[Photos © Bryan Jones ]

Because the BATFE only allow "sporting" shotguns to be imported, it is imported without any tacti-cool features. The lower receiver is polymer with the stock and pistol grip being part of the mould, much like the Cav Arms polymer AR-15 lower receivers.

RAAC will be selling modified custom models with AR-15 stocks, AR-15 pistol grips, rails and muzzle brakes. These modifications are done to the shotgun after it has been imported. I expect these modded guns will be expensive and will be marketed to the 3-gun shooting community.

The standard model is priced around $700.

[Photos © Bryan Jones ]

The popularity of pocket pistols has really taken off these last couple of years. The gun companies have introduced many new models to fill this desire with the Kimber Solo being one of those.

Many of these new pocket pistols are chambered in .380 that’s where the Solo differs. Chambered in 9MM this pistol packs a much bigger punch than any .380, which should be comforting to any shooter who desires this type of pistol.

Solo with included carrying case and extra magazine

The Solo is another product that is hard to come by. In fact I had to wait nine weeks to get this sample. When my local gun shop called and told me I had a gun to pickup I was pretty happy when I found it was the Solo. My first thoughts were this is one good-looking little pistol. My second thought was this thing is small!

There are more features with the Solo than you would expect from most guns of this size. The sights are plenty large without getting in the way or hanging up when you use a pocket holster. They have the standard three-dot configuration. The grips are recessed into the frame making the frame a bit narrower than the usual placement. The safety is ambidextrous and very similar to a 1911 type. The magazine release is also ambidextrous. The grip has an angle very close to a 1911, which suits me fine since I shoot and carry a 1911 most days. There is also an undercut below the rear of the trigger guard giving the shooter a bit more room for a secure grip

Speaking of the operating controls designed very much like a 1911 so is disassembly. About the only difference is there is no bushing to remove otherwise the slide is retracted lining up and removing the slide release as you would a 1911 then pull the slide off as usual.

While the controls are very much like a 1911 the pistol is striker fired. You get a little of both worlds with the Solo. The trigger pull is different than any other striker fired pistol I’ve shot. The trigger feels very smooth with a short takeup (5/8th inches) to release the striker. The striker itself isn’t fully cocked until the trigger is close to the point of release. There is no stacking of the trigger it’s uniform all the way through the pull. Trigger pull is slightly over six pounds but feels less than that.

The Solo has a stainless steel slide and barrel with an alloy frame finished in Kim-Pro. There are two other models with one being an all stainless version while the second is the same as my test pistol with laser grips and more pronounced dehorning.

As you can see from the picture above the slide is rather thick to handle the 9MM cartridge. There is also a loaded chamber indicator milled into the rear of the barrel hood. The Solo also uses a fairly large external extractor. The ejection port is beveled and lowered at both sides allowing plenty of room for ejected brass.

Stats

Specifications
Caliber: 9mm Height (inches) 90° to barrel: 3.9
Weight (ounces) with empty magazine: 17
Length (inches): 5.5
Magazine capacity: 6 rounds

Frame
Material: Aluminum Finish: KimPro II
Width (inches): .995 not including safety

Slide
Material: Stainless steel
Finish: Satin silver

Barrel
Length (inches): 2.7
Material: Stainless steel
Twist rate (left hand): 10

Sights
Fixed low profile
Radius (inches): 4.4

Grips
Black synthetic
Checkered / smooth

Trigger
Single action striker- fired
Factory setting (approximate pounds): 7

Kimber advises the user to only use 124 to 147 grain premium hollowpoint ammunition. One thing I wondered about was using +P in these bullet weights but nothing is addressed on the website concerning hotter ammunition. With everyone getting ready for the SHOT show I was unable to get in touch with anyone to get a positive answer. I will say during my range time I used 115-grain ball in the inexpensive aluminum cased ammo with no problems. I also shot a fair amount of +P, which I’m sure increases wear but it had no problem cycling the +P loads.

There were a couple of issues I want to address that a potential buyer should be aware of. These are by no means deal breakers but should be noted. The way the slide is engineered there is a bump on the bottom of the slide internally which depresses the top round down for better clearance in cycling. Because of this the shooter must get a very firm grasp on the slide when chambering that first round. It takes a pretty aggressive motion to rack the slide without it hanging up half way back. The second issue is the ambidextrous mag release. While a nice feature it’s very hard to depress from either side and release a full magazine. While this is not something a shooter will commonly do it is an issue nonetheless. I fixed this problem by taking a look at the magazine cuts that engage the magazine release. I took a very mild file and opened the top of the dual magazine cuts a very small amount. I then used some 1200 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth the edges. This took care of the problem allowing a very easy release from that point on. I will say when the magazine was empty releasing a magazine was no problem before I worked on both supplied magazines.

