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Richard A. Mann

The Quick Draw: Hip Shooting And The Value Of Sights

The author tests out fast draws, hip shooting and point shooting to demonstrate the value of using your defensive handgun’s sights.

Through Western lore and Hollywood, the quick draw has been promoted as the default approach to gunfighting. There’s no doubt being able to swiftly draw your handgun can be an asset if you have to shoot fast to save your life. But because your trigger finger sometimes decides to operate independently of your brain, and because humans have a propensity for doing stupid sh*t, attempting to draw and shoot a handgun as fast as absolutely possible can lead to a bullet hole in your ass cheek, thigh or foot. If you’re exercising appendix carry, a negligent early/discharge might best be described as a catastrophe.

So, this column comes with a warning: Trying to draw and fire a pistol as fast as possible can be dangerous.

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The quick draw, combined with hip shooting, is a very fast way to engage a threat. It’s also very difficult to get good hits when using this technique.

If you carry a concealed handgun, you should practice your draw stroke, and you should work toward making it smooth and speedy. Your goal is to get the handgun out of the holster and deliver an accurate shot on target—fast. There’s a lot of gibberish about fast draws, hip shooting, point shooting and the value of using sights, and I wanted to conduct a test to see how they actually compared to each other when I’m the one doing the shooting. Now keep in mind, I’m not Jerry Miculek, so my performance will not amaze or impress you.

Shooting With Sights

To start, I placed a silhouette target with a 2.5-inch kill zone at 5 yards. Using my PACT shot timer, on signal I drew the handgun, raised it up in front of my face, found the sights and pressed the trigger as fast as I could. My average time for the draw and a single shot was 1.27 seconds. I hit the silhouette 100 percent of the time, and my shots landed in the kill zone 40 percent of the time. The resulting 10-shot group measured 10.5 inches. Admittedly, I yanked the hell out of the trigger twice, and one shot got away from me a bit early.

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Testing yourself with a shot timer can tell you how fast you can get your hits when employing different shooting techniques. You might want to try it.

Point Shooting

I don’t need sights to hit a silhouette target at 5 yards, so I ran this drill again using a 5-inch kill zone to see how much faster I was when point shooting, and to see how much my accuracy would suffer. Instead of finding the sights, I just brought the pistol up in front of my face, shoved it toward the target and pressed the trigger—I probably yanked the trigger about half the time. I hit the target 10 out of 10 times, but only hit the kill zone once, and my average time was 1.11 seconds—12 percent faster than when using the sights. Interestingly, the size of the 10-shot group was only ½-inch larger than the group created by the 10 shots fired with sighted fire.

Hip Shooting

Then, I went Western. I wanted to see how much faster it would be to draw and shoot from the hip like the TV cowboys and gangsters do. By not having to raise the pistol to eye level, I should’ve been able to cut some time off the engagement, and I did. My average time was 0.92 second—17 percent faster than point shooting and 27 percent faster than when using the sights. But this time I used an 8-inch kill zone and never hit it. In fact, I only hit the silhouette 8 out of 10 times.

So, what did I learn? Well, at 5 yards, if all I care about is hitting a silhouette, I can do it just as well by point shooting as I can if I use the sights. I also learned that, if I’m going to try to do any hip shooting, I need to dedicate some time to practicing that art.

hip-shooting-results
These targets show the results—with times—for all 10 shots fired with the sights, by point shooting, and by hip shooting.

Sending Multiple Rounds

But all this shooting got me thinking what the difference might be if I was firing multiple shots. Handguns are notoriously poor at stopping a fight, which is why most defensive handgun firearms trainers teach you to engage a target with at least two rounds, or until it’s no longer a threat. Again, at 5 yards, I repeated the exercise … but this time I rapidly fired four shots instead of one using each technique.

My average time for four shots from the hip was 1.80 seconds, with a silhouette hit rate of 80 percent. My average time for point shooting four shots was 1.90 seconds, and for aimed fire it was 1.95 seconds, both with a hit rate of 100 percent. With multiple shots fired, hip shooting was only 5 percent faster than point shooting, and only 7 percent faster than shooting with the sights. I believe the reason for this is partly because, when point shooting and shooting with the sights, you have two hands to help you control recoil, and also partly because most of the shooting many of us do is either point or sighted fire.

Your skill may vary, but what this exercise mostly proves is the slight amount of time you gain by not using the sights or shooting from the hip demonstrably hinders your ability to place your shots accurately. You can believe whatever theory you want when it comes to stopping power, but the most accepted fact is that shot placement matters most—take enough time to aim your pistol and get a good hit.

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This mock-up target shows the results of the best attempts at the multi-shot drill with each shooting technique. It’s abundantly clear which method would be best for getting good hits.

Dictating Circumstances

Of course, there are times when point shooting or shooting from the hip might be a better option. If your assailant is nearly within arm’s reach, it’s probably not a good idea to fully extend your pistol, and hip shooting might be the best approach. Similarly, if your target is only about 3 yards distant, depending on your skill level, you might be able to reliably get good enough hits faster by point shooting. There’s only one way to discover any of this—you have to try it.

There’s no question that the quick-draw hip shot is faster, and maybe there were some Western gunslingers who employed it and even regularly practiced it. However, sights on handguns have been around as long as handguns have, and I doubt this was the case unless the action was at breath-smelling distance.

You simply shoot better when you use the sights, and it appears those who live by the gun have known that for a long time. When Bat Masterson ordered his pistols from Colt, he gave them very specific directions about the sights. He wouldn’t have done that if he was not planning on using them.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handgun Skills:

How To Master Double Taps

Mastering double taps through a proper understanding of hammers and controlled pairs.

It’s thought that the concept of firing two fast shots to stop a threat, also known as a double tap, was first taught by W.E. Fairbairn and E. S. Sykes, around 1944. The history is important but not as important as the logic behind the concept.

Since handguns are notoriously poor at stopping fights, common sense suggests that two hits achieved very quickly are better than one. It should be obvious that two hits will make an attacker bleed more than one hit, and the more an attacker bleeds, the sooner they’re likely to become incapacitated. However, because the effects of bullet wounds are very complex things, it cannot be said with any certainty that two hits are twice as effective.

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Were these two shots the result of hammers or a controlled pair? Who knows, but the chances are high this target was double tapped.

Wounding speculation aside, the delivery of two quick shots has evolved into the standard response that’s generally taught by self-defense firearms instructors for law enforcement, military and civilians. Of course, if two is better than one, then three and four shots are better than two, but time on target must be considered. If you’re faced with multiple threats that need to be shot, it wouldn’t be wise to spend too long attempting to neutralize just one of them. Two quick shots at each, with immediate re-evaluation and continued engagement as necessary, makes sense.

But what if there’s only one threat? In that case you could—and probably should—continue to shoot the threat until it’s no longer a threat. This makes perfect sense for the military, but for law enforcement and civilian self-defense application, there might be some difficulty convincing a jury that emptying a 15-round magazine into the perpetrator was an absolute necessity.

This brings us back to the standard response concept: If you obtain two quick hits and the threat still exists, then firing additional rounds seems much more justified.

Subtleties Of The Double Tap

As interesting as the history, legality and common sense associated with the double tap might be, from a training standpoint, the terminology has gotten confusing. According to my friend Sheriff Jim Wilson, when Jeff Cooper was developing the Modern Technique of the Pistol, he incorporated the double tap into the training program.

Ultimately, Cooper redefined the concept with the terms “hammers” and “controlled pair.” Both are examples of two quick shots, but with hammers you only see a sight picture before the first shot. With a controlled pair, you see a sight picture before each shot. The reality is that hammers and a controlled pair are both double taps—the practical difference is how they’re executed.

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The primary difference between “hammers” and a “controlled pair” is how you use the sights for the second shot. This is splitting hairs; both are double taps.

For example, using a version of my step-back drill, I recently conducted a test using multiple handguns by firing two quick shots at an 8-inch target—from the holster—at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards. The timed results established my shot cadence at each distance.

For example, my average time between shots at 5 yards was 0.35 second, at 10 yards it was 0.63 second, at 15 yards it was 0.86 second, at 20 yards it was 1.09 seconds and at 25 yards it was 1.38 seconds. Interestingly, each additional 5 yards added—on average—a quarter of a second to my split times.

At 5 yards, I only saw a sight picture before the first shot. At 10 yards it was mostly the same, with what I’d call about a 50 percent sight picture before the second shot. At 15 yards and beyond, the only way I could obtain consistent hits, quickly, was to see a sight picture before each shot.

According to Cooper’s definition, at 5 yards and maybe 10 yards, I was shooting hammers, but beyond 10 yards I was executing a controlled pair. Time matters, but with regard to whether I was executing a hammer or a controlled pair, time isn’t the determining factor … it’s whether I was obtaining a sight picture for each shot I fired.

Simplify Your Shooting

With all the respect due to Cooper, who more than anyone else established the foundation for the application of the defensive handgun, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Regardless of what you want to call it, it’s the execution of two accurate hits as fast as they can be obtained, and, it’s a double tap! Distance, target size, skill level and the handgun used will determine how many sight pictures a shooter must see, and it will be different for everyone.

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Distance and target size dictate the necessity of sights and the shot cadence when executing a double tap.

Let’s just be realistic about what’s expected: If someone tells you to execute a double tap on an 8-inch target at 25 yards using a handgun, unless you’re Jerry Miculek or Bill Jordan—reincarnated—you’re going to have to see a good sight picture for both shots. The fact that you were instructed to conduct a “double tap” simply means you’re shooting two shots as fast as you can get two hits.

Ultimately, with practice, you’ll be able to get two fast hits at ever-increasing distances without having to obtain a sight picture for the second shot. Similarly, at very close distances, you might not even need a sight picture for either shot. At 3 yards, I can easily put two shots inside an 8-inch circle without using the sights at all. However, if you reduce the target size to 4 inches, I have to find the sights to get my hits.

Some say the advantage to hammers is pure speed, but the object with both hammers and a controlled pair is speed. I don’t see the need to complicate the exercise with different definitions when the end goal is the same.

The time it takes you to do that will be different for everyone, as will be the factors that determine how much you need to use your sights to make it happen. As a practitioner of the defensive handgun, your goal must be to emulate the advice of Clint Eastwood’s character Harry Callahan in the movie Dirty Harry: “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handgun Skills:

Everyday Carry Advice From 6 Experts

Six experts share their advice regarding the everyday carry self-defense handgun.

Most who carry a handgun for self-defense have limited access to others who have a lot of experience doing it. You might know a gun guy from the range or the gun store, a buddy who fashions himself an “expert” … or maybe even a cop who can provide some guidance.

I don’t believe anyone has all the answers, but I do think there are some folks you can learn from.

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Competence with a defensive handgun is a perishable skill. Staying tuned for conflict requires constant practice.

I’ve carried a handgun for personal protection most of my life, I was a
soldier and I worked as a patrol officer and as a special agent. I’ve also had some fantastic firearms training, but more importantly, I’ve met some other folks with lots of experience that I learned from.

I asked six veteran practitioners of the defensive handgun for the three points of advice they’d give to someone looking for guidance for the everyday carry of a concealed handgun. Here’s what they had to offer.

Bill Wilson: Custom Firearms Manufacturer

Bill-Wilson

Bill Wilson founded Wilson Combat, which has become the premier source for high-quality defensive handguns, and it’s also the largest custom firearms manufacturer in the world. Bill won fame as a gunsmith and as a competitive shooter, and he carries a handgun every day … and twice on Sunday.

His first piece of advice was to, simply enough, have a gun.

“If you are going to carry, you must carry every day. It’s not always comfortable or convenient, but if you are going to carry, you must always carry. I have my gun in my holster every morning before I put my socks and shoes on, and it doesn’t come out of the holster until I undress for bed at night.”

Bill also suggests that you carry a gun of sufficient power to stop the threat—which he believes starts at 9mm—and that you’re proficient with.

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Bill Wilson believes the 9mm Luger cartridge is the minimum power level that should be considered for everyday carry self-defense handguns.

“I know small, lightweight guns are much easier to carry and conceal, but if you can’t make multiple well-placed hits at 10 yards within a reasonable time frame, you’re just creating a false sense of security,” he added.

Finally, Bill suggested this: “Train frequently with your chosen carry gun. If you can’t draw from concealment and place a hit into an 8-inch area, from 10 yards, within 2.5 seconds, shooting full-charge ammo, you probably shouldn’t carry a gun for self-protection.”

