Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum

Company History
Tauras Manufacturing began as a producer of small tools in Porto Alegre, Brazil and manufactured their first revolver in 1941. In 1968 they began exporting firearms to the United States. Their entry into the US firearms market was fairly disrespected by the gun buying public. That began to change in the later part of the 1970's as their handguns came to bear a very close resemblence to Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers and Beretta 9mm semi-automatic pistols. This is because, in 1970, 54% of the company was purchased by the conglomerate Bangor Punta. That name may strike a familiar chord with those of you who were handgun afficiandos in those days as you will well remember that Bangor Punta also owned Smith & Wesson. In 1974 Beretta was contracted to supply their famous 9mm pistols to the Brazilian army. Part of the deal stipulated that Beretta produce them in Brazil. When the contract ran out Beretta sold the entire production facility to Taurus including the staff, drawings, and all manufacturing equipment. In the later part of the 1980's Taurus announced that their firearms now included a lifetime warantee and began to tweak their designs offering improvements and a style all their own. Taurus has always produced an economical firearm, but their revolvers and semi-automatic pistols are now renowned for quality, safety, and accuracy giving the gun buyer the best value for the money.

.44 Magnum Tracker Revolver
The Tracker is good packin' revolver as it is manufactured on the Taurus compact frame which gives it a capacity of 5 rounds. It comes in blue steel and is not too heavy weighing in at 34 ounces. The front sight is of the fixed red ramp variety and the rear sight is outlined in white and is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation. Even with hot full power magnum ammunition the revolver was comfortable to shoot due to the ported barrel, smooth & wide target trigger, and the Taurus "Ribber" grip. In my humble opinion Taurus makes the best revolver grip produced anywhere.

Shooting the Tracker
As mentioned above, the Tracker was very comfortable to shoot. Accuracy with .44 Special loads was good and, with the ported barrel and "ribber" grips, the revolver was absolutely no problem to shoot.
(Click image to enlarge Cartridge Line-up. From left to right: .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum, .32 S&W, .32 Long Colt, .32 S&W Long, .32 ACP, .380 ACP, 9mm, .38 Special, .40 S&W, .44 Special, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum, .45 Colt, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum.)
The Tarus manual recommended that it be shot with 240 grain bullets. While the 240 grainers are made in a .44 special load it is more of a speciality item and not readily available in my locality. The 240 grain bullet weight is the most popular size for .44 magnum loads and this is when the revolver really began to shine.

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All targets shown were set at 21 feet. The target on the left was fired at with 5 rounds of Winchester 240 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint .44 magnum loads and the target on the right took 10 rounds of the same hot ammunition.

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The target on the left was shot with 20 rounds of Winchester Silvertip 210 grain .44 Magnum ammo and the target on the right was hit with 20 rounds of Federal 240 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint .44 Magnum ammunition.

For everyday defense I would go with the 210 grain Winchester Silvertip ammo. It is slightly less powerful and therefore easier to shoot than the 240 grain bullets. However, if traversing the wilderness of Idaho I would feel very confident with the Winchester .240 grain ammunition which seemed to produce the best accuracy of the four loads tested.

Stay Tuned...Vanity Project In-Progress
I have always wanted to have a pistol, customized to my specifications, however most custom pistols and revolvers begin at close to $3 grand and go up. But now I have seized the opportunity to do one that I will really like, for a fraction of the price. How you ask? Well the pistol that I am starting with was handfit at the Colt factory before Colt discontinued making them in 1945. Therefore extensive hand-tuning doesn't need to be done. Well then, a discontinued Colt, especially one that was handfit at the factory would be rather costly, right? Well yes. In fairly good condition they run about $500. Add to the fact that the caliber I was looking for was only produced in small numbers and that would push it to around $700. In great condition a they run close to a grand and special engraving or military marked models will propel the price close to the $3 grand mark again. But this one was very cheap because it was in pretty lousy shape. Have you figured out what I am talking about? It is a Colt Pocket Hammerless in .380 ACP. This one is in bare bones condition, which is just what you would want if you are going to customize. I already own 2 of them; one in .32 ACP, the Model 1903, and one in .380 ACP, the Model 1908. However, they are in such good condition that they have too much collector value to mess with them. The one I just purchased doesn't have much collector value...yet.
As you can see, this one doesn't have a patch of original bluing left on it and has developed gray-brown patina. The left grip panel has a huge chip out of it and a long, wide crack. The slide safety is so loose that the wind could blow it 180 degrees if the grip wasn't there.