Range Time

One nagging thought before hitting the range was “this pistol is going to have some stout recoil”. As it turns out this wasn’t the case, which I attribute to the dual spring configuration and heavy slide.

Before heading to the range I did lube the Solo with Frog Lube with no other lubrication during the session.

I brought an assortment of ammunition for this session. I had Blazer 115 grain ball, Cor-Bon DPX 115 grain, Remington 124 grain hollowpoint, Remington 115 grain ball and finally the new Hornady Critical Defense with the FTX bullet. According to Kimber a break in of 24 rounds is needed. Out of all 275 rounds fired I had no malfunctions of any type. Groups fired from the 10 yard line averaged right at 2 ½ inches with the best results from the Hornday Critical Defense load which gave groups of 2 inches on average.

Each rectangle is ¼ inch wide in this Hornady group that is less than 2 inches

As I mentioned earlier the trigger pull is very smooth with a crisp let off and short reset. Surprisingly the recoil wasn’t bad at all allowing quick followup shots. The Solo is also more accurate than other pistols of this size, which I attribute to the excellent trigger and highly visible sights.

Conclusion

I really do like the Solo. In spite of the two issues I covered it’s a well-made accurate little pistol. It feels very good in your hand, especially so for those of us who shoot 1911’s. The thumb safety rides in almost the same position as the 1911 making transition to the Solo very natural. Even for those who don’t use a 1911 you’ll become proficient with it in short order.

I also like the fact the Solo has a manual safety. I’ve never cared for a striker fired pistol without one. I believe this is especially relevant with a pocket pistol.

The cost of the Solo is higher than most others of it’s type at an MSRP of $747.00. Of course some shopping around will save you approximately $100.00 perhaps a bit more. Apparently the cost isn’t a factor since Kimber is having a hard time keeping up with orders.

I would certainly encourage anyone in the market for a pocket pistol considers the Solo. It’s always best to find a gun shop that rents guns so you can try before you buy. I don’t buy many of the guns I review but this one may just have to stay here!

Please note that I rarely write such glowing reviews of guns. It really did feel that good, but the proof is really in the shooting.

Attempts to improve the power and range of the SMGs, such as the development of the .45 Remington-Thomson in the experimental Model 1923 Thompson SMG (which used a very powerful loading developing almost three times the muzzle energy of the .45 Auto) and the use of the 9x25 Mauser round in the 1930s Solothurn S1-100 and Hungarian Kiraly 39M and 43M SMGs (which saw some service), did not catch on. There is a limit to the degree to which the performance of such weapons can be increased as their large-calibre, relatively light and round-nosed bullets lose velocity quickly. Also, the basic API blowback system used by most SMGs is not suited to high-powered ammunition, although the Kiraly and Thompson M1923 had more sophisticated mechanisms.

A selection of WWII and Post-WWII Assault Rifle Cartridges

( Assault Rifles are defined as "military rifle, capable of controlled, fully-automatic fire from the shoulder, with an effective range of at least 300 metres" )

The 1887 “T-Series” shotgun by Chiappa Firearms is a replication of the shotgun that has been immortalized in Sci-Fi thrillers and Video games. The “T-Series” is based on the Chiappa 1887 Lever action shotgun that is already known for speed and reliability in Cowboy Action competition, and a traditional favorite in the field, only now it is ready for a new era. The T-Series features all of the characteristics of the standard model, except with an 18.5” Barrel, matte black finish, and wood forearm and pistol grip that has a durable “Soft Touch” black rubber coating.

[ Many thanks to Jacob & Paolo for emailing us the link. ]

[ Many thanks to H.L. for emailing us the link. ]

There is a review of the bull barrel target model at XDTalk Forums.

The DPMS .22 Bolt

From Boing Boing ...

The "Bang Bang Handle" is a door-handle made from a 9 mm Makarov semi-automatic pistol ("the personal weapon of the Soviet and post-Soviet armed forces and law enforcement"). It was designed by Nikita Kovalev, who included a lot of detail about the Marakov in his documentation. Available in many colorful metallic platings.

