American Handgunner articles from March 2003

American Handgunner archives from March 2003

Speak out.
March 1, 2003... JANUARY/FEBRUARY I would like to respectfully disagree with Clint Smith's recent column (Jan/Feb) on the subject of Point Shooting. I'm a 25 year veteran officer and training officer for my department, and have long experience with...

Try a turret. (Hand Loading).
March 1, 2003... The purchase of a loading press can be a difficult exercise, prone to adding grey hairs. There are lots of choices and since the purchase of a press is almost always a lifetime investment we want to get it right the first time. And even an...

Updating an old friend. (Hand Loading).
March 1, 2003... Turret presses have been around a long time. Redding, Lyman and Lee have had them for years and recently RCBS added one to their line. Now Redding brings us an update of their Model 25 turret press. This one is called the T-7 because it can...

Handy but handle-less. (Hand Loading).
March 1, 2003... Redding's new press removes most of the concerns voiced about turret presses and is suitable for all but the very most strenuous loading jobs. I have used it with great success with but one reservation. It is difficult to turn the turret. This...

Off duty carry in the time of terrorism. (Cop Talk).
March 1, 2003... At the Gun Rights Policy Conference of 2002, sponsored recently in Phoenix by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, one topic was how the War on Terror is affecting American law...

Learning from the past. (Cop Talk).
March 1, 2003... The threat is from radical Islamist groups. We've seen their strategies in other countries, particularly Israel: Suicide bombings. Mass murders of the innocent with full auto assault rifles. We've also seen how to counter these threats. ...

A good idea anyway. (Cop Talk).
March 1, 2003... Within days of the Christian charity workers' murders, five innocent victims were executed in heartland America during a Nebraska bank robbery. The suspects, when arrested, proved to be ordinary scumbags instead of terrorist scumbags. This made...

Doin" the training macarena. (Realty Check).
March 1, 2003... Nearly every Monday morning we start a new class here at Thunder Ranch. With that start, there is almost always a first-timer at the Ranch who has attended no-small number of courses at other schools. We kindly refer to these new first-timers...

Technique, environment and marksmanship. (Reality Check).
March 1, 2003... There is a continuing controversy over which shooting technique is best. It is, in fact, a moot point. Application of various correct techniques could exist for the trained, the untrained, for law enforcement officers, and even lawfully-armed...

Mystics and magic. (Realty Check).
March 1, 2003... There are no mystics and no magic -- and no shortcuts. But Americans like magic, just look at Las Vegas. With some regularity, training magicians come to live here in the land of the free, generally from a homeland where private firearms...

Itsey-Bitsey, Teeny-Weeny. (Combat Shooting).
March 1, 2003... Old J.B. (John Browning for those of you who are unsophisticated, new readers to Handgunner) did a real service for future generations of gunsmiths when he designed the sights for the Colt 1911 automatic. The original sights were simple, strong...

An elevating experience. (Combat Shooting).
March 1, 2003... Wayne Novak has designed a new version of his famous sight that adjusts for elevation as well as deflection. The example illustrated here is fitted on a Colt Series 80 .45 ACP. Novak also fitted a new front sight, neatly and expertly dovetailed...

Wonder what kinda Silhouette targets they use now? (The 10-Ring).
March 1, 2003... Officer Lim Kim Soth of the Cambodian National Police swears the shot was accidental, but his "ten-ring" hit got him a huge reward, and his unintended precision has become the gold standard for his comrades. Kim was foot-patrolling the...

It's a "my daddy an' his daddy' kind of thing. (The 10-Ring).
March 1, 2003... Actually the speaker usually refers to, "An' my daddy done it an' his daddy done it an' his daddy's daddy done it too," when some doofus is explaining a stupid family tradition. Which we suspect is the case here. Enter our non-PhD candidate...

When a .38 equals a Sidewinder. (Tactical Advantage).
March 1, 2003... One of the hot topics of the day is whet her airline pilots should be armed on commercial flights. Like so many topics related to firearms, the attitudes are either very warm -- or extremely cold. Since I fly often I have a feeling that arming...

