Combat Handguns September/October 2022

At the time of this writing, the past month has been fraught with tragedy, led by mass murders in a supermarket in New York and an elementary school in Texas. Before delving into our topic, let us recognize that people in the gun industry and America’s law-abiding gun owners are mourning these tragedies alongside every other American, and we want these senseless mass murders and acts of violence to end. Purely evil people misusing guns pose a huge threat to society, as well as to our Second Amendment rights. Truth be told, you couldn’t have avoided the news of these tragedies if you had tried to do so. So, it’s strange that you have to look long and hard to find the story of a heroic armed woman who stopped…

Plea bargaining is a lubricant that keeps the criminal justice system from totally clogging up. It allows a guilty defendant to plead guilty to a lesser offense, and thus receive a distinctly lesser punishment than if he had gone to trial and, predictably, been convicted. The courts would be far more clogged and backlogged than they are right now—all the more so since the pandemic shutdowns—without it. The hard-line, anti-crime conservatives who rail against plea bargaining should understand that better than some of them do. When I became a police prosecutor in my state’s system and was able to prosecute misdemeanors and violations without the help of a prosecuting attorney, I learned to appreciate plea bargaining from the law enforcement side. Much less of the time of arresting and investigating…

Morgan Leonhardt is not your average 15-year-old. Morgan started competing in shooting sports in 2017, at the age of nine. Her father, Kevin Leonhardt, had been competing since 2010, and once he brought Morgan to her first match, she was hooked. Fast forward to today where the two travel across the country together shooting 3-Gun, 2-Gun, USPSA and other competitions. Her path to winning the Ladies Carry Optics National Champion title was not linear nor her goal when she first started shooting. In 2018, Morgan focused on 3-Gun competitions, spending that year shooting an AR-15 .223 rifle, 12-gauge shotgun and 9mm pistol. There are very few 3-Gun matches Kevin and Morgan have shot where their names aren’t toward the top of the list. It was not until 2021 that Morgan…

As a firearms instructor, I am always interested in new products that help people train better and stay interested while training. I am also a fan of good targets and target systems that keep shooters engaged and wanting to shoot more to improve their skills. At SHOT Show this year, I was on the hunt for the coolest training aids and best new target systems I could find that might be fun for me to personally use or to utilize in classes with new shooters. Here is what I found on the SHOT Show floor. AIM PERFECT SIMULATOR Aim Perfect software allows you to turn your laptop into a shooting simulator. The easy-to-use system requires you to simply record a video using your cell phone or any other device, download…

Walther just released their F-Series pistols, and I’m really surprised. Why? Because the “F” is for “female,” and that alone gives a huge portion of men the mind to “hard pass” on such a pistol, because, “It’s for a woman, after all.” Bold move, Walther. But you need to include some additional language about how the F-Series is just a really well-designed pistol that addresses concerns that many shooters have, not just females, and they may simply not know it—yet. Because that’s what it does. We got an early prototype look (and shoot) of the F-Series at the 2021 Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous in Victor, Idaho. All rondy participants—men and women—really liked the gun. And recently, I watched the PDP F video on Walther’s website because, well, I like their product…

DRD Tactical is a brand synonymous with discreet and reliable firepower. The company’s first release, the Paratus rifle, was designed around the needs of U.S Special Operations personnel. This precision, semi-automatic takedown rifle could be stored in a briefcase and deployed as needed with great efficiency. DRD Tactical has applied the same concepts and features that make the Paratus an excellent choice for long-range engagements to a new platform designed for close-range encounters. PURPOSE BUILT The MFP-21 makes use of DRD’s hallmark takedown system but diverges from the company’s AR-15-inspired CDR pistols in its overall design. The MFP-21 pistol makes use of a similar internal recoil system to those found in the Paratus and Aptus series of rifles. This means that the recoil system is contained within the firearm itself…