The final design of the 1911 really came about from a series of trials that the US Government put it and other pistols through. These tests let Colt and John Browning see how the pistol held up. There were also requirements that the design had to meet. A lot of the credit for how the 1911 came out can be attributed to the trials and specifications required for the new pistol.

When we, and I mean we as I include myself in this statement, think of US Military small arms it does not usually include a shotgun. When we think of the great American fighting arms of the past we have visions of the 1911, M1 Garand, M-16, 1903 Springfield and probably even a Bazooka before we picture the lowly scatter gun. So lets take a quick look through history and into the present at the shotguns that have served our men and women in uniform.

The folks at Winchester have a pretty cool new “app” for showing shot patterns for turkey loads. These are not computer modeled guesstimates of what the pattern should look like in an ideal world. Winchester took the time to shoot all of the different shells and shot weights through a variety of different chokes to give an idea of how they should perform. This is a Winchester app so all of the shells are theirs.

Legend has it that John Moses made the first prototype of the Vest Pocket to carry in his, you guested it, vest pocket while walking around on this land in Utah. He supposedly wanted a tiny pistol for defense against coyotes. True or not, Browning did design a great little pistol that will fit in a vest pocket.

Shooting History. This is the name of a new series that we will be running here at Guns America. We will take some historic guns, shoot them and review them not too much unlike our new gun reviews. It was seeing the new production Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless at SHOT Show this year that got me to thinking, so, it makes sense to kick it off with an antique 1903.

Until recently, when I thought of an air rifle I usually pictured something akin to a BB gun and the little silver CO2 cylinders. I know there has been a history of bigger bore and more powerful air rifles. Lewis and Clark had one with them for example. But modern air rifles are pushing the envelop and the chronograph on what can be accomplished with compressed air and AirForce is leading the way.

We stopped by the Kimber booth at this years SHOT Show to see what new products they had for 2015. Some of the stand outs to us are the Adirondack rifle in .300 Blackout, Solo Sapphire, Micro Raptor and the Onyx Ultra. Still, it is hard to pick one favorite in the Kimber booth.

Browning had a number of new products at SHOT Show this year. One of the standouts was the new 725 Citoris in 28 gauge and .410. The Citori is the direct descendant of the John Browning designed Superposed, and the 725 is the newest addition.

Colt has teamed with U.S. Armament Corp., the guys that made the Gatling gun a few years back, to remake the old John Browning classis. Now they are making the 1903 in the General Officers Pistol version. Could this be the start of a whole new line of Retro-Classic-Colts?