I for sure agree with the need for frequent training and for the continued increase in proficiency, but maybe not so much with Bill’s benchmark of performance. As a minimum, you must be safe, but as a cop I responded to more calls where just the presentation of a handgun made a bad guy stop doing bad things than I did to a scene where the bad guy was shot.

Jerry Dove: Gunsmith, Firearms Instructor

Dove

Jerry Dove is my personal gunsmith, and for a time was a top level IPSC competitor. He builds very nice guns, is a very good shot and, in addition to establishing and monitoring the defense plan for his church, Jerry regularly teaches permit qualifying concealed carry classes. Jerry is very practical when it comes to self-defense, and he likes to keep things simple.

His everyday carry advice is to get a top-quality gun, a good and comfortable holster and to train with your equipment consistently. Jerry also suggested—and this is very important—that you should know and understand the laws of the jurisdiction you’re carrying in. If you get sideways of the law, even if it’s unintentional, at best you might lose your right to carry concealed legally, and at worst you might start receiving your mail addressed to a certain prison cell.

Ken Campbell: Former LE, CEO of Gunsite Academy

Campbell

Ken Campbell is a former street cop and sheriff, and he currently works as the chief executive officer at Gunsite Academy, the oldest and largest civilian firearms training academy in the world.

Ken suggests you keep your gun concealed: He told me he appreciates open carry, but he appreciates the element of surprise even more. He also believes you should have a good belt and holster. If your carry gear is not comfortable, you’ll be tugging and adjusting constantly, which makes concealment problematic.

EDC advice holster
Though open carry may be legal and have its place, Ken Campbell prefers concealed carry and the element of surprise that comes with it.

Ken thinks that you should practice with the gun, carry method and the ammunition you’ll actually carry on a daily basis.

When the chips are down, Ken does not believe you’ll rise to the occasion—he believes you’ll default to your level of training. That’s sounds like standard advice from someone who runs a firearms training school, but it’s a concept that also has merit with any physical activity: Your worst shot during practice might very well be your best shot during a gunfight.

Ken Hackathorn: Pro Firearms Trainer

Hackathorn

As a professional firearms trainer, Ken Hackathorn has probably trained more shooters than you’ve fired rounds downrange. Because of that, he offers a unique perspective on the defensive handgun, a perspective based on his observation of thousands of people using one.

“Carrying a sidearm is like wearing a seatbelt; if you don’t have it on, it won’t be any help when you need it,” insists Ken. He also said you should, “Pick a sidearm that you shoot well. Don’t select your sidearm on the basis of what the ‘cool kids’ use.” And finally, he echoed the consistent advice of practicing, but added that you should, “Always shoot for a specific point on the target, not at the whole target.”

I find no fault with Ken’s advice, especially the part about choosing a gun you shoot well. Sometimes, the “cool kids” get it right, and sometimes the cool kids are paid to preach the virtues of certain guns. Regardless of the accolades they may spew, you’re the one who must pay for the gun and carry the gun … and you’re the one who must shoot it to save your life.

Will McGuire: SWAT, Conservation Officer

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I met Will McGuire several years ago while helping my local sheriff’s department with some tactical training. Will stood out because he was not only an excellent shot, but he was also tactically proficient. Will was a street cop and, until he switched over to service with the State’s Department of Natural Resources, a SWAT officer. His advice is worth heeding and his first suggestion was that when it comes to a carry gun, smaller is not always better, saying, “If you can hide it really well but shoot it poorly, it’s worth nothing.”

Will is also very fond of a weapon-mounted light. “A gun without a light is useless 50 percent of the time. If you can’t see and identify the target, you can’t engage it.” I think there’s some truth to that, especially in a home-defense setting, but I also think a weapon-mounted light extremely complicates carry. If you can pull it off comfortably, by all means do it. Otherwise, carry a high-intensity compact flashlight. Yeah, half of every day is dark, but it’s rarely a coal mine—got to have a light in the dark—and avoiding those type situations is not a bad idea.

Will’s last bit of advice was to consider a holster that keeps your weapon on your person, as opposed to in a glovebox or in a purse. He says, “The fight will rarely hold for you to find your gun.” This, too, is good advice but sometimes becomes problematic for those who will not alter their dress or their image in order to carry. As they say, life is always about choices, and ultimately you must live with the ones you make.

Sheriff Jim Wilson: West Texas Sheriff, Firearms Instructor

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I’ve spent a lot of time with all these folks, I’ve trained with them, and I put a lot of stock in their opinions, but none more so than former West Texas Sheriff Jim Wilson. Jim has decades of experience, a tremendous amount of training and is an excellent firearms instructor himself. If the Sheriff is talking about handguns and personal protection, you should be listening.

Jim suggests you carry a gun that allows you to make head shots out to 25 yards, and vital-zone shots out to 50 yards. That might seem a bit excessive, but if you prepare for the worst, everything else is easy. He also believes you should carry a quality holster and carry it in a location that permits your draw with the support hand if necessary. This is wise as well because it’s foolish to think you may not be injured at the time you need to shoot to save your life.

And, lastly, Jim believes you should avoid the foolish carry rotation, suggesting you carry one gun, and carry it in one carry location, as much as possible. I think this is also sound advice that should only be disregarded when your situation requires ultra-deep concealment, or if there are some other extenuating circumstances.

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Effective and undetectable everyday concealed carry requires a good holster and belt.

Final Thoughts

Relationships with guns are like relationships with women: They’re complicated and require constant tending. There’s a reason it’s unwise to have more than one woman, and the same applies to carry guns.

And always remember, as Ken suggested: You’ll not rise to the occasion, you’ll default to your training.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More Everyday Carry Advice:

Four Versatile Handgun Loads To Have

If you keep these four handgun loads stocked for your self-defense pistol, your sidearm can be a much more versatile tool.

When it comes to ammunition for defensive handguns, self-defense ammo is the most talked about. While the primary purpose of self-defense handguns is for protection against humans doing bad things, it’s not their only viable use.

There are actually four types of ammunition you should consider for a defensive handgun, and while all four might not be practical for you—today, based on your lifestyle and geographic location—at some point they might be. I’m a practical/general-purpose kind of guy, and I’m not interested in any handgun unless all four of these loads are available for it across the counter … or can at least be loaded by hand.

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Every defensive handgun deserves a supply of these four loads to make it most suitable for general-purpose self-protection

Practice/Training Ammunition

If you’re serious about your defensive handgun, you’ll shoot more practice/training ammunition than any other type. The good news is that there’s a lot of good training ammunition to choose from. The mistake some folks make is trying to save too much money.

When I became the firearms instructor at my department, we were using re-manufactured ammunition for training. We saved some money, but we also blew up two pistols in the process. If you handload your own ammo, that’s great—as long as you do a good job. If you don’t handload, do yourself a favor and spend a few dollars extra for quality, factory-loaded ammunition.

The round-nose or truncated cone FMJ bullet is the standard for training and practice, but a relatively new offering from Federal, where the lead bullet is coated with a synthetic jacket, is a better option. Federal’s Syntech ammunition eliminates copper and lead fouling, increases barrel life and drastically reduces splash-back when shooting steel targets. I use a lot—and I mean a lot—of this stuff.

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Federal Syntech ammunition is some of the best practice ammo available, especially if you routinely shoot steel targets.

Self-Defense Ammunition

There’s a litany of self-defense loads for every suitable self-defense handgun cartridge. Picking the right one might seem harder than finding a life partner, but the truth is that there are more good self-defense loads out there than there are bad. Also, many of these loads perform very similarly because most ammunition manufacturers are building their self-defense ammunition to conform to the FBI’s 12 to 18 inches of penetration requirements, with bullet upset of about 1.5 times the original bullet diameter.

Most Speer’s Gold Dot loads, Hornady Critical Duty loads, Remington’ Golden Saber loads, Winchester’s USA Defense loads, as well as a wide variety of ammunition loaded with Barnes XPB bullets, generally deliver FBI-level performance. I’d not feel under-gunned with any of these, but I am partial to Federal’s Personal Defense or Tactical HST loads. Regardless of the cartridge, these loads penetrate to between 12 and 16 inches, and the bullets will generally upset between 1.5 and 1.8 times the original diameter. This ammunition is also extremely reliable, and reliability is a primary concern with self-defense ammunition.

Hornady-Critical-Duty

Predator Defense Ammunition

Some of us live or frequent locations where predatory animals can be found. I’m not talking about coyotes or badgers; I’m talking about larger critters that can present a serious threat to humans … like mountain lions and bears. You could potentially kill either with a good self-defense load, but your goal is not to kill but to stop them as fast as possible. This calls for a bullet that’ll penetrate very deep, no matter if big or heavy bone is encountered. You might have to shoot a bad bear in the head, and you want the bullet to penetrate the skull and keep going.

This calls for a heavy-for-caliber bullet driven hard and fast, and one that’ll hold together and bust through anything encountered. The best bullet for this job is a hardcast bullet. Though they look like lead bullets, they’re only partially lead. They’ve been substantially strengthened with antimony and/or tin and can be seven times as hard has pure lead. A good hardcast bullet from most self-defense capable cartridges will penetrate as deep as 3 feet in 10 percent ordnance gelatin.

There are four good sources for hardcast handgun ammunition: Buffalo Bore’s Outdoorsman loads, DoubleTap’s Hardcast loads, Federal’s Solid Core loads and Underwood Ammunition’s Black Cherry Coated Hardcast. Pick the one that shoots the best and that’s the most reliable in your handgun.

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Snake Defense Ammunition

I don’t go hunting snakes, nor do I have a desire to rid the world of them. But, if I find one near my home or writhing the curtilage of my house, garage, barn or outbuildings, I kill it. Not because I hate them, but because they’re dangerous to my family and our dogs. There’s definitely a place in this world for venomous snakes—that place is just not close to me. I have no interest in a centerfire handgun if I cannot load it with shotshells. They’re not commercially available for the .327 Federal Magnum, which is one of my favorite handgun cartridges, so I make my own.

Earlier this year I was hunting at a farm right along the Limpopo River in Africa. The farmer had a wife and two young boys, and just as we were heading out for the evening hunt, his wife alerted him that there was a snake in the tree beside the house. We discovered it was a boomslang, and the tree was in the yard right where his boys played. The farmer grabbed his 9mm pistol, shoved in a magazine loaded with CCI shotshells in it and handed it to me. One bang later and the incredibly deadly snake was dead.

CCI offers shotshells for most popular self-defense handgun cartridges. They actually offer two varieties. One is loaded with No. 4 shot and is called “Big 4.” It’ll work on snakes but it isn’t ideal. The other is loaded with smaller shot—a lot of it—and is simply listed as “SHOTSHELL.” If you have or expect to have snake issues, get a box and keep a magazine loaded with them handy. Best results are at between 4 and 10 yards, and this ammunition will not reliably cycle some pistols—you may have to manually rack the slide after each shot.

CCI shotshells are great handgun ammunition for snakes. Typically, the larger the caliber the better they work, simply because they contain more shot.

Four Loads

Regardless of the quantities you might need, any serious defensive handgunner will have these four loads at their disposal. You’re going to need a lot of practice/training ammunition; buy it by the case to save money. Unless you live in Tijuana or Chicago, for true self-defense ammunition you’ll probably only need about one box per year. A box of good hardcast ammo might last you a lifetime, but like with self-defense ammunition, I’d suggest routinely rotating it out; this gives you a chance to practice with it.

Remember, both of these loads are what you’ll be trusting to save your life. Unless you live along the Limpopo River in Africa, one box of shotshells should last a long time too, but at close range they also work well on rats and other vermin, so you might as well pick up a box or two each year as well.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Handgun Ammo:

Kimber KDS9C Review: A Modernized 1911

The author hits the range with the Kimber KDS9C, a modern take on the classic 1911.

In 2017, I wrote an article about the then-new Wilson Combat EDC X9 pistol for this magazine. I wrote that I was comfortable proclaiming that pistol as the best ever made. I felt it was akin to a $10 donut that, though you know it’s expensive, you pay the price because of the excessive watering in your mouth. And then, after thousands of rounds, it still tastes just as good as the first bite.

I still feel that way, but after a week of testing with the new Kimber KDS9C, I believe it’s something like a $7.50 donut. It might not be everything the EDC X9 is, but it’s damned close.

