#Handgun

SIG has a solid reputation when it comes to handguns and their P320 is yet another example of their ability to design and manufacture reliable, accurate handguns. The P320 is a polymer-framed pistol with a modular grip frame. It was designed with the help of experienced law enforcement officers and is being billed by SIG as the most “operator-safety focused striker duty pistol” currently on the market.

Oregon Trail Defense has come out with a “stippling” kit of sorts. Comprised of 5 screw on heads, these mount to a Wall Lenk 25 Watt Stippling gun, so if a gunsmith or a shooter is so inclined, they can stipple the polymer frame of a handgun, without having to use the current method of a small prick to stipple each individual dot on the frame. The main stippling tool is in the shape of a circle, with pyramid like texture to allow a multitude of individual holes to be created at once. The other screw on heads are of different shapes and sizes, to aid with the larger depressions that might need to be created as well. The entire kit sells for $39.95. This includes the Wall Lenk 25 Watt Stippling gun, and the five individual head pieces. If you want to just buy the head pieces for a heating gun that will take them, they are $17.95, while if you just want the one piece with the circular shape and pyramid shaped indentations, that’ll be $8.95 on its own. For those who still want just that individual prick, the kit also includes one of those, so you can still get in that really detailed work, or drag the piece across the frame to create lines instead of dots.

Whether you’re looking for a way to achieve a more positive grip while manipulating your slide, have a weaker grip due to arthritis, or you just want a visually catchy addition to your favorite pistol, you have to take a look at the Slide Spider. The Slide Spider is a patent-pending product designed by a company called ArachniGRIP. ArachniGRIP was founded in 2015 and is located in the town of Parker, Colorado. It was started by a pair of self-described “lifelong firearms enthusiasts.” The motivation behind the founding of the company was to help shooters at all stages utilize safer training methods. They hope the Slide Spider will not only help shooters train safely but allow them to train more comfortably and easily as well.

A Canadian fellow who tinkers in gunsmithing came out with a break open, 12 gauge handgun in this video. He incorporated a top rail to mount various optics, and a small forend to hold the monster handgun. The grip appears to be a rugged large frame rubber revolver grip, that must not make any difference in how much the thing must hurt to shoot! According to STG Tactical Canada, there aren’t any other such firearms registered in the handgun category, and so it appears to be the “Most powerful pistol in Canada”.

We are all at least passingly familiar with the Battle of the Bulge. A smaller part of that battle was the Siege of Bastogne which took place December 20th to December 27th, 1944. The ultimate goal of Nazi Germany in this particular battle was to reach a harbor in Antwerp, and the Germans hoped to fight through the Allied ranks before they could be reinforced. This was not a small battle by any means but included more than 54,000 Germans laying siege to the small village of Bastogne where approximately 22,800 Allied soldiers were attempting to stand their ground. (It is well worth noting that Bastogne was and is a small village; today their population lingers around 15,000 residents.)

Slovakia is overhauling its pistol inventory in the biggest arms deal in the nation’s history. Almost 50,000 handguns are to be delivered to the armed forces, police, and other government departments, in a deal worth $25 million USD. Four new models of pistol are to be delivered, including the Glock 17 Gen 4, CZ 2075D RAMI P, CZ-07 Compact, and full-size CZ-09 handguns. The different models of handguns were adopted to meet the requirements of the different agencies in Slovakia. Jane’s reports:

A Walther press release was leaked last night a new model of subcompact handgun, designated PPS M2. The gun is a restyling of the single-stack 9mm Walther PPS subcompact, with new ergonomics inspired by the successful Walther PPQ line of service handguns. The images, and accompanying press release, are replicated below:

Off the bat, I would call this the F-350 of handguns. Its a ridiculous amount of handgun for most everyday users and one would typically not drive one into the city. Its just unwieldy. But, there is a reason F350s are made as there are users who know what they need to get a big job done. That may be heavy payloads, hauling long-distance, or simply hauling *ss.

Recently, TFB had the unique opportunity to spend some time with Jeremiah Cohn in Phoenix, Arizona. You know him through our reports on his companies pistol caliber Kalashnikovs and the upcoming Mosin Nagant Golf Ball Launcher. Jeremiah is certainly one of the more interesting and charismatic guys in the industry, coming from a background of growing up in Saudi Arabia and driving semi ton trucks for a living before breaking into firearms design. His company has come a long way from its humble beginnings as the FOB gunstore. Time will tell how large of an impact he will have on the industry, but this story is an extremely inspirational one, that I hope will ignite the powder charge of those who’s dream it is to build amazing firearms.

