1911 News

December 22, 2001

Reviews:

CZ 75B by Ray Rios

Why the M1911? by Syd

The Para-Ordnance  7.45 LDA By Charles Riggs

Makarov 9x18mm by Bob Tuley

Colt M1991A1 Government Model by Ray Rios

The DeSantis “Stinger” Pocket Holster By Syd

News Flash: Levin’s "Demilitarization" Scheme Whacked – 
Dec. 12 Neal Knox Update -- Sec. 1062 of the Defense Authorization bill, the provision allowing any "significant military weapon" -- including all guns ever owned by the U.S. Government -- to be recalled or ordered destroyed, has been completely removed by House-Senate Conference Negotiators.
http://www.nealknox.com/alerts/msg00072.html

December 8, 2001

Springfield Ultra Compact High-Capacity By Joe Cornelius

Kel-Tyke: A Review Of The Kel-Tec P32 .32 ACP Pistol by Syd

November 25, 2001

The Wilson Combat CQB
Sometimes you run across something that is simply right. Such is the case with the Wilson Combat CQB. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on one for testing and evaluation. There is nothing particularly revolutionary or new about this gun. It is just the classic M1911A1 with all the things done to it that ninety years of experience with Old Slabsides have shown to be desirable. more...

The High Noon Pocket Grabber by John Luering
John field tests High Noon’s pocket holster.

November 22, 2001

November 17, 2001

A Soldier's Viewpoint on Surviving Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Attacks

November 8, 2001

Jeff Cooper On M1911 Springs “Taking A Set”
From Johnny Shoemaker we hear of a 1911 pistol which had resided in Condition 1 since its owner’s death in 1929 – all springs compressed. It functions perfectly today, together with all of its ammunition. This does not surprise me since I had a similar experience with my old Super .38, though not over so long a time period. – from Guns and Ammo, December 2001

November 4, 2001

High Noon Topless by Massad Ayoob - My friend Steve Bumgarner, a mid-western gun dealer turned me on to this stuff a year ago and I’ve been quite impressed with what I’ve seen since. A number of students have shown up to LFI classes with High Noon Holsters, and all have been happy with the performance. I borrowed a couple of Steve’s, both for big guns: the Glock 21 and the M1911. more...

October 20, 2001

Kimber ProCarry HD II By Scott Smith - Would You Bet Your Life On It? Scott Reviews the new "Series II" Kimber ProCarry with its firing pin block safety system.

October 18, 2001

"The repeated failure of the "gun-free zone" concept, most recently on September 11, has made it increasingly difficult for people to argue with a straight face that our Second Amendment rights are an outmoded relic of the past. Attorney General Ashcroft, and now one federal court of appeals, have recognized that the right of individuals to keep and bear arms does exist. But this is mostly a matter of government officials catching up with what much of the nation already believed." Nelson Lund, professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law.

October 12, 2001

"Whoever considers the unprincipled enemy we have to to cope with, will not hesitate to declare that nothing but arms or miracles can reduce them to reason and moderation." Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War, 1775.

Update On The Demilitarization Authorization Bill
The Demilitarization Authorization bill that passed the Senate has moved (Wed. 10/04 @10:06am) to the House as H.R. 2586, & the pertinent section is now Sec. 921. Contact the House Armed Services Committee, 2120 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, (202) 225-4151. The chair is Bob Stump, a Republican from Arizona. The HASC web site is: here. The complete list of committee members can be found here.  Sound off or kiss your M1911s, Garands, .30 Carbines, 1903 Springfields, and  M1A/M14s GOODBYE! 

October 11, 2001

The Remington Government Model Pistols
Two Government Model .45 autos carrying the illustrious name of Remington have served our nation’s armed forces. Would it surprise you to know that one of them was built by a typewriter company which had no experience in building firearms? Here’s the story. more...

Quartermaster's Note
I would like to know what sort of items you think I should carry in the Quartermaster's Shop. Your responses will be very helpful to me in deciding product lines to add to the shop. If you have an opinion or suggestion, please use this form to convey this to me: click here

October 5, 2001 - News

CONGRESS CONSIDERS "DEMILITARIZATION" REQUIREMENT
This week, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1438, the Department of Defense (DoD) annual authorization bill, which contains a provision that is of grave concern to hunters and sport shooters. Section 1062 of this bill provides the Secretary of Defense with the authority to require "demilitarization" of any "significant military equipment" that has ever been owned by the DoD. This would include all firearms (such as the venerable M1, M1 Carbine, and Model 1911, as well as all Civilian Marksmanship Program rifles, even "sporterized" surplus bolt-action Springfields!); firearm parts such as barrels, bolts, triggers, firing pins, sights, etc.; ammunition and ammunition components; and firearm accessories such as cleaning rods, oilers, and even cleaning brushes. "Demilitarization" is the term for rendering such items permanently inoperable, and Sec. 1062 allows for this action to be carried out either by the owner or a third party, with the owner paying the cost, or by the DoD. However, if the DoD determines it should perform the demilitarization, it can also determine that the cost of returning the demilled item is prohibitive, then simply keep the item, and reimburse the owner only for the fair market scrap value of the item.

