GunsAmerica Product Reviews – Pistols

Striker-fired pistols dominate today’s handgun market, but that does not automatically make them the best choice for every shooter. We put revolvers, single action, DA/SA, DAO, and striker-fired handgun actions under the microscope and on the range to see where each one shines.

KelTec completely reworked its original P50 concept with a drop-free 50-round magazine, machined receiver and smarter controls. We ran the KP50 hard, suppressed and unsuppressed, to see whether this 5.7x28mm oddball is genius or gimmick.

The best Walther pistols have a reputation built on two things: some of the best factory striker triggers ever made and a certain fictional British spy. Walther gave us the PPK, the P99 and the PPQ, and today its flagship is the PDP, a striker gun that takes the famous PPQ trigger and puts it [...]

The best Springfield Armory pistols span almost every handgun style that matters today. Springfield sells a modular striker-fired duty gun, one of the first high capacity micro-compacts, double-stack 1911s, a modern Hi Power, and classic single stack 1911s from budget to custom grade. Few brands cover that much ground. Our writers have tested most of [...]

The Chiappa Rhino 60 DS 10mm looks like a sci-fi prop, fires from the bottom chamber, and somehow makes full-power 10mm Auto feel far more civilized than it should. I ran it with defensive, hunting, and range ammo to see if the weird design is real engineering or just revolver theater.

The best FN pistols come from a company that has armed militaries for more than a century, and it shows in how hard these guns run. FN America builds the 509 striker-fired family, the hammer-fired Reflex micro-compact, the Five-seveN, and big .45s like the 545 and FNX-45 Tactical. Our writers have put a lot of [...]

The best Kimber pistols built the company’s name on factory 1911s, and today the lineup reaches from pocket .380s to double-stack 2011s and a striker-fired micro-compact. Kimber is known for fit and finish, crisp single action triggers, and prices that sit above the budget brands. Our writers have carried and tested them hard. One carried [...]

The best HK pistols are built to a standard most makers do not try to meet. Heckler & Koch designs its handguns for police and military contracts and NATO durability testing, and it shows in their reliability and price. Today’s lineup includes the striker-fired VP9 family, the U.S.-designed CC9, and the hammer-fired P30, while classics [...]

The Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 10mm brings serious thumper energy without feeling cartoonishly huge. With optics-ready capability, stout woods-load performance, and M&P ergonomics, this 10mm makes a strong case as a backcountry pistol that still behaves like a modern fighting gun.