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The Kimber KDS9C uses a proprietary 15-round magazine, and each pistol is shipped with two.

Kimber’s literature states that the KDS9C is the result of a ground-up development to provide a personal protection masterpiece. It’s clear, however, that Wilson Combat’s EDC X9 provided some inspiration. I don’t think that’s a bad thing: If you want to build the best pistol you can, it’s a good idea to emulate what’s arguably the best pistol ever made, and firearms designers have been doing this since firearms have been being designed. Most importantly, what Kimber has been able to do is provide a pistol that’s very similar to the EDC X9 at less than half the price.

The Details That Really Matter

The KDS9C has the 1911 look and utilizes the same linked-barrel, single-action operating system controlled by a manual thumb safety. But the KDS9C’s barrel is ramped, and the pistol doesn’t have a barrel bushing. Instead, the heavily fluted, 4.09-inch stainless-steel barrel, with its 20-degree crown, is perfectly fitted to the inside of the slide. And, the recoil spring plug is reversed so that it caps the 16.9-pound spring, but it inserts from the rear of the slide.

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The KDS9C’s barrel is heavily fluted and has the common 1911 link. However, it’s flared at the muzzle to fit the slide, eliminating the 1911 barrel bushing.

You don’t need a bushing wrench to field-strip this pistol; you simply retract the slide so that the notch is aligned with the slide stop and pull the slide stop out just as you do with a traditional 1911. Once the slide and frame are separated, you remove the recoil spring and spring plug, and then slide the barrel out the front of the slide.

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Field-stripped, the Kimber KDS9C breaks down into eight parts: frame, slide, barrel, guide rod, recoil spring, recoil spring plug, slide stop and magazine.

The slide is what’s known as a tri-top. Forward of the ejection port, it’s grooved up to the rear of the dovetailed fiber-optic front sight. Behind the ejection port, there’s an optics plate that extends all the way to the rear sight, which actually holds it in place. Both the rear sight and the optics plate are a bit different from what is commonly seen on modern pistols: The rear sight is rather tall so that it can co-witness with a miniature red-dot, and it’s adjustable for elevation. (For windage adjustment, you’ll need to drift the front sight with a sight pusher.) But instead of the sight being dovetailed into the slide, it’s held in place by two screws that come up from the bottom of the slide. Once the rear sight has been removed, the optics plate comes off.

To fit a miniature reflex sight to the KDS9C, you’ll need a base plate that’s available from Kimber and comes with the RMSC/Holosun-K footprint. After installation, you’ll also need a new and taller front sight. You can return your slide to Kimber for the installation of the taller front sight, or you can order the front sight and attempt it yourself. However, the KDS9C owner’s manual states, “Please do not attempt to drift the front sight with a punch and hammer, as damage may occur, which will not be covered under warranty.”

The optics compatibility of the KDS9C is innovative and well-engineered; however, simply providing the pistol with a front sight of the proper height might have made more sense—tall front sights are not a bad thing, even without a miniature reflex sight installed.

kds9c-shooting-1

The slide also has deep and wide grasping grooves, and it’s fitted with an external extractor. Also, the bottom of the nose/front of the slide is cut at an angle and gives the pistol a rakish appearance. The profile reminds me of the old 1968-era Steyr GB pistol, and of a 2009-era custom 1911 called the Gaboon that was offered for a short time by LST, a custom maker out of West Virginia. The Gaboon also utilized a reverse recoil spring plug.

Like A 1911, But Different

The KDS9C’s frame is where you see the real departure from a conventional 1911. This is a wide-body frame that feeds from proprietary Kimber magazines that hold 15 rounds. It has a reversible—oval instead of round—magazine release button, large crosshatch grooving on the front strap and an undercut trigger guard. The most notable departure is the lack of a grip safety. However, there’s still a mainspring housing, and there’s a deep beavertail tang in place of the grip safety.

The butt of the grip is radiused at the rear and has a bit of flare at the bottom front. It’s also cut out to accept the baseplate of the magazine. The grip is capped off with attractive gray G10 panels, and it feels very good in-hand. It’s also shaped to prevent your little finger, or the fatty bottom part of your hand, from being pinched when a magazine is inserted. All the sharp edges on this pistol seem to have been radiused, emulating what some custom makers call a “carry bevel package,” to keep from chewing away at the hide on your hands.

kds9c-profile
During testing, 700 rounds were fired through the KDS9C, and the only stoppage occurred on round nine. After that, the pistol ran flawlessly.

However, one of my two nitpicking complaints was the thumb safety. Though it was sized right, positioned perfectly and operated with the ideal amount of on and off force, the very tip of the thumb safety stands a bit proud, just enough to spike into the pad of your thumb, especially if you like to keep downward pressure on the thumb safety when you shoot.

My other bit of nitpicking was with the trigger. The trigger pull was smooth and consistent, releasing the sear at about 3.5 pounds. However, unlike most 1911 triggers, the serrated and ventilated trigger on the KDS9C doesn’t extend to the very bottom of the trigger guard—there’s a minute gap at the bottom and I could feel the bottom tip of the curved trigger face gouging into my trigger finger. Not so much that you’d notice it after firing several magazines, but after about 300 rounds there was a bit of tenderness to the pad of my trigger finger. This may or not be an issue for you, but when I’m hammering a target, my trigger finger sometimes glides along the bottom inside face of the trigger guard.

In The Holster

The KDS9C pistol fit perfectly in Galco’s Yaqui Slide, Avenger and Royal Guard 2.0 holsters. Unloaded, the pistol weighs 28.2 ounces, 1.4 ounces less than the Wilson Combat EDC X9, and with a magazine full of 15 rounds of 115-grain 9mm ammunition, the pistol weighs 34.6 ounces, which is only about 4.5 ounces more than a fully loaded Glock 19. The thick grip makes the pistol a tad more difficult to conceal than a standard 1911, but with a high-quality holster like the Galco Royal Guard 2.0, the pistol disappears under an untucked shirt.

kimber-kds9c-holster
The Kimber KDS9C is a tasteful-looking pistol and rode well in Galco’s Yaqui Slide holster.

On The Range

Over the span of three days, I fired 700 rounds out of the KDS9C pistol using a variety of different loads. I only experienced one stoppage, which was the ninth round fired. That round got cattywonkus in the magazine and failed to feed. After that, the pistol ran superbly, and I didn’t field-strip it or provide any lubrication until after 400 rounds.

kds9c-shooting-2
Kimber’s new KDS9C is a modernized version of the Commander-sized 1911 pistol.

I ran this pistol through a variety of defensive handgun drills, and I shot it very well. I had no trouble hitting an 8-inch steel plate at 25 yards; from the holster, I could generally get two hits in about 3.5 to 4 seconds. On a torso-sized target at 50 yards, I could routinely get two hits in about the same amount of time.

kds9c-shooting-3
During testing the KDS9C pistol was put through a variety of self-defense drills. It was repeatedly run hard and fast.

Out of the box, the pistol shot to point-of-aim and had plenty of precision to deal with any sort of self-defense situation you might encounter. You can see the precision results in the supplied chart, but I don’t obsess over groups with defensive handguns. I figure if I can consistently make head shots at 25 yards while shooting off-hand, the gun will shoot better than I can.

Kimber-KDS9C-review-table
Notes: Reported average muzzle velocity (VEL), standard velocity deviation (SD) and muzzle energy (ENG) were established by shooting 10 rounds over a Caldwell G2 chronograph with the screens positioned 10 feet from the muzzle. The reported average group size (AVG) is the average of three, five-shot groups with each listed load, fired from a sandbag rest at 10 yards. Temperature: 72 degrees F, pressure: 30.04 in-Hg, humidity: 85 percent and elevation: 2,200 feet.

The Last Word

This pistol comes with a very nice, canvas-style gray, zippered pistol rug with multiple compartments and a section to hold extra magazines. Also included was a cable-style gun lock, extra and different-colored fiber-optic rods for the front sight, two hex wrenches for the rear sight, a Kimber sticker and a safety or “warning” manual. What was missing was a gun specific owner’s manual, but I did manage to find one online on the Kimber website with a bit of searching.

If I didn’t already own a Wilson Combat EDC X9, I’d immediately buy the Kimber KDS9C. I’d then get my gunsmith to radius the tip of the thumb safety and do the same to the bottom tip of the trigger. That would cost me about $150, but I would’ve still spent less than half what you would for the EDC X9. The Kimber KDS9C carries just as easy and shoots just as well as my Wilson Combat EDC X9. Will it hold up as well and last as long? There’s only one way to find out … and I plan to do just that. In the meantime, I’m not worried at all about trusting this pistol for everyday carry.

Kimber deserves a lot of credit for stepping out of the traditional box and modernizing the 1911. Yeah, they might’ve gotten some of their inspiration from Wilson Combat, but if you’re going to get some inspiration on pistol design, you’ll have a hard time finding a better source.

Kimber KDS9C Specs:

Kimber-KDS9C-specs

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC Special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More Handgun Reviews:

Glocked Up And Drilled Down

The author goes over a Glock G43X MOS that’s been setup for concealed carry as well as the Step Back Drill.

My primary carry gun is an old, lightweight Browning Hi Power that was worked by Novak’s and given to me by a good friend. It’s comfortable to carry, and I shoot it very well. However, though the pistol is somewhat rare and moderately valuable in terms of dollars, it’s a gun that cannot be replaced.

I travel by air a good bit, and I never go anywhere unarmed, unless my host at my destination provides me with something to carry. I have no intention of giving a baggage handler at the airport an opportunity to make off with my Hi Power. I needed a moderately affordable, and most importantly—replaceable—carry gun that was dependable. That’s how I ended up with a Glock G43X MOS.

Glock 43X MOS feature
This is a dependable carry gun that has no emotional value and that’s also replaceable.

I’m very familiar with Glock pistols. When I was a police officer, and later a special agent, a Glock of some sort was my issue duty handgun. I also often carried another Glock that would share magazines with my duty gun in an ankle holster. I’m a trained Glock armorer and even won a GSSF—Glock sponsored—shooting match.

But the truth is that I was never enamored with duty-size Glocks or the smaller G26 or G27 pistols I often carried on my ankle when working. Recently, I had the opportunity to handle a G43X MOS and was impressed with its compact size, its 10+1 capacity and the fact that it was optics ready. So, I ordered one with the intention of giving it a chance to become my travel gun.

Personalized Protection

One thing I’ve never liked about Glock pistols are the standard factory sights. I believe the front sight on a fighting pistol should be a sight that stands out like a pimple on the nose of a porn star—you should see it clearly and not have to look for it. So, I ordered a set of new suppressor height, R3D 2.0 sights from XS Sights.

XS-Sights-front-sight
The suppressor height R3d 2.0 sight from XS Sights is much easier to see than the factory Glock sight in any light.

The next thing I needed was a miniature reflex sight that fit the slide cut on the Glock G43X MOS, because I didn’t want to use an adapter plate, and I wanted to have the XS R3D sights as a redundant/backup sight system. I just happened to have a Crimson Trace CTS-1550 that was compatible with the RMSc footprint on the G43X MOS’s slide, so that’s what I went with.

Glock-with-crimson-trace
The Suppressor height R3D 2.0 sights from XS Sights make an excellent redundant sight system for the G43X MOS.

The next thing I needed was holsters, two of them: an IWB holster for concealed carry and a OWB holster for range work. The IWB holster was a no brainer, I went with the Galco Royal Guard holster that I’ve used and trusted for years and a Galco Concealable Magazine Carrier. I tried something new for OWB—the Safariland Solis ALS holster, which is a polymer paddle holster that’s easy on and easy off, and convertible for belt-slot carry. I liked it because of the thumb release retention device and the fact that it could accommodate a miniature rail light. Both features would make the holster also suitable for carry in cooler weather when wearing a coat.

Glock-43X-MOS-holster
Running the Step Back Drill at 10 yards on an 8-inch steel plate.

The next step was to see how well I could shoot the pistol and to test out all the accessories. In two days, I fired 500 rounds of ammunition that was a mix of practice ammo and Federal’s Law Enforcement 124-grain Tactical Hydra-Shok load, which is a load I trust for carry. I shot the pistol well, the gun ran fine, and the holsters and mag pouches performed. However, I decided I wanted to switch from the Concealable Magazine carrier to the clip-on Galco QMC mag pouch so I could put it on and take it off—just as I could with the Royal Guard holster—without undoing my belt.

