Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2021 i Personal Defense World

There is a study by the nonprofit Institute of Medicine that shows 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die annually due to medical errors. However, there are other studies that place that number as high as a 250,000 deaths per year, which would make it the third leading cause of death, behind cancer and cardiovascular disease. I know how to save all of these people from these unnecessary deaths, and it is plain and simple for everyone to see. We’ll just outlaw medicine and doctors, and we’ll no longer have any Americans dying from medical malpractice deaths. It’s that easy! If you believe my solution is a great idea, then please put this magazine down and go sign up for your local anti-gun group. Yes, roughly 40,000 Americans die yearly from gunshots,…

No sector of the firearms industry has seen as much growth as the AR-15 market. The AR-15 is truly America's rifle. Easy to run, soft-shooting and accurate, it is as enjoyable to shoot as it is effective. Over the last 10 years or so the AR-15 market has exploded, with the largest growth happening during the Obama administration. It seemed that every day a new company showed up to make AR-15s. The upside to that was that this became an extremely competitive realm, with many new companies bringing great guns to market. There were obviously some stinkers, but overall the situation made for a great buyers’ market. The world has changed quite a bit since then, and a new AR-15 arriving on the market is becoming a rarer event. While…

While exploring the SHOT Show 2020 floor, I came across the very nice booth of Sarsilmaz Firearms Corporation, a company that I knew very little about. Sarsilmaz is located in Istanbul, Turkey. They have been producing firearms since 1880. Incredibly, the company is the only privately held provider of pistols for the Turkish National Police and armed forces. When the Turkish army suddenly announced it was considering a replacement for the standard-issue pistols of the time, Sarsilmaz took up the challenge of producing a pistol that could compete with models provided by well-known brands from Austria, Germany, Belgium and the United States, in a rigorous course of NATO-mandated testing. This testing was anything but typical. Quite possibly it was the most rigorous testing a pistol has ever been through. The…

Coronavirus got you down? Suffering from the quarantine blues? Shooters are having an especially hard time with their favorite ranges closed, gun shows cancelled and, in some places, their preferred gun shops shut down. What’s a gun addict to do? I know your pain. I’ve spent a great deal of my stay-at-home time reloading and, if I’ve figured correctly, have enough ammo to last me until I’m 105. All my guns have been cleaned and lubricated, and I have run out of gun-related projects, with one exception. It is such a big undertaking that I have put it off for years. I needed to inventory and catalog my gun collection. INVESTMENT If you’re like most of our readers, your gun collection represents a substantial investment. While you know everything there…

IT'S 2 A.M., you’re home nestled in your bed and have just begun your REM sleep cycle. Doors are locked, and your loved ones are tucked in bed sleeping without a care, as they are safe under your protection. All is right with the world, and your home is at peace. Suddenly you’re awakened by a loud noise. You’re disoriented for a minute, lying still, silent—just listening. Then, you hear footsteps and whispering voices, and the realization hits you—someone’s broken into your home. You don’t know where they are, how many there are or if they’re armed. All you’re certain of is that, somehow, you need to gain the advantage. This scenario is unpleasant to contemplate, and rightfully so. In no way is it meant to scare or cause paranoia.…

LESS THAN A YEAR AND A HALF AGO SPRINGFIELD ARMORY INTRODUCED THE HELLCAT, the world’s highest capacity, 9mm micro-compact pistol. Just 6 inches in length and only 4 inches tall the little gun is effortless to conceal. With the flush-fit magazine it yields an 11+ 1 capacity and an amazing 13 + 1 with its extended magazine. That’s a lot of bullets for a gun with a grip width of just an inch. Weighing just a couple ounces more than a pound, the Hellcat puts tiger-size bite in a kitten-size package. After running about 400 rounds through the gun without a burp, I made it part of my every day carry (EDC). It is accurate beyond reasonable expectations and just feels “right” in my hand. With a suggested retail price…

