Tag Archives: new pistols

Return of the Arm Pistol

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Arguably the first large format AR-style pistol to hit the market is now set to make a return, no brace needed.

Firearms maverick Mack Gwinn Jr., a Vietnam-era Special Forces veteran, in the early 1970s acquired the rights to Colt-made IMP-221, a stockless, gas-operated bullpup pistol intended to provide aircrew with a compact survival gun chambered in .221 Fireball. While the Air Force had already scrapped the project, Gwinn made lemons into lemonade, adapting the design to use 5.56 NATO and accept standard AR mags, launching the Bushmaster Arm Pistol.

Bushmaster Armpistol ads started popping up in the early-1970s

The original Gwinn/Bushmaster Arm Pistol borrowed from both AR-15 and AK-47 designs, with its AR-style rotating bolt and AK-type long-stroke gas piston.

Based on the Colt IMP-221/ Air Force GUU-4/P air crew weapon originally designed at Eglin Air Force Base, the original Gwinn Firearms in Bangor, Maine produced the 5.56mm Bushmaster Arm Pistol “in limited quantities” for the USAF in the early 1970s before sending it to the consumer market. Just 20.63 inches long, the Arm Pistol had a lot of M16-style features in a very abbreviated bullpup format.

With the Arm Pistol long out of production and Bushmaster now in at least its third reincarnation since Gwinn sold the company in 1976, his son, Mack Gwinn III, has founded Maine-based Hydra Weaponry and returned a much-improved version of the design to production.

We caught up with the fine folks from Hydra at the recent 2024 NRA Annual Meetings in Dallas to “lay arm” on the new BMP-23.

Hydra feels the BMP-23 is the 5.56mm pistol that Gwinn Jr. would have built if he had access to today’s CNC machinery and technologically advanced materials.

21st Century Survival Gun

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A simple new platform that will be headed to shelves this summer is from North Carolina’s Veteran-owned Dark Mountain Arms.

The Stowaway system is a single-shot bolt-action, take-down firearm that is initially being offered in 5.7 NATO but, as it is multi-caliber via an easy swap out of a bolt face and barrel, future options on the table include 9mm, 4.6×30, .22 LR, .22 WMR, .17 Mach2, and .17 HMR.

A packable design with a weight of less than 3 pounds (2.8 pounds for the 16-inch threaded barreled rifle and 2 pounds flat for the 5-inch barreled pistol), the gun can be stowed in two primary pieces and then easily reassembled.

More in my column a Guns.com.

Calling Mr. Roscoe

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One interesting new (well, rebooted) gun design that I am looking forward to testing this summer is the Heritage Roscoe.

A salute to the old-school pocket revolvers from the days of Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, the cigar-box-worthy .38SPL +P Roscoe looks right out of the mid-20th Century, clad in a deep glossy finish, classic round butt wood grips, fixed sights, and a 5-shot cylinder. Plus, it is available in both 2- and 3-inch models.

Best yet, it has an ask of $350, which should translate to $299-ish at retail.

Heritage, the Taurus subsidiary best known for its affordable single-action rimfire pistols and carbines, has launched the Roscoe line. This comes almost a decade after Taurus sunset its popular Model 85 5-shot small-frame revolver line– upgrading it to the larger 6-shot Model 856– and recalls the company’s history during the old Bangor Punta days (1962-72ish) when it was a sister to S&W and they shared tech.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Glong gets a (much-needed) Update

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One of the models that has been around since almost the beginning, the first Glock 17L, or “Glong” pistols – so named because they have an extended 6-inch barrel and corresponding 8.9-inch slide rather than the standard model’s 4.5/7.3-inch barrel/slide – was introduced as a first-generation gun back in 1988.

Moving up to Gen 2 in 1990 and Gen 3 in 1998, the pistol has been stuck in a world where Boyz II Men and Chumbawamba were still in the Top 40, largely replaced by the similar but more practical/tactical G34.

Well, that is until last week, when the G17L leaped over the Gen 4 standard and went right to Gen 5, complete with a Glock MOS optics plate cut at the 2024 NRA Annual Meetings in Dallas.

Yup, it’s back.

Other updates include the new-style Glock Marksman Barrel (GMB), a better trigger, and the deletion of the oft-detested finger grooves on the grip, replaced by the company’s more modular grip frame that accommodates a series of interchangeable backstraps.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Colt Fills the Stable with a New Grizzly, Kodiak, and Vipers

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While everyone knows such long-legged wheelguns as the Peacemaker, Python, and Navy ’51/Army ’60 Series guns, Colt has seen dozens of short-lived revolvers in its company history. Handguns that just slipped in and slipped out just as fast.

For instance, in 1993, the Colt Kodiak, a limited-run of no more than 2,000 .44 Magnum that was built by the Colt Custom Shop in 1993 on the Anaconda series frame, hit the shelves and was never seen again.

In 1994 the Colt Custom Shop made a short run of just 999 Colt Grizzly models in .357 Magnum using a King Cobra frame with a Magna-Ported 6-inch Python series barrel.

Even before that, in 1977, the company made an aluminum-framed version of its 4th Model Police Positive– a revolver that itself was headed for cancelation. Using the small D (Detective) frame, it was light and rated for just .38 Special. Dubbed the Viper, it is one of the hardest of Colt’s “snake guns” to capture.

