The Kimber Solo.
It was on the cover of the October, `11 American Rifleman. Like a lot of the gun press, one can usually count on good reviews of guns made by companies that advertise heavily. So it was a little surprising to see an acknowledgment that "earlier samples were troublesome". I take that to mean "they had to send us several guns to test until we got one that functioned."
It's hard to know who to trust on gun reviews. The Internet tends to hype any problems. The commercial gun press almost never lets a bad word slip about anything. About the only hint you can get from them is if you don't see a review of the WhizBang 2200. Gun Tests reports what it sees, but if they bought a gun that turned out to be ahead or behind the quality curve, well, that's the risk of testing a single item.
One good thing about the Taurus Judge and the S&W Governor is that they are helping to make decent .45 Colt ammunition more prevalent. A lot of what is out there are "cowboy" loads that are designed for the Cowboy Action Shooting game; they are lower-velocity rounds.
The other day at the range, I shot some of the cowboy loads from Winchester and Magtech. They were 250 grain lead flat point loads. I then tried some American Eagle (Federal) 225 grain jacketed soft points-- the recoil was more pronounced and, unlike the cowboy loads, the JSPs had some muzzle flash out of a 4.75" barrel. They felt almost like the standard-pressure Buffalo Bore load, but cheaper to shoot.
What's interesting is that the street price of the supposedly cheap-jack Blazer rounds in this caliber is higher than the American Eagle JSPs, which have a brass case, in the event that you want to collect cartridge cases for reloading. The Blazers seem to be pretty potent hollowpoints, so you pays your money and takes your pick.
D’Oh-bama Drama
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4 comments:
So who am I supposed to trust? I automatically don't trust the gun magazines, because those folks are generally gun nuts and just a bit insane in the membrane...
... and also because I'm a guitar player, and those magazines are just as terrible about giving everything a positive review if they buy advertising. I agree; if a magazine says anything negative, there must have been a disaster behind the scenes! The Internet seems to be split into 'shippers and haters, and no opinions in between. I just bought a handgun, and I really felt like I was flying blind.
Joe, it's not that they're insane. It's that they know which side their bread is buttered on. Not to pick on Kimber, but they spend a shitload of money on advertising. So you won't see a peep about the reputed parts quality issues of some of their models. Taurus also spends a lot on advertising, so you won't see a word about the large number of complaints about their lack of customer service.
It is very much a "caveat emptor" world when it comes to firearms purchasing.
No, by "insane" I meant "lunatics who think that bands of armed minorities are coming to rape the white women in their lives" sort of thing. Just people who sometimes seem to believe that their guns need to fend off a "Red Dawn" communist invasion, instead of putting down a deer or hitting a paper target or shooting at someone trying to steal their TV.
I don't have one, but always respected the old "High Standard BULL DOG" , 5 shots of .44 special in a handfull of a pistol.
High Standards are cheaply made agreed but I do have a Sentinal .22 9 round, and it has been with me for about 50 years now. I cut my teeth on that revolver.
I just can't get it up for cowboy cartridges. The 44-40 and the 32-20 are fine rounds but I can outshoot them with my 6" .357 Smith model 66.
Like bringinging a slingshot to a gun fight.
a grumpy OLD w3ski
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