So, You Want to Buy a Handgun… by K.E.

…action. As stated above, if you plan to submit to oppressive government, then be prepared for your full-capacity magazines to be restricted or outlawed. (My suggestion: Buy more… soon!) Semi-Auto Pistols Basic types of Semi-Auto Pistols (there are many more, but these represent most currently on the market) “1911 type” – First adopted by the US Army in 1911, this is a single action only (the hammer must be cocked manually, or by the slide in the course of firing), single stack magazine (usually 7-8 rounds), with a characteristic grip and thumb safety. Traditionally in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) caliber. Many people love them, though, in general, they probably have the highest malfunction rate of modern pistols. Excellent products are made by Colt, Kimber, Para, and others. Good ones range from $800-$2000 and beyond.         “1911” type (.45 ACP Single-Action – 7-to-9 shot) Polymer Frame, Glock…




Pat Cascio’s Product Review: ARMSCOR/Rock Island Armory 10mm

…to sell or trade it off. After looking at the gun, I passed on buying it myself. Enter ARMSCOR and their line of 1911 style handguns, which are made in the Philippines. To be sure, they have a very extensive line-up of 1911 handguns in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45ACP, and 10mm. My local gun shop has been selling ARMSCOR/ Rock Island Armory for several years now, usually the bare bones, basic Mil-Spec type of guns in .45 ACP. They told me that no one has ever returned one of the guns for any problems. Finally, one day, my local gun shop got in an Rock Island Armory 1911 Government-style in 10mm– the Rock Island Armory model Rock Ultra FA-10mm. After looking the gun over and thinking on it for a couple of days, I decided I had to have this gun. It was super-tightly put together and seemed like everything…




Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Springfield Armory MC Operator 1911

I first saw one of the very first Springfield Armory MC Operator 1911s at a gun shop in Idaho some years ago. The MC Stands for Marine Corps, and this particular 1911 was designed with the specs laid out based on what the US Marine Corps wanted in a 1911 for their special ops guys. It wasn’t until just recently that the Corps was even allowed to refer to their special ops guys by the term Special Operators! Like many in the military SpecOps community, they prefer the proven stopping power of the .45 ACP FMJ round in the 1911 platform. In most cases, they are limited to using FMJ ammo, and it is a much better stopper than 9mm FMJ. The Springfield Armory MC Operator has gone through several slight changes over the years, and I’ve owned them all, not that there’s been a lot of changes. The original…




Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, in a special issue of this column I’m foregoing the regular news column items to look at investing in rare modern Colt 1911 variants. Tangibles Investing (Rare Modern Colt 1911 Variants): Today I’m focusing my attention on the fairly arcane specialty of investing in fairly rare modern Colt 1911 variants. These are limited production original Colts–not to be confused with “Commemorative Editions” and “Tribute Editions” produced by third parties, using re-worked Colts. The variant models I’m discussing here are/were actually produced in small numbers by Colt’s Custom Shop. The serious Colt collectors only buy these in unfired…




Beretta 92FS Stainless, by Pat Cascio

…However I notice that many special forces and contractor people I read about make reference to their 1911s. I don’t know how prevalent the .45 is in the special forces world but it seems to have some popularity. Makes me wonder. I still drool over a friend of mine’s setup. He has a Doug Chow 1911 and a custom accurized M1A in a beautiful pelican case. I have shot that 1911 and I can hit anything with it. And I shot Expert with rack grade M14s as well so an accurized one would be a dream. However if I was going to buy a semi auto today or recommend one to a new purchaser it would be a Sig M17. That and an AR15 are probably the smartest choices today IMO. Not as exciting to me as a 1911 and an M1A but more practical in many ways. jima I…