A circa 1977 nickel Viper

Well, for what it is worth, Colt just dropped new versions of all three of these guns on the market.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Q Approved: The 7.65 PPK Returns

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When the Walther PPK was introduced in 1931, billed as a smaller version of the company’s PP series meant for use by plain-clothed detectives (the PPK stands for Polizei Pistole Kriminal), it was in chambered in 7.65x17mm Browning Short, which we know over here on this side of the Atlantic as John Browning’s .32 ACP.
This was soon augmented with variants offered in .380 ACP and, by 2013, Walther discontinued the .32 version of both the PPK and PPK/S.

Some 31 years after the PPK was introduced, MI6 armorer Major Boothroyd, or Q, would famously issue CDR James Bond, RN, one in lieu of his .25 ACP Beretta, describing it as: “Walther PPK. 7.65mm with a delivery like a brick through a plate-glass window.”

Now, with improvements in bullet and propellant design leading to the resurgence of 9mm over .40 caliber, and .380 seen as the new 9mm, and .32 seen as the new .380, the stubby little round is much more popular these days.
And so, it should be no surprise that Walther is bringing the “old” caliber back for both the PPK and the PPK/S, in both stainless and black variants. All models have the classic Walther styling coupled with a hammer drop decocking safety, fixed sights, and a wave cut atop the slide to reduce glare.

The standard PPK, which is shorter at a pocketable 3.8 inches high, has a 7+1 shot capacity while the taller (4.3 inches high) PPK/S has an 8+1 capacity. All models share the same 3.3-inch barrel length and 6.1-inch overall length.

10mm Go-To Tac Pistol

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FN debuted the 10mm variant of the popular 509 series pistols in early 2023 and I have been testing the 510 Tactical variant for the past year. I mean, what’s not to like about a 22+1 shot suppressor optics-ready 10mm made by one of the biggest names in the firearms industry?

The FN 510 Tactical has a 4.71-inch barrel, which gives the pistol an 8.3-inch overall length, making it very M1911-sized. It is shown with its flush-fit 15+1 capacity magazine inserted.

 

It also ships with an extended 22+1 mag.

A full review after the jump.

Hellcat Pro Gets Threads

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The new Hellcat Pro Threaded model in Desert Flat Dark Earth debuted on Monday and is the first model to ship in that colorway with an extended threaded barrel and both 15+1 round flush fit and 17+1 round extended magazines.

Springfield loaned me a test and evaluation sample of the new model prior to launch and I had a chance to give a first look at this feature-loaded desert cat.

Why would you want to have a threaded barrel on a micro 9mm subcompact? 

When it comes to the reasoning behind the Hellcat Pro Threaded, it all just comes down to value added. Users can opt to carry it as bare bones as possible, with no lights, optics or muzzle devices, and have the flush-fit mag inserted with the extendo as a spare should things get really really real, and the platform is still very concealable. Then, for quiet time on the range, a suppressor can be added without degrading performance. If weight and concealability is not a factor, say, for home defense, a user can add all the bells and whistles and run the larger mag full-time.

Plus, there is always the scenario of using a loaded-out Hellcat Pro Threaded as one’s home defense pistol while keeping a standard, more bare-bones, Hellcat Pro for carry use. This keeps the same manual of arms and practice factor across both duties while being able to share mags, most holsters, and spare parts. Could be a win on a bunch of fronts.

19 Rounds of Good to Go: The FN 545 Tactical .45 ACP

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Announced just before this year’s SHOT Show alongside the new FN 510 in 10mm Auto, the FN 545 Tactical is essentially an upsized FN 509 Tactical chambered in .45 ACP. A round that will not die and today is seemingly even more popular than ever, the .45 ACP has been around for well over a century and the FN 545 Tactical stands ready to carry it deep, shipping complete with two magazines, including a flush 15+1 rounder and an extended 18+1 round mag.

The FN 545 Tactical scratches a lot of itches for a lot of folks. Those who love FN’s 509 series but wanted something in a .45 are in luck. Those who were interested in the hammer-fired FNX-45 Tactical but would prefer it in a striker-fired action are in luck. Those who want a suppressor/optic-ready .45 ACP with lots of extra capacity right out of the box are in luck.

Compared to guns like the Glock G21 Gen 5, it has better ergos, features, and capacity.

Plus, it is accurate and reliable in testing.

The full 500-round review is over in my column at Guns.com.

19 Shot .45 ACP: More on the New FN 545

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In what is a logical next step from the company that brought the world the FNX-45 and FN 509, the FN 545 Tactical is loaded with extras– and is chambered in “God’s caliber.”

Debuted just prior to this year’s SHOT Show alongside the new FN 510 in 10mm Auto, the 545 is essentially an enlarged FN 509 Tactical chambered in .45 ACP. While John Browning’s venerable 118-year-old chunky monkey of a caliber is best known in single-stack 1911s, the popular round keeps on ticking with a new generation of double-stack 2011s and guns like the Gen 5 Glock 21.

At first look, the FN 545 Tactical gets its name honestly, being optics ready, with an extended threaded barrel, and shipping complete with two magazines including a flush 15+1 rounder and an extended 18+1 round mag.

The overall length of the FN 545 Tactical is 8.3 inches, which is about as long as a Government profile 1911, while the weight is a lighter 31 ounces.

The 4.71-inch cold hammer-forged, target-crowned barrel on the FN 545 is threaded .578x28TPI to mount compensators and suppressors. Seen here with a SilencerCo Omega installed. A great thing about the .45 ACP round is that it is inherently subsonic in velocity, which makes it natural for use with suppressors.

More in my column at Guns.com.

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