Coming Soon:

Retired FBI Presentation S&W Model 1076 10mm

The Kimber Diamond Grade .45 ACP

Cliff, the proprietor of Cliff’s Guns, Safes, and Reloading located in the burgeoning megalopolis of Boise, is a very stoic and reserved man. He is not prone to petty excitements over routine matters. So it was out of his character last Saturday when I walked into his shop and he rushed toward me saying that he had been holding something to show me and then nearly ran to the safe in his firearms showroom. When Cliff does this it likely means that he has something fairly unusual, probably expensive, and more than likely manufactured by Kimber. And so it was…….


Cliff produced the Kimber Diamond Grade .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol. A limited edition of 450 handguns manufactured by Kimber for Lew Horton and Talo distributors. Cliff wanted to know if I was interested. To a certain degree a foolish question; wouldn’t anyone who saw this pistol be interested in owning it. I began to play through my mind what I might have to trade for it and mentioned a couple of long arms that are of premium quality but I never shoot. I see no reason to go to the trouble to move a barely fired rifle and unfired shotgun with me to Minnesota in June so I was willing to make them a part of the negotiation. Cliff however did not seem to be interested. I asked if he would at least take a look at them explaining that as we are in the process of purchasing a new home and have mortgage brokers examining our credit history and financial liabilities now does not seem to be the appropriate time to be placing the purchase of an expensive handgun on an interest accruing credit card. On Tuesday of the following week I returned with the two long guns and as uninterested as Cliff had been he seemed to be quite intrigued by my Mitchell Peregrine 20 gauge over and under shotgun. This lightweight shotgun was manufactured in Turkey and sports handsome walnut furniture along with a minimally but tastefully engraved silver aluminum receiver. Cliff declared that its lightweight made it a perfect dove gun and offered to his wife to heft. Cindy, Cliff’s devoted, endearing, and patient wife declined his invitation and made a dry inquiry if this shotgun was going to be store inventory or personal inventory. I believe that Cliff indicated that it would be store inventory but I would not be surprised if he tried it out…so he could better describe its handling qualities to prospective buyers.

And the deal was done.

So What Did I Get

The Kimber Diamond Grade is a full-sized, Government model 1911 .45 ACP pistol. It is unclear if this pistol was produced through the Kimber custom shop and since there is no indication that it did I will assume that it did not. The pistol has the standard Kimber lightweight aluminum grip frame with a steel slide. The barrel is of the Kimber match variety which fits into the slide with a standard Kimber barrel bushing and full length guide rod. (You will note that I keep saying “standard Kimber”. Standards for Kimber are the high water mark for other production pistols so when I say “standard Kimber” remember that really is a designation for premium manufacture, fit, and finish.) The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation and both the front and rear are plain black. The thumb safety is not ambidextrous, which doesn’t bother me in the least. One feature that seemed a little odd was the recoil spring. At 6.5 inches it extended a full three inches beyond the barrel prior to stuffing it underneath the barrel bushing. This is the longest recoil spring I think I have ever had on a model 1911 pistol. I don’t know if the longer spring is responsible but I can tell you this. This pistol required no break-in period for reliability. I put 600 rounds of Remington, Sellier & Bellot, and Mag-Tech through it with absolutely no problems.

Lastly we are left with the appearance of the pistol. The slide is blue and has been highly polished and topped off with 24 karat gold laser engraved scroll work. Now the gold scroll work may not be to everyone’s tastes but the grips would probably be appreciated by everyone except Ebenezer Scrooge, The Grinch, and Diane Feinstein. The grips are deep rosewood and beautifully executed with diamond checkering and leaf scrollwork.

How She Shot

On my first outing to the range I loaded seven rounds into the magazine and fired at 21 feet. The rounds clustered a little low and to the left of the bulls eye but not bad. I made a few adjustments to the elevation and windage and fired the next seven. The elevation was just about right but the rounds hit even a little more to the left than the first time. I adjusted the rear sight to the right a few more clicks and tried again. Now the group was even further left. I readjusted the rear sight with the same unsatisfying results. This time, as I went to readjust the rear sight something caught my eye. That something was the front sight which was barely hanging off the right side of the slide. I pushed the sight back into the dovetailed channel and found that it was extremely loose. I immediately went out to the gunsmith at the Impact Guns range and a few drops of Lock-Tite and I was back in business.