We’re all familiar with the 1911 and many of us love them. We’re familiar with their long histories – designed by John Browning, in service since 1911, produced by the millions, traditionally chambered in .45 ACP – and many of us are quite familiar with their use (In fact, I know a certain person here at TFB whose proficiency with a 1911 is nothing less than impressive – name starts with “P” ends with “L”). They’re great guns and there are many good reasons they’ve been a staple in the gun industry for so long. Now Republic Forge is making a special 1911 – a Limited Edition Ted Nugent 1911.

Things are looking up for Smith & Wesson this month, as the company has just passed their millionth mark in Shield production. Hard to believe, the pistol has been in production for five years already, and I think it is safe to say that it is still just as popular as ever. Despite one recall in 2013, but I think that is a good run for a platform that was semi new to the market (from its big brother, the M&P). I remember the first time I shot the full size M&P in around 2008, and was completely blown away by the ergonomics of it. When the Shield came out, I knew I had to get one, and it has been my favorite carry gun since. I’d like to see the production numbers of the Glock 43, and XDs in comparison. In addition to the company posting a 93 percent increase in sales from January of this year. I think Colt should really take a page from Smith & Wesson’s book, in that they are similarly very historic companies, but Smith & Wesson has grown into the current times and adapted to market, instead of simply relying on the same product line and the fact that everything they make is mil spec to begin with. Granted, it took them a while, with some growing pains in their polymer pistol line, but the dedication to producing a better polymer pistol has worked out for them.

3D printed firearms have faced much stigma since designers and engineers have began dabbling with different design concepts, and halfway 3D firearms in the case of 3D printed AR15 lowers. However from various conversations with law enforcement, it seems that the general professional consensus is that they are not up to the standard that they would have to be, in order to be a threat to Law Enforcement, and a benefit to criminals worldwide (criminals already have a long history of improvised firearms). Most of the 3D printed firearms out there cannot last a significant number of rounds, and are certainly not semiautomatic by themselves (users must add parts that cannot be 3D printed). In addition, they all need various pieces of metal or other material to effectively function.

The Daily Mail has an excellent group of photographs concerning an elite Scotland Yard unit that was set up before the Paris attacks, but has increased its tempo of training to counter such attacks as in Paris. Britain has this thing known as SFOs, or Specialist Firearms Officer, and these guys have “CT-SFO” on their vests, which means “Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officer”. Essentially SFOs are the only members of British Law Enforcement that can carry firearms on the job.

An officer with the Bensalem Township Police Department in North Carolina was possibly saved by the Streamlight TRL-1 mounted on his Glock stopping a .38 caliber round from a criminal’s revolver. Apparently two officers were searching a house, opened a small closest and the criminal pointed his revolver up at the officer and discharged a few rounds, one of them striking the lens of the TLR-1 and thus destroying it. For the angle shown, the officer must have had his Glock pointed directly at the criminal. The officers immediately retreated from the house, called for back up and a SWAT team entered the house and took everyone inside into custody, with one of the criminals committing suicide instead.

Earlier on TFB we reported about Oregon Trail Defense’s ALS “Nub” Mod for the Safariland line of Level 3 retention holsters. Essentially it is an aluminum part that is installed on the actuating lever that allows release of the handgun from the holster in a much faster and reliable way than the original small piece. Now Oregon Trail Defense seems to be successful with their initial product, enough so to release a new one for the SLS holsters, with the retaining hood that covers the rear portion of the slide of the handgun. It has “backwards compatibility” so this version can be installed on ALS holsters, but I don’t think ALS Nubs can be installed on SLS holsters because of the space limitations with the hood that would prevent it from fully closing. The parts are still aluminum, with a polymer part that should be coming out in the near future. It is currently retailing for $33.50 and has already been released to the public, ready for ordering. From what I’ve seen so far, this small operation has already come out with several product announcements and doesn’t seem to be slowing down, excellent work for a company that must be only a couple of people in operation, I hope they continue down this path. And the owner is a prior Marine so I’m somewhat biased…