Ancient technology. (Tactical Advantage).
March 1, 2003... Now, to the meat of the issue -- what kind of handgun? I think it's quite simple when you consider the great variety of skill levels and interest in firearms the vast array of pilots are likely to have. I recommend the Smith & Wesson Model 64,...

Isoso Weaver-laser stance. (Tactical Advantage).
March 1, 2003... If you have ever sat in a flight deck seat and considered the ability to shoot back over your shoulder toward the access door, you may note that traditional firing stances and techniques don't work well. (Sounds like an entirely new series of...

Give the man a hand. (Hand Gun Leather).
March 1, 2003... Handmade articles of even the very best quality are never perfect. And it's precisely because handcrafted items are minutely flawed that we prize them so highly. After all, any CNC-controlled, laser-guided mechanical dynamo can make something...

One is the loneliest number. (Hand Gun Leather).
March 1, 2003... ONE Is The Loneliest Number (Excerpted from a letter written to 'American Handgunner by Paul Litwinow. Since it was almost poetic, we felt it best to present it poetically...) I am a one-man shop. I do not stock any...

The chippendale holster. (Hand Gun Leather).
March 1, 2003... If you want to see unbelievable handcraftsmanship at its finest, look at Louis XIV furniture. Or, something a little closer to home than Versailles, a Renegade SOB holster. Handmade by master leathermaker Paul Litwinow of Ironoak Leather...

Magnum recoil madness. (Taffin Tests).
March 1, 2003... It is an experience I'll never forget. Sometime around 1957 I first fired a 4" Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum with full house loads. The local gun shop had one of the first examples from the factory and, instead of selling it, rented it out and sold...

Ivory to the rescue. (Taffin Tests).
March 1, 2003... Keith admitted he did not spend his time pounding hundreds of rounds per session through his Smith & Wesson .44 Magnums. In fact, after waiting 30 years for the .44 to arrive, that first year he fired a grand total of 600 rounds. Add to this...

Generic fodder = generic groups. (Pistol Smithing).
March 1, 2003... When you have your revolver or semiautomatic all together and everything is right, in order to produce the best possible accuracy the handgun is capable of shooting, the last big factor is the ammo. If you have spent your hard-earned bucks on...

Patience, powder and perfection. (Pistol Smithing).
March 1, 2003... Bullets are the real key and if you want to use a factory jacketed one, the most reliable, perfect bullet is a Nosler 185 jacketed hollow point. The US Marine Corps Marksmanship Training Unit at Quantico, Va., discovered this fine bullet when...

Gunsmiths get stoned! (Pistol Smithing).
March 1, 2003... Finally, from the dark and dim lit shop of inventor Al Marvel comes a Model 1911 sear jig that is practical, simple and perfect. As you can see in the photograph, Al's marvelous little thing-a-ma-bob will cut a 1911 sear to the perfect factory...

Fast... faster... the big lie. (Better Shooting).
March 1, 2003... One obstacle to better shooting is an unrealistic expectation. Newcomers to shooting often compare themselves -- not to good shooters -- but to the wildly exaggerated performances they read about in books and see on television and in movies....

Real vs. unreal. (Better Shooting).
March 1, 2003... Now let's look at a more realistic challenge: using a service-type revolver or autopistol, full power ammunition, a practical belt holster, drawing to an A-zone hit on an IPSC target at seven yards. Don't be discouraged if you can't draw and...

Don't worry, be happy. (Better Shooting).
March 1, 2003... Maybe you recall the scene in Lethal Weapon in which Mel Gibson uses his Beretta service pistol to shoot a "happy face" pattern in a silhouette target at what appears to be 25 yards. Very impressive, except that even if the shooter has the...

Saving mom: the South bend incident. (The Ayoob Files).
March 1, 2003... Situation: The mother is held hostage, terrorized, about to be killed. There is no one there to deal with the hostage-taker but an eleven-year-old boy. Lesson: Courage knows no age limit. When we teach our loved ones how to defend...

Blazing Blaser. (Handgun Hunting).
March 1, 2003... Until now, Thompson Center had the comer for a highly versatile interchangeable barrel hunting handgun. That's over now. Enter Mark Kresser, SIGARMS Sales and Marketing manager and the Blaser R93 bolt action rifle -- which just happens to be...