Be sure to contact your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121, and your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and urge them to strike Sec. 1062 from S. 1438, the "National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2002." The 24 members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the 60 members of the House Armed Services Committee especially need to hear from you.  The NRA “Write Your Reps” tool is here 

September 29, 2001 - News

SHOULD FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS CARRY M1911 PISTOLS?
Probably not. Since we know that Lt. Baggett shot down a Zeke with one, and I have heard second hand that a German fighter was shot down over Europe by an Army recon man firing from the window of his single engine reconnaissance plane, it might be that the M1911 is just too much gun for today’s airliners. If the marshal missed, the .45 would probably put such a large hole in the skin of the aircraft that someone would be sucked out of the plane like that poor fool in Gold Finger. If the marshal had to fire toward the front of the plane, the recoil alone would cause such a loss in airspeed that the plane would go into a stall. The muzzle blast would probably blow out all the plexiglass windows and set fire to the upholstery. Nope, better give the sky police a tamer gun. (For the extremely serious minded, the preceding was a joke.)

FROM DAVID JERNIGAN ON TRITON AMMO IN THE CLARK 460 ROWLAND CONVERSION:
“If anyone tries the Clark Custom 460 Rowland conversion watch out for Triton ammo. I tried their Quick Shock with the 230 gr. hollow point and had flattened primers and smearing of the primer around the firing pin and you could see a print of the extractor cut-out in the slide face on the rim of the case with these loads.”

SAN ANTONIO COMPANY MANUFACTURES SPECIAL TYPE OF AMMUNITION
Air marshals may use ammunition manufactured by a San Antonio company, which makes bullets that can cause deadly damage to a human but not to an aircraft.

ANTI-GUNNERS SHAMELESSLY EXPLOIT SEPTEMBER 11 TRAGEDIES
As we predicted, the anti-Second Amendment community has employed the disgraceful tactic of exploiting our nation’s fear over terrorism to promote attacks on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. On September 25, the Boston Globe published a grossly misleading attack on gun shows by syndicated columnist Tom Oliphant-an attack clearly inspired by a "fact sheet" provided to him by the anti-gun organization called Americans for Gun Safety (AGS). Oliphant and AGS seem to have collaborated in a deliberate attempt to inject the word "terrorist" into the gun show debate by digging up a case the FBI began investigating more than a year ago. Oliphant and AGS attempted to use the case of a convicted felon, Ali Boumelhem, suspected of going to gun shows to purchase firearms intended to be shipped overseas for use in terrorist activities as a reason for promoting legislation that would shut down gun shows as we know them today. The facts do not support the anti-gunners, though, because the system worked-the suspect was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted in federal court.

September 25, 2001 - News

"I cannot go to work. But I have a film to finish. Our editor has been unable to make it in from New Jersey, but he is there now waiting for some word on what to do. I can't even think about this movie. I don't WANT to think about it because if I think about it I will have to face an ugly truth that has been gnawing through my head...

This started out as a documentary on gun violence in America, but the largest mass murder in our history was just committed -- without the use of a single gun! Not a single bullet fired! No bomb was set off, no missile was fired, no weapon (i.e., a device that was solely and specifically manufactured to kill humans) was used. A boxcutter! -- I can't stop thinking about this. A thousand gun control laws would not have prevented this massacre. What am I doing?" -- Michael Moore, gun control advocate who badgered K-Mart into stopping the sale of pistol ammunition

September 15, 2001 - News

Tuesday evening, September 11, 2001, after spending the day glued to the television in numbed disbelief, we packed up our gear and headed out for karate class. Sensei hadn’t called it off, and life goes on. Prior to the customary bow-in and meditation we had a time of silent prayer for the victims and for our country. Then Sensei spoke to us briefly and said, “Imagine if one competent martial artist had been on those airplanes. Today might have been very different.” That evening we spent a considerable amount of time working on knife disarms.

I won’t insult the victims of this tragedy by speculating that they could have done more to prevent the hijackers from taking over the airplanes. We simply don’t know. It is apparent that the passengers of Flight 93, which went down in Pennsylvania, did struggle with the hijackers, and may have prevented these thugs from accomplishing their deadly mission. Those guys who stood up and fought those goblins with nothing but their bare hands are heroes. There were probably other heroes and heroines that we will never know about.

