Combat Handguns July - August 2017

Speed, accuracy, reliability. Attain them all—whether you’re a gun maker, a member of a police department or elite military unit, or an everyday citizen who ranks armed personal defense at the highest level—and you’ll be ready to rock in any situation. In that same vein, the editors of Combat Handguns strive to provide you with timely, honest and accurate content within the pages of every issue and online at personaldefenseworld.com and tactical-life.com. And sometimes a gem pops up right at the last minute. Just before press date, CH contributor Sean Utley hollered out with an exclusive opportunity to turn the spotlight on B&T’s new Universal Service Weapon. The USW sports an innovative folding stock integral to the gun’s receiver, and it comes with a Level 2 retention holster as well…

HEADS UP, “OPERATORS” Whether they’re a force of habit or not for you, tactical-life.com has a list of six “tactical” terms and phrases that should be dropped immediately from your vocabulary like a hot potato. (bit.ly/2oSbMBA) HEIZER’S ON FIRE No slouches when it comes to innovation, Heizer Defense took things to another level with its allnew PKO 45 pistol. Head to personaldefenseworld.com to see it on the range. (bit.ly/2okySz1) WAR FLICKS: With great military movies come great quotes, and we’ve rounded up a list of the 10 best on tactical-life.com. This one’s for those of you who love the smell of napalm in the morning or ain’t got time to bleed. (bit.ly/2nyUgSs) SURVIVORMAN KNOWLEDGE Les Stroud, renowned survival expert, host of TV’s Survivorman and all-around badass, sits down for an…

A man suspected of vandalism and attempted arson at a Fresno, California, home in early February was back a month later with a bottle of gas and a lighter. Thankfully, the homeowner had anticipated the man’s return and installed security cameras. But when he came outside to confront the would-be arsonist, the man tried to douse him with gasoline and set him ablaze. This incident happened on March 1, 2017, in southwestern Fresno. And it wasn’t the first altercation between the suspect, Maurilio Miranda, and the homeowner, said Lt. Joe Gomez, police spokesman. Miranda was suspected of breaking 20 windows at the home on February 8, causing about $4,300 of damage. Miranda was arrested and charged with felony vandalism and then released. Two days later, the first fire was lit…

After decades in the criminal justice system and 30-some years of working on federal- and state-level lawsuits related to deadly force, I think I can help to answer a common question among armed citizens: “How is it that people who justifiably fire in self-defense get prosecuted on criminal charges, or sued?” MOTIVATED PROSECUTORS The vast majority of prosecutors in this country live up to their role as a minister of justice, with a duty to exonerate the innocent that weighs every bit as heavily as the duty to prosecute those they believe are guilty. But some don’t. In Case One, a man sustained what proved to be a fatal injury in a police transport van. The incident resulted in a major race riot. The prosecutor charged six police officers and…

When you first look at this new product from Brügger & Thomet, a company based out of Switzerland, you might say it’s a pistol. Then you might look again and say it’s a personal-defense weapon, or PDW. But it doesn’t really matter, because you’d be wrong either way. OK, so maybe it’s a carbine? No, it’s not that, either. If you were to make a definitive judgement like this in front of anyone from B&T, you’d probably offend them. That’s because B&T has dived deep into the conceptualization and design of the Universal Service Weapon, or USW. So far in fact that this gun has its very own classification. Why all the fuss? PDW, carbine—it’s all the same, right? Not exactly. The USW was born for specific users who had…

OAL: 8.5 INCHES Both Ruger and Smith & Wesson, with the help of modern steels and cutting-edge design methods, are keeping innovation alive in their respective revolver lines. Recently, both companies have introduced medium-framed revolvers in big-bore calibers for fans of handguns who are looking for the larger calibers, but in a more compact form. For this edition of the “Tale of the Tape,” we’ll take a side-by-side look at both the Ruger GP100 in .44 Special and the Smith & Wesson Model 69 in .44 Magnum. Though there are differences between the two, they both share a common trait that makes them very appealing as big-bore carry pieces. They are both built on the companies’ medium-sized frames, which usually max out at the .357 Magnum. To accommodate the larger…