It is undeniable that the semi-auto dominates the self-defense market today, and justifiably so. Technological and tactical improvements have produced a product that is well suited to serving its owner as a primary reactive tool to save his or her hide. But there remain literally millions of revolvers—double-action (DA) and single-action (SA)—in the homes of gun owners today. Are these guns mere paperweights? The single-action revolver has been around for 140 years. Its popularity among gun owners continues to be very strong. Colt has tried many times to retire its iconic Single Action Army, yet the demand for these old “thumb-busters” keeps prodding the company to continue manufacturing them. And once Ruger introduced its Blackhawk single-action, it has never looked back. When choosing a self-defense pistol, should the SA be…

5.11 TACTICAL RUSH 2.0 BACKPACK The new Rush 2.0 Transition line of backpacks from 5.11 tactical comes in three sizes, so nearly anyone can find one that fits their needs. These updated packs now feature a padded laptop compartment, a concealed carry compartment for your EDC firearm and a larger eyewear/tech compartment. The exterior is made of rugged 1050D nylon in either black, Doubletap, Kangaroo or Ranger Green. The Rush12 has 24-liter capacity, the Rush24 has 37-liter capacity and the Rush72 has 55 liters of capacity. (511tactical.com) BENCHMADE MINI SOCP For those looking for a concealed-carry blade of a different type, look no further than Benchmade’s 177BK Mini SOCP. The single-edge, spearpoint blade is 2.2 inches long, made of 440C stainless steel and finished in black Cerakote. The single-piece handle…

Just about everyone has their idea of which Smith & Wesson revolver is the true classic .44. To some folks, it’s the original Model No. 3 in .44 American. Others might argue it’s the .44 Russian or.44 Special New Century Hand Ejector Triple lock model. But to me, the truly classic S&W .44s are the Model 24 and Model 29, as they were built from the late 1950s to early 1990s. ▶ MYSTIQUE OF THE .44 There’s always been a fascination with .44-caliber handguns, probably because the .44 was designed from the get-go to be a man-stopper. In the late 1840s Texas Ranger Capt. Samuel Walker and Samuel Colt teamed to create a pistol for the Rangers that delivered more than twice the muzzle energy of other blackpowder revolvers. During…

Preventing a home invasion is a lot easier than most people realize. All you have to do is make your home the least desirable target in your neighborhood, and the following steps will allow you to quickly accomplish this goal. The bottom line is, if you spend a few minutes this weekend buying alarm signs or getting a camera, your house will quickly become one of the “hardest” targets in your neighborhood, which is exactly what you want. VIDEO SURVEILLANCE Have a camera monitoring your front entrance and your back entrance. If you really don’t want to spend the money on real cameras, you can purchase “dummy” cameras that look exactly like the real thing. What’s more, these fake cameras have a red blinking light so it definitely appears as…

■ WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, MY DAD DIDN’T HAVE ANY GUNS. The former Kansas farm boy and WWII Marine combat veteran wasn’t a hunter and probably could not have cared less if he never owned another gun in his lifetime. But my persistent badgering eventually led to my becoming a member of the local trap-shooting club. Dad bought me and the rest of the family a Remington 1100 trap gun, which I cleaned to spotlessness after each use. We lived in Pennsylvania, and the abundance of deer and many invitations to hunt led to a Marlin 336C chambered in .30-30 toward the end of junior high. But what I really wanted was a handgun of some sort. I’d grown up reading the writings of Skeeter Skelton, Elmer Keith, Charles…