So, some of the modifications are pretty obvious. 1. The pistol needs to be reblued. 2. The slide safety needs to be replaced. 3. The grips need to be replaced (and while new replacement grips have been manufactured from the originaly Colt castings, the gunsmith that will be doing the work has a set of vintage J. Scott Mother-of-Pearl grips that will set this piece off beautifully). 4. The recoil spring needs to be replaced (since the serial number puts this pistol as having a manufacturing date of 1922, it's probably time to change the spring). The real customization of this piece will be new sights. As was the fashion at the time, these pistols were made with what can only be politely described as "nominal" sights. This is one of the most perfect pistols ever produced, the only things wrong are the minimal sights and the fact that the magazine release is on the heal of the grip instead the 1911 type button release just behind the trigger on the left grip frame. The gunsmith showed me a set of low profile 1911 3-dot sights that will do nicely. As for the magazine release...I'll live with it where it is. To have it removed and a 1911 style rebuilt into the grip frame would cost too much and I have only seen one Colt Pocket Hammerless (in a magazine) with that modification. The last piece that we were looking at replacing is the barrel. While the rifling in this barrel is very good, there is some erosion and what appears to be a slight ring about a third of the way up from the chamber. Not to worry, plenty of replacement barrels are out there.

I then shot the pistol so see if it functioned OK. The pistol functioned flawlessly. I put 100 rounds through it with no problems.

And...the accuracy is top notch as shown in these targets which were set at 21 feet. 25 rounds were fired at each target. The accuracy is so good that the original barrel is staying; erosion, barrel ring and all. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. These targets are not bad for an 84 year old pistol in poor shape with almost non-existant sights! This is a true testiment to the genius of John M. Browning's design and the manufacturing standards that Colt used to have.

So stay tuned! These are the "before" shots and I can't wait to show you the "after" photos.

Para Ordnance Colonel

(Click Photo To Enlarge)

Several weeks ago I tested a Para Ordnance Tac-Four; a Stainless Steel Commander sized 1911 .45 ACP, with Para's LDA (Light Double-Action) trigger and a 13+1 capacity.

I liked this pistol a lot and after much thought, went in search of my own LDA carry-sized pistol. I settled on the Colonel and traded in two no longer needed handguns for the Colonel and 250 rounds of ammunition. The Colonel is another Commander sized pistol with a 4.25 inch barrel and a magazine capacity of 14+1. A fifteen round .45 ACP pistol can be a pretty handy tool to have when the chips are down. The Colonel also has snag-free, low-profile, 3 dot fixed sights, black composite grips, and an Olive Drab green finish called "Spec Ops" by Para Ordnance. While the grips are functional I may try to find a slimmer set. The double stack width is not too large but a slimmer set of grips might make it feel just a little bit better. The slide release, safety and beaver-tail grip safety all sport a black finish. I am not really sure why Para puts a beaver-tail grip safety on their larger sized LDA pistols. The role of the beaver tail is to protect the web of the shooter's hand from from what is commonly called "hammer-bite" however, since they bob off the hammer spur the possibility of hammer-bite is pretty remote.
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Shooting the Colonel is a downright pleasure. The LDA trigger pull is well..."light". It is also very smooth. More than one person I let fire the pistol mistook the LDA for single action. The sights shot a little low but the gunsmith at Impact Guns taught me a little trick. Taking a very fine-line Sharpie pen I lightly colored in the top half of the white dot. This causes me to automatically raise the front sight just far enough to compensate and bring the shots up to point of aim. This is much easier and much less expensive than trying to find a shorter replacement front sight.
(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

The Colonel has plenty of accuracy for a combat pistol. The head of the target was shot with 50 rounds of Remington UMC 230 grain hardball ammunition at 30 feet. The target was then rolled down to the 25 yard line and the torso was shot with another 50 rounds. Just over half of them landed in the green center-mass area of the silhouette. For those who live and die at the polymer alter of Glock and other false gods...there is another way...try an LDA.

Kimber Aegis II 9mm Pistol

The Aegis II is Kimber’s 9mm pistol built on their Ultra-Carry platform. This is a strikingly beautiful pistol. The matte black steel slide contrasts nicely with the satin sliver alloy frame. The appearance is further enhanced with a set of very slim and very attractive rosewood grips. The grips are fluted rather than checkered and, with the 30 LPI checkering on the front of the grip frame, the pistol is easy to hold onto. The Aegis II is topped off with a set of low profile tritium night sights. Although I do not have the specifications, the 9mm Aegis II is thinner than the Ultra-Carry CDP .45 ACP that I traded off about a year ago.
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This pistol is meant for concealed carry and, while a little large to be a full-fledged pocket pistol, the Aegis II would hide very easily under any light jacket, vest, or other outer garment. The pistol is 4.75 inches tall, 6.8 inches long, and weighs in at a very respectable 25 ounces.

The Aegis II compared to a full-sized Kimber target model
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The Aegis has a 3 inch bull ramped barrel and a spring loaded full length guide rod assembly. The slide to frame and barrel to slide fit is very good and was so tight that I had some difficulty removing the slide for its initial inspection. The rear slide serrations are spaced wider apart than most 1911’s and I actually found this easier to grip.
All of the edges have been “carry-melted” by the Kimber Custom Shop including the magazine release and safety and the melt treatment caused me no problems in manipulating either device. The hammer spur has been bobbed giving it the appearance of a Para Ordnance LDA hammer, although the Aegis II is a traditional “cocked and locked” single-action 1911 style pistol.
As with most Kimber pistols the Aegis II only comes with one magazine holding 8 rounds. I am sure that aftermarket mags are available and perhaps someone makes a magazine that holds an additional round.

