CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE BALLISTIC BASICS LEGALLY ARMED CITIZEN JUST THE LAW OPENING UP RECHARGE RELOADED POWER PLAY CONCEALEDCARRY THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE FOR RESPONSIBLY ARMED AMERICANS FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018 VOLUME15 ISSUE2 $9.99 FEBRUARY/MARCH . Easily Shifts to 11+ Carry Positions . Comfortable in All Configurations /JUNE . Forever Guaranteed 2017 2018 WWW.USCCA.COM Get Your Starter Kit Online $9988 AlienGearHolsters.com www.USCCA.com 2 www.USCCA.com | February/March STARTING AT $19.99 February/March | www.USCCA.com 3 CONTENTS 60 54 1911s .45 ACP THREE FEATURES ON GUARD FOR Smith & Wesson’s THREE Big-Bore Shield Compact .45 ❚BY BOB CAMPBELL Countdown ❚BY MARK KAKKURI 66 TACTICS HARD CORE MBC’s Defensive Responses ❚BY MICHAEL JANICH 70 AMMO ROUND HOUSE An Inside Look at SIG Sauer’s New Ammo Factory ❚BY TOM MCHALE 76 SMART BUYS THRIFTY 3 88 A Trio of Budget Defense Guns KNIVES ❚BY BOB CAMPBELL THE RIDDLE 82 REVOLVERS OF STEEL BOBBING FOR Knife Steel From a HAMMERS Different Perspective To Grind or Not to Grind? ❚ BY JASON ‘BUCK’ BUCKLEY ❚BY SCOTT W. WAGNER 94 SELF-DEFENSE BATON BASICS Leading the Parade ❚BY ED COMBS 10 0 BERSA BY ANY OTHER NAME Bersa Thunder .45 Ultra Compact Pro 10 6 ❚ BY MARK KAKKURI GLOCK GEN-G Glock’s Generation 5 9mm ❚ BY BOB CAMPBELL 4 www.USCCA.com | February/March FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 COLUMNS 42 24 BALLISTIC BASICS EXPANSION How & Why ❚ BY TAMARA KEEL 34 LEGALLY ARMED CITIZEN RECHARGE RELOADED History of the Spare ❚BY ED COMBS 38 IT’S JUST THE LAW 16 POWER PROBLEMS Is Your Cartridge Too Powerful? DEPARTMENTS ❚BY K.L. JAMISON 6 | PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 8 | EDITOR’S SHOT 10 | ABOUT THE COVER 12 | ASK THE USCCA AFTER THE SHOT 44 14 | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR NO GOING BACK 16 | BATTLE BLADES Things You’ve Never Considered | ❚BY ALAN KORWIN 18 TRUE STORIES 22 | IN THE 10-RING 24 | BENCH REPORT 28 | DRILL OF THE MONTH 30 | LEGISLATIVE NEWS DEFCON 1 48 32 | GEAR WE LOVE OLD SOLDIER | INSTRUCTOR’S CORNER ‘Any Defensive Caliber’s Gotta 110 Start With a 4 … And End With a 5.’ 112 | LIFELINE ❚BY JOHN CAILE 114 | CLEAR IMPACT 116 | MEMBER PROFILE 118 | PRESS CHECK February/March | www.USCCA.com 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Tim Schmidt A PERSONAL INVITATION TO JOHN M. BROWNING...? Although I’m no expert when it al Concealed Carry tendees this year. If comes to firearms history, I do know Expo in Louisville, you’re over 18, stop that it’s pretty impossible to have a se- Kentucky, this April. by and choose a rious discussion about the last century Call me crazy, but gun to test-fire with and a half or so of American handgun- I tend to think the the helpful guidance ning without mentioning John Moses USCCA Expo cele- of USCCA-Certified Browning and his .45 ACP cartridge. brates a few of the Firearms Instructors. Designed by Browning and intro- same things that I also encourage duced in 1905 — just a few short Browning himself you to check out our years after the .32 ACP — the .45 embodied: things Reality-Based Train- ACP, also referred to as the .45 Auto, like innovation, ing Center; it, too, is is a truly iconic American handgun craftsmanship and 100 percent free this round (read Executive Editor Kevin a lifelong dedication time around! We’ve Michalowski’s “Editor’s Shot” on Page to perfecting his de- partnered with Ulti- 8 for an insightful analysis of how that signs. The world is mate Training Muni- came to be). certainly better — tions to provide you What always strikes me as interest- and safer — for it. with everything you ing and impressive is that, despite the Of course, the USCCA Expo is more need to take down targets on the ded- well-known and often vocal .45-ver- than just a collection of firearms and icated range or in the unique shoot sus-9mm debate that continues to concealed carry products; it’s also a house. USCCA- and UTM-Certified In- engage shooters of all ages and of celebration of the responsibility and structors will be on hand to guide you varying skill levels, you’ll rarely hear accountability that accompany the through it all. anyone — on either end of the spec- decision to carry a firearm for self-de- Of course, we’ll have plenty of ven- trum — claim that Browning was any- fense. Now, I might be biased, but I dors and seminars to keep you busy thing less than a pioneer in the firearms happen to think there’s a little bit of throughout the weekend, and — good industry. I