Glock-43X-MOS-with-ammo
Glock’s G43X MOS with Federal’s Law Enforcement 124-grain Tactical Hydra-Shock load.

Pointed Practice: The Step Back Drill

At about this same time, I began working with a new defensive handgun drill I’d devised to test the shootability of similar handguns with different barrel lengths. I’d worked with this drill a lot and had decided it was also great to help establish your shot cadence at various distances, to further develop basic marksmanship skills and as a practical exercise with a defensive handgun. It’s a 10-round drill that starts at 5 yards and ends at 25 yards. It’s easy to set up, and you can run it on just about any range. I call it the “Step Back Drill,” and I’ve been running it almost every day with my G43X MOS for almost a month.

Glock-43X-MOS-aiming
Glock’s G43X MOS is an excellent option for concealed carry.

To conduct the drill, you need an 8-inch target such as the Thompson Target 8-inch Halo target. Alternatively, a standard cardboard IDPA target with its 8-inch center circle or an 8-inch steel plate set at an angle to deflect bullet splatter toward the ground will work too. You also need a shot timer, and of course, your holster, handgun, and eye and ear protection. The drill should be run from an open holster or from concealment, but if you’re on a range where you cannot draw from the holster, just run it from the low ready.

Glock-43X-MOS-aiming-2

You start at 5 yards, and on signal, draw and fire two shots at the target. Then, step back to 10 yards and repeat. You’ll do the same from 15, 20 and 25 yards. But here’s the important part: You’ll need to write down the time it took you to get your two hits at each distance. If you want to get technical, you can also record the time it took to get the first hit at each distance. This will give your draw speed and how long it took you to get the sights aligned and make the first shot at each distance.

Glock-43X-MOS-with-target-2
Using a steel plate for the Step Back Drill is the ultimate challenge, because you don’t know where your misses go.

If you want a par time for each distance, 2 seconds at 5 yards, 3 seconds at 10 yards, 4 seconds at 15 yards, 5 seconds at 20 yards and 6 seconds at 25 yards is a good rule of thumb. When you add all your times together from each distance, a reasonable par time is 20 seconds.

To start my day, most every morning I ride the side-by-side over to my pistol range and run this drill twice. The first time I run the drill, I do it with the focus on getting my hits. In other words, I see how long it takes me to run the drill without misses. Then, I run the drill a second time as fast as I think I can get my hits.

The distinction here is important. On the first run, my goal is accuracy, and on the second run, my goal is speed. Right now, my average time for the first run is about 16 seconds for all 10 shots. My current best time for the second run—without a miss—is right at 14 seconds. The goal is to get my first run times much closer to my best time and to continually improve both.

Glock-43X-MOS-with-target-2-1
If you want to make the 8-inch circle on an IDPA target stand out, cut a stencil and paint it.

One of the things I really like about the Step Back Drill as opposed to higher round count drills is that you’re drawing your handgun for half the shots you take. The Step Back Drill requires 10 shots. During the drill, you must conduct five handgun presentations—draws. When it comes to a defensive handgun, developing your ability to get your pistol out of the holster and on target is one of the primary and most critical aspects of its employment.

The other thing I like about the Step Back Drill is that, by taking the time to write down your times after every two-shot engagement, you’re letting your body and mind sort of reset. This makes each two-shot string seem like a separate drill as opposed to just small parts of a larger one.

step-back-drill

Important Lessons Learned

I’ve learned some things by running this drill with my G43X MOS configured for carry. Initially, I was a bit disappointed in my times at 5 and 10 yards, they seemed slower than what they should be. So, I removed the reflex sight and ran the drill for several days with only the XS Sights. My times at 5 and 10 yards were faster with the sights. This dovetailed with my previous experiences with miniature reflex sights on handguns.

When running at top speed, it’s easier for me to find the sights than it is the dot. At 15 yards, my times with the sights and the red dot were almost identical, but beyond 15 yards the red dot was not only faster to use, with it I had fewer misses. I need to work more with the red dot up close so that I can acquire it faster, and this is a trend I’ve seen with many shooters.

Crimson-Trace-CTS-1550-aiming
This is the optimum sight setup. An easy-to-see red dot combined with an easy-to-see redundant open sight system.

The other and more critical discovery was that the CTS-1550 reflex sight has a serious flaw. One morning I was a bit late to the range, and the sun was higher than normal. I shoot into the sun on my range, but the trees behind the targets block the sun until about 10:30 a.m. On this morning, the sun was just above the treetops, and it was at an angle where it beamed over the top of the hood of the reflex sight. This resulted in the light reflecting off the base of the sight and back against the rear of the sight’s window. The reflection was so bad that I couldn’t see the dot. I could also not see through the window to identify the target or see the front sight. Clearly, this is bad thing, and it highlights the necessity to test your carry gear in a variety of situations.

Crimson-Trace-CTS-1550
The problem with the Crimson Trace CTS-1550 reflex sight was that, when shooting toward the sun at about a 35- to 45-degree angle, the light reflects off the sight base and into the lens.

A Collection Of Kit

I’m very happy with the G43X MOS, the XS R3D sights and with all my carry gear, and I think I’ve found a collection of kit I can rely on for protection when I travel. The G43X MOS isn’t that expensive, and everything about it is easily replaceable. As for the reflex sight, I need to find another option that deals with the reflection of light better. As comforting as the reflex sight is when it comes to getting hits at distance, if there are common and practical situations where it becomes unusable, it’s as worthless as pierced nipples on a coon dog. The experiment continues—I’ll keep you posted.

Glock-43X-MOS-Specs-and-kit

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More Handgun Drills:

Upgrading Glock Irons With XS Sights’ Installation Tool

Carry a Glock? Want to upgrade your iron sights? One of XS Sights’ Glock sight tools will help you do it.

Installing aftermarket sights on a pistol can be problematic. Back when I first began working in law enforcement, I ordered a set of night sights for my duty handgun and tried to install them. I ended up breaking the front sight off its base and had to order another one. The funny thing is that I took it to a gunsmith, and he did the same thing I did, but at least he paid for the third front sight. That’s one of the reasons I’ve always suggested enlisting the services of a gunsmith for sight installation.

But now, particularly for Glock pistols, I’ve changed my mind: XS Sights has simplified the process of sight removal and installation with their excellent array of sight installation tools.

Glock sight tool xs sights feature
XS Sights has revolutionized the removal and installation of sights on Glock pistols.

Several months ago, XS Sights sent me one of their sight installation tools. I wanted a set of the new XS Sights’ suppressor height R3D 2.0 Night sights for my recently acquired Glock G43X MOS. (My G43X MOS project/experiment is detailed in this issue.) These new-and-improved second-generation R3D notch and post tritium sights are engineered to provide a brighter, stronger set of self-defense sights that are even easier to install than the original models, and they’re built to withstand years of EDC use. I liked them so much that I ordered a set for my G17, too, and it was the perfect opportunity to try out this installation tool.

For Your Needs

XS Sights offers six variations of the Glock sight installation tool. The least expensive version is the Inline Sight Pusher Kit ECO Series that retails for $80. It’s a one-time use, frame specific tool. The $150 Inline Sight Pusher Kit DIY Series isn’t frame specific and should be good for 50 to 100 installs. The Gunsmith Series costs another $50, should last for 200 installs, and the front sight tool that comes with this unit has a magnet to hold the front sight screw in place. All three of these units are also available in a bundle that includes a set of R3D Night Sights. If you purchase the bundle, you’ll save around 10 percent on the cost of the sights.

xs sights glock sight tool 2
With the XS Sights Glock Sight Tool, sight removal is easy and can be done without damaging your pistol.

A good gunsmith will charge you between $75 and $125 to install a set of sights on your Glock. And more than likely, over the lifetime of your pistol, you’ll either want to try a different type of sights or you’ll need to replace your pistols sights due to tritium depletion and their loss of brightness. So, while you might not think you need a Glock sight installation tool, in the long run you’ll be better off, and you also might even make a few bucks by charging your buddies to install sights on their Glocks.

It’s also important to note that these aren’t just sight installation tools. The rear sight on a Glock pistol is drift adjustable for windage, and you can use these tools to also fine-tune sight adjustment so that your point of impact matches your point of aim. Because these tools are so lightweight and compact, you can keep one in your range bag. This means that if you discover your sights aren’t adjusted perfectly, you can correct—and check—the problem while at the range. This is a much better process than using a hammer and a brass punch.

xs-sights-glock-sight-tool-1-1
With this innovative tool from XS Sights, Glock pistol sight installation is just as easy and fast as sight removal.

Of course, to find success, the tool has to work. Based on my experience with the DIY Series, it works exceptionally well. XS Sights has plenty of videos on their website (XSsights.com) to explain how to use these tools, and very wisely, XS Sights has engraved a QR code right on the sight tool that you can scan with your smartphone for instructions.

Less Is Way More

XS Sights took the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) approach. The tool cradles your pistol’s slide and when you get it lined up correctly with the brass pusher, you slide in a polymer wedge that locks the slide in place. Then, all you need to do is use the supplied hex head wrench to tighten the screw that drives the brass pusher. This will easily push your factory sight out of the dovetail. Also, because of the way the tool is designed, you can use it on a slide that already has an optic installed. This is very handy because you don’t have to remove the optic to install new sights, which means the optic doesn’t need to be re-zeroed.

xs-sights-glock-sight-tool-3-1
Glock front sights are screwed in place, and XS provides a wrench sized just to fit the screw that holds them in place.

As for the front sight, it’s held in place on the Glock slide by a screw. This makes front sight removal and installation very easy, but only if you have the correct 3/16 socket that fits the screw head. Each XS Sights’ installation tool comes with a front sight tool, and there are three versions depending on which model you select. One is made of aluminum, one is made of steel, and the third version is also made of steel, but it has a magnet to hold the front sight screw in place during installation.

Glock-sights-XS-sights
In less than 10 minutes, you can remove your factory Glock sights and install new ones with the XS Sights Sight tool.

Having never used this tool before, it only took me about 10 minutes to remove the factory sights and install the new XS Sights’ FR8 2.0 suppressor height sights on the slide of my G43X MOS. In another 10 minutes, I had a set installed on my G17 as well. Not only has XS Sights made Glock sight removal and installation simple, I’m living proof that a West Virginia hillbilly can also figure it out and manage this machine without too much head scratching.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Tools & Gunsmithing:

On The Range With The Marlin 1894 Classic

The author reviews the reintroduced Marlin 1894 Classic, the return of a lever-gun legend.

In 2008, Remington purchased Marlin. Shooters and hunters were not all that happy with the acquisition, and it took a long time for the new Marlin to start making rifles. When they did, there were a lot of complaints. Then, in 2020, Remington went bankrupt, and Ruger purchased Marlin. Given Ruger’s history of turning out fine firearms, Marlin fans were excited, and it didn’t take long for Ruger to get it together either.

Marlin-1894-review-rifle
The Marlin 1894 in .44 Remington Magnum.

By 2022, they’d reintroduced the 1895 SBL and since then have introduced two other 1895 models and the 336 Classic. In mid-June, Marlin reintroduced the Model 1894 in .44 Magnum, which is one of the Marlin rifles those of us who, at least sometimes, identify as a cowboy have been impatiently waiting for.

The Rifle

The Marlin 1894 lever action rifle has been with us as long as its name suggests, and it has been offered in a variety of configurations to include stainless steel and with 16- and even 24-inch barrels. The 1894 has also been chambered for a dozen different cartridges to include the .22 Magnum. Primarily it’s thought of as a revolver cartridge rifle because of the chamberings that have been the most popular in it like the .32-20 Winchester, .357 Magnum, .44-40 Winchester, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt. Marlin’s newest version is the most traditional version of the 1894, and it’s outfitted with a 20-inch round barrel, straight grip stock and the common barrel mounted semi-buckhorn sight.

Ruger-Marlin-stock
Like all the new rifles from the Ruger-owned Marlin, they’re distinguishable with a red dot in the center of a white circle on the belly of the buttstock.

The American black walnut stock has a 13.63-inch length of pull and the butt of the stock is fitted with a thin brown recoil pad. Though not really needed for a 6.29-pound .44 Magnum rifle, it looks good, and if you stand the rifle up in the corner, it won’t slide away like those with the hard plastic butt pad. Even though the rifle has a 20-inch barrel, overall, it’s less than 38 inches long. A traditional sling swivel stud is fitted on the belly of the buttstock, and another is attached at the barrel band near the end of the forend.

