Category: Uncategorized

After this article was published in Dillon’s Blue Press, the editor received a couple of irate emails, in one case the reader demanding his subscription to The Blue Press be canceled because I had insulted his Flat Dark Earth Glock. I would have thought that, if not the overall tone of the article, then Paul Kirchner’s…

As requested by readers on Facebook, here is my review of the then-new .40 S&W chambered Browning Hi-Power, originally published in the May 1995 issue of Handguns magazine. I felt very, very lucky, when researching this article, to be able to interview the Browning firearms engineer who, working with an FN design team in Belgium,…

“There is absolutely no good information on the ‘net re how to load plated bullets so they’ll shoot accurately… Thus I had to figure this all out for myself… In this article, I will share with you what I’ve learned.” https://self-defense-handguns.com/?page_id=2196

Years ago I manged to talk Speer (this was back before the ATK acquisition, when it was still just  Speer, and before the era of Blazer Brass, when all Blazer ammo was still aluminum cased) into sending me 5,000 rounds apiece of 115-gr., 124-gr. and 147-gr. Blazer 9mm. Looking back on it, I have no…

Got the Wilson EDC X9 out to the range for another shooting session, it worked perfectly though another 653 rounds. One big question I had about this gun was, “Will the EDC X9, being built around a previously existent 9mm mag, unlike most 1911s feed TC ammo reliably?” You all probably know this by now,…

Many people recommend replacing the recoil spring in an autopistol after firing a certain, set number of rounds. The problem with that theory is that recoil springs wear at different rates, depending on the sort of gun, the power of the cartridge being fired, even how a particular gun is fitted. Replace a recoil spring…

Lee Jurras passed away Monday the 24th. A true pioneer has moved on. Lee didn’t invent the jacketed hollowpoint, but he certainly popularized it with his ammo company, Super Vel. At a time when most police and normal citizens were using round nosed bullets, or semi-wadcutters, and loading a 148-gr. wadcutter backwards was considered really…

I mentioned last month shooting this little local pistol league match, two stages on an indoor range, the stages were identical except one stage was shot with the lights turned on, the second with most of the lights turned off. Shot stage 2 last month using a flashlight with the “syringe” technique, which did not…

AND NOW,  A SELF-DEFENSE-HANDGUNS.COM EXCLUSIVE There were several photos submitted with this article but not used in the published version. Here they are, along with the captions. Both scales were decorated by famous engraver John Muns. The blade is almost completed serrated along the cutting edge, with a flat grind to the last half an…

I joked with my editor at Dillon’s Blue Press, Mark Pixler, that the December 2015 issue should have been titled the Special Duane Thomas Magazine Reviews Issue. In addition to my review of the Chip McCormick 10-round 9mm 1911 magazines, we also had this piece on the then-new Magpul Glock 17 mags. https://self-defense-handguns.com/?page_id=2142