Pistols

The iconic K9 has been around since 1995, but it seems to have gotten lost among the polymer-frame pistols made by Kahr.

We started the test at the beginning of the design. This Luger is a post-WWII model manufactured by Mauser and imported by Interarms in the 1970s.

Our September 2021 issue featured two double-action 44 Magnum revolvers that we thought were extremely well suited for personal defense. We tested an older...

Along with the Beretta 84 Cheetah, the CZ 83 was among the first high-capacity 380 Auto pistols. We find the workmanship on the used CZ pistol to be good, despite wear and cosmetic problems. The pistol is all steel.

We have seen these pistols on sale for $385, others at $479. Like the Beretta 84 it’s based on, the pistol uses an open-top slide, a double-action trigger operated by an external drawbar, and a high-capacity 13-round magazine.

The Bersa Thunder Plus offers no surprises. This pistol is the Bersa Thunder with a high-capacity magazine.

Toward the end of each year, I survey the work R.K. Campbell, Roger Eckstine, 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.

The Ruger LCR hit the market around 2010, and we were some of the early adopters. In the LCR, Ruger introduced a number of innovations we’d never seen on a wheelgun.

Smith & Wesson didn’t start using model numbers until 1957. Now, anything beginning with a 4 (and sometimes 5) is blued steel. Our 1978-vintage 38 Special is a Model 60, denoting that it is made of stainless steel.

The SIG P365, both the standard 3.1-inch and its 3.7-inch XL Model big brother, have graced the pages of Gun Tests several times in the past (see the January, February, and March 2020 editions). They performed well for us receiving, at worst, a B grade.

Introduced in 1989 and redesigned more than a decade later, the SP101 was brought to market as a replacement for the Security Six. While this is still considered a small-frame five-shot revolver, it is considerably larger and heavier than the LCR.

Smith & Wesson’s new bullpup-style pump-action shotgun is called the M&P12 and is designed for home protection.