It reminds me of Ron Swanson's shotgun (it points at visitors to his office). This handle violates just about every gun safety rule and I would be very annoyed if I was shown into an office with door handles like that.

Ron Swanson's double barrel shotgun

[ Many thanks to Sven (Defence and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]

This is the part 1 of multipart preview on interesting optics that I saw at SHOT Show 2012. Noted that the featuring optic is a prototype and the final product could be different. My through the lens images should only be use for checking out the reticle and perhaps the field of view.

At the 2012 SHOT Show, Hi-Lux Optic presented the upgraded CMR4 version of their popular CMR 1-4x24 scope. While the current CMR (Close-Medium Range) model is more of a multipurpose 1-4x scope, the new CMR4 is designed for the tactical role. It had addressed some of the concerns that I had found on my review of the Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR.

The new Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR4 features the following improvements over the CMR:

1) Improved Reticle

The CMR4’s reticle is still based on the one found on the CMR. The main difference is that it has a ticker outer open-circle for faster target acquisition. The inner open-circle is now thinner and smaller for assisting precision shooting. Both the vertical and horizontal stadia lines are now extended all the way to the edges. I personally still prefer the half-length stadia lines of the original CMR. There are two BDC marks for 500m and 800m ranges.

2) Capped Turrets

The adjustment turrets on the CMR4 are slightly smaller than those found on the CMR but it still retained the patented Zero-Lock return to zero system. While simple stamped caps were used on the prototype at SHOT, the production version of the CMR4 will be using machined billet aluminum caps.

3) Mils/Mils adjustment

The CMR4’s turret adjustment will be in Mils instead of the ½ MOA adjustment as on the CMR. The original CMR’s reticle is already using Mil hashmarks on the horizontal stadia lines and the new CMR4 reticle added that on the vertical stadia line as well. A Mil or milliradian is equal to 3.438 MOA. Each click on CMR’s turrets represents 0.1 Mil.

4) New illumination system

While it’s still not daylight visible, the new illumination system is now includes 3 levels of night-vision settings and has up to 400-500 hours battery life at max brightness with a good quality (not the cheap 25 cents ones from the auction site) CR2032 lithium battery. The CMR4’s illumination for both red and green colors seems to be brighter than that on the CMR. The CMR4’s reticle illumination lights up both of the open-circles, the center dot and a short top section of the vertical stadia line. As with the CMR, there will be separate CMR4 models for each of the color illuminations.

The illumination control had also been upgraded with a machined control ring that has serrations with a small bump for both improving finger grip and for easier operation when wearing a glove. Turning the control ring to the left will turn on the maximum reticle illumination brightness and goes down from there. Turning the control ring to the right will go into the night-vision settings then cycles the reticle illumination from low to high. When the small bump is facing the user, the illumination is in the off position.

5) Shorter length Tube

The CMR4 prototype is roughly half inch shorter than the CMR. Which make it about 9.5 inches long. Hi-Lux’s Alex Sergeev shown me that the CMR4 prototypes are using a custom-made 3-piece tube but he informed me that the production version would use a lighter 1-piece tube design. It’s unknown how much weight saving the shorter tube can offer at this time.

During my SHOT Show meeting with Hi-Lux’s president, John Wu, he said the new CMR4 would not be replacing the CMR. Instead, it will be marketed as a higher end model with a MSRP of $450. The street price should be a little less than that. The CMR4 will be available by the summer 2012. John also found it interesting that a number of engineers from other American optic makers had spent considerable amount of time at his booth to checking out mainly both CMR models. I told John that those guys are probably wanted to figure out how to build a 1-4x scope that could compete with his CMRs without costing 2-3 times the price.

John Wu also said that Hi-Lux is working on a DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle) scope to complement the CMR series. Here a little preview of the Hi-Lux DMR scope: it will have a 5-fold magnification with a wide field of view. Many of the new features found on the CMR4 will be also use on the DMR scope. Alex Sergeev, who designed the reticles for both the CMR models, is working on a new reticle for the DMR.

I’ve always been fond of large caliber revolvers. So when Steve suggested I review the Taurus Raging Bull in .454 Casull I was all for it. Now this is not your usual .454 but a snub nose with a 2 ¼ inch barrel!

Granted this is not a daily carry revolver by any means but this type does have it’s place. The primary use for a revolver such as this is protection from predatory animals in Alaska as well as parts of the lower 48 states.

