• Taking a Look at the FNP9 Pistol

    FN, short for Fabrique Nationale, is and has been a producer of fine firearms for decades. Located in Belgium, it is well known among shooting enthusiast, but not so familiar to all that purchase firearms. Examples include firearms with the Browning name such as their older line of bolt-action rifles, automatic shotguns, and the Browning Hi Power pistol. Though…

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  • Handgun Review: Ruger P345 and Taurus PT1911

    By Aaron Brudenell It’s not lost on me the timeliness of conducting this review shortly after the passing of Col. Jeff Cooper. For most of my time and interest spent on firearms, the .45 ACP was never a front burner priority for me. Only recently have I rediscovered the enjoyment of shooting the cartridge and…

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  • Personal Choices in .45 ACP Defense Ammunition

    We have all heard comments like, “They all fall to hardball” or “Hit a man in the little finger with a 45 and he’ll go down.” Most of us know that such claims are false but that emphatically does not mean that the .45 ACP is anything less than a very fine defense round…with the right loads.…

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  • Semiautomatic Pistols: Which is best, Single-Action or DA/SA?

    Folks frequently ask if the single-action automatic is “better” than the conventional double/single-action pistols which fire the first shot DA with all subsequent shots being single-action. This work will not cover the DAO automatic pistols. The reason is simple. I have no long-term, hands on experience with the DAO. In my observation and experiences as both…

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  • 9mm vs. 45!

    I shudder to think how many times this topic has been discussed not only on the Internet, but also in gun shops and printed text. No doubt that many trees have been felled to provide the paper for the latter and the question persists. We do see the same sorts of discussions on the 9mm…

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  • Springfield Armory Mil-Spec “Progress Report”

    Since I wrote “A Critical Look at the Springfield Armory Mil-Spec” in January 2005, many more rounds have flown downrange and I thought that it might be of interest on how the pistol has held up and any problems. (That article is in this section of the site for those interested.) The pistol worked fine…

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  • Comparing the STI Trojan and Legacy Pistols

    STI is a manufacturer of 1911 pattern pistols based in Georgetown, Texas. Their pistols include both single and double stack guns and they’re seen frequently on competition circuits and are sold all over the world. This article will focus on two of their 45-caliber single stacks. One is their workhorse version called the Trojan while…

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