Category Archives: new guns

Glocks Fuddy Five Lurches into the 2020s

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Glock first announced the .45 ACP-caliber G21 alongside the 10mm G20 and .40 S&W caliber G22 back in 1990, in a host of caliber changes that offered more than the company’s 9mm initial offerings– the G17 and G19. At introduction these were 2nd Generation guns, a series only gently updated from the company’s original debut in the mid-1980s.

I’ve been fooling with the G21 off and on for almost 30 years. My first was a Gen 2 AAZ-serialized G21 that I picked up in 1994, just as the federal AWB and magazine cap kicked in that chopped the standard mag capacity from 13 rounds to just 10. I kept that tough-as-nails .45 through Hurricane Katrina, during which and immediately after it was never far away, and only passed it on to its current owner in 2006, downgrading to a 9mm as my everyday carry.

My first G21, a Gen 2 model, is seen here in a low-res circa-2005 image. It worked when I picked it up 11 years before, ran everything I fed it in the interlude, and it is likely still working wherever it is today. Note back then they didn’t even have thumb grooves or an accessory rail.

Then came the Gen 3 Sport/Service models in 1997, which brought with them recessed thumb rests, finger grooves molded into the frame, and, eventually, an accessory rail.

The Gen 4 G21 arrived in 2011 with the company’s improved RTF-4 texture, interchangeable frame back straps, a reversible enlarged magazine catch, a dual recoil spring assembly, and a new – some would say improved – trigger

And since then, the G21 has been frozen in time, locked in 2011. In the meantime, the company introduced their 5th Generation guns – but only in 9mm (G17, G19, G19X, G26, G34 and G45), .40 S&W (G22, G23 and G27) and .22 LR (G44).

Now, Glock finally reached back and brought the old “large frame” 10mm and .45 full-sized pistols into the present.

Importantly, it is the first time the G21 is optics-ready, in addition to other Gen 5 enhancements that are long overdue.

More in my column at Guns.com

500 Rounds with the Newest FN 5.7

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FN recently debuted the third generation of its 5.7x28mm caliber pistol, bringing the curious pistol from the 1990s kicking and screaming into a more modern period.

I’ve been testing for the past few months and have a 500-round review.

What the new MRD MK3 brings to the game is the ability to mount just about any micro red dot optic (hence “MRD”), something that was particularly hard to retrofit on previous models, as well as a lot of updates to the pistol’s ergonomics. All this in a hammer-fired delayed blowback action semi-auto with a semi-fixed barrel chambered for the spicy little 5.7 round.

A big bonus on the MRD MK3 is that it carries new stippling and textures on the frame as well as enhanced serrations on the slide, trigger guard, and safety selector that update the pistol’s ergonomics. Past classic and MK2 models have a much slicker surface texture. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

How does it shoot? More in my column at Guns.com.

So what’s the deal with the Glock 47? (A: Interoperability)

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Glock came to SHOT Show in Las Vegas last month with the new commercial variant of the G47, and I snagged one for a better look.

A pistol that debuted a few years ago but wasn’t available to the public, the G47 came as part of an $85 million/10-year contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2019. With more than 45,000 sworn law enforcement agents and officers, CBP’s mission includes security through the U.S. Border Patrol as well as customs and counter-smuggling operations at over 330 ports of entry. It is the largest federal LE agency inside the Department of Homeland Security.

The contract included not only the previously unknown G47, which by all accounts was created especially for the contract but also compact Glock 19 Gen 5 models and subcompact Glock 26 Gen 5s, all in 9mm. Keep that in mind moving forward.

The G47 isn’t a “game changer” but it does have a few little things that are interesting about it.

Such as this:

The G47, right, is seen above compared to the crossover G19X, which is the same height and roughly the same frame but with a G19-length slide and barrel. (Photo: Chris Eger)

And, showing off that modularity, I give you the “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” that is the G19X and G47 MOS with swapped uppers. Both guns shoot and cycle fine. You could do the same between the G47 and the G17 Gen 4/5, G45, and G19 Gen 4/5. (Photo: Chris Eger)

More in my column at Guns.com.