War is in the air. I have gone through the motions of everyday life for the remainder of the week, but I have been strangely distracted, unable to really focus on much of anything. Men in my family don’t cry, but I have been on the verge of tears since Tuesday. Small things like the sight of a flag fluttering in the wind or a song choke me up. Driving down Taylorsville Road, Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young” came on the radio. A flood of thoughts and images of young men going off to war rushed through my mind and then I realized that tears were slipping down my face from under my sunglasses. My fourteen-year-old told me that his teachers had called this “trauma” and I guess it is. And it is war. My sixteen-year-old wants to enlist in the Army and, while I am proud of his sentiment and sense of duty, I am secretly glad that he is too young to sign up.

There has been a lot of glib talk about how our lives will change forever and America will never be the same. That is, of course, exactly what the perpetrators of this foul act want. They want to destroy our freedom and sense of security, and ultimately, make us as miserable as they are. They want us to get so outraged that we will act as brutal and inhuman as they are. They are comparing themselves to us, and knowing that they can’t measure up, they seek to tear us down to their despicable level. That won’t happen. They’ll get the butt-kicking they so richly deserve, but it will be on our terms, not theirs. As for me, I resolve to refuse a murderer’s attempt to change my life and my America.

There may be some good which will come out of this. The worst act of terrorism in the history of the United States was accomplished with box cutters. So much for the mythology that ridding the world of hand guns will make it a safe place. Also, this tragedy reveals the idiocy of the prevailing notion that being passive in the face of determined criminal assault works. Sadly, those of us who have urged people to take responsibility for their own self defense and personal security have been vindicated. The gun-phobic nanny state couldn’t even stop a band of creeps with box cutters. Those who fought the hijackers saved lives; those who didn’t died anyway, and nothing was gained by their passivity and submission. Those who fought died with honor; those who submitted just died, perhaps cursing their own cowardice. If we, the survivors, learn something from this then perhaps it will not have been for nothing.

This isn’t over. Be watchful.

Syd

September 14, 2001 - News

Click Here for Full-Sized Target Suitable for Shooting

September 11, 2001 - News

Click Here for Our Gallery of Images of the WTC Attack

September 4, 2001 - News

Range Report: Para-Ordnance LDA 7.45 By Bill Boyer
Last week I went for my weekly practice session with a friend, Jim, who had just picked up a new Para LDA single stack. The indoor range where we were shooting has rental guns and a couple of those are LDA "hi-cap" models, so I rented one of these to add a bit more fun to our play. I also brought along my Para P14 Limited, a 5" Kimber Custom and a 4" Smith 625 revolver in 45 ACP so we had plenty of 45s to play with and compare. more...

August 30, 2001 - News

Holding the Trigger Back While Loading an M1911 Pistol - At a recent IDPA match, I saw a disqualification which illustrated a much debated issue about trigger jobs on M1911 pistols: holding the trigger back while loading an M1911 pistol.

Sistema Colt By Jan Haluska - Anyone who’d like a good-quality 1911A1 on a budget should consider a Sistema. Manufactured under Colt license in Argentina from 1927 until around 1960, these guns are rugged and exactly interchangeable with other government models.

G.I. Surplus .45 ACP Ammunition By Jan Haluska - These 756-round cans of WWII .45 ACP: Where it comes from and how to use it.

August 22, 2001 - News

Up Close and Personal - A comparison of four popular lightweight compact .45 semiautos: The Springfield V10 Ultra Compact, The S&W 457, The H&K USP Compact, and the Glock 30 by John Marshall

Ty Moore's Cool Gun Site - Ty is a collector and expert on the old M1911 and M1911A1 pistols. This site has oodles of close-up shots of the different pistols and their components, plus lots of identification information for pistols and their components.

.45 ACP ballistics tests -“Formerly Famous Gun Writer” Dean Speir has done an excellent ballistics study of many of the name brand .45 ACP loads running out of a plain Jane Auto-Ordnance Government Model. If you want to see how your load stacks up, check it out.

Critique of New Colt M1911A1 Reproduction By Four2Niner
This is a non-shooting ("collector") review of Colt's new reproduction of the WWII-era M1911A1, and he's not too happy with Colt's "reproduction."

For Law Enforcement Professionals Only: PreparationH Suppository Bullets

August 15, 2001 - News

The Series 70 Colt Autos
If you ask Colt auto fans which series is their favorite, many will say the Series 70. A case could be made that the pre-war commercial Colts are more elegant and finely rendered, but surviving examples of these are expensive collector items, often commanding several thousand dollars in like-new condition. The Series 70 Colts, while no longer in production, can still be found in excellent condition at reasonable prices. The Series 70 Colts were produced between 1970 and 1983 in Government Model and Commander sizes. But what makes a "Series 70" and why do people like them? more...