Combat proven, iconic design, superior ergonomics, thin and light. Three of these descriptors have traditionally been associated with the 1911 pistol. Ed Brown Products decided to add the last two when it created the EVO CCO9 Lightweight pistol. I’ll save you the trouble of reading this article: The pistol is a complete success. Other companies lightened and shortened the 1911 by chopping off the barrel or cutting down the grip, but Ed Brown Products took a different approach to its new self-defense 1911 pistol, and the results are exceptional. The company built the gun around the 9mm cartridge. While the cartridge isn’t a newcomer to the platform, few companies ever build a 1911 specifically for it. Rather, companies tend to adapt a gun chambered in .45 ACP to “also run”…

n SUREFIRE HAS JUST INTRODUCED THE XSC MICRO COMPACT HANDGUN LIGHT DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE HELLCAT’S RAIL. It features a 350-lumen light and 30 minutes of run time. The light’s lithium battery can be recharged without removing it from the gun. I had a chance to run through Gunsite’s shoot house with a prototype of the XSC mounted on the Hellcat and found it to be every bit as size efficient as the gun. Those of you using the Hellcat for home defense will find the Surefire XSC a worthwhile addition. Check it out at surefire.com. —Mike Detty…

■ An additional benefit of the single-action (SA) revolver is that it is available in many calibers and chamberings—from rimfire to as hot and heavy as you can handle. You can’t go wrong with a .357 Magnum. Its capability of shooting light .38 Special loads for practice and magnum loads for serious work, along with the widespread availability of ammunition, makes it a top choice for many. I have three Rugers chambered in .357 Mag, and they all see regular use. ▶ .44 SPECIAL: My favorite cartridge for any revolver is the .44 S&W Special. It is very accurate, and it can be loaded over a wide range of power needs—from powder-puff target loads to practice with near-magnum loads for those times I tread in country shared with grizzly bears.…

I have been slow to adopt the rifle-caliber pistol. I prefer pistols that can be converted to SBRs easily, so not being an AR is a bonus. Yep, I test that platform all the time, and have for decades, long before they were cool. I have plenty, but they have never been my preferred rifles for defense, especially with short barrels. My two “goto” platforms have similar ergonomics but are not ARs, which means CZ USA’s new Bren 2 Ms is right up my alley. CZ’s 805 Bren was designed specifically for the Czech military as a select-fire combat rifle chambered in 5.56mm NATO that can be converted to 7.62x39mm if need be. After the Czech Republic adopted the gun in 2010, there were requests for an updated version that…

I have recently come across an AR pistol manufactured by Rock River Arms (RRA). For those who do not know, RRA has been around for a while. It was established in 1996. They have been awarded contracts by several federal agencies—the DEA, FBI and U.S. Marshals, just to name a few. But the big takeaway from all this, is the famous cliché, “Big things do come in small packages.” Let me introduce you to the Rock River Arms RUK-15 4.5-inch AR pistol chambered in 5.56 NATO. I fell in love with this thing at first sight. It started when I first put it in my hand. The Hogue rubber pistol grip feels totally different from any other grip on an AR platform that I have ever shot. The rubber and…

■ I use a handgun for home defense. Why? Because a handgun is small enough to sit on top of my nightstand in a rapid-access safe. I have kids and don’t want to worry about having to lock up a long gun. It’s also easy to clear a home using a handgun because I don’t have to worry about knocking the gun into walls or an intruder grabbing the barrel of my gun when I turn a corner. The downside of a handgun is that it carries fewer rounds than a rifle. Also, it’s a heck of a lot easier to shoot (and be accurate) with a rifle, but I’m not too concerned about this since home defense typically doesn’t involve taking 25-, 50- or 100-yard shots. AR YOU READY?…

One thing that is essential to every single everyday carry (EDC) kit is a knife. When it comes to your EDC knife, there are about as many options to choose from in today’s world as the gun you choose to carry. It truly is overwhelming, especially when you think about how important that little stabby device in your pocket is. To the non-carry crowd, a knife is nothing more than a letter opener or a tool to open the next package that comes to your doorstep. However, if you ask the EDC folks, that same knife is a survival tool. My pocketknife is a letter opener, box cutter, pry bar, screwdriver, surgical device, survival tool, self-defense device and sometimes even a lunch-time last-ditch chef’s knife. I know, that last one…