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JUNE 1, 2021

Safariland CADRE member Julie Golob won First Place in the women’s division at the Flagler Cup, an NRA Action Pistol regional match held at the Pioneer Gun Club in Bates City, Missouri.
Safariland®, a brand of The Safariland Group, announces holster fits from Safariland and Bianchi for the new Taurus GX4.
Galco’s new KingTuk Cloud IWB is now available to fit even more guns. New fits just added include the Glock 17/19 series, Ruger LC9, SIG-Sauer 226/229/320/365, and the Springfield Armory XD-S.

DeSantis Gunhide introduces a holster fit for the Springfield Armory Hellcat and Hellcat OSP, either fitted with the Streamlight TLR-6. The #137 Slim-Tuk is a minimalist IWB holster made of Kydex.
Riton Optics is excited to announce AmChar Wholesale Inc. as the newest distributor of Riton Optics products.
The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) announces a strategic partnership with SIG SAUER.

U.S. LawShield has filed a joint lawsuit with the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) against the City of Winchester, Virginia for violating articles of the Constitution of Virginia.
Comp-Tac released its updated and enhanced CTAC V2 Holster on May 26. It's an update of the original CTAC, an inside-the-waistband holster first introduced at the beginning of Comp-Tac in 1999.
Find this and other stories related to your right to keep and bear arms at A1F.com.

FFLGuard is presenting a virtual, multi-day symposium, beginning tomorrow (Wednesday June 2, 2021) at the Gearfire Studio, featuring speakers scheduled from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the National Rifle Association (NRA), the American Suppressor Association (ASA), the National Association of Sporting Good Wholesalers (NASGW), and many other firearms organizations.
“Joe Biden is accelerating his attack on guns by nominating an anti-gun-rights activist to be the next ATF czar, through executive orders, and Congressional legislation,” the Second Amendment Foundation declared as it prepares to launch a new national television advertising campaign to alert the public.
From brilliant to bewildering, the latest Special Edition issue of GUNS Magazine Surplus Military & Classic Firearms highlights more than 25 guns that changed world history.

In a special three-part examination into the current state of the ammunition market, Shooting Industry asked ammunition manufacturers, distributors and dealers the impossible question: “Where’s all the ammo?” Their collective insights offer some perspective on meeting the challenges during this truly unprecedented period, and also point to silver linings.
High Speed Gear recently reduced the price of its entire lightweight LT line of TACO magazine pouches. The company decided to pass on the savings to its customers after manufacturing and technological advancements reduced the cost to make these pouches.
Fiocchi is now a key sponsor of this year’s Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Mountain Festival, which will be held July 22-25 at Canyons Village in Park City, Utah.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is urging members and supporters to contact their U.S. Senators and oppose the nomination of David Chipman to become head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.
 

Everyone I know in the shooting sports agrees that when it comes to competition, having more rounds in your gun is good. More rounds mean fewer reloads, and fewer reloads, at least for mere mortals (like me), means time saved. I also realize, however, that the old adage “you can’t miss fast enough to win” is equally true.

But have you ever considered that in a personal defense scenario more rounds might mean fewer rounds needed? Today, more and more shooters are carrying smaller pistols. Smaller pistols, ordinarily have always meant fewer rounds. But having fewer rounds in the gun was viewed as a tradeoff for more comfortable and more easily concealed (smaller) guns in our concealed carry holsters.

In any emergency situation, however, more is generally regarded as better than fewer, especially when you’re talking round counts in a handgun. So, engineers went back to their CAD programs and came up with ways to increase capacities without radically changing the overall dimensions of their small guns.

As a result, we now have very small guns that carry 11, 12, even 13, rounds. Much increased capacities, but not significantly increased manageability. In fact, not everyone can get enough grip on these tiny blasters to shoot them as effectively as larger guns.

Enter the “enhanced capacity” magazine. It might not seem like a lot, but adding a slightly extended magazine to anything from S&W’s M&P Shield to Springfield Armory’s new Hellcat can make a big difference.

Being “large framed” I always elect to go with the enhanced capacity magazine as primary and leave the smaller magazine as the backup. I’m not planning on emptying either, but I’ve never intentionally gone into a situation where I’ve needed my gun, either. So, for me, more- initially- is better.

Recently, Springfield Armory announced new “higher capacity” magazines for their very successful Hellcat. The Hellcat was already available with 13+1 capacities, but this new mag adds two more rounds, enabling you to have 15+1 rounds of 9mm in a micro compact. In case you’ve not been paying attention lately, round count is sort of a big deal in the hot new micro category.

But does the enhanced capacity really bring you any benefit other than more rounds? It’s a question I thought I could only answer by testing. So, I reached out to S-A and they graciously sent me a couple of their new 15-rounders.

A word of advice: If you’re getting these new 15-rounders, consider investing in a loading device of some sort. Trust me, your thumbs will thank you. They are stiff.

After loading both mags, I headed to the range for some decidedly non-scientific testing.

What I had in mind was simple: I would take two identical targets and shoot 13 rounds into both of them at the same distance. On one, I would use the 13-round magazine and the 15-rounder on the other. Then I would compare the results.

As it turned out, those two targets were all the testing I needed to be convinced that based on my personal shooting abilities (key factor), the 15-round magazine enabled me to shoot more accurately, and faster.

That might sound pretty simple to some of you, but the simple addition of the quarter-inch or so of gripping surface as opposed to the 13-round magazine yielded measurable results.

Sometimes side-by-side testing is the best way to measure differences. The only difference between these two targets is the magazine used to shoot them. In the first target (above) the 13-round magazine produced a respectable (for me) 4x4 grouping. Using the only slightly larger 15-round magazine, the same round count tightened into a 3x3 inch group (below). OWDN photos.

With the 13 round target, my shots landed inside a 4x4 inch area. For me, that’s not terrible, especially since I was trying to shoot as quickly as I could reacquire the target.

Using the 15 round magazine and the same shooting pace, 13-rounds tightened into a 3x3-inch space. That’s significantly better shooting, with nothing changing except the magazine length.

A simple, 26-round test convinced me that given my hand size, plunking down another $39.95 (MSRP) per 15-round magazine would be an investment in improving my Hellcat.

Not everyone’s hand size is the same -and not every pistol (including the Hellcat) includes a selection of grip inserts to help adapt the gun to your hand. But something as simple as trying the small gun you like with different capacity magazines (if they change the grip area) can make a difference.

For me, the additional two rounds enable me to shoot more accurately and faster. In a defensive carry pistol, I don’t see how I can afford not to make that investment.

— Jim Shepherd

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