August 4, 2001 - News

THE GUNSITE MM-1
A Ted Yost masterpiece tested and reviewed by Scott Smith.

THE HIGH NOON SKY HIGH HOLSTER
Review by Michael King

PARKERIZATION
What's really going on with the metal when you parkerize a gun?

THE RETURN OF THE M1911
Colt is producing 4000 1911A1s with the pre-70s firing system and made to the original specs. They have information and a picture on their web site.

ALABAMA RECIPROCITY
The list is out for reciprocity according to Alabama's new Alabama Concealed Carry Reciprocity Law. 

SENATE VOTES TO END GUN BUYBACKS
Next Move Toward Pulling Plug On $15 Million HUD Program Administration Claims There's No Evidence Program Is Effective Critics Call Move Latest Example Of Bush Effort To Erode Gun Laws.

DAVE KOPEL ON THE UN GUN CONFISCATION PROGRAM
David Kopel of the Independence Institute has a five part series on the recent UN small arms and light weapons conference and the plans for banning all private gun ownership worldwide. It is a must read Go to http://www.nationalreview.com/ and find his name in the left column and click on it. Also go to http://www.iansa.org/ (International Action Network on Small Arms) where you can see for yourself that the UN is trying to ban and confiscate firearms This is no conspiracy theory folks and lawful gun owners have every right to be alarmed by what the UN. They want to ban handguns, shotguns, and rifles that are used for sport/target shooting and hunting. They eventually want to ban civilian ownership of 5.56mm (.223 Remington), 7.62mm (.308 Win) and 9mm Parabellum ammunition and guns use these calibers. You can hear Mr. Kopel on http://www.nralive.com/index-a.cfm

August 1, 2001 - News

THE QUARTERMASTER SHOP

The biggest news from the Sight is the addition of the Quartermaster’s Shop. I have been thinking about doing this for a long time. The idea really began when I discovered that Amazon lists the Kuhnhausen manuals as out of print (which they aren’t), and the Kuhnhausen books are the single most requested titles in my Amazon bookstore. So why shouldn’t I stock them? Well, that requires setting up a shopping cart on a secure server and getting a merchant account to handle credit cards – in a word, a lot of hassle. But after setting up some e-commerce sites for my clients, I reached the point where I felt that the benefits outweighed the hassles and that I could and should set up my own shop. Next step was to find some distributors for products I wanted to handle. I have been lucky and have gotten authorized dealerships with Heritage Gun Books, High Noon Holsters, Chip McCormick, Mech-Tech, a good cutlery distributor and a good ammo and parts wholesaler. More products will come online as new dealer relationships are established.

The nuts and bolts of the shop: our e-commerce shop is running secure SSL 128-bit encryption and is hosted at Burlee.com, the best web-hosting service in the business. Their clients include folks like Marriot Hotels and American Airlines and they know how to host a secure e-commerce site. Our merchant services are fully underwritten by Elan Financial Services. Everything has been done to insure your security when shopping with us.

Nothing will really change on The Sight M1911. The only difference you will notice is that there will be specials listed in the newsletter from time to time as I find good things I think you might be interested in. Our special this week is the High Noon Topless Holster: 

The home page for the shop is:

https://www.securewebpages.com/sydweedon/

CLINT SMITH ON THE 1911

“The 1911 remains popular because it’s an efficient tool. In more than 30 years of experience, I’ve met more competent, serious gunmen who carry 1911’s than those who pack any other handgun. They are professionals – policemen, government agents and others who carry handguns daily because the know their live may depend on it…Me? I’ve carried a 1911 every single day for the past 20 years. It’s a very comforting gun to have at your hip. It offers a good, consistent single-action trigger pull and is wonderfully dependable. Because the 1911 is basically a defensive handgun, I’m not concerned about tight groups. I don’t bother with expanding hollowpoints that could cause feeding problems. For absolute reliability, I shoot only high-quality ball ammunition. That big .45 slug doesn’t have to expand to be effective.” From Guns and Ammo, September, 2001.

June 20, 2001 - News

The "National Match" M1911 Pistols
The National Match M1911 Pistols are hand fitted and tuned for the National Match competitions which began at Caldwell, NJ and became the Camp Perry match. Among their numbers are some of the most beautiful and accurate pistols ever built. more...

June 14, 2001 - News

If You're Serious, Get a .45! or - The Colt M1911A1 in Combat -
On July 13, 1967, while on one of these missions, we were attacked by a force of approximately 50 Viet Cong. As the attack developed my M16A1 jammed, which left me unarmed. I came across a wounded Marine officer, Captain Eldon M. Martin lying in a rice paddy. Captain Martin, although severely wounded was alert and indicated that he was lying on an M14, which was under water and that he had a fully loaded .45 pistol in his holster. more...