Many hunters carry a large caliber handgun as backup to the primary rifle. Of course there are campers and fisherman in areas with large bear populations that have revolvers such as this for protection. Certainly the uses for a very large revolver are limited but this gun will take care of most any predators that cross your path.

Ballistics chart for the .454 Casull— Link

Anyone who chooses to carry a revolver in this caliber may not want to shoot it enough to be proficient with it, which is a big mistake. It won’t do the shooter any good to carry a potent revolver if you don’t hit your target.Practice is mandatory regardless of the recoil if you intend to seriously use this revolver for protection. One alternative is practice some with full house rounds with most practice using 45 Colt ammunition. Any 45 Colt ammunition will work fine in this revolver.

Speaking of hitting your target I put together a video for those who have requested this addition to some of our reviews. I hope you enjoy it.

Just to add some narrative for the video after I shot the first round I thought I might find the spent round in one of the bottles. That was not to be. As I mentioned in the video the bullet must have yawed left or right after exploding that last bottle. As you can see it had plenty of energy left when it hit the last bottle. Now you may say the Taurus didn’t seem to recoil that much but then again I’ve never been recoil sensitive having shot so many large caliber revolvers. Believe me it did push back hard with that 2 1/4 inch barrel even if it is ported.
The rounds I fired were Magtech 260 grain jacketed flat nose. The stats of this round are 1800 FPS with 1800 foot pounds of energy! Now that’s impressive. One other note is the lack of a big boom on the audio.These cameras just don’t convey the deep and very loud report.

Something happened right after I left the range. I stopped in our local meat market to pickup a few things.The market is about 1/4 mile away from the range. When I walked in the owner said “Phil what kind of big ol rifle were you shooting!” Of course I grinned and told him it was a snub nose revolver. Of course he looked at me with the I don’t believe you look. I said well come out to the car. I showed him the Taurus Raging Bull to which his response was you have to be kidding! Nope, wanna shoot it? No way after the racket that thing made! I got a real kick out of it and I hope you can appreciate the circumstances as well.

Stats

Model: 454SS2M
Caliber: .454 CASULL
Capacity: 5
Barrel Length: 2-1/4″
Frame: Large
Finish: Matte Stainless Steel
Weight: 48 oz
Front Sight: Fixed/interchangeable fiber optic tubes
Rear Sight: Fixed
Safety: Transfer Bar
MSRP: $974.00

This Taurus is built like a tank! Overall it’s larger than say a S&W model 29. The cylinder holds five rounds of either .454 or .45 Colt depending on the shooters intended use of the revolver. It has two cylinder locking devices to strengthen the revolvers lockup under the 60,000 psi pressure of the .454 Casull.

The Raging Bull has the usual rear lockup as well as the front latch pictured above. Besides the standard cylinder star pin there are two small pins under the star to add greater stability for the cylinder star itself. Lockup is very snug with no play in the cylinder. The action is of the transfer bar type with a coil spring inside the grip.The only downside I can see is the front latch appears to be a MIM part. This is not a piece I would want in anything other than stainless steel.

Using both thumbs at once it’s very easy to release both latches for reloading. The rear sight is a large deep notch that provides plenty of width to view the front fiber optic sight and make adjustments to the sight picture. As mentioned earlier it also has three ports on either side of the front sight.These ports are effective in reducing recoil.

Range Time

I didn’t take the usual several hundred rounds of ammunition I normally would for a gun review, which I’m sure you can all understand. I’m not recoil sensitive but I’m not a glutton for punishment either!

My ammunition for this session included 20 rounds of Magtech .454 Casull 260 grain flat nose jacketed bullets. I also had 20 rounds of Federal 225 grain lead semi-wadcutter hollowpoints. These are identical to the old FBI load of the late 1980’s in 38 special. I also took along some handloads using a 250 grain lead semi-wadcutter. All together I fired 60 rounds during this session.

With the exception of the rounds fired in the video from 7 yards all shooting was done from 10 and 15 yards. Having shot the S&W 500 making a comparison between these two rounds I have to say the recoil is sharper with the .454. The .500 tends to have a big push instead. In other words the .454 has more felt recoil for me than the .500 does. With the Raging Bull if you have a decent grip and don’t lock your elbows the recoil is not terribly punishing. One design feature that helps is the red material in the rear of the grip which is much softer than the rest of the grip providing a cushion which is very helpful when shooting full house loads.

