Home Defense

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.

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.

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.

Charter Arms has introduced a left-hand version of their popular Pink Lady revolver in .38 Special +P caliber.

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Smith & Wesson have partnered to create a commemorative revolver designed to recognize the historical significance of the District of Columbia vs. Heller decision and to acknowledge the six original plaintiffs that united to challenge the gun ban in Washington, D.C.

Ruger is now retrofitting SR9 pistols and will continue to send shipping boxes to customers on a weekly basis, the company says.

The Nevada American Civil Liberties Union has declared its support for an individual's right to bear arms, apparently making it the first state affiliate in the nation to buck the national organization's position on the Second Amendment.

Mossberg’s 930 Home Security model autoloading shotgun has a new cousin: the SPX, distinguished by its 18.5 inch cylinder-bore barrel, 7-round capacity extended magazine tube (plus one in the chamber) and LPA ghost ring rear sight and winged fiber optic sight.

Smith & Wesson Corp. has introduced the M&P15R, an addition to the company’s M&P tactical rifle series. The new AR-15 style rifle is capable of firing 5.45 x 39mm ammunition and is available as a high-quality semi-automatic rifle or as a complete upper-receiver assembly kit.

The Model 457 is one of the oldest remaining products in the Smith & Wesson catalog. Also available with a matte stainless finish (model number 457S), this design is closely related to the "Second Generation" pistols that were popular with law enforcement when semi-automatics first replaced the revolver. What we liked best about the 457 was the way it lined up in our hands.

The distance between the face of the trigger and the rear of the grip was just right, even when the trigger was in its rearward position for single-action fire. The plastic grip looked and felt like it was part of the aluminum frame. The seven round magazines included a basepad with a pinky rest, so even those shooters with the largest hands were satisfied.

The Ruger Redhawk is now available in 45 Colt caliber. From the black powder loads of the early days of the American West to the lightest-loaded Cowboy Action Shooting loads and powerful hunting cartridges of today, the 45 Colt has been a favorite of American shooters for 125 years.

Ruger has partnered with Federal Premium to introduce the 327 Federal Magnum SP101 Revolver, a new personal-defense revolver cartridge designed to deliver 357 Magnum ballistics out of a 32-caliber diameter platform—and with 20-percent less recoil.