Target to the left was the first fifty out-of-the-box fired at 21 feet. The target on the right was 24 rounds fired at 21 feet.
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This pistol was a blast to shoot! Even though this is a lightweight gun the 9mm recoil was pretty tame. Another surprise was the out-of-the box reliability. Kimber states that their pistols require a break-in period of 500 to 700 rounds. When I purchased my Kimber Raptor the gun was blindingly accurate but a jam-o-matic until reaching round number 700. Because of this I took a box of 250 Remington UMC 115 grain FMJ ammo to begin the breaking in process. During the shoot-in I only encountered 2 failures to feed out of the 250 rounds.

Target to the left was set at 21 feet and fired absorbed 34 rounds. 16 rounds where fired at the target on the right which was set at 50 feet.
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The accuracy at 21 feet was absolutely superb. At fifty feet the target opened up quite a bit but more that accurate enough for combat purposes. The Aegis II is definitely a keeper and offers a great balance of firepower and concealment.

There have been several requests since this blog was posted to add a photo of the cocked hammer. Here are two hastily taken pictures (click photo to enlarge):

WWII Sauer Model 38H
The JP Sauer & Son Model 38H is a 7.65 mm (.32 ACP) caliber fixed barrel blowback operated semi-automatic pistol with a magazine capacity of 8 rounds. While rather plain and unremarkable looking it contained all of the bells and whistles available at that time and one refinement that has never been seen since.
Sauer & Son were in stiff competition with Mauser and Walther in the small pocket-pistol market when they developed the Model 38H. At the outset of WWII the pistol was issued to German police units as well as some 200,000 being ordered for the Wehrmacht (Army) and Luftwaffe (Air Force).

The pistol has the rudimentary small front blade sight and U-shaped rear sight that were very common for the time of manufacture. The safety lever is mounted on the left rear of the slide. The 38H has a loaded chamber indicator in the form of a pin which sticks out at the rear of the slide when a round had been loaded. There is a frame-mounted magazine release button on the left side just to the lower right of the trigger guard and this is somewhat unusual for a European pistol at this time as most employed a magazine catch on the heal of the grip. Now for the real innovation. The Sauer 38H was the first pistol to have a decocker lever which is mounted on the left side just in front of the grip. While decocking levers have become somewhat standard, especially on the SIG-Sauer pistols (the firm that Sauer & Son eventually merged into), this one was the first and...not only is it a decocker, but it is also a recocker. This pistol offered the owner a lot of options. It could be carried cocked and locked in the single action mode. It could be decocked and carried in the traditional double action mode (double action for the first shot and single action for the remaining rounds). And finally, it could be carried decocked in the double action mode and recocked into the single action mode before firing. As the War rolled on Sauer eventually eliminated the safety level as it was rather redundent and late in the War they removed the decocking lever as well.

The Sauer Model 38H was supposedly favored by the paratroop units of the Luftwaffe for its small size. As German troops carried their pistols in cross-draw holsters one can certainly imagine that a large Walther P-38 Service Pistol or Luger P-08 could be quite uncomfortable as the paratroopers made their landing. However, what does not make a lot of sense here is that upon landing the Sauer 38H was the only firearm to which the paratrooper had immediate access. Unlike the Allied airborne troops the Luftwaffe paratroopers jumped into occupied territory without their primary weapon. Their Mauser 98 bolt action rifles and MP40 submachine guns were dropped seperately in special containers. So upon landing, until they could find the weapons container, the German Paratrooper was armed with a .32 caliber pistol with one spare magazine for a total of 16 rounds. This may account for the fact that I have never heard any tales of daring deeds accomplished by the Luftwaffe Paratroop Corps. OK...they rescued Mussolini after being overthrown, but by then the Italian army's tactical emphasis was on surrendering to Allied troops so I am not sure it was much of an accomplishment.

So how effective was the pistol that the Luftwaffe hit the ground with?


Well, my specimen had plenty of accuracy. (click photo to enlarge)

Show here are two targets placed at 21 feet. (Also shown is an Ek commando knife.) The target on the left was fired at with a full magazine of 8 rounds while the target on the right took 42 rounds. This shows plenty of accuracy for normal defensive encounters in an urban environment, but this was war! How good was this pistol at any distance? Well the next target was placed at 25 yards (75 feet) to see how the 38H would perform.


I fired a full box (50 rounds) of 71 grain FMJ bullets at this target with only one flyer going above the right shoulder. The other 49 rounds hit home with the majority of them landing in the 9 and 10 ring.

While the accuracy is pretty darn good for a pocket pistol the .32 jacketed bullets are not really all that potent. Fortunately my pistol also handled hollowpoints (Winchester Silvertips and Federal Hyda-Shok bullets) without a problem. In fact, there were no malfunctions in the 200+ rounds I put through this pistol.