9mm

Bond Arms has been making quality products for a very long time, most notably derringers that are standard by which all others are judged. Made in Texas, by Texans. Let us not forget that either. This year, however, they have stepped out into magazine fed arena. And the product should have other CCW specialty companies worried.

Syntech Ammunition was launched a few years back, specially designed as a high-quality training round. It keeps a lead core, but the jacket is polymer. The bullet is encased to keep any lead on steel contact from inside the gun, eliminating aerosolized lead and overall making a cleaner to shoot round. The construction also reduces splash back from steel targets.

Naming your latest handgun “The American Pistol” makes a pretty clear statement. Add to that the timing of the launch of this product line amidst the backdrop of a highly contentious Presidential campaign and a continuingly more divided American narrative, and it makes a loud and clear statement. Ruger is an American company that is dedicated to American values and to its American customers.

I was a young cowboy with a fondness for horses, firearms, and pretty girls, in that order. One afore-mentioned pretty girl awaited my arrival across a high mountain pass that guards my Rocky Mountain home, but as my diesel pickup growled its way upward toward the pass I knew I was going to be early for our date. So I geared down and pulled off the highway into a small patch of ponderosa timber. The motor grumbled to a halt and I lifted my most recent crush off the truck seat, it’s long frame svelte and gleaming in the late afternoon light. The action was as smooth as whipped cream sweetened with maple sugar, and I forgot all about my upcoming date. Carrying the curvaceous form a little way from the truck I swung it to eye level and squeezed. A distant twig disappeared with a thunderous crack, and smoke rose in slow spirals from the six-inch barrel of my vintage Colt Python. I was in love.

aracal USA made a huge splash earlier this summer with the introduction of the Enhanced F pistol. The ergonomics are fantastic, they feel great. The triggers are well above average, and the bore axis is incredibly low. The quick sight model features an innovative design, with the rear sight, moved to the front of the chamber, making for lighting fast acquisition. So with that much new earlier this year, what was left? Turns out, plenty.

The real surprise of SHOT Show 2018 came from Ruger, and I would argue this for best of the new firearms, and second place contender for the story of the year. Only 224 Valkyrie as a cartridge ranks higher in my opinion, and that is saying something. So Ruger has decided to enter the Pistol Caliber Carbine game, and I am really glad I didn’t spend the last year on R&D for a competing product. Because Ruger is going to sink a lot of ships with their new Ruger PC Carbine.

Most of us, at one point or another, have wanted a Tommy Gun. Among the iconic American weapons, it is a stand out just like the 1911 and the M16. Whether we grew up watching Al Capone movies or the Sands of Iwo Jima, this a weapon we remember from our youth. Unfortunately, full auto Chicago typewriters can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, and require that sticky special license. Fortunately, Auto Ordnance has been making civilian-legal versions for some time now.

The wares at our local gun emporia are beginning to look a bit repetitive, my friends. There are AR15 variants for every taste, proclivity, and budget. The counters are awash to their gunwales in plastic pistols. There’s the obligatory smattering of scatterguns, precision rifles, and wheelguns, but that really is about it.

“Trying to stop a bad-guy with a nine mm is like trying to stop a charging buffalo with a twenty-two. Might as well use a fly-swatter”.

Such statements were common when I was a kid, and at the time there was some truth to them. Many experienced shooters, veterans, and L.E. officers still preferred the hard-hitting .45 ACP, (Automatic Colt Pistol) to the 9mm with its smaller, lighter and more streamlined projectile.