In one of the most surprising stories from SHOT…

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Confession time: I have long owned and used an 8+1 shot Bersa Thunder CC .380, finding it both reliable and very easy to conceal. At the time I picked it up, I’d gone down a rabbit hole in which I owned several Argentinian-made pistols including a few HAFDASA Ballester–Molina .45ACPs and a couple of 9mm FM (not FN) Hi-Powers.

Not a bad little gun…

Founded by a trio of Italian immigrants to Argentina back in the 1950s, the company made a name for itself crafting small and dependable blowback-action pistols that evoked a sort of Walther PP/PPK flavor.

Long imported by Eagle Imports, Bersa switched gears in 2021 and elected to go with Talon moving forward while also looking to bring some production to the U.S. This led to a new state-of-the-art facility in Kennesaw, Georgia which has been slowly standing up for the past two years.

That’s what brought me to Bersa’s booth hidden over in the 70,000-block of Ceasar’s Forum during SHOT Show last week.

Did I mention they are making a half dozen different AR models now?

More in my column at Guns.com.

So Beretta *finally* made another SAO 92

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“Did you see the Single Action?” he asked in lieu of a greeting. The man posing the question was a friend of mine, long involved in the behind-the-scenes R&D and market research at Beretta and now with another similarly large and distinguished European gun maker in whose booth we were standing at SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

In fact, I had not seen the new Beretta 92 XI, or “9211” first-hand but I had heard of its existence from a fellow gun writer who had gone to the media day for the gun the day prior. It was a small community and news always traveled fast, especially in the digital age.

“So I take it you had a hand in that?” I asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“Why did it take so long to do that? Folks loved the Billennium,” I said, speaking of the limited run of SAO Beretta 92s released in 2001. These guns are often described as the best 92 ever made.

Heading over to Beretta shortly after speaking to my friend about everything his new company was working on, I encountered the 92XI and was impressed.

Using all the “X” series features that the company had previously introduced in the 92X Performance model– optics ready slide, slim Vertec frame, DLC coated trigger internals– the new 92XI runs a crisp single-action-only trigger with a flat bow and a manual frame-mounted safety lever, ideal for carrying “cocked and locked.”

More in my column at Guns.com.

The two Coolest things at SHOT Show

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You know, if you told me 10 years ago that the two coolest items across the 13.9 miles of aisles and 2,500 companies exhibiting at the 45th annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas would both be at the Palmetto State Armory booth, I would not have believed you.

However, it happened.

The company has brought back two icons: H&R M16A1s and a centerfire U.S.-made Sturmgewehr 44.

The H&R brand comes as a reboot of the old circa 1871 firearms company that PSA picked up for pocket change in Remington’s 2020 bankruptcy sale. Turning the refreshed brand over to NoDakSpud founder Mike Wettleland, they will be making classic M16A1 as well as Colt 723 and 635 models. The former were made by H&R as a Colt subcontractor in 1968-71.

The H&R M16A1 retro rifle is hand-crafted from proprietary forging dies with 1960s vintage government markings. As the guns made for the Army back in the Fortunate Son era were in the 2-million range, the new H&R will mimic that although will be distinctive in the fact that they have West Columbia, South Carolina rollmarks rather than the Worchester, Massachusetts marks of the original. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

This brings us to Hill & Mac Gunworks of Alpharetta, Georgia, a small gunmaker that had been working on an updated semi-auto Sturmgewehr clone made with modern techniques complete with a threaded barrel, a long stroke piston operating tilting bolt action, an HK style trigger pack, wooden furniture, and the possibility of being chambered in 5.56 NATO, 7.62x39mm, .300 AAC Blackout, or the original 7.92 Kurz– the latter is still in production by Privi Partisan in Europe.

Well, while HMG did sell some generationally similar CETME-L builds a few years back and marketed some reactive steel targets, their Sturmgewehr never made it to serial production and by 2020 the project largely fell off the radar after the company went radio silent.

Until now.

Popping up at Palmetto State Armory’s booth at SHOT Show last week was Mac Steil, the “M” of HMG, with news that PSA had stepped in to bring the project across the finish line. Advancing to the production stage, HMG customers that had preordered it from them back in the day will still get their HMG-marked gun while new guns for PSA will be under that company’s new “Battlefield” series.