June 1, 2001 - News

New guns for Tacoma
After testing several weapons, officers ready to receive updated tools to serve and protect. Ninety years ago, the Colt M-1911 handgun debuted in the U.S. military and quickly gained international appeal because of its quickness, accuracy and reliability. Now, those same qualities have attracted the Tacoma Police Department to an updated 1911-style weapon as one of two handguns that are replacing the Beretta 96Ds issued to the department's nearly 400 officers.

"We're the first major police department to transition to the 1911 in 50 years," said Sgt. Mark Jenkins, the department's range master and an instrumental player in the selection of the new guns. more...

PRODUCT NOTICE: CZ 75 ST STANDARD IPSC MODEL PISTOL
If you own a CZ 75 in .40 S&W, please read this

May 31, 2001 - News

Scott Smith puts the Kimber Ultra CDP to the test 
Scott has been living with this pistol for two year and feeding it all sorts of ammo to try to make it choke. See how it comes out. more...

The Singer .45 Caliber Automatic Pistol
The second rarest M1911 Pistol

May 25, 2001 - News

U.N. Burns Guns On July 9: Your Rights Are Next
It is "Small Arms Destruction Day" on July 9, 2001. Plans are underway for government agents to ignite huge bonfires of handguns, rifles and other firearms in major population centers worldwide.

No joke. The United Nations Conference on Small Weapons is sponsoring massive gun burnings on July 9 to mark the opening in New York of the UN Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Organizers of the Conference say "the public destruction of weapons" is good because it "is one of the best ways to attract attention" to global civilian disarmament. more...

The Psychology of Self Defense and the Force Continuum by Syd
You have made the decision to legally carry a self defense firearm. You have selected a pistol, acquired a CCW license and hopefully learned the basics of using all of this exciting new firepower. You have spent a lot of energy learning about pistols, cartridges, holsters, and the laws and rules concerning the carry of deadly weapons. That is all good and necessary, but it is woefully incomplete. Hopefully, a moment will come when you will step back from it all for a minute to consider what you are doing. more...

The 1911 Pistol Is Its Own Toolbox! By John L. Marshall - How to disassemble the M1911 pistol using only its own parts.

The Khukuri By Don Carroll - Don's obsession with this legendary knife

May 17, 2001 - News

Banning guns: It's a good thing!
There are 10 Really Good Reasons to Ban Guns:

40 Reasons For Gun Control
1. Banning guns works, which is why New York, DC, & Chicago cops need guns.
2. Washington DC's low murder rate of 69 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Indianapolis' high murder rate of 9 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control.
3. Statistics showing high murder rates justify gun control but statistics showing increasing murder rates after gun control are "just statistics." more...

Pro-gun Moms not Letting Million Moms Dominate Debate. The Second Amendment Sisters, a group of pro-gun activists that includes many mothers, will rally on Mother's Day in opposition to tighter gun control laws.  "We're just people," she said. "We are lawyers, doctors, teachers. ... We're just real women who feel we have to fight for the Second Amendment." more...

The Poor Brits Just Don't Get It.
You're 4 times more likely to be the victim of violent crime in London than in an American city. See the graph of the crime increase in Merry Olde England here.

Where have I been? Mostly running out to Knob Creek to play with my delightfully un-PC Romanian Kalashnikov rifle. Why did I pick up this ultimate "ugly gun"? Well mostly, I wanted to shoot a 3-gun match and I didn't have a "tactical carbine" and I didn't want to spend $1000 for an AR-15 (a rifle I find to be tremendously overpriced, by a factor of 2 at least). Second to that, it's part of my on-going campaign to piss off Dianne Feinstein, Carolyn McCarthy, Chuckie Schumer, Teddy Kennedy, Josh Sugarmann and all of the rest of the dim bulbs who think inanimate objects have magical powers to control the behavior of human beings.
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/review/sar-1.htm

Ares is the Greek god of war. The Benchmade Ares is a fighting knife. There’s something about the way it rests in your hand, the feel of the grip and the shape of the blade that says, "This blade wasn’t meant for peeling apples." 
Knife Review: Ares Axis Folder

Review of the Kimber Ultra-10 II high cap subcompact.
This is Kimber's polymer framed answer to the Para-Ordnance P10. The Ultra-10 II does have a significant new evolution, well as new as 1937. It has the Swartz firing pin block safety system which uses the grip safety to disengage a firing pin block. To tell you the truth, I'm a little bugged by the wave of new "consumer safety" devices that all of the major gun makers seem to be rushing to market. I'm not hearing too many stories about "my gun magically went off by itself because it didn't have a firing pin block." These new "safety" devices are concessions to the irrational "consumer safety" regulations of places like California and Massachusetts. These devices won't prevent a single accidental shooting and only add mechanical complexity, cost, and chances for something to go wrong.

