Handguns

BEIJING, China (August 15, 2008) — U.S. shooter Jason Turner was awarded a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event after Kim Jong Su from North Korea was disqualified for a positive drug test.

FORT SMITH, AR — Umarex USA has broken ground on a new 100,000+ square foot facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Umarex USA is part of Umarex Corporate Group, a diversified German-owned holding company whose holdings include Walther GmBH. Umarex plans to include a 35,000-square-foot manufacturing operation for its newly created U.S. entity, Walther Industries, Inc. in the new building.

The M&P45s feature a 4.6-inch barrel with an overall length of 8.0 inches. The M&P45 comes standard with three interchangeable grips, a steel dovetail mount front sight and a steel Novak Lo-Mount carry rear sight. Tritium sights are also available. A universal Picatinny-style equipment rail has been incorporated for tactical lights and lasers. Our polymer pistol had an empty weight of 25.1 ounces.The new frame-mounted ambidextrous thumb safety acts as a passive safety device, allowing the slide to be pulled toward the rear, clearing the firearm without disengaging the safety. Another feature is the lanyard attachment. All M&P45 pistols feature a Zytel polymer frame reinforced with a stainless-steel chassis and a hardened black Melonite-finished stainless-steel barrel and slide and a Dark Earth Brown grip. This is a silly name for a color—Sand would have been fine—but we overlooked it.

Smith & Wesson’s M&P45s continue to win new converts. A test of the gun in the January 2008 issue of Gun Tests rated it as an “A-“ pick. A search of Gunbroker.com found a handful of the guns with current bid prices below the $619 MSRP cited in the GT article.

Gun owners in Baltimore whose firearms are stolen would be required to report the theft to police under legislation approved by the City Council yesterday—despite questions about whether the proposal is legal.

BEIJING, China (August 8, 2008) – The shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China will kick off Saturday at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall/Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field (CTF) with the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Men’s Trap and Men’s 10m Air Pistol events.

Shooters who are looking to buy one of the better out-of-production guns should search Gunbroker.com for the Heckler & Koch P7 PSP 9mm. On Monday Aug. 4, there were 16 listings for the gun, with prices ranging from $0 on a brand-new auction (with reserve) to $1600 for a 'buy now' price on Auction # 106162335, due to expire today @ 10:23 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Smith & Wesson team shooter David Olhasso earned two division titles during the Smith & Wesson Steel Shoot Series Match held over the weekend at the Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, has signed on as a Gold Sponsor for the 2008 Smith & Wesson Limited, Production and Revolver USPSA Championships as well as the USPSA Open and Limited-10 National Championships.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. garnered a 2008 Academy of Excellence Award for its Ruger LCP pistol. The gun was named the Academy of Excellence Handgun of the Year for 2008 and Ruger was recognized as Manufacturer of the Year by Shooting Industry magazine.

Heckler & Koch began developing a new self-loading compact pistol around 1971 before bringing out the PSP (Polizei Selbstlade-Pistole, or Police Selfloading Pistol) for the West German Police in 1976. Production of the PSP started in 1979.Our test gun was a standard PSP, whose overall length was 6.5 inches with a 4.1-inch barrel and a sight radius of 5.9 inches. The gun measured 5.0 inches in overall height and weighed 30.4 ounces with an empty magazine, relatively heavy because of the low-profile steel slide and steel frame. Our test gun came in a black case with two magazines and bore brush.

Kay Miculek earned the High Lady award at the 2008 United States Shooting Association (USSA) Pro-Am match. Competing in the Amateur Division, Team Smith & Wesson member Miculek placed 37th overall against 152 competitors, earning the prestigious High Lady Award.