Shideler - The Gun Digest Book of Classic Combat Handguns

Welcome to the Gun Digest Book of Classic Combat Handguns!

I t might have been quite a job for editor Dan Shideler to select the chapters for this book, but then again it was also a pure labor of love. Dan, who passed away April 3, 2011, probably savored every moment he spent combing through his collection of Gun Digest annuals dating all the way back to the inaugural 1944 edition.

Gun Digest was an integral part of Dans life from the time he was a teenager. He was named editor of the Worlds Greatest Gun Book in 2009, just in time to start work on the 2010 edition. In the introduction to that volume, Dan wrote:

I was raised on Gun Digest. Once a year, in the long-gone Indiana of the 1960s and 1970s, my father brought home the new edition, which my brother Dave and I eagerly devoured. I mean we read it literally from cover to cover, absorbing whatever wisdom and insight that could be found in its pages. I still have some of those 40-year-old volumes, nearly all of them showing pencil marks in their catalog sections where we, with boyish enthusiasm, checked guns that we would surely buy someday

And now, forty-some years later, I am the editor of that same book. Karma? The inscrutable workings of Fate? Call it what you will, I will say simply that it is an honor for me, its the stuff that dreams are made of. Even though Dan is no longer with us, the literature he chose to represent some of the most memorable combat handguns of all-time is testament to great guns and great gun writers.

Dan Shideler

1960 2011

The content herein spans 1949-1999. Topics range from the obvious (Model 1911, Luger, Glock) to instructional (Rating Handgun Power) to historical (Early Rivals of the 1911) to just plan ol food for thought (Too Many 45s?).

Once available only to those few collectors who owned a complete set of Gun Digest, Gun Digest Book of Classic Combat Handguns represents the cream of the crop from the most enduring gun annual of all time. We hope you enjoy reading this compilation as much as Dan enjoyed putting it together.

Sincerely,

Corrina Peterson

Editor

Gun Digest Books

Major Charles Ashihs, Jr.

T HE FIRST revolver was patented by young Samuel Colt in 1836. Since then there have been no less than 156 manufacturers of revolving handguns. The Army and Navy, since that time, have adopted 44 different revolvers and 9 different pistols, made by 32 separate manufacturers, ranging in calibers from 32 to 58. The earliest model was accepted in 1842, the last in 1911. While Colt invented the first firearm which successfully employed a cylinder containing separate charges of powder and ball, it remained for another soon-lo-grow-famous New Englander, Douglas Wesson, to adapt his newly perfected 22 rim fire cartridge to an equally successful and new revolver. His revolver, puny and low powered, was quite popular with Union officers during the War between the States. This revolver, a seven-shot breech loader, was the Model of 1855.

From their crude beginnings in 1836, the Colt and contemporary revolvers were what is known as the single action type the hammer must be eared back each time a shot is fired. About 1877 the double action revolver made its appearance. This gun was a considerable refinement over the original as it merely necessitated pulling the trigger strongly to make the hammer rise and fall. In addition, of course, the weapon could be employed as a single action any time the shooter desired. As may well be appreciated, the double-action feature made it possible not only to fire the first shot quicker and more accurately, but also to get off the following shots with greater speed. Today, all revolvers are of the double action type save three. The original Colt Peacemaker (discontinued) is still sold in quantities, as well as two inexpensive semi-target revolvers.

MAJOR CHARLES ASKINS, JR. is undoubtedly the countrys foremost handgun authority. Not only is he a ballistic and arms expert, but also a world renowned shooter who has won every major handgun championship at one time or another.

As revolvers were improved, three definite types emerged. The first of these was the service type handgun. This is a revolver of 38, 44 or 45 caliber with a large frame, considerable weight, not less than a 4 to 6 inch barrel with fixed sights, a large grip, and characterized by great sturdiness of construction, rugged reliability and long life. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson make such guns in several models and calibers:

Colt New Service (Discontinued)

Colt Official Police

S & W Military and Police

S & W 38-44 Heavy Duty

S & W 1926 Model 44 Military

S & W 357 Magnum

S & W 1917 Army (1949 Production)

We have a second and much larger group of handguns which may be classed as general utility or pocket weapons. These models are not nearly as big or as heavy as the service type revolvers and are almost invariably of smaller caliber and shorter barrel length, lighter in weight, and have been designed essentially for stowing in the pocket or concealing beneath the coat. They may be grouped as follows:

Colt Police Positive Special

Colt Police Positive (Not in Production)

Colt Detective Special

Colt Bankers Special

(Not in Production)

Colt Pocket Positive

(Not in Production)

S & W Military and Police

S & W Terrier (1949 Production)

S & W Hand Ejector (1949 Production)

S & W Regulation Police

(1949 Production)

I. J. Protector (Not in Production)

Iver Johnson Hammerless

(Not in Production)

The major class of revolvers is the target handguns. These models have seen more development and refinement than either the service or utility types due to the fact that target shooters are a more vocal group than any other class of revolver users; as a consequence, they have demanded, and obtained in some measure, those improvements which they desired.

Colt Officers Model

Colt Police Positive Target

(Not in Production)

Colt Shooting Master