A friend recently asked me to recommend a .380 handgun. My recommendation was, and is, not to purchase a .380 handgun.
The .380 caliber made more sense years ago when no really good and very small 9mm handguns were available on the market. Back then, a Walther PPK in .380 caliber was sometimes a reasonable choice because its small size and weight provided significantly improved concealability.
Today, the existence of such fine firearms as the Kahr PM9 makes it quite difficult to justify the purchase of a .380 handgun.
At 16oz, the Kahr PM9 is a full five ounces lighter than the 21oz Walther PPK. It is also shorter than the PPK by more than half an inch — even though its barrel is a full inch longer. The PM9 is just under one tenth of an inch taller than the earlier .380.
The 9mm Parabellum (Luger) round used in the PM9 packs considerably more punch than the 9mm Short (Kurz) round used in the Walther PPK — about 65% more power. And yet, the Kahr PM9 is quite reasonably pleasant to shoot.
If you feel comfortable with more recoil, Kahr also makes a PM40. The PM40 is just one eighth of an inch wider than the PM9. The two handguns are virtually indistinguishable from each other — until you fire them. The .40 S&W cartridge is significantly more powerful than the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. The PM40 packs quite a kick in terms of recoil in return for the extra edge it gives you in firepower. I don’t recommend the PM40 for inexperienced shooters, but it is a fine little handgun.
SIG SAUER has just introduced their new pistol, the P250.
The SIG SAUER P250 is a modular pistol which is designed to allow the owner to change many aspects of the pistols ergonomics and operation very quickly. This includes:
The handgrip (small, medium, or large)
The trigger (short or long)
The barrel and slide (subcompact, compact and full)
Caliber (9mm, .357 SIG, 40 S&W, and .45)
In addition, the pistol features an ambidextrous slide release and an ambidextrous magazine release.
The SIG SAUER P250 is obviously aimed at law enforcement agencies which must cater to a wide variety of shooters. The design of the P250 enables these agencies to provide a more appropriate sidearm to each individual shooter, at a minimum cost.
We at Gun News have decided to give away a shotgun to celebrate our site opening.
The shotgun we will give away is the Mossberg Maverick 88 8-Shot Security model with a 3″ chamber, 20″ Cylinder Bore fixed choke and a non-ported barrel. The Model 88 features a rugged black synthetic stock and forearm, blued metal finish and a brass front sight bead.
How to Enter
To enter, simply register on this blog and reply to this post with a message containing your postal Zip code.
How to Win
On Patrick Henry’s birthday (29 May) we will select one winner at random from all replies to this post which contain a Zip code.
How to Claim Your Prize
We will contact the winner at the email address used in their blog registration. We will then find a gun store near their Zip code and have the contest prize delivered to that store.
The winner must go to the gun store and fill out the legal forms required in their area to receive their prize.
Additional Contest Rules
1. This contest is open only to residents of the United States who are legally allowed to own this shotgun where they live. If we can’t get you the prize legally, we will draw for a new winner.
2. Only one entry is allowed per contestant. If you enter more than once, all of your entries will be invalidated. You can reply to this post as often as you like, but please only enter your Zip code once.