The StG will still be offered in all four HMG calibers, use a STANAG mag pattern, and still runs an HK trigger pack. Caliber can be swapped by the user via a mag, barrel, and bolt change. There will also be things such as BFAs for reenactors, folding stock models, and more planned for the future.

Oh, that Cheetah roar

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Probably one of the most underrated of .380ACPs, the old-school Beretta 84/85 Cheetah, with its subcompact alloy frame and its 13+1 capacity, was a rock-solid classic back in the 1990s and early 2000s.

I have a couple of different .32 and .380 Beretta Cheetahs, all recently imported former Italian police guns, and I really like them.

Well, Beretta has brought it back in a very modern second generation, the 80X.

As its name would imply, borrows the Vertec grip, X-treme S Double/Single trigger, and skeletonized hammer as seen on the 92X line, but shrinks everything down a bit while keeping a 13+1 round capacity.

Direct blowback action, it runs a 3.9-inch barrel giving it an overall length of a very handy 4.9 inches. Weight is 25 ounces unloaded. Either way, nice to see folks are still making hammer-fired metal-framed guns for mainstream carry use. 

More in my column at Guns.com.

That 5.7, tho

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So, the FN 5.7x28mm PDW round, which is pushing 30 years young, almost died out by about 2018, with only one small maker (California’s Excel) making pistols outside of FN.

Then the Ruger 57 pistol (and companion carbine), Diamondback DBX, CMMG Banshee MK57, PSA Rock, and Masterpiece MPA57 hit the market just in the past three years, joined by the third generation of FN’s own pistol. Added to this, AAC (PSA’s brand) along with Federal and Speer have started loading ammo for it, while Fiocchi is expanded its own offerings, adding to the availability and likely dropping the price in the coming days.

Well, now, Smith & Wesson has entered the fray with a $699 pistol gas-operated hammer-fired pistol that feels better than just about any of the above.

The 22+1 capacity (not a misprint) M&P 5.7.

I handled it at SHOT Show, and the handgun has a light and crisp feel to it with the felt recoil akin to a .22 Magnum.

More in my column at Guns.com.

FN Breaks Ground on new 10mm, 45ACP Striker Fired Pistols

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Stretching the FN 509 Tactical series from its standard 9mm format to something bigger bore, FN is now offering red-dot and suppressor-ready 10mm Auto and .45 ACP models.

With a commanding 22+1 magazine capacity, the FN 510 in 10mm and its companion 18+1 shot FN 545 in .45 ACP still have all the standard features of the FN 509 Tactical. These include the company’s bomb-proof Low-Profile Optics Mounting System that fits just about any micro red-dot footprint on the market, fully ambidextrous controls, suppressor-height three-dot night sights with tritium inserts, and a 4.71-inch extended threaded barrel that accepts most comps and suppressors.

Looks like I am going to have to be spending some time on the range in the next few months!

More in my column at Guns.com.

Just Ruger giving the folks what they want

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Bill Ruger, for all his faults, wasn’t stupid. He started his company from his garage in the late 1940s by making a simple and affordable .22LR pistol. Fast forward almost 75 years later, and the publicly-traded giant that has a $130 million cash reserve even after buying Marlin is still playing the classics.

In 2019, their simple and affordable .22LR single-action revolver, dubbed the Wrangler, was launched and, at a $269 entry point, has been extremely successful. Now for 2023, they have expanded it to include a “Sheriff” version which is chopped down from a 4.62-inch barrel to a 3.75-inch format, and have gone even longer with 6.5- and 7.5-inchers.

Overall length is 13 inches on the Ruger Wrangler with the 7.5-inch barrel, seen at the top, compared to 8.62 inches on 3.75-inch barreled “Birdshead” Wranglers, 10.25 inches on standard-sized models with 4.62-inch barrels, and 12 inches on 6.5-inch models. (Photo: Ruger)

The new long-format guns mimic the old Ruger Single-Six Buntlines, which have been in and out of production with 9.5-inch barrels, and the New Model Single-Six, which has a 6.5-inch barrel – but costs much more than any Wrangler.

The Ruger New Model Single-Six, with a 6.5-inch barreled offering, is a much nicer .22 but costs about twice as much as a Wrangler, when you can find them.

The price is still $269, asking, which translates to $199 at the gun counter.

Bill Ruger would recognize the game.

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