The Auto-Ordnance 1911PKZ
Fulfilling a hope that many of us had, Kahr has re-tooled the A-O M1911 and early reports are extremely positive.

3 models of Bill Wilson's pistols were drop-tested to see if they passed California's psychotic "consumer safety" regulations. They all passed with no drop-induced discharges. The pistols tested were the Government CQB, the Compact CQB and the Tactical Carry Pistol. Well, DUH.

The Minnesota House passed a shall-issue licensed carry bill which strips sheriff's of their frequently abused discretion in issuing such licenses. The 85-46 vote, and Gov. Jesse Ventura's support, may revive a companion bill which was killed by a Senate committee last week. It requires issuance of licenses to persons over 21 without mental or felony records, who have completed some firearms training.

In a decision issued the same day, a Michigan Court of Appeals refused to stop the counting of petition signatures attempting to stop a public referendum of a similar bill scheduled to go into effect this summer. The referendum is being challenged by NRA and Michigan groups contending that because the law contains an appropriation it cannot be referred.

New Mexico's compromise "shall issue" concealed carry licensing law, signed last week by Gov. Gary Johnson, is facing constitutional challenges from both sides according to Deputy Attorney General Stuart Bluestone.

It allows local communities to ban carrying within their jurisdictions, but Bluestone said the constitution "is firm" prohibiting local firearms regulations.

Opponents of the law cite the constitution's strong right to bear arms provision "for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use" also says "but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons" -- which they argue bans all concealed carrying.

Gun Violence Studies Based on Flawed Methods, Political Agendas http://www.aapsonline.org/aaps/press/medsentgun.htm

Invasion of the Anti-Gun Doctors by Dr. Michael S. Brown
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/28/04202.shtml

No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident by Timothy Lynch
Cato Institute
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-395es.html

Waco Revisited: Cato study on Waco decries federal culture of impunity. Deroy Murdock
National Review Online
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock041301.shtml

Armed Self-Defense Works By Gary Kleck.
Wall St. Journal
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=85000757

Shooting For Kids: Fire a shot for a good cause. Shooting sports are some of the safest of all sports, but the media seem to want to avoid covering that story. By James A. Swan, National Review Online.

Other Points of Interest:

A new study by John Lott and John Whitley finds no support for the theory that safe gun storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides. Instead, these storage requirements appear to impair the ability to use guns defensively. During the first five years after the passage of safe storage laws, the group of fifteen states that adopted these laws faced an annual average increase of over 300 more murders, 3860 more rapes, 24650 more robberies, and over 25000 more aggravated assaults.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=228534

The NRA Right To Carry Fact Sheet
http://www.nraila.org/research/19990729-RighttoCarry-001.html

February 23, 2001 - News

Selecting a Pistol for Concealed Carry By Syd
Guidelines for selecting a concealed carry handgun

When Guns Are Outlawed...

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Boston Herald on Jan. 11. Louis Javelle, an employee at Edgewater’s New Hampshire facility, was one of the seven victims killed at Wakefield.

Louis "Sandy" Javelle was my friend. On Dec. 26 in Wakefield, he was killed by a madman. Sandy held both a federal firearms license and a permit to carry a handgun in New Hampshire. Ironically, the gun laws in Massachusetts prevented him from carrying a concealed handgun. But these same laws did not prevent Michael McDermott from obtaining illegal firearms. When the rampage started, Sandy told co-workers to lock the door behind him and barricade it. He then confronted McDermott and became the third victim. If Sandy had been permitted to carry a pistol, he could have stopped McDermott. That meant that five other people could possible have survived this tragedy. But Sandy did not have that option.

David Berquist, Temple, NH

Dillon Precision finally came up with a realistic design for a "Smart Gun." 
Click Here to see it.

February 19, 2001 - News

From Jeff Cooper:

February 4, 2001 - News

BELT FED 1911 45 ACP
A Belt Fed 1911? No way! That's what I said when I got a call from a friend of mine. He had been tinkering with a 1911 design and thinks that he could EASILY make one feed from a belt. Being a good sport I offered to spot him a 1911 and sponsor this project. 

From Branden Sanders:
Colt Re-Issuing the M1911A1
Ok, the story is that the 1911A1 is not replacing the 1991A1. The 1911A1 is actually the re-issue of the WWII service pistol that came out of Hartford in the early 40's. It has a wide spur hammer with a half cocked notch, palm swell mainspring housing with lanyard loop, checkered safety lock, slide stop and mag release, low profile thin blade sight with the line stamped just in front of the rear sight. All of the original roll marks to include the government inspectors stamp and proof stamp. Plastic grips just like the composite grips on the original, with a parkerized finish. And Oh yes, I almost forgot, no firing pin safety. The gun will not be a high run item, I would say approx. 200 per month, offered through the Custom Shop only. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure the gun will retail in the $900 range.

