Revolvers

Like Grant said in last month's letters section, I, too, lament the passing of the pride of custom-gun ownership and the common look of the Ubiquitous Black Gun. But, as was said, black guns are cheap and proven reliable. Also, I cannot justify carrying a nice custom pistol on the off chance that I might have to use it. In that case, I would have to surrender it to the police, and then it would be months at a minimum to maybe get it back by jumping through their hoops.

Yes, I would rather carry a "Rolex"-quality sidearm, but I often think that if I had to give up my Valtro, I'd don't know what I'd do.

A black gun I can give up with no emotion, and go home and get another one. I always enjoy the magazine, from the editorial remarks to the last page. — Dave

In last month's Firing Line, reader Winslow asks for advice on a 357 magnum lightweight snubnose revolver for a 75-year-old female cousin. I would appreciate a little help. I'm wondering why these two diametrically opposed 308s were chosen to oppose one another. While I am not in one of the affected states, I am from Vermont, and we do not require a permit for CC, and no state recognizes our not needing a permit! Whatever happened to the personal pride everyone took in their ownership of not only a working tool, but also a masterpiece of design and artwork?

I have read recent Gun Tests articles on various AR rifles, so I recently built an AR with a folding stock. I was attracted to this option because I drive a sports car, and even with a collapsible stock and 16-inch barrel, an AR will not fit in the trunk. The folding stock adapter I chose was one made by Law Tactical (LawTactical.com). It was easy to install, works fine to fold the stock, and adds just a little bit of fiddling when I have to separate the upper and lower. But it is very expensive and adds no additional operating functionality to the firearm, since it should never be fired with the stock folded. Anyway, I have not seen many options for folding stocks on an AR platform, and thought that a review of adapters for them might be in order.

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. has announced a new line of full-size duty pistols, new chamberings for its GP100 revolvers, new barrels for its 10/22 Takedowns, and new colors for its Lite rimfire pistols. Also, the company has added a Takedown rifle to its SR-556 line. The Ruger American Pistol will be available in 9mm Luger and .45 Auto. The two 9mms are Model Nos. 8605 (17+1) and 8607 (10+1) and the 45 is Model No. 8615, and all will list for $579 MSRP.

The Ruger American Pistol is built on a one-piece precision-machined stainless-steel chassis with integral frame rails and fire control housing. It has a black nitrided finish, Novak LoMount Carry three-dot sights, a stainless steel slide with non-reflective black-nitride finish, and a one-piece glass-filled nylon grip frame. The front accepts accessories on a mil-standard 1913 rail.

"The Ruger American Pistol is the most advanced semi-auto pistol we have ever produced," noted Ruger CEO Mike Fifer.

The 9mm weighs in at 30 ounces with a 4.2-inch barrel and the .45 weighs in at 31.5 ounces with a 4.5-inch barrel. Both ship in a hard case with replaceable grip modules and two, nickel-Teflon plated steel magazines. Capacities are 17 rounds for 9mm and 10 rounds for .45 Auto. 10-round magazines are also available for the 9mm for those states which restrict round counts.

CEO Fifer said that Ruger polled law enforcement and military trainers throughout the country to determine the form, function, and features of this firearm. The new pistol combines a recoil-reducing barrel cam to spread recoil over time, a low-mass slide, low center of gravity and a low bore axis to provide better balance, less felt recoil and less muzzle flip.

I'm a long-time customer and would like to get three or more comparisons of 357 Magnum lightweight snub-nose revolvers. The index shows the captioned rifle being reviewed in November. When I go online for past reviews, I only find a 2007 review, and it was not from November, as stated in magazine. The Blackhawk GripBreak 421903BK holster seems like just the ticket for this coming year for those of us who are predisposed to reject Kydex and plastic holsters for reasons of them being ugly and inelegant. Problem is, no one has the GripBreaks. Check your Schmidt-Rubin for a possible Christmas present. Remove the buttplate and see if there is anything under it. Many original owners wrote a personal note or ID and hid it under the plate. - Winslow

In a startling move, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced on December 22 that Virginia will sever concealed handgun permit (CHP) reciprocity ties with 25 of 30 states. This will affect hundreds, maybe thousands, of Gun Tests readers who reside in Tennessee and other states bordering the Commonwealth, and perhaps millions of people nationwide.

Effective Feb. 1, 2016, — about the time this issue arrives in your mailbox —Virginia will no longer honor carry permits from the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The following permits will continue to be recognized: West Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. The move also means several states will no longer recognize Virginia's concealed-carry permits because they require mutual recognition of permits. Those include Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wyoming.

Speaking about this audit and update, Attorney General Herring said, "Virginia, and nearly every other state in the country, have recognized that carrying a concealed handgun is a significant responsibility that should be extended only to those who have gone through a process to prove a level of competency and responsibility."

"The standards for proving competency and responsibility are up to each state," Herring said, "and the General Assembly has established Virginia's standards for whom it considers capable of safely carrying a concealed handgun. Those standards should be applied evenly, consistently, and fairly to anyone who wants to lawfully conceal a handgun in Virginia."

Toward the end of each year, I survey the work R.K. Campbell, Roger Eckstine, Austin Miller, Ray Ordorica, Robert Sadowski, David Tannahill, Tracey Taylor, John Taylor, Rafael Urista, Ralph Winingham, and Kevin Winkle 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 them in this wrap-up.— Todd Woodard

California has argued that a provision of California Penal Code section 26820 enacted in 1923 prevents the displaying of any "handgun or imitation handgun, or placard advertising the sale or transfer thereof" anywhere in or on their store that can be seen outside their store by passersby.

Sturm, Ruger & Company's new Ruger Redhawk revolver is chambered to shoot both .45 Auto and .45 Colt cartridges. Designated as Model Number 5032, the new gun's suggested retail is $1029.

In the December 2014 issue, Contributing Editor Roger Eckstine did an in-depth look at two guns designed to compete in the Stock Service Revolver division of IDPA.

Ruger GP100 Match Champion No. 1754 357 Magnum, $899
The Ruger GP100-series revolvers are different from the Smith & Wesson 686s, but both guns were introduced to provide more durability than previous models.

The Ruger GP100 replaced the Security Six revolver in about 1986 with innovations such as stronger lockup built into the cylinder crane rather than at the tip of the ejector rod. Another feature that adds strength to the GP100 design is the lack of side plates in the construction of the frame.

Cold bluing, or chemical bluing, is used to touch-up slightly worn or nicked blued finishes. It is suitable for covering up the holster wear on the muzzle of a revolver, or a spot on a slide where your sweat lifted the blue. It is not nearly as durable as a hot-dip blue finish. Some cold-blue formulas contain sulfides, and a handgun that has been touched-up too much can have a very alight, but noticeable, smell of rotten eggs. Sniffing a used firearm, to see if there has been any use of cold blue to hide wear, is an old trick in the gun business.

When putting an S & W revolver back together, a few steps seem to cause more trouble than the rest. One is the insertion of the cylinder-locking bolt, and its spring, into the frame. The bolt has to go down its shaft, while the spring has to be squirmed back into the tunnel drilled into the front of the frame cutout. (I have no idea how they drill that hole.) With the frame resting on a padded surface, place the spring into its hole in the locking bolt. Start the bolt partway down the shaft until the spring bears against the edge of the frame. Use a small eyeglass screwdriver to compress the spring enough to clear the edge of the frame and push the bolt and spring down the shaft. When you get to the frame hole, the spring will snap into place. Be sure the bolt is completely down the shaft, and pivots smoothly up and down through the cutout under the cylinder.