Marlin-1894-reload
Cartridges were easy to load in the Marlin 1894, even up to its six-round capacity.

Some thought the new Marlin company might do away with the crossbolt safety, but they’ve not, and, in reality, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t like it and don’t want to use it, don’t—just leave it on fire. However, it does offer an added bit of safety when unloading because you unload this rifle by cycling the six rounds in the magazine tube through the action. Finally, an extended hammer spur is included with the rifle, and it makes accessing the hammer much easier if you mount a riflescope.

1894-hammer
An optional hammer spur to make hammer access easier when a scope is mounted comes in the box with the new Marlin 1894.

On The Range

I shot this rifle a lot, and I didn’t treat it like fine china—I ran it hard like you’d expect a working rifle like this to get used. Shooting the rifle with the factory sights and the XS sights I ended up installing, I fired about 100 rounds from the bench. Shooting a lever action rifle from the bench is about as much fun as fixing a leaky sink, so once I was done with what you might call “the work,” I stepped away from the bench and began whacking steel from 25 yards out to 100. Standing on my hind legs, I did a lot of snap shooting and fast-action lever work, firing multiple shots at multiple targets and even shooting at a moving target. This is where this rifle shined.

Marlin-1894-review-Mann

Historically, .44 Magnum lever-action rifles can be a bit finicky with certain loads. This is because .44 Magnum ammunition is designed to be fired in a revolver and in a revolver bullet profile, and to some extent overall cartridge length does not matter. I’ve yet to see a .44 Magnum lever action rifle that would feed every factory load offered.

44-Magnum-VCrown-target
Most of the loads tested in Marlin’s reintroduced 1894 shot like this or better at 50 yards using XS sights.

Some are very ammunition sensitive, but this rifle was not. The only load that gave it any trouble was the 305-grain .44 Magnum Buffalo Bore load with its large flat meplat. SAAMI specifies a maximum overall length for .44 Remington Magnum cartridges at 1.610 inches. This load had an overall length of 1.618 inches. If you ran the lever with force, this load would hang up—but if you worked it gingerly, it fed fine.

Marlin-review-44-mag-table
NOTES: Reported muzzle velocity (VEL), standard velocity deviation (SD) and muzzle energy (ENG) were established by firing 10 shots over a chronograph with the screens positioned 10 feet from the muzzle. Reported Accuracy/Precision was determined by firing five, three-shot groups with each load from a sandbag rest at 50 yards, using an XS aperture rear sight and an XS white striped post front sight.

Thumbs Up

The bluing on this rifle was impeccable. It reminds me of the bluing you used to see on early Winchester rifles, where it seemed as dark as the eyes of a sullen Irish maiden. You might like more of a matte finish on a hunting rifle but as good as the bluing on this rifle looks, I expect you might just learn to not mind the shine.

The walnut stock had a nice figure, and the machine checkering on the wrist of the butt stock and the forend was well executed and felt good in my hands. Wood-to-metal fit was also very good, probably a bit better than what you might’ve seen on some of the Marlins produced when Remington was at the helm.

Marlin-wood-stock
The wood-to-metal fit on the new 1894 was very well executed, and the nicely figured walnut buttstock sports a good-looking machine checkering pattern.

Balance is important with a rifle that you expect to possibly handle during quick action situations and with its 20-inch barrel, this rifle balanced right at the juncture of the action and the forend, meaning the weight is evenly distributed between your hands. Some prefer a shorter 18- or 16-inch barrel on a .44 Magnum lever gun, and they’re a bit handier. However, that handiness makes the rifle a bit butt heavy and harder to hold on target. You might say this rifle has a great “balance of balance” for off-hand shooting.

Thumbs Down

There were three things about this rifle I didn’t like. Let’s start with the first one since it’s probably not really a valid complaint. Marlin supplies this rifle with a hooded brass bead front sight and a leaf/drift adjustable folding barrel sight. I don’t like either and much prefer the aperture ghost ring sights from XS Sights. They’re faster to get on target and more accurate when you get them there. My groups at 50 yards with the XS sights were half what they were with the factory sights. But since this rifle is the “Classic” model, classic sights probably belong on it. If you like XS Sights, Skinner Sights, or a riflescope, the receiver is drilled and tapped, and you can install what you want.

1894-rear-sight
The barrel-mounted rear sight on the new 1894 is drift adjustable for windage and step adjustable for elevation.

The trigger was a bit of an issue. It broke crisply, but inconsistently. Sometimes it would trip at about 4 pounds and sometimes at about 4.75 pounds. It’s not the worst trigger I’ve felt on a Marlin lever-action rifle, but the triggers on all the other new Marlin rifles I’ve tested have been better than this one, and I’ve tested all three new 1895s and the new 336.

1894-front-sight
The new 1894 is outfitted with a ramped front sight that has a brass bead and hood.

And finally, with the hottest loads—like the Buffalo Bore 305-grain .44 Magnum load—ejection could be a bit stiff. This seemed to lessen a bit with use and a bit more so after a thorough cleaning. But the 305-grain Buffalo Bore and 270-grain HammerDown loads could slightly stiffen action operation.

Marlin-1894-review-feature
Marlin’s new 1894 in .44 Magnum functioned very well with .44 Magnum and .44 Special ammunition. However, for optimum reliability with the 305-grain Buffalo Bore load (right), the lever had to be worked with moderate force.

Last Word

I think Marlin has done a great job with the rifles they’ve reintroduced in the last two years. Though not perfect, they did a good job on this rifle too. Even though I’d not rate the trigger as great, it was better than most of the triggers I’ve had the chance to pull on Remington-made Marlins, and the good thing about a trigger is that it’s something you can test in the store. If you get home with a rifle that has a bad trigger, it’s your own damn fault.

The 1894 Classic would make a great rifle for sitting over a feeder waiting for a group of feral hogs, it would be ideal for stalking a brushy ridge for whitetail deer or for sitting at a bait pile waiting on a black bear. It would also make a great saddle or camp gun in grizzly country, and I’d not hesitate to put one behind the kitchen door to deal with anything that came around the house that wasn’t supposed to.

Maybe the most exciting thing about this new Marlin is that it means the 1894 is back. And that means we can soon expect to see 1894s in other configurations and other chamberings like .357 Magnum. Maybe we’ll get lucky and soon see one in .41 Magnum and maybe even .327 Federal Magnum. Part of the appeal of the 1894 is that it allows a revolver and rifle to share the same ammunition and that’s cowboying up at a high level.

Marlin-1894-specs

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


Raise Your Lever-Gun IQ:

Understanding Handgun Recoil

A brief discussion on handgun recoil and how it impacts your shooting.

Handgun recoil can be measured objectively. The free recoil energy in foot-pounds can be calculated with a mathematical formula. According to SAAMI (Small Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute) the formula looks like this:

FRE = (WF/64.34) × (WEVE + WPCVPG)/7,000WF)²

  • FRE = Free Recoil Energy in foot-pounds
  • WF = Weight of the firearm in pounds
  • WE = Weight of the bullet in grains
  • VE = Velocity of the bullet in feet per second
  • WPC = Weight of the propellant charge in grains
  • VPG = Velocity of the propellant gases in feet per second

There’s also a modifier that’s applied to the velocity of the propellant gases (VPG) based on whether you’re calculating for rifles (VPG x 1.75), or shotguns and handguns (VPG × 1.50). You can use this formula if you like, but it’s quite silly. There are numerous online recoil calculators where you just input the required data and an answer is magically given. While I’ve found the results of various calculators/websites to disagree, it’s all relative and you’ll get a good idea of how hard a handgun might kick.

handgun-recoil-feature
Recoil is something that must be managed. The harder a handgun recoils, the harder it is to shoot fast and accurately.

The problem with all of this is that recoil is a very subjective thing. Some associates and I were recently shooting a rifle that I found to have overly offensive recoil for a .308 Winchester. The other three shooters thought it was on par with .308 Winchester rifles of the same style and weight. These variations in perceived recoil apply to handguns as well. Because our hands are different, because we all have varying levels of strengths and because the grips of some handguns are shaped differently, there can be staunch disagreements on how hard this or that handgun feels to different individuals.

For a shooter, it’s important that a handgun is comfortable to shoot. The reasons should be obvious: The more comfortable a handgun is to shoot, the more you’ll shoot it. And the less a handgun recoils, the more accurate your shots will likely be, and the faster you should be able to make them.

I know, that’s a lot of math and gibberish to go through just to simply state that the more perceived recoil you feel from a handgun, the harder it is to shoot. However, now you have the math.

The real question is this: How much does handgun recoil impact your shooting?

In other words, if you’re shooting multiple shots, fast—which is something often required with a defensive handgun—how much does more recoil increase your split times? (Split times being the time between your shots.) Just as felt recoil might be different for everyone, it’s also possible that its impact on individual shooting performance will be different as well.

Nosler-45-ACP
This 230-grain .45 Auto load from Nosler generated 7.52 foot-pounds of recoil out of the Tisas pistol.

The Handgun Recoil Test

To get an idea of how recoil can negatively impact shooting, a friend and I conducted a test. We fired a variety of multi-shot defensive drills using a lightweight .45 Auto pistol loaded with standard and +P ammunition. We recorded the time between every shot, so that in the end we could analyze the data scientifically to see how much the harder recoiling load was to shoot compared to the lighter recoiling load. We only counted the runs where we had no misses. Our goal wasn’t to see how fast we could miss, but to see how fast we could hit.

Before sharing the results, you should know that when the standard pressure load was subjected to the recoil formula supplied in this article, it registered a Free Recoil Energy of 7.52 foot-pounds. When the +P load data was put into the formula, it was calculated to have 9.42 foot-pounds of Free Recoil Energy.

For what it’s worth, one online recoil calculator agreed with these results and another listed recoil energies of 8.77 and 10.72 foot-pounds, respectively. The results were different but proportionally mostly the same. Maybe more important was the fact that my friend and I both felt that out of the lightweight handgun, the +P load kicked like an SOB compared to the standard pressure load.

Federal-45-ACP
Though loaded with the same weight bullet, this Federal .45 Auto load generated about 25 percent more recoil than the Nosler load. This additional recoil resulted in split times that were, on average, 21.5 percent slower.

The results were interesting and provided at right for each load and each shooter. Going from the standard pressure to the +P load, I experienced an increase in my split times—the time between shots on multi-shot drills—of 0.06 second. That’s an increase of 20 percent. Interestingly, my assistant experienced an increase of the exact same amount of time.

One of the reasons I think this is interesting is that my assistant shot a little faster than I did; his split times were 0.04-second faster with both loads, but the +P load had more of a detrimental impact on his shooting than it did with me. Yes, he shot the +P load almost as fast as I shot the standard pressure load, but the +P load increased his split times by 23 percent … as opposed to 20 percent.

Split Times

handgun-recoil-split-time-chart

So, what does all this shooting and all this math mean. For us, it meant that, on average, our split times increased very similarly to the increase in recoil. From a practical standpoint, this makes perfect sense. If your handgun generates 25 percent more recoil with one load, you can expect your split times to increase by a similar percentage.

This is for sure something to keep in mind when selecting ammunition. You might get better terminal performance with one load, but the increase in recoil might not be worth the reduction in the shootability of your handgun.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the October 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handgun Skills:

The Importance Of The Press Check

If a semi-automatic is your defensive handgun of choice, you need to learn the press check.

A press check with a semi-automatic handgun is the slight retraction of the slide so that verification can be made that there’s a cartridge in the chamber. Put another way, a press check is a way to confirm your pistol is loaded. I’ve found that many shooters do not fully understand when a press check should be conducted or how it should be done. As with many things firearms related, there’s not a single specified or correct way to do a press check … if it’s done safely.

press-check-feature
A press check on a pistol is the act of slightly pressing or moving the slide to the rear to see if there is a round in the chamber.

When To Press Check

The correct time to conduct a press check is when you’re unsure a cartridge is in the chamber of a semi-automatic pistol. If you’re conducting a press check for any other reason, you’re just trying to look cool. Just as with how some shooters rapidly scan from side to side—without really looking—after an engagement, a press check that fails to offer a true 100 percent confirmation of pistol status is a waste of time. A press check is no different than conducting a reload or performing immediate action; it’s a process that should be driven by need—a specific need—as opposed to an action you perform out of habit.

