Semi-Automatic Pistols

For home defense, concealed carry, and recreational shooting, the SAR9 will do the job and then some. It is a fine pistol, very accurate, rugged, and reliable.

Someone goes into a gun store and buys a gun for self-defense. That’s the primary reason most people buy guns. He or she takes the gun home and puts it away for the just-in-case time when the goblins come. That new gun owner imagines grabbing the gun and fending off the intruder. But the person who has trained for that day and is serious about defense doesn’t imagine that.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the Taurus TX22 may have eclipsed all other budget-friendly training handguns in this category. Released earlier this year, the TX22 holds 16 rounds in each double-stacked magazine, is insanely comfortable to shoot, maintains reliability after hundreds of rounds, and has a great trigger, to boot.

My first view of the Creed was a few months ago at the Walther HQ in Fort Smith. I was impressed while looking at the pre-production sample, and was shocked to hear the suggested retail of $399.00! I even asked if they were concerned by the price/value relationship with their other guns. They assured me that they would be fine. So, I had a chance to test it recently and here is how it did.

We recently had the opportunity to attend an event where we received hands-on training from no less than Springfield Armory’s Rob Leatham. Set up as part of a writer’s event for the introduction of the Springfield Saint rifle, we had the chance to have Leatham give us all a quick introduction to the ins and outs of optics-equipped pistols.

I am normally a Glock guy, as anyone that has trained with me over the last seven years knows. But one thing a life in the military will break you of quickly is brand loyalty. You always have to be looking for an advantage, and in a world were equipment failures cost lives, you don’t care at all where that advantage comes from. So when the chance to review the Smith and Wesson M&P C.O.R.E. with threaded barrel came up, I jumped at the chance.

So, what are the practical purposes of a Desert Eagle .50 Action Express? Well, the only one I can think of is for hunters/fishermen in Grizzly territory, that don’t like revolvers. Which is a pretty limited segment of the population. I am happy to report that this opinion changed after I took this bad Johnson to the range.