Handguns

The compensated 9mm seems more popular than ever, with Smith & Wesson, Springfield, and SIG offering pistols with compensators on the end of the barrel, mounted integrally in the slide, or as a simple cut out in the barrel. Most of us don’t consider the 9mm to be a hard kicker. Just the same, the addition of a compensator seems to be an important trend. Another movement finding favor is manufacturing a handgun with an aluminum frame as an alternative to the usual polymer-frame 9mm. The additional weight results in less recoil. In either case, the difference in speed shooting is noticeable because recoil is less.

The compensated 9mm seems more popular than ever, with Smith & Wesson, Springfield, and SIG offering pistols with compensators on the end of the barrel, mounted integrally in the slide, or as a simple cut out in the barrel. Most of us don’t consider the 9mm to be a hard kicker. Just the same, the addition of a compensator seems to be an important trend. Another movement finding favor is manufacturing a handgun with an aluminum frame as an alternative to the usual polymer-frame 9mm. The additional weight results in less recoil. In either case, the difference in speed shooting is noticeable because recoil is less.

Toward the end of each year, I survey the work R.K. Campbell, Robert Sadowski, Tracey Taylor, and Joe Woolley have done in Gun Tests, with an eye toward selecting guns, accessories, and ammunition the magazine’s testers have endorsed. From these evaluations I pick the best from a full year’s worth of tests and distill recommendations for readers, who often use them as shopping guides. These choices are a mixture of our original tests and other information I’ve compiled during the year. After we roll high-rated test products into long-term testing, I keep tabs on how those guns do, and if the firearms and accessories continue performing well, then I have confidence including these firearms in this wrap-up. 

A wide selection of 1911 handguns with a rail for mounting combat lights are considered thoroughly modern and useful by many shooters. Those who would like to own a gun with a rail often find a mix of rail types and very expensive handguns. In this test we shoot two affordable handguns with rails and find things we like about both. In common with many other inexpensive 1911 handguns, each could benefit from judicious upgrading, but whether that’s worth it is up to you. Here’s what we found when we fired a Global Defense Thunderbolt, $740, side by side with a Tisas Raider, $630.

Back in March 2023, we reviewed the Hellcat Pro and gave it a solid A grade and a Best Buy rating. In this match up, we pit two Hellcat Pro pistols against each other. They are virtually the same except the recently introduced Hellcat Pro Comp OSP has a ported barrel, while the Hellcat Pro OSP has a standard barrel. We also changed it up by reviewing two Hellcats equipped with either a Shield RMSc or SMSc red dot. That refers to the OSP (Optical Sight Pistol) acronym in the model names. The Hellcat Pro Comp is about $70 more than the standard Hellcat Pro.

Back in March 2023, we reviewed the Hellcat Pro and gave it a solid A grade and a Best Buy rating. In this match up, we pit two Hellcat Pro pistols against each other. They are virtually the same except the recently introduced Hellcat Pro Comp OSP has a ported barrel, while the Hellcat Pro OSP has a standard barrel. We also changed it up by reviewing two Hellcats equipped with either a Shield RMSc or SMSc red dot. That refers to the OSP (Optical Sight Pistol) acronym in the model names. The Hellcat Pro Comp is about $70 more than the standard Hellcat Pro.