For example, when you need to make sure a handgun is unloaded, such as you would before cleaning it, that verification process should be absolute. This absolute certainty is just as necessary when you’re checking to make sure your self-defense pistol is loaded. A press check is less of a tactical practice than it is a practical one. It’s like looking both ways before you cross the street.

So, what are some examples of when a press check is necessary or suggested? Well, let’s say you’re shooting in an action pistol match and have been given the command to load your gun. After inserting the magazine and racking the slide, it might be a good idea to conduct a press check to make sure a round went into the chamber. If it did not, you’ll lose valuable seconds once the shooting stage starts as you load your handgun. This same logic applies when loading your carry gun to carry it. If you hope to use it to save your life, it better damn sure be loaded.

press-check-extractor
With many modern pistols, you can feel the protrusion of the external extractor to see if there’s a round in the chamber.

But should you always, in either of these instances, conduct a press check? Well, no, not really. If you’re loading your handgun in the daylight, you can probably watch as a cartridge is loaded into the chamber. You can also check your magazine to see if it is one round down after you cycle the slide. Also, some modern semi-automatic pistols are equipped with a loaded chamber indicator, with some you can feel the external extractor to discover the same, and others have visual windows where you can see the brass of the case in the chamber.

I prefer all these methods to partially cycling the slide. This is partly because you can maybe cycle it too far and jam the gun or fully eject the loaded cartridge. Or, after opening the action, the pistol does not want to go fully back into battery. Some pistols need slide velocity to fully chamber, especially on top of a fully loaded magazine. And, most importantly, monkeying around with guns is how accidents occur.

How To Press Check

But let’s say that you want to be sure your handgun is loaded, and let’s assume your handgun doesn’t have a feature that allows you to see if there’s a cartridge in the chamber. How are you supposed to safely conduct a press check? First and most importantly, and as with any other thing you do with a handgun, you need to be safe. Being safe starts with treating the pistol like it is loaded, pointing it in a safe direction and keeping your finger off the trigger. If you can’t work within these guidelines, you have no business conducting a press check.

chamber-window
Many modern pistols, like this P320, have a window that’ll allow you to see the brass case of the cartridge in the chamber.

Next, you must grasp the slide and gently move it rearward on the frame until you’ve extracted the cartridge in the chamber enough to see it and, ideally, feel it with one of your fingers. Why is feeling important? When you clear a firearm, you feel in the chamber to make sure it’s unloaded because sometimes our eyes play tricks on us. And you might feel the need to conduct a press check in the dark where you won’t be able to see. For this reason, your default press check activity should include looking and feeling. Do it the same way every time.

There are a couple ways you can do this. You can reach under the slide with your support hand and grasp the forward grooves to push it to the rear. Then, once the slide is slightly retracted, you can look and feel with your trigger finger to see if there is a cartridge in the chamber. Another method is to grasp the slide over the top with your support hand, and as you slightly retract it, feel for the chambered cartridge with one of the fingers of your support hand or your trigger finger.

press-check-trigger-finger
When feeling for a round in the chamber while conducting a press check, you can use your trigger finger or a finger on your support hand.

I prefer the over-the-top method because I like to keep my fingers away from the muzzle of pistols. Why? I’m human, and humans tend to make mistakes … and sometimes do dumb stuff. Anything I can do to prevent me from making a mistake is better than the alternative. I also don’t do a lot of press checks unless I’m on the range. Even then it’s rare, because I pay attention to my pistol when I’m loading it, and I load my carry guns and keep them loaded.

Being able to conduct a press check safely (and answer the question of whether your pistol is loaded) is a good skill to have. But do it for purpose instead of out of habit or to look cool.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handgun Skills:

3 Exceptional Hunting Rifle Drills

A zeroed scope and practice from a benchrest aren’t enough to prepare you for the field, but these hunting rifle drills will get you ready.

A lot of hunters don’t spend the necessary time practicing with their hunting rifles in the same ways they will use them when they’re hunting. I believe gun magazines and gun writers have sort of corrupted many hunters because too much focus is spent on shooting itty-bitty groups from a bench. This is a great way to test ammunition and almost mandatory for sighting in a rifle, but it does very little to help you enhance your relationship and interaction with the rifle you’ll be hunting with.

hunting-rifle-drills-feature

Some practical exercises that help you develop field marksmanship and gun handling skills are a better approach to preparation for hunting season.

These three hunting rifle drills can be fired on any 100-yard range; they’re easy to set up and easy to score. Most importantly, they focus—isolate—skills a rifle hunter may very well need to be successful. These hunting rifle drills are also based on incidents that have occurred during actual hunts. Give them a try the next time you’re at the range and then conduct an honest evaluation of how ready you are for the woods.

Safari Drill

safari-drill

When hunting in Africa, much of the shooting occurs from shooting sticks. This is partly because of the way the hunting is done there, but also partly because the vegetation there often limits shooting from the kneeling, seated or prone positions. This hunting rifle drill is ideal for preparing a hunter for an African safari or for hunting anywhere standing and shooting from sticks is expected. You’ll need one Thompson Target Quick Kill Zone target (#R-8700), and you’ll need to set it at 50 yards. Hitting the target at this distance is easy, but keep in mind this is as much of a gun handling drill as it is a shooting drill.

You’re also going to need a shot timer, and it needs to be set for a random delay start.

Start with your rifle on the sticks and your sights on the target. You’re simulating a situation where you’re waiting for the professional hunter to tell you to shoot. For this drill, your shot timer is your PH, and when you hear the shot timer beep, you’re free to engage the target. As soon as you fire one shot, come off the sticks, step to the side and fire two additional shots from the standing unsupported position. (If you’re using shooting sticks with two legs, make sure you push them forward and out of your way as you move.) These final two shots simulate you needing a follow-up shot on an animal that’s moved and may be running away or even toward you.

safari-drill-target
After your three-shot Safari Drill, your target should look something like this.

Ideally, you’ll have three hits on the target, and they will all be inside the 6-inch circle. However, to pass the drill, you will need at least one shot to hit inside the center 2-inch circle. The par time for this drill—the time it should take you to fire all three shots and get your three hits—is between 7 and 10 seconds. If you miss with any of the shots, you fail the drill and need to slow down and take more time shooting or you need to work more on your rifle handling skills.

Deer Hunter Drill

Deer-Hunter-drill

This hunting rifle drill resulted from a situation I encountered on the first deer hunt I did alone. I was walking an old logging road, with my rifle slung on my shoulder, when a big whitetail buck stepped out in the road right in front of me at only about 30 yards. I struggled to get my rifle off my shoulder, and by the time I did—and at just about the same time I got the riflescope up to my eye—the buck bolted into the brush, never to be seen again.

Granted, it’s not wise to hunt with your rifle slung on your shoulder, but we all do it when we’re not expecting something to happen. And, if you’re an experienced hunter you know, things often happen when you least expect it. This drill lets you prepare for that moment.

You’ll need a Thompson Target Life Size Deer Sight-In Target (#R-8825), and you’ll need to set it at about 30 to 35 yards. You’re also going to need a shot timer, and it needs to be set for a random start delay. You start this drill with your rifle slung on your shoulder, so you’ll also need a sling attached to your rifle. This is a single-shot drill, but you’re going to need four rounds because you’ll shoot it four times for score.

deer-hunter-drill-target
You’ll shoot four shots on the Deer Hunter Drill and if they all land inside the heart-lung area, you’re good to go.

For your first two runs on the drill, start with the rifle slung on your shoulder in the American carry style (strong side, muzzle up). On signal from the shot timer, unsling and make a single shot on the target. You’ll do this again for a total of two shots. (Make a note of the time it takes you to fire each shot.)

Now switch to African carry (weak side, muzzle down) and run the drill twice more—again, writing down your times for each shot. After the four shots, total the four times. A good average time for each attempt is about 3.5 seconds, and your goal is to get four hits inside the heart/lung area on the deer target in less than 16 seconds.

Getting the hits should be the easy part. At 30 to 35 yards, it’s almost like shooting at a basketball. But remember, this is mostly a gun-handling drill designed to test your ability to get your rifle from the slung position and on target as quickly as possible. If you cannot do that and hit a basketball-sized target at 30 to 35 yards in less than 4 seconds, you need to practice unslinging your rifle in a hurry, with as little wasted movement as possible.

Walk Back Drill

walk-back-drill

This is a good hunting rifle drill to establish your maximum practical range when shooting from the standing off-hand position. You’ll need four Thompson Target 8-inch Halo targets (#R-4610), and you’ll need to set one at 25 yards, one at 50 yards, one at 75 yards and one at 100 yards. Alternatively, if you have a range where you can set the four targets at 100 yards and then step back and shoot from 25, 50, 75 and 100 yards, that’ll work, too. This drill is a combination of gun handling and marksmanship, and it replicates you having to take a quick shot at an animal you expect is just about ready to run.

You’re also going to need a shot timer, and it needs to be set for a random delay start. Start the drill at 25 yards with the rifle in the high ready position and, on signal from the shot timer, fire one shot and record the time. Repeat this four times, recording the time after each shot for a total of five shots. Once you’ve fired those five shots, total your five times and determine the average. You’ll follow this same procedure at 50, 75 and 100 yards. Just don’t forget to write down the time for each of the five shots at each distance and average them.

You should have five hits on each target, but you might find that you do well out to a certain distance and then your shot times substantially increase and/or you begin to get misses. Ideally, you should be able to get your hits at 25 yards with an average time of about 2 seconds. At 50 yards, your average shot time should be about 3 seconds, about 4 seconds at 75 yards and about 5 seconds at 100 yards. Regardless of your averages at each distance, when you add your averages up, the total must be less than 16 seconds with 20 total hits. When you get to 75 and 100 yards, you might want to use a spotting scope or binoculars to check for hits.

walk-back-drill-target
For the Walk Back Drill, you’ll use four targets like this one, and you’ll fire five shots at each target. Remember to write down the time of each shot.

So, what about misses? You’re probably going to have some, and to keep the scoring simple, you only get 25 rounds to run this drill. If you miss a shot, try to make it up using one or all five extra rounds. But, when those extra five rounds are gone, you’ll have none left for mulligans.

Also, don’t count the times where you missed a shot; only record and average the times for the shots that hit. If you can clean this drill out to 100 yards and within the time limit, you’re doing very well, and you might want to move the 25-yard target to 125 yards and give it another try.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Hunting Rifles:

Evaluating Shooting Stances

An evaluation of common shooting stances that can help you shoot a handgun easier and more consistently.

I began working in law enforcement in the early ’90s. At that time, competition pistol shooting and tricked-out pistols were the rage, and the things that worked in competition were the marketplace and training. Though you don’t hear so much about it now, at that time there was a running debate about which shooting stance—isosceles or Weaver—was the best.

Shooting-Stances-targets
The goal of a shooting stance is to provide you with a balanced and versatile foundation to shoot and move from, maximize awareness of your surroundings, and the ability to direct fast and accurate fire in the most directions.

The Weaver stance was developed by Jack Weaver of Lancaster, California, in 1959 for the purpose of ensuring quick and accurate shot placement with a handgun. It was later codified by Jeff Cooper and very much resembles a fighting stance that might be used by a boxer or mixed martial arts fighter. This shooting stance allows you to deliver force quickly, while maintaining balance and the ability to move.

The isosceles began to get a lot of attention when Rob Leatham used his version of it to win several major competitions. According to Max Michel, who has won more world speed shooting championships than anyone, “The isosceles stance allows the competitive shooter to square up to the target, which gives stability and a full range of motion in a 180-degree arc, allowing them to easily transition to multiple targets.”

stance-aiming

Most do not understand either of these shooting stances, or they complicate both with the insistence that any deviation from their rigid understanding nullifies both techniques. I’ve been trained in both by what would be considered masters. I learned the Weaver stance at Gunsite Academy, and I learned the isosceles—or at least his version of it—from Michel. Both work very well, and if you’re just learning to shoot a handgun, both will provide you with an equally solid foundation to learn from.

The Weaver

Though some believe the Weaver stance is a bladed stance, it’s not. You stand with your body squared to the target. Feet should be about shoulder width apart, and some suggest your strong side foot be slightly behind your weak-side foot by about a half step. Your knees should be over your toes, and your shoulders should be over your knees. Essentially, you have a very slight forward lean. Your head is held erect and when you draw your handgun, you bring it up to eye level. You do not drop your head.