Straight-shootin' straight-pull. (Handgun Hunting).
March 1, 2003... To see if the new gun actually worked, I went to Bill Brewster's Texas Trophy Club Ranch (830-376-4545) to give the only prototype a workout. Mark warned me the prototype was a bit on the crude side and, having worked with lot of crude...

No rainy day blues. (Handgun Hunting).
March 1, 2003... This was Texas brush country and the only way to hunt it is from blinds. Not usually my cup of tea, however the abundance of trophy deer kept my eyes glued to the binoculars and adrenaline pumping. I do enjoy watching the them and with the...

Kit-gun cool: Ruger's tiny twosome brings smiles to kids and grandpas alike. (The Sixgunner).
March 1, 2003... Technology can be a wonderful friend. But sometimes it causes more work and stress than it saves. How well I remember my high-school history teacher prophesying we would see labor-saving devices that would, in fact, do just the opposite,...

Midnight Moonlight: Novak's Caspian Snakeskin-Damascus 1911 is a platform for his newest adjustable sight!
March 1, 2003... Long renowned for his Novak Lo Mount Sight, pistol-smith, Wayne Novak passed the one million mark in this sight two years ago and is still going stronger than ever. However, not being one to rest on his laurels, Wayne Novak became interested in...

Hex Bullet Hi-Jinx: Taurus' capable copper bullet.
March 1, 2003... It's been a long time since we've seen the name of a handgun manufacturer on a box of ammo. The last time was Smith & Wesson ammo, and that was over 20 years ago. When I saw the first ad for the new Taurus fodder, it was pretty clear this was a...

Fighting handguns of WWII: heroes, their hardware and the American fighting spirit.
March 1, 2003... Much has been written about the small arms--specifically handguns--used by American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Aircrews in the conflagration known as World War II. The manufacturers, the number of pieces produced, the fit and finish are...

Springfield's new tiny terror: SubCompact XD shoots great...less filling.
March 1, 2003... The importance of heritage can't be stressed enough when it comes to quality. It's the rare occasion that produces instant excellence when a new product is introduced. Most often, promises are made, hype is exercised and broad smiles and...

The modern bullet: state of the art? Or are we stuck in the neolithic period...
March 1, 2003... On April 11, 1986 at about 9:20 in the morning a group of eight Special Agents of the FBI attempted to apprehend two suspects wanted for a series of bank robberies in the Miami area. Something like five minutes later two agents were dead, three...

World Shoot-Off championship: what it's like to eat dessert first! (STI/American Handgunner).
March 1, 2003... Each year the STI/American Handgunner World Shoot-Off shapes up into a high-intensity series of focused, sustained personal contests on enough levels to keep anyone's concerted interest. This year, some of the old time, big names and previous...

Brothers in steel: Mel Pardue and Warren Osborne excel in both the custom and factory arenas.
March 1, 2003... At the 2002 Blade Show in Atlanta I had the unique experience of dining with two of the country's top custom knifemakers, brought together by the commonality that both are collaborators in the Benchmade design arsenal. Mel Pardue, one of the...

Make mine a Thompson: gun-guy and novelist Stephen Hunter on guns, gangsters and America.
March 1, 2003... Stephen Hunter's powerful novels of the Swagger clan, including Vietnam sniper Bob the Nailer and his hardcase father, Earl, have found places both on the New York Times bestsellers' list and in the hearts and bookshelves of gun owners...

He's not smart enough to appreciate jail. (The 10-Ring).
March 1, 2003... A judge in Roanoke, Virginia, handed out a suspended sentence for bank robbery when he became convinced that the defendant was too stupid to know how dumb he had been. Also, Maurice Dooley didn't think he had robbed a bank, and couldn't...

See? I told you there was a problem! (The 10-Ring).
March 1, 2003... Slowly but surely, the former Soviet Asian republic of Kyrgyztan is sorta draggin' into the latter half of the 20th century, and one of the modern problems they're having to face is alcoholism. It's a tough sell in the Islamic country, because...

SIG P239 and P245 sights. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... LaserMax LaserMax Inc., manufacturer of the world's only totally internal loser sight, is pleased to introduce two new gunsight lasers for the popular SIG models P239 and the P245. The addition of these sights adds to the existing SIG...