The groups I fired varied depending on the ammunition used. When firing the .454 Casull rounds the groups at 15 yards were right at 4 inches. Firing the milder Federal 45 Colt loads the groups shrank to an average of two inches. My handloads gave the best group at just under 2 inches at 15 yards. All rounds were fired single action with the exception of those in the last part of the video.

Conclusion

The day following my range session I thought my hand would be sore but it really wasn’t. I think this was a result of using a grip which allowed some recoil to push back into my arms rather than holding a deathgrip with locked elbows and wrist. The grip material helped as well. I believe this is also the reason you see videos of people shooting the .454 Casull and the gun seems to climb 4 or more inches. Relax a bit; it will save you from being miserable shooting this combination of .454 in a snub nose revolver such as this.

I found the double action trigger pull to be a bit heavy while the single action was very good with a crisp release. The hammer has the usual lock at the rear if you choose to use it.

The sportsmen who travel in areas where large predatory animals are fairly numerous will have to decide for themselves which gun would suit them best. This revolver will always be on your hip and very fast to get into action whereas a carbine, while fairly fast, will require the owner to reach for it and take up valuable time.

I have to say I would feel comfortable carrying this revolver for protection from four legged or two legged predators whether in the hunting woods, camping or along a stream while fishing.

One last note on a good holster for this and other guns used in the field for hunting, fishing etc. It has an open top but having been fitted for each gun it holds the weapon snuggly in place. I’ve been using it for over a year now when hunting or general range use. Check this link to view this holster from Erik Little who owns Combat Gunleather.

Apparently two senior Freedom Goup employees left the company last year and went to work at Par USA. One of them, Bill Hazard, was formally with Cerberus and was used as a "fixer" in many FGI locations (including the Bushmaster, Remington and Remington ammunition). Brett Mazzei, a former Bushmaster finance guru turned Remington/FGI financial guru, also left for Para USA around the same time.

Coincidence or a planned infiltration of Para USA before acquisition? I have been told that neither knew about the Para USA acquisition deal before they left FGI.

Ria reports ...

The contracts were signed at the Shot Show exhibition in Las Vegas on January 17-20. “The first Saiga-12 deliveries to U.S. law enforcement were already made in January 2012,” Izhmash General Director Maxim Kuzyuk said.

At the exhibition, Izhmash also signed an agreement on exclusive imports to the U.S. market with Russian Weapon Company and an agreement with Fime Group as Izhmash’s partner for manufacturing classic firearm models.

Shot Show also provided an opportunity for buyers from Central American countries to sign contracts on direct delivery of Izhmash sporting and hunting weapons for the first time. Previously they had only been able to buy Izhmash products via intermediaries in the U.S. "The results of the exhibition are inspiring. The American market in non-military weapons is booming. We project a 20 percent increase in deliveries this year," Kuzyuk said.

A few months ago I wrote an article entitled Could US Consumers save the Russian Firearms Industry?. The answer is "yes".

[ Many thanks to REMOV for emailing us the link. ]

FAMAS rifles surrendered by rebels.

A reader emailed me with a couple of theories of how they might have acquired these rifles ...

There are two possibilities. PNG forces use the M16A2 and FN FAL, so they probably got the FAMAS rifles from Vanuatu a relatively nearby french colony, who got 350 of them in 1994. In 2006 they did peacekeeping missions together and in the 1980's PNG forces fought against rebels there. So that must of been their illegal weapons connection and source. The FAMAS F1 rifles few in number and not very reliable, could have been put in storage and improperly secured. (Vanuatu military forces 3000 in number would have chosen to continue using their SLR/FN FALs donated to them by Australia.

Another possibility is they got them from the Indonesian special forces, who according to wiki, have bought the FAMAS before but aren't known to use them. There was suspicion that the coup had Indonesian support not only due to Indonesia having a history of interfering with PNG, but also because the retired colonel who led the coup had just come back from a 6 month embed with the Indonesian military.

Tam writes ...

Because if the dead rise and walk the earth in search of human brains, there's nothing better with which to put them back into the hereafter than a rifle with the Keys of St. Peter stamped right into the receiver, no matter what Hornady may state to the contrary. Too bad the 12.7x45R cartridge is a handloader-only proposition these days; maybe we can get them to do a run of Z-Max, just in case.