The main distinction of the Weaver stance is that your weak or support arm elbow is bent at about a 45-degree angle, and your shooting arm’s is either straight or the elbow is very slightly bent. What’s critical about the Weaver stance is that you push the pistol forward with your shooting arm and apply pressure to the rear with your support arm.

shooting-stances-feature-mann
Regardless of the stance you shoot from, keep your head erect. Do not tuck it between your arms or lean it to one side.

The Isosceles

Just as with the Weaver stance, your body should be squared to the target. Your feet can either be side by side, shoulder width apart or one can be slightly forward. Also, just as with the Weaver, your knees should be over your toes and your shoulders should be over your knees, and your head is held erect; when you draw your handgun, you bring it up to eye level.

The main distinction of the isosceles stance is that both of your arms are extended, with the elbows locked or only very slightly bent. And, just like the Weaver stance, you push the pistol forward with your shooting arm and apply pressure to the rear with your support arm.

For the key takeaways and what’s most important, let’s look at the similarities between the two as opposed to the differences.

  • Feet about shoulder width apart
  • Knees over toes, shoulders over knees
  • Head erect
  • Bring handgun to eye level
  • Push forward with the shooting hand, pull with the support hand

The Good

The good thing about learning a shooting stance is that if you do either the Weaver or the isosceles correctly, it will make learning to shoot a handgun easier. This is why a stance of some sort is generally the second thing you learn … after grip. If you develop a good shooting foundation, you can then direct more of your attention to the other aspects of shooting—like grip, sight alignment and trigger control—because you’re not trying to do/learn everything at the same time while trying to maintain balance. And balance is what really matters when it comes to a shooting stance.

The Bad

Regardless of the stance you’re shooting from, one of the most frequent mistakes is not keeping your head erect. You can better monitor and react to your situation with your head erect. If you don’t believe me, just watch a professional NFL quarterback. When they drop back in the pocket to pass, where they’re under duress and must maintain awareness of pass rushers/attackers, they keep their head erect. As a pistol shooter, you should do the same; keep your head erect and bring the pistol’s sights up to your eyes.

exaggerated-isosceles-stance
This is an over exaggeration of the isosceles stance. Notice how the shooter’s head is sucked—turtled—down between his arms.

The Ugly

Often, you’ll see those shooting the Weaver stance cock their head to the side and rest it on their shooting arm. Similarly, you’ll see those shooting the isosceles stance duck their head like a turtle between their shooting arms. Neither approach is correct. Just the same, shooters will excessively blade their body with the Weaver stance, and they’ll spread their legs too far apart or lean too far forward with the isosceles stance. When learning to shoot, these bad stance examples might not seem like a serious problem. It’s when you advance to more complicated shooting problems or are learning to deal with tactical situations that these ugly habits can cause problems with your performance.

shooting-stance-aiming
The shooter’s head is erect, but so is his body. He’ll probably be able to make a good first shot, but after that, he’ll struggle to control recoil and make fast and accurate follow-up shots.

The Balanced Stance

I strongly suggest that new shooters pick either the Weaver or the isosceles stance and use it correctly as you develop your shooting proficiency. Learn either—it does not matter which one—well enough so that it’s a reflexive response to the decision to shoot. This leaves more of your brain available to help you shoot better.

balanced-stance
Regardless of the stance or arm positioning, assuming a balanced stance is the goal.

However, you’ll eventually find that you will use some combination of both shooting stances to address more complex shooting problems, such as you might have to do during competition or tactical training, or heaven forbid, a situation where you must shoot to save your life. Once you become proficient at shooting a handgun, the only thing that really matters about your stance is that it’s balanced enough to control the handgun … and balanced enough to keep you on your feet during a fight.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handgunnery:

Expert Access: Q&A With Bill Wilson

A Q&A with Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat.

I believe most gun writers take for granted how fortunate we are. We’re for damn sure not special, but many of us do have access to special people, experts the average shooter would love to be able to talk to for just a few moments. Some of these experts are just doing their job to help gun writers educate the shooting public, and some of these experts are friends.

Wilson-Combat-Bill-Wilson
Wilson believes the 15+1 round SFX9 with its 4-inch barrel is the best defensive handgun currently offered by Wilson Combat.

For example, if I need some specifics on ammunition, I have contacts at all the major manufacturers who will take my call. And if I want to discuss defensive handgun application, I can reach out several Gunsite Academy instructors. My job then becomes to pass that information on to you.

Bill Wilson, founder of Wilson Combat, is a friend. He’s someone I can reach out to when I need an expert opinion or gun guidance. We’ve shot together, hunted together, drank beer together and even talked about some of the people in the gun industry who aren’t the experts they claim to be. Wilson, especially when it comes to handguns, is an expert. I thought it’d be cool to ask him some questions about defensive handguns that you might consider asking him if you had the chance.

Understand that Wilson isn’t what I would call a bloviator. He has an opinion that’s founded on experience, and he’ll give it to you simple and straight. Wilson doesn’t endlessly wax on like a gun writer to prove his opinion is the right one. You may not agree with him on everything, but when considering his answers, realize they’re not coming from some geek behind a gun counter or some tactard at your local range—they’re coming from one of the best handgunners in the world.

Bill-Wilson-qa-feature
Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat.

Favorite Number: 9, 40 or 45?

Many interested in carrying a defensive handgun struggle with what cartridge it should be chambered for. It might be the ultimate defensive handgun question, so it’s the first question I asked Wilson.

Wilson: With the high-performance 9mm ammunition available today, I’m pretty much a 9mm guy for range use and self-defense. I’ve never had any use for the .40 S&W or 10mm.

Jacketed Hollow-Points Or Mono-Metal Bullets?

For years, the gold standard regarding defensive handgun bullets has been jacketed hollow-points like the Speer Gold Dot or the Federal HST. But mono-metal bullets XP are becoming more popular. I asked Wilson which he preferred.

Wilson: Obviously, now that I own Lehigh Defense, I’m a big fan of the highly effective Xtreme Defense and Xtreme Penetrator bullets. The more I use them, the more impressed I become with them. They don’t have any of the negatives of a JHP, such as varying performance when fired through heavy clothing and/or barriers due to the HP getting clogged, occasional failure to expand for various reasons, or lack of penetration. They will perform the same under all conditions.

Wilson-Combat-ammo
Wilson has a lot of experience with JHP and mono-metal bullets, but he’s become a fan of the bullets offered by Lehigh Defense—which is why he bought the company.

Defensive Handgun Sights?

It wasn’t that long ago that you were stuck with the sights that came on your defensive handgun when you bought it. Today, there seems to be endless aftermarket options, and most manufacturers even offer various styles. So, I asked Wilson which defensive handgun sight he liked best. You might find it interesting that he didn’t even mention the ubiquitous three-dot sight.

Wilson: Most of my pistols have a black rear and a red fiber-optic front. But for a dedicated carry gun, I also like a tritium front sight.

Do You Appendix Carry?

The current in-thing is appendix carry. It does offer a very fast draw but, at the same time, it can be very difficult to draw from the appendix position if you’re extremely crouched. It’s also somewhat conditional on the configuration of your body at the belt position. IDPA has just recently allowed appendix carry for competition, so I thought I’d ask Wilson for his thoughts on it.

Wilson: I’m not a fan of appendix carry for various reasons, and I’m also way too fat for it. (Bill Wilson is in no way fat, but like me, there’s a little extra bit on him at the belt line.) I’ve settled on point of hip carry with a straight drop and use one of our Rapid Response model holsters, the basic design originated by Bruce Nelson.

What About Gun Cleaning?

If you were in the Army like I was, you were taught to clean your gun every time you used it. However, the Army did that not so much to teach you to clean your gun every time you used it, but to teach you how to properly field strip and clean your gun. So, I asked Wilson, who I’m sure probably shoots more than anyone reading this magazine, how often a defensive handgun needs cleaned.

Wilson: More often than I do! At least once a month and probably every two weeks if you are out in a dusty environment. The most important thing for a steel frame gun is to keep some lube on it, and all oils will migrate away and/or dry up pretty quickly. Unless it’s really cold weather, I use a very light viscosity grease, which will stay put and not dry up.

Custom Or Custom-Built 1911?

Wilson Combat is famous for custom 1911s. In my opinion, they’re the premier source for custom 1911s. You can buy a full custom 1911 from Wilson Combat or you can send them your 1911 for customization. I asked Wilson which option he thought was best and which, of all the 1911s on the market, would be the best to send in for customization.

Wilson: These days, with all the high-quality semi-custom and full custom complete pistols available, that’s the best way to go. But if you want to go the custom-build route, both Colt and Springfield Armory guns will make a good base gun.

What’s Wilson Combat’s Best Carry Gun?

If you go to the Wilson Combat website looking for a defensive handgun, there are a lot to choose from, and prices can exceed $4,000. I wanted to know what Wilson thought the best defensive handgun his company offered was. It wasn’t the most expensive.

Wilson: I personally carry a SFX9 subcompact (It has a 10-round capacity with a 3.25-inch barrel), but I think our SFX9 compact, with its 15-round capacity and 4-inch barrel, is our best all-around carry/range model. I shoot this model better than any pistol I’ve ever fired, and it’s my primary training pistol.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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Detectives, Gunslingers And Shadowland

The Shadowland firearms training center and a tribute to the one of the most storied lawmen to ever chase down a bad man.

Shadowland isn’t some mythical place where mall ninjas, tactards and has-been or wannabe gunfighters go to drink whiskey and video themselves pontificating on their greatness. It’s where I live; it’s just a small hacienda and collection of shooting ranges hidden in the West Virginia Hills. But it was inspired by history—a history those who are students of the gun and gunfighters might be interested in.

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Wicked Grips created these custom grips with the Shadowland logo for one of the author’s 1911s.

When I went to work as a special agent for the railroad police, I met John Velke. Velke was writing a book on the history of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. I helped him with some research and even contributed a chapter to the book’s second edition, which is mostly a chronological detailing of the organization and its founder’s exploits between 1885 and 1930. But it was also something more. It was an introduction to a very prominent figure in American law enforcement, a gunfighter and a detective. Just as much as it was the history of a detective agency, the book was a biography of a man named William Gibboney Baldwin.

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Cover of the book,The True Story of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, by John A. Velke III.

William Baldwin founded the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, and, in time, it became the Norfolk Western—now Norfolk Southern—Railroad Police Department. Baldwin was a self-described “shootist” who had a storied law enforcement career, survived many gunfights, tracked down members of the Hatfield gang and even did some work for President Teddy Roosevelt. On the East Coast, around the turn of the century, Baldwin was every bit the legend Bat Masterson was in the West. My area of responsibility with the Norfolk Southern Police Department was the same area Baldwin covered during his tenure. His exploits were of extreme interest to me; I chased bad guys over the same ground he had, and I spent time behind a badge where he’d had shootouts and even survived an assassination attempt.

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The great detective, gunslinger and shootist, William Gibboney Baldwin. (Image courtesy of John A. Velke III.)

Baldwin’s career began in 1885 in Charleston, West Virginia, when at age 25 he went to work for the Eureka Detective Agency. Shortly after, he opened his own agency in Bluefield, West Virginia, originally named the Virginia and West Virginia Railroad Detectives. In 1989, Baldwin became involved in one of his first gunfights. Attempting to arrest murderer Bill Moran, who was known as the Terror of Flat Top, two of Baldwin’s detectives were badly wounded, and Baldwin was shot twice. But Moran never stood trial; his body was littered with lead.

A few years later, Baldwin was tried and acquitted for the murder of Henry Hawkes. Hawkes had pulled a gun on Baldwin during the attempted arrest of Hawkes’ son. Baldwin swiftly pulled a revolver and promptly shot Hawkes in the head. During the trial, Baldwin testified that while in the employ of the Norfolk & Western Railroad—one of his many clients—he had shot 13 men. Celebrated Western lawmen the likes of Masterson and Earp have the reputation of being fearsome gun-wielding pistoleers, but reliable documentation to support all their so-called gunfights combined doesn’t equal those of Baldwin. Had Baldwin’s escapades occurred west of the Mississippi, he’d have likely eclipsed both these American icons in popularity.

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This author’s Special Agent credentials, 2005.

