Firingline

Being a fan of Commander-Sized 1911s, I was pleased to see your review on the Remington R1 versus the Colt Commander. I'm wondering, however, why you didn't choose the R1 Carry Commander for the comparison, as that would have been more of an apples-to-apples comparison. The R1 Carry Commander has a number of features that rival those of the Colt, among them: ambi-safety, bobbed and skeletonized hammer, three-hole trigger, slimmer grips, and better sights, including a Trijicon night sight front. It also has a melded treatment all over. Comparing the basic R1 with a Colt 1991 Commander might have been a closer comparison, as well.

I was extremely pleased when my issue arrived and on the cover was the comparison of the three new striker offerings I had asked about. All three are quality, but I am extremely happy to have purchased your consensus winner, the VP9. I don't know if you had the options I did. The VP9 choices for me were the three-dot white sights with the photo-luminescent paint that can be charged with a decent high-power flashlight and gain a few minutes of pretty bright night sights, along with two magazines. My FFL put a $560 price on this one. The option I choose was the LE version that came with Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights and three HK magazines for $614. The prices do not reflect the $30 transfer fee mandated by the state of Delaware. So, throw in the background check and my tip to him, and it came out to just about $670 completed. On Meprolite's IDF holster site, the sights were $139, and the mag I have seen for as much as $50 to $70. I feel very good about this purchase.

Thanks for all the great reports this month. You featured my beloved 44 Special in glowing terms and tested a recent variant of my favorite 9mm subcompact, but the pice de rsistance was the timely follow-up on your June tests of the Just Right Carbine in 45 ACP. That first report arrived just a few weeks after I bought my JRC and prompted me to refill all my magazines with round-nose FMJ fodder. Your new report says all the things Id hoped to read in the first one, but there is one glaring omission, in my opinion. You tell of sending the JR back to the makers, but there is no mention of what they had to do to make it right. Personal circumstances keep me from getting in a rigorous range day with my JRC to see for myself, but even if I do have feeding problems, I dont know where to tell my gunsmith to start. Were there problems in the feed ramp, bolt, extractor, or elsewhere? Other than casing damage, what should I look for? Please keep up the good work and forgive my former belief that you were never again going to report on anything of real interest to me.

I very much enjoyed the article on the Luger versus the Broomhandle Mauser. My Dad had a Luger with both uppers, artillery and short barrel, which my brother has now. It was, and is, a great shooting weapon. Dad was in the 483rd Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force and remained in Europe with the occupation until the Japanese surrender. He had the chance to pick through a warehouse of weapons and recounted how the late Lugers would blow the toggle bolts when submachine-gun ammo was fired in them. He settled on a 1917 Crown, which would digest anything. I can recall that he picked up several thousand rounds of really hot German 9mm out of Canada in the 1960s, which we fired up. I recall firing some at a concrete block about 100 yards away, which was about 1-foot square, and hit it with regularity. The hold was 6 oclock with the artillery barrel, two-handed offhand hold. My recommendation for ammo is a bullet weight of 124 grains as hot as you can get it for pre-WWII Lugers, loaded with military ball-type bullets. The Luger never malfunctions with the German military ammo of the time, at least not the submachine-gun ammo. It would malfunction with American ammo that was not hot enough.

I couldn't help but notice you picked the cheaper Kahr to compare to two other near-$700 guns, which is a little more than the P380 typically costs. I haven't fired the CW380, but the P380's trigger is incredible: very smooth, and though long, its pull is consistent with no grit at all. Very nice trigger and it's capable of incredible accuracy for a gun that small, much more accurate than I can shoot! It is also very comfortable to shoot. I've previously owned a Kel-Tec P3AT, which you indicated you would buy over all of the four you compared. Hogwash! It hurts to shoot, and its trigger is absolutely terrible, both heavy and gritty. I would never shoot more than one magazine at a range session with it, but the Kahr I can shoot all day. Maybe the review would have been different with the P380. Thanks for the unbiased reviews, and keep up the good work.

Readers Scorza and Wisniewski think a review of costly aftermarket handgun sights is worth a few pages. We agree. Reader Phil wants more wheelgun reviews. Okay with us.

Readers Schick, Marcus, and Katz ask about the status of this evaluation. Reader Gerstner opines about the reliability of pistols versus revolvers. And what did Campbell mean by rail gun?

Reader Petty wonders how Rugers new concealable handgun will fare when pitted against a small Springfield 9mm. Were working on it. And reader pros and cons on the Phoenix HP22A.

Several readers have contacted us about the review of the Remington R51 pistol in the August issue, most of them criticizing our grading the pistol as an A. Because Remington began offering an exchange program for dissatisfied owners after our review was printed, we can no longer recommend that our readers buy the R51, and weve amended our online content to change the grade to an Incomplete. Even though our pistol didnt have the function problems many other R51s have shown, we have returned our test gun to Remington as part of the exchange program offered by the company (see adjacent text), and well do a follow-up review once the R51 has been exchanged. Remington told our dealer that the new guns wont be available until October.

Several readers have contacted us about the review of the Remington R51 pistol in the August issue, most of them criticizing our grading the pistol as an A. Because Remington began offering an exchange program for dissatisfied owners after our review was printed, we can no longer recommend that our readers buy the R51, and weve amended our online content to change the grade to an Incomplete. Even though our pistol didnt have the function problems many other R51s have shown, we have returned our test gun to Remington as part of the exchange program offered by the company (see adjacent text), and well do a follow-up review once the R51 has been exchanged. Remington told our dealer that the new guns wont be available until October.

Reader Wilkins beat us to the punch on this new pistol. Hes not pleased. Reader Urias would like to see a test of AR sights. Reader DeBoer experiences what could be a fatal malfunction.

Hey, guys! I did a search of your archives to find articles about Dan Wesson 1911s. Only one article, and its been so long that the gun is discontinued. DW is producing 1911s that are equal to the semi-custom guns. How about including some of them in your comparisons? I suggest you begin with the Valor - the flagship model. Youll love it.