Pistol Art Suitable for Framing
Robert Burrows' exclusive line of Firearms ART PRINTS

The Fallacy of 43 to 1 by Dave Kopel
Debunking the gun grabbers’ favorite statistic

South Carolina attorney general backs armed home defense
In declaring an "open season" on burglars who break into homes, South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon has instructed all solicitors, sheriffs and police chiefs in the state to refrain from arresting "citizens acting to defend their homes" with a firearm or other weapon.

ISRA Urges Bipartisan Support for HB 401
Illinois State Rifle Association Urges Bipartisan Support Family and Personal Protection Act. The ISRA is pleased to announce the introduction of HB 401, Family and Personal Protection Act. Under the provisions of this proposed legislation, qualifying Illinois citizens would be permitted to carry concealed firearms for the purpose of self-defense. Enactment of HB 401 would bring Illinois in line with better than 40 other states that allow their citizens to carry defensive firearms.

True Stories of Armed Self-Defense
for January, 2001 by Robert A. Waters
This month brought numerous reminders of why many Americans own guns. But these stories were nowhere to be seen on ABC, CBS, CNN, or NBC. They weren't news to editors of the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times. Overlooked by the mainstream media, these accounts show how lives are saved when law-abiding citizens own firearms.

CCW Holder Thwarts Attack
Fight may have been racially motivated
EAST BREMERTON - A black man was waiting for his girlfriend to get off work at Oh! Gallagher's Sports Pub and Grill late Tuesday when he was insulted and challenged by a young, drunk patron who used racial epithets, witnesses told deputies.

A Gun Deal’s Fatal Wound
As a landmark pact to control gun sales falls apart, Smith & Wesson takes the hit. For more than 50 years, George Romanoff’s family has been selling Smith & Wessons: .357 revolvers with hardwood handles, sleek pistols forged from blue and stainless steel

I’m always searching for more equipment reviews. If you would like to write a quick (or long) user review of a piece of equipment – gun, ammo, knife, reloader, holster, bag, finish or whatever – send it along and I’ll post it. Pay is our undying gratitude.

January 25, 2001 - News

I watched the Ashcroft confirmation hearings with alternating horror and amusement. Most striking to me was the relentless hammering of the word "extremist" to describe Ashcroft. He has taken some hard line stands and I can see why the Teddy Kennedy’s of the world would call him that. It’s beyond the scope of this little letter to defend or pass judgments on his values and beliefs. The fuel I’ll add to the fire is that I can’t look at Ashcroft without seeing Janet Reno, Waco, Elian Gonzales, and Vicki Weaver in the background. Ashcroft is an answer to Reno. To me, the extremists are those who have used paramilitary force to kill and intimidate people who hold dissenting political and religious views. The extremists are those, who like Ted Kennedy, seem to be attempting to deny the clear and obvious meanings of the Constitution and cultural traditions that we all grew up with.

Neal Knox was extremely disappointed with the way Ashcroft "groveled" before the liberals as if somehow he was going to win their approval. Neal has posted the salient excerpts at http://www.nealknox.com/ashcroft/

Springfield Armory has introduced an internal lock system on their "Loaded" line of pistols and apparently has dropped the Mil-Spec from their product line. I understand that Kimber will be following close behind. Groan. I really hate it when gun makers cave in to the psychotic "consumer safety" regulations of places like California and Massachusetts.
http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-pstl-ils.shtml

New on The Sight M1911:

Benchmade 812SBT Mini-AFCK  by Syd
Benchmade knives ooze with the knife-maker’s obsession. Every detail, angle and material selection reveals intention and purpose. Nothing on a Benchmade is there "because that’s the way we’ve always done it." Benchmade pays special attention to using only high quality, high performance components and materials in their knives. For those of us who really use our cutlery, this attention to detail and quality components pays off.

Cold Steel SRK Knife review by Syd
Survival/Rescue operations demand a versatile knife able to withstand extreme abuse. The SRK® was designed by Lynn Thompson with this in mind. No expense was spared in steel, heat treating and construction. Only expensive surface polishes have been eliminated.

MOD Dieter CQD and the Tempest Knives by Scott Smith
A company that is truly a "been there, done that" organization is Masters of Defense (MOD). The knives in the MOD line are made from the finest materials, and are designed for daily use to the needs of high-speed, low-drag special operators. These knives range in size from the small pocket style, clip-it knife to fixed blade knives.

