Читать книгу The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery онлайн

18 страница из 158

The timeless styling of the Browning made it a classic, but make no mistake: Its easy “carryability,” and especially its feel in the hand, have made it an enduringly popular defense gun. From petite female to large male, every hand that closes over a Browning Hi-Power seems to feel a perfect fit. One caveat: Though it will hold 13+1, serious users like the SAS discovered that it wasn’t very reliable unless the magazine was loaded one round down from full capacity. Just something to think about.

Classic Double-action Autos

Some gun enthusiasts would argue whether the words “classic” and “DA auto” belong in the same sentence. Can there be such a thing as a “classic” Mustang? Only to the young, and to fans of the genre. Ditto the DA auto.

Surely, in terms of firearms design history, there were at least a couple of classics. The Walther designs of the 1920s and 1930s are a case in point. There is no question that the P-38 dramatically influenced duty auto designs of the future, though no serious gun professional ever made that pistol his trademark if he could get something else.