Predator. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... Pro-Ears Pro-Ears announces the release of their "Predator" electronic headsets. Just like it's big brother, the "Dimension", "Predator" has Dynamic Level Compression at an affordable price of $159.96 MSRP. Now everyone can enjoy the...

Merkel True Target. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... Law Enforcement Targets Combining the attributes of a steel reactive and a man-sized cardboard silhouette, the Merkel True Target is a break-through in tactical/self-defense training. Designed by Paul Merkel, a former Marine infantryman...

Special Edition Pistol Cases. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... DoskoSport DoskoSport's Special Edition Single Scoped Pistol Case, and Special Edition Four Pistol/Accessory Case feature stylish lines that add strength and improve handgun protection. Both Special Edition Pistol cases include tough,...

Decal Grip. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... Grupo Mercari Here's a revolutionary nifty enhancement that's available for five popular polymer frame self defense handguns: Glock, H&K USP, The Springfield XD, The Taurus Millennium PT, and Kahr P and PM models. Polymer frame pistols ore...

.450 AUTOBOND pistol and ammunition. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... Bond Arms Inc. The .450 AUTOBOND is the fastest 1911-style production pistol made. Muzzle velocity of the .450 with 100 grain bullet averages 2,300 fps with a kinetic energy of 1174 ft.-lbs, making this ammo more powerful than the .44Mag....

VisuLock LLC. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... Visu Lock VisuLock is designed, developed and marketed by gun owners who saw the need far a gunlock that was safe and reliable, yet allows a firearm to be used for defense purposes within a few seconds. The VisuLock design uses a Security...

SureShot laser light. (Spotlight).
March 1, 2003... QuickFire SureShot Tactical is an innovative clip-on device that integrates the laser with a LED flashlight. The LED light features smooth, pure white beams, and can be operated individually for routine or emergency situations. The...

Weigand S&W sight blade. (Gunnysack).
March 1, 2003... Gunsmith Jack Weigand has built quite a few guns that haveappeared on the cover of American Handgunner and I have had the chance to shoot some of them. Now his business has taken a new direction toward scope. mounts, gunsmith tools and sights....

Alumagrips. (Gunnysack).
March 1, 2003... In the early days of the .38 Super in IPSC competition it was prudent to put some metal under the grips of the pistol. That way you didn't get splinters in your hand if a case ruptured due to a load that was a mite too enthusiastic. Fortunately...

Wolff springs. (Gunnysack).
March 1, 2003... I am not one of those guys who believes that gun springs should be replaced every hundred rounds. Chances are that folks who do say so have ulterior motives--they sell springs. There is no reason to believe a properly designed and made spring...

The Gun Buddy. (Gunnysack).
March 1, 2003... The last step in our gun cleaning process is to protect the surface from rust. We want to wipe off fingerprints or other foreign matter and leave a protectant behind. There are lots of products to do this such as treated cloths or various...

Death by cell phone. (The Insider).
March 1, 2003... I don't normally like to get off on a tirade, but now and again it seems as if someone has to point a finger at something and say, "Hey, that's stupid." We're talking "Emperor's New Clothes" stupid. It seems statistics show over 2,600...

S&W 1911?. (Insider).
March 1, 2003... Smith's new 1911 design based upon the, 'er, ah, Colt 1911 has been introduced and looks exactly like a Colt 1911. I handled one recently and found it to work, act and take-down just like the zillion other 1911s out there. It does have an...

Reader Wish List. (Insider).
March 1, 2003... Now's your chance to tell us what you wanted. Ever had a hankering for a semi-auto, .50 Browning pistol, complete with concealment leather by Mitch Rosen? Frustrated because Colt won't make that Single Action Army in .454? Does the idea of a...

The ask and you shall receive department. (Insider).
March 1, 2003... Finally, someone has listened to us big bore revolver fans out here lost in semiauto land. I called Taurus last year -- after handling one of the new Trackers in .45 ACP -- and spoke with marketing guru Eddy Fernandez to complain about...

Add it up. (Insider).
March 1, 2003... 11 Percentage of 18-24 year-olds in the United States who could not locate their own country on a world map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent. 1 Number of would-be car thieves killed by how-wielding car-owners. The...