Handguns

Ruger is launching a cool new SR1911 chambered for 10mm Auto. The company is also issuing a recall on select Mark IV rimfire pistols.

The name Multi-Sight, as it suggests, means that these pistols are ready to accept a variety of different types of sights with very little effort. The top rear of the slide has been milled out to accept a number of available drop-in tops.

The Heckler & Kock SP5K 9mm is a rock-solid, proven design that all others must aspire to emulate. This gun is still a bargain compared to an original SP89, and I think is a better option based on how it comes equipped. If you want the real thing, it is definitely for you.

Traditionally, pocket pistols have been in “mouse calibers” such as .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP. In the mid-seventies, one company set out to break all the rules. The result was Semmerling LM4, the king of the back-up pistols. And now, American Derringer is making a new version of this rare and radical classic.

Kimber turned its sights on the .380 concept with the Micro CDP and an entire Micro .380 line. Looking like a highly refined Colt Mustang (exactly what it is, just like the Sig Sauer P238 Series) with a standard capacity of 6 +1 the .380 ACP Micro series left Kimber with one remaining challenge and in 2016 Kimber took the next logical step by introducing a slightly larger Micro variation chambered in 9mm.

My first thought when reading the breaking news of the new X-Five line was that SIG was making some neat looking cosmetic changes to the pistol and maybe a bell here or a whistle there. It wasn’t until I received the test sample of the P320 X-Five and immediately tore it apart before I realized that the mad scientists at SIG had done much more than that! It is a P320, and shares the same internal serialized chassis (or fire control group) as the rest of the series. But in just about every other way it is a completely new and different gun.

Love it or hate it, the 10mm round deserves respect. Both the chambering and the 6.3-inch barrel that Dan Wesson equips the Bruin with make it a great choice for hunting—especially with 10mm cartridges loaded to their full potential. Pigs, deer, and bear within close range will fall prey to the Bruin.

I have never owned an STI pistol, and until I received the Hex Tactical for this review, I had only shot them a few times, during “hey, try this out” sessions on match days. I was impressed on those occasions and was eager to have this model – a relatively new one from STI, all to myself for testing. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t disappointed!

In the interest of a look toward the future, we decided to have a shoot-off of some of the most popular brands of 9mm pistol with a factory red dot mount option. There can be only one! So, let’s get them out on the range and in the hands of some different shooters and see what comes out on top.