don’t know about you, but I magic in that. And if you’re available news! — the Women’s Concealed Car- think that’s really saying something. April 13 to 15, 2018, I’d love for you ry Showroom will be open again in Lou- If God created men and Sam Colt to join me and the rest of the USCCA isville — this time conveniently located made them equal, as the old adage team in Louisville to soak up some right on the main show floor. professes, then certainly John Brown- of that magic. I guarantee you’ll be Oh, and word on the street is that ing helped to keep it that way. Con- among friends. Graham Allen will be in attendance. sider that a number of defensive arms I’m excited to announce that our (OK, I can actually confirm this one!) still produced today — the M1911, for mobile Live-Fire Shooting Range, Doors will open Friday, April 13 at 3 instance — deviate only slightly from where you can test out a plethora of p.m. I know that John Browning can’t Browning’s original designs. quality firearms from the industry’s top make it, but will I see YOU there? I You know, if Browning were still alive, manufacturers, like Bond Arms, Glock hope so! I’d personally invite him to the 4th Annu- and Walther Arms, is free for all at- MEET TIM SCHMIDT IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY LEARN MORE AT CONCEALEDCARRYEXPO.COM 6 www.USCCA.com | February/March EDITOR’S SHOT by Kevin Michalowski THE OLD GUARD Is It All in the Reputation? The .45 ACP is often described as “legendary” and “timeless.” Did you ever wonder why? Did you ever wonder how the .45 ACP became so revered? various calibers, one of which — his I guess such a tremendous reputation Model 1905 pistol — was built around likely comes from having served with the .45 ACP cartridge. About the same American market, the Unit- distinction in two world wars and count- time, Austrian gunmaker Georg Luger ed States equipped hundreds of less smaller wars all around the world was developing his proprietary firearm thousands of troops for a major foreign for more than 100 years. But how did and cartridge. You’ve heard of them: engagement. The pistol and cartridge that round, combined with the 1911 pis- the P08 Luger and the 9x19mm round. served well. Weapons designers began tol, even get the chance to serve? That cartridge, now known by several building other platforms for the .45 ACP. First up, the U.S. Army has loved the names — including 9mm Parabellum, Then, 25 years later, the pistol was .45-caliber projectile since the early 9mm NATO, 9mm Luger and just plain hip-deep in another war. This time, mil- 1870s, when cavalry troopers started old 9mm — is currently the most wide- lions of pistols were turned out, along carrying Colt Single Action Army revolv- ly used pistol cartridge in the world. with hundreds of millions of rounds of ers. The .45 was a big, stout bullet that Think about that. The two most revered ammunition. The .45 became the gold did the job in the era of black powder and longest-serving pistol cartridges in standard of defensive ammunition, and round-nosed lead bullets. But the the world were developed in 1905 and largely because nothing else was tried. Army drifted away from the .45 and, by 1908, respectively. By the time there was any real op- 1899, soldiers were carrying .38-caliber Is that because they are great or be- portunity for research and develop- revolvers and an anemic round was, cause they were there? Did you know ment, people’s minds were made up: shall we say, underpowered for the the venerable M1 Garand was de- The .45 ACP round would live forev- demands of close-quarters battle. Sol- signed to fire a .276-caliber round? The er and gunmakers around the world diers returning from the Philippines told change to .30-06 required intense rede- would, to this day and beyond, con- horror stories of how poorly the round sign work. The reason: The U.S. had, at tinue to build firearms around the performed in battle. By 1909, the Army the time the rifle was being developed, cartridge. There might be something was once again issuing .45-caliber re- great stores of .30-caliber ammo. better out there, but chances are it will volvers, but the move to auto-loading Perhaps this is how the .45 grew to be not be discovered, because the .45 pistols was already underway. so legendary. Not long after the round ACP is so firmly woven into the fabric By 1909, John Browning had devel- and pistol to which it is most close- of self-defense pistols that few people oped several auto-loading pistols in ly associated were dropped into the see the need to change.