Unfortunately for the Poles, once the Soviets got to the edge of the city, they stopped. The Germans took this opportunity to crush the resistance. This took 63 days, during which no outside real assistance came, nor was even realistically possible, except from the (sitting on the sidelines) Soviet Army. Well, one unit, the Polish troops fighting for the Soviets, went rogue, crossed the river Vistula, and joined in to fight the Germans. Using the smuggled Radoms,…

The 1-4X Trijicon AccuPoint TR24 is one of the granddaddies of modern LPVOs, low-power variable optics (Trijicon.com). Back before somebody coined the term LPVO, it and the Schmidt and Bender Short Dot were the two most highly regarded LPVOs by both competition 3-gun shooters and those Special Forces troops who had discovered the value of a variable power optic, with a bottom end at or near 1X, on their duty rifle. Trijicon’s AccuPoint Scopes have reticles that are illuminated by fiber optics during the day, and tritium in low light. In an era of 1-6X, 1-8X, and 1-10X scopes this model has been forgotten or overlooked by many, but Trijicon is still making them. Perhaps because it is “only” a 1-4X scope, it has been reduced in price; currently the…

One of the newest pistol arm braces from SB Tactical, the inventors of the pistol arm brace, is the HBPDW—the Honey Badger PDW (personal defensive weapon) brace (SB-Tactical.com) Previously this brace was only available on the Honey Badger from Q (LiveQOrDie.com), and while you could buy it separately, it would only fit the unique Honey Badger receiver. This HBPDW fits standard AR lower receivers…and chances are, you probably want one. First, a quick bit of history, as it’s pertinent to the design of this brace. Kevin Brittingham designed the Honey Badger, chambered in 300 AAC Blackout, to be a replacement for the Heckler & Koch MP5SDs in the inventories of our elite warriors. They wanted something as quiet as the MP5SD, but with AR controls. Loaded with subsonic ammo the…

“Terrorist fighters in the liberated territories must hand in their weapons,” Ukrainian digital broadcaster Hromadske reported Thursday. Citing a Ministry of Defense post on the Telegram messaging app, the order comes from Troop Forces commander, General Yuri Galushkin. “Some of our regions have been liberated from the occupiers and there is no fighting. In these areas, we need to perform tasks related to the reconstruction of our cities and villages, restore the economy, return to work,” Galushkin claimed (converted to English via Google Translate). “That is why in these regions it is time to concentrate weapons in certain storage areas. You will take care of her [weapon], take her for training and, if necessary, get her to complete tasks. We will keep the gunpowder dry. Proper storage of weapons is…