The only real "Semiautomatic Revolver"
http://www.cruffler.com/historic-january01.html

"Empty-Barrel Gun Policies."
A legacy of nonsense from Clinton, Blair, and the Left.
National Review Online. Jan. 22, 2001.
By Dave Kopel, Dr. Paul Gallant, & Dr. Joanne Eisen
http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel012201.shtml
For more of Dave Kopel’s work, go to http://i2i.org

Gun Talk, with Tom Gresham.
You can listen to this show live on the Internet, if you're not near one of the dozens of radio stations which carries the fine program.
http://www.guntalk.com

42 Deaths As Use Of Handguns Hits Seven-year High [in Britain]
Thursday January 11, 2001 2:27 am

Use of handguns in crime in England and Wales reached its highest level for seven years in 1999-2000.

This is in spite of the ban on private ownership of the weapons introduced in the wake of the Dunblane massacre.

There were 42 people killed with handguns during the period - more than in any other year in the 1990s.

Some 3,685 crimes involving handguns were recorded in 1999-2000, including 42 homicides, 310 cases of attempted murder, 2,561 robberies and 204 burglaries, the Home Office revealed.

The total was more than one-third (37%) up on the previous year, and the highest level since the Dunblane tragedy in March 1996, when 16 children and a teacher died.

The details were released in a parliamentary written answer by Home Office Minister Lord Bassam of Brighton.

A ban on all private ownership of handguns became law in November 1997, but handgun offences have risen each year since then.

Levels of handgun offences were higher in 1992 and 1993, at 3,997 and 4,202 respectively, but in each year there were fewer homicides than in 1999-2000.

The higher figures then were down to a far greater incidence of robberies using handguns, which reached a peak of 3,605 in 1993 before falling every year until 1999-2000, when they jumped from 1,814 to 2,561.

Source: Guardian Unlimited

December 24, 2000 - News

Merry Christmas
From the Y2K Panic to this hang-fire of a presidential election, this has been a weird year. It will be hard to top in terms of craziness. My dad was of the opinion that odd-numbered years were luckier than even-numbered years. I don’t know where he got that little superstition, but let’s hope he was right.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed articles and reviews to the web site this year. I wish I could buy and write about every gun in the world, but I can’t and your contributions have helped mightily in making The Sight M1911 a richer resource for 1911 lovers. There are a few folks I would like to thank by name for their substantial contributions of quality material: Jim Higginbotham for his tactical and historical articles, Anthony Gabrielson for Field Manual 23-35, Scott Smith for his reviews and how-to articles, John Marshall for his superb technical articles, and Rick Breneman for his reviews and historical articles.

Build it Your Way by Scott Smith
Scott builds a gun from scratch using a Caspian frame and his favorite custom parts.

Surefire M2 Centurian and M3 Combat Light
Review of these two new offering from Surefire

Blue Dogs Don't Want Gun Control to Be Part of the Agenda
Members of the House "Blue Dog" coalition—a group of conservative Democrats—have been discussing the issue of gun control ever since the November 7 elections, according to a recent article in the Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor. The result of these discussions? more...

Michigan Legislature Passes Concealed Carry
The Michigan legislature passed a conference committee version of SHALL ISSUE in both the House and Senate today. Congratulations to all the pro-reform organizations and private individual who have worked 6 years in this effort to reform a 70+ year old law. It now goes to the Governor's desk for signature, and barring unforeseen circumstances will become law on April 1, 2001. more...

FM 23-35 Basic Field Manual - We now have the complete Basic Field Manual of the M1911 and M1911A1 online. This is the version which was issued in 1940 and authorized by General George C. Marshall. Special thanks goes to Anthony Gabrielson who did the scanning and OCR which allows this online document to look like the original while having the type in text so that it is searchable and prints using fonts. If you ever wanted to know how to fire your 1911 from horseback at a full gallop, this manual will show you how. It also shows us how the Army expected soldiers to be trained with the M1911 in the WWII era. Included are target and range diagrams, scoring charts, funky old pictures and much more.

BUL M5 Pistol by Bill Wood

Gunsite GSP by Scott Smith

STI Socom by Scott Smith

Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special by William Galbreath

Steyr M40, M357, & M9: New Super M Series Pistols - This is actually an update of Pistol Pete's excellent analysis of the Steyr M40 with lots of new information.

History:

The Guns of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) by George Amin Hoffman

The Year is:

1800 1 vote gives Thomas Jefferson the presidency over Aaron Burr
1839 1 vote wins the Massachusetts governorship for Marcus Morton
1868 1 vote saves Andrew Johnson's presidency
1941 1 vote strengthens selective service before World War II
1960 1 vote per precinct gives JFK the presidency
1993 1 vote by Al Gore approves the largest tax increase in history
2000 1 vote, your vote, can make the difference November 7th

In America, 1 VOTE DOES MATTER. Be the ONE.

2000 News Page

1999 News Page