So, once the front sight was firmly in place, how did she shoot? Just like a Kimber!.

21 feet-7 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ ammunition.

Same range with Sellier & Bellot 230 grain FMJ ammunition.

Same range with Mag-Tech 230 Ammunition. It seems the more I shoot Mag-Tech ammo the more I like it.

21 rounds of Mag-Tech at 30 feet.

21 rounds of Mag-Tech at 30 Feet.

21 rounds of Mag-Tech at 45 feet.

Para Ordnance CCW .45 ACP

The Para CCW is staunchly aimed to appeal to the people fortunate enough to live in a state that recognizes the rights of law abiding citizens to exercise the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. If you are one of these fortunate people and you want to exercise your rights with a pistol chambered in the time-proven .45 caliber cartridge the CCW is a great choice. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect concealed carry weapon but this one comes close.

Here’s what the CCW has to offer:

1. The Light Double Action (LDA) trigger. Some people are concerned that the single action trigger pull is a liability problem. The are afraid of over-zealous prosecutors or civil injury attorneys who will argue that the short and light single action pull is prone to accidental discharge by a person under the adrenaline fueled stress brought on by the life threatening situation that necessitated them to present the pistol. There can be some truth to this. If you are going to carry a single action pistol you need training and practice. Just going to the range and target shooting is not sufficient as most people at the range shooting a single action pistol just load and fire. The safety is an integral part of the pistol’s operation and most shooters do not practice engaging and disengaging the safety and darn few ranges actually allow their patrons to practice drawing their weapon from a holster, concealed or otherwise. Failure to practice using the safety means that you may forget to disengage it at the moment of truth. It also means that you may forget to engage it when holstering the pistol. Fortunately both the operation of the safety and drawing the weapon can be practiced in your garage or backyard (if your backyard is enclosed to the point that you won’t be alarming your neighbors) by making sure (and then double checking) that the pistol is empty. It would also be a good idea to practice moving while drawing and seeking cover. Standing still and shooting is great at the range but in a real live encounter movement and cover are your best friends. Surviving the encounter by NOT getting shot is at least as important, if not more so, as your shooting skills.

If you are not dedicated to the practicing all aspects of pistol craft then do not carry a single action semi-automatic pistol. Get a good revolver; Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and Taurus make some great ones.

Anyway, back to the LDA trigger. The LDA operation provides a long but light, smooth double action pull that stacks just before firing. This is good as the stacking acts as a final notification that the pistol is about to go “bang”! If you are unconsciously pulling the trigger this gives you a chance to stop while on a single action pistol the weapon would have already fired.

2. Size. To put it in Colt’s nomenclature the CCW provides a “Commander” sized barrel and slide mounted on an “officer” sized grip frame. The longer tube and slide is not that difficult to conceal while the shorter grips frame means that there is less of the pistol’s butt to stick out or “print” under your concealment garment. The “Commander” length barrel and slide also help tame recoil and provide a longer sight radius all of which enhances accuracy. The CCW also sports very thin composite grips which enhances the conceal ability of the piece.

3. The CCW has easy-to-see, low drag, and low snag sights which assist in the presentation and aiming of the pistol.

4. You get the no-nonsense appearance of a model 1911 pistol. This is immediately identified as a serious weapon carried by a serious and determined individual. The .45 was carried by the heroic Sgt. Alvin York in the Great War and legendary lawmen like Frank Hammer and Melvin Purvis. The 1911 carried us through two World Wars and the conflicts of Korea and Vietnam.

As I mentioned earlier, there is not perfect concealed carry handgun and this is exemplified by the CCW’s size which, while fairly small, is not a pocket pistol. And, while it is by no means heavy, it is an all steel pistol and weighs 34 ounces. This pistol will have to be carried in a holster underneath some outergarment.

(Left: Target place at 21 feet hit with seven rounds of Remington UMC 230 grain FMJ ammunition)

(Left: Target placed at 21 feet and hit with 24 rounds of Sellier & Bellot 230 grain FMJ ammunition)

(Target at left placed at 30 