Sadly, due to strike-breaking work conducted by the Baldwin Felts Detective agency, the organization developed a tainted and feared name in the coal fields of southern West Virginia, western Virginia and eastern Kentucky. So dreaded was a “railroad detective” in these areas, they’re still more feared there than local, state and even federal law enforcement officers. It’s unfortunate that those events shade the amazing and adventurous career of Baldwin. He and his agency were engaged in several criminal cases of great importance, and they also worked diligently to protect American transportation interests during World War I.

Additionally, Baldwin was partly responsible for American law enforcement’s adoption of fingerprinting as a method of identification. He was part of a three-man International Association of Chiefs of Police committee that included New York City Police Sergeant Joseph Faurot—who is now considered the father of fingerprinting—and famed detective William Pinkerton. Baldwin took the lead on this committee and traveled to London for conference with Scotland Yard on the fingerprinting process.

There’s no doubt Baldwin was a gun guy. It’s reported that he had a special holster crafted to conceal a handgun in his trousers that was attached to his suspenders. He also regarded himself as a shootist, as can be seen from the marksmanship cards he saved from 1894. His marksmanship ability is also unquestionable based on the 52-foot (17-yard) 10-shot group measuring about 2.4 inches. He was known to carry a Smith & Wesson 38-44 revolver, as well as a very rare Mauser Zig Zag revolver.

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Marksmanship cards of William G. Baldwin. Note the inscription at the top. (Image courtesy of John A. Velke III.)

Baldwin named his Troutville, Virginia, estate Shadowland. After collaborating with Velke on the second edition of his book, my wife and I decided if we ever had a piece of ground worth naming, we’d do the same. This was somewhat ironic since our first home—a used 1979 single-wide trailer we’d lived in when I first became a police officer—was set in a mobile home park called “Shadow Wood.”

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The Shadowland sign at the driveway entrance to this author’s West Virginia home and shooting range.

If you turn up the driveway to our hillbilly plantation/shooting range, you’ll see a sign that says, “Shadowland.” Nope, it’s nothing swanky, and it’s a long way from an antebellum mansion. But it’s our home, our castle. It’s where we live, shoot and hunt. And it’s where we raise kids who do the same, and who’ve also been trained to accept that they’re their own first responder. It’s also a historic tribute to one of the most storied lawmen to ever chase down a bad man.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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Are You Good Enough?: Measuring Defensive Handgun Accuracy

A discussion on how to measure your defensive handgun accuracy and precision skills.

The ability of a handgun to stop a threat is often debated. Most often these debates center around the cartridge the handgun is chambered for, and/or the type of ammunition being used. Though terminal performance is a very important part of the stopping equation, shot placement matters, too. In fact, disregarding extremes, shot placement might matter more than anything. The ability of a handgun to deliver the shot placement you desire depends on two things: accuracy and precision.

An accurate handgun will place the bullets where you want them. The more precision a gun delivers, the smaller the target you will be able to hit. For example, if you can hit a softball at 10 yards every time with your handgun, it’s accurate. If you can hit a golf ball at 10 yards every time, your handgun is accurate and has a high level of precision.

So, regarding self-defense handguns, how much precision do you need?

This, of course, could vary greatly depending on the situation you might be in. However, most self-defense shootings occur within about 10 yards. If your handgun can keep all its shots inside a softball at that distance, that should be good enough.

But, it’s not as simple as that.

A softball has a diameter of 3.5 inches. If your handgun will shoot 3.5-inch groups at 10 yards, it will hit a softball every time at that distance. But that’s what the handgun is capable of, not what you’re capable of. You’ll have to do everything perfectly to deliver that level of precision and, while you might be capable of doing that on the range, you won’t do it in a high-stress self-defense shooting situation.

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Under stress, you want to be able to deliver softball-sized groups. The chances are your pistol is capable. The question is, are you?

Precision Needed

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that if you can place your shots within 1.75 inches of where you’re aiming, that’s good enough for self-defense. In other words, we’re saying that softball size—3.5-inch groups—are sufficient.

But, to account for shooting under stress, let’s assume that your 3.5-inch groups will turn into soccer ball-sized groups. Like some have said: Your worst shot in training will be your best shot when under stress. If you’re only going to shoot half as well under stress, you need to shoot twice as good during practice.

Precision Available

At the risk of restating the obvious, our goal is for our handgun to deliver 1.75-inch groups at 10 yards. This is usually determined by shooting from a rest. The question is, how high of a hurdle is that to clear for modern defensive handguns? Is that an unreasonable expectation?

I recently tested 11 new for 2022 defensive handguns by shooting them from a bench at 10 yards using self-defense capable ammunition. Three groups of five shots each were fired with each handgun, and the average for all groups and all handguns was 1.74 inches. As an average, that’s not very reassuring. However, the average was drastically skewed by a single handgun that only delivered groups measuring about 4 inches. That’s bad considering that—under stress, with that handgun—you’re in the range of soccer ball-sized groups again.

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Somewhat surprisingly, the $500 Tisas PX-9 Gen III delivered the best precision of all the defensive handguns tested.

If we take that poor performer out of the mix, the average drops to 1.51 inches. At 10 yards, 10 of the 11 handguns tested delivered the necessary precision for defensive use; except for the one, none had an average group size larger than 1.75 inches. Considering these 10 handguns, which included revolvers and semi-automatics from nine different manufacturers, with prices ranging from only $500 to $3,700, that’s not bad. It should give you confidence that just about any self-defense handgun will deliver the precision you need.

Best And Worse

What might surprise you is which handguns delivered the best and worst precision. The smallest average group size was turned in by a pistol that has a suggested retail price of only $500. The worst precision—the one we excluded with the 4.02 group average—was delivered by a pistol with a suggested retail price of $561. Discounting this poor performance, the next largest average group size was delivered by a $600 pistol.

There were two very expensive pistols in the test. One had a suggested price of $2,895 and it turned in an impressive three-group average of 1.29 inches. The other, which was the most expensive gun tested, had a three-group average of 1.68 inches. This is larger than the 1.51 average for the 10 best shooting handguns. So, it would appear that the amount of money you spend may or may not matter when it comes to precision. Including the junk gun, the $3,700 handgun only out-shot three of the other nine pistols.

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Measuring Handgun Accuracy

Accuracy, as we said, is the ability to hit what you’re aiming at. To some extent, accuracy is dictated by how well the gun is sighted in. You can have a very precise shooting handgun, but if it’s not sending bullets to where the sights are pointing, all that precision is of little benefit. On average, out of the box, these 11 handguns placed their groups within 1.7 inches of the point of aim. The handgun that had the best zero out of the box cost $700. The centers of its groups were within a half-inch of the point of aim.

Accuracy and precision all tie together. If you want to keep all your shots inside a softball at 10 yards when shooting under stress, you’ll need a gun capable of delivering a decent level of precision, but it will also need to be properly sighted in. Based on this test, I think you should expect to adjust the sights on any defensive handgun you might purchase, regardless of price.

I think this test proves you should be reasonably confident that no matter the defensive handgun you purchase, it should be capable of delivering a level of precision suitable for self-defense to about 10 yards. If it doesn’t, send it back for repair or trade it for a different handgun.

Sure, there are many other considerations when it comes to selecting a handgun, but with today’s modern handguns I’d say there’s a 91 percent chance they’ll provide all the precision you need. That also means that you’ll have to take the blame for any missing that occurs.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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More Turkey: SDS Imports PX-9 Review

The author takes a look at SDS Imports' Gen 2 and 3 PX-9 and tells you why your shooting diet could use more Turkey.

Many shooters probably think the last thing we need is another polymer-framed, high-capacity, striker-fired pistol that emulates the Glock. It seems like, for the past decade or so, that description fits about every new handgun introduced. As unexciting as new Tupperware guns might be, this is how innovation works; evolution allows for the concept to be maximized.

Admittedly, I’m not a plastic pistol kind of guy. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with them—they’re just not my thing. Still, when I see any handgun that impresses me, I want to share and that’s why the SDS Imports’ PX-9 is being presented here.

Let me first say that the PX-9 is less expensive than most other polymer-frame pistols because it’s manufactured by Tisas in Turkey … where labor and operational costs are less, not because it’s constructed of sub-standard parts by folks who don’t know how to build pistols. The PX-9, or Zigana as it’s known in Turkey, has passed rigorous military trials and is even used by military units, police departments and private security firms around the world.

It was only about six months ago that I was provided a Gen 2 version of this pistol for testing and evaluation. I was very impressed with the sample because of its reliability, how comfortable it was in-hand and all its features. Just last month I received a Gen 3 version of the PX-9, and after lots of rounds downrange in both, I felt obligated to give this pistol its due.

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The Gen 3 version of the PX-9, which is imported by SDS Imports, is available in black, desert tan and OD green.

All The Extras

First, let’s address the elephants in the room. One worry with offshore-made handguns is whether there’s a decent selection of holsters. This is a valid concern. What good is a self-defense handgun if you can’t comfortably carry it?

With the PX-9, that’s not an issue. It’ll fit holsters sized for the Springfield Armory XD. Incidentally, though not much to brag about, the Gen 2 comes with a polymer OWB paddle holster, and the Gen 3 comes with a polymer IWB holster. Another concern is the availability of extra magazines. There’s no worry here; PX-9s are designed to work with Sig Sauer P226 magazines.

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PX-9 pistols are shipped with two 18-round Sig Sauer P226 magazines.

And finally, as with any out-of-country manufactured firearm, there’s the issue of parts and service. After all, you can’t just put a broken gun in the mail to Turkey. All Tisas-made firearms brought stateside by SDS Imports can be serviced at SDS Imports in Knoxville, Tennessee, because they have parts and qualified engineers on staff there. These engineers have spent time working with Tisas in Turkey where these guns are manufactured, so they know what they’re doing.

For example, the Gen 3 version of this pistol has a slide cut to accept a reflex sight. When I received the pistol for evaluation, I removed this plate, and when reinstalling it I broke the heads off the screws holding it in place. I called SDS Imports, explained the situation and a new slide was delivered to my door the next day. This is great customer service. I installed the new slide, took the pistol to the range and it ran perfectly.

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The Gen 3 PX-9 comes standard with an optics-ready cut and plate. The cut will fit the Trijicon RMR.

Features & Design

These are duty-sized pistols that ship with two, 18-round magazines, but they’re not heavy. Unloaded weight is just shy of 25 ounces, which is just a few ounces heavier than a Glock 17.

The Gen 3 version is available in black, desert tan or green, and it comes standard with a fiber-optic front sight and a ledge-style rear sight. They’re fitted with an external extractor, have front and rear grasping grooves on the slide, and the frame has a four-slot accessory rail.

The trigger on the Gen 2 is curved, the trigger on the Gen 3 is straight, and both have the common passive trigger safety. Both can also be had with an ambidextrous manual thumb safety, and the magazine release can be positioned for left- or right-side activation. The PX9 also has visible and tactile, cocked-striker and loaded-chamber indicators.

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The Gen 3 version of the PX-9 comes standard with a flat trigger. The Gen 2 has a trigger with a curved face.

One of the most appealing features is the modular grip. The backstrap and side panels are easily removed and can be replaced to perfectly fit this pistol to your hand. Each PX-9 is supplied with six grip panels and three backstraps.

Additionally, these guns are supplied with an extended and beveled, wide-mouth magazine well. It, too, is easy to install and not only helps with speed reloads, but if you have large hands, it also enhances the feel of the grip as well. Though you’d have to have two different-colored PX-9s like I do, you can swap the grip panels, backstraps and magazine wells of different colors to provide a little multicolor flare.

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SDS Imports PX-9 Gen 2 and Gen 3 pistols are very reliable and very comfortable to shoot.

I found the PX-9 much more comfortable to shoot than a Glock 17; Glocks tend to uncomfortably impress on the first knuckle of the middle finger on my shooting hand. And I’d rate the PX-9 just as—if not more—comfortable to shoot than the Sig Sauer P320. Accuracy and precision were on par with what you’d expect from a duty-sized defensive handgun. With now close to 1,000 combined rounds out of the Gen 2 and Gen 3, I’ve yet to have a stoppage of any sort … and that’s with a wide range of munitions.

By partnering with Tisas in Turkey, SDS Imports is working to find the ultimate expression of the high-capacity, poly-framed, striker-fired pistol. This is the fifth Turkish-made handgun that’s imported by SDS Imports that I’ve spent a good bit of time with. And while I’m an American-made kind of guy, I’m also one who appreciates good stuff, regardless of where it comes from—especially when the price is right. It’s no small thing that you can pick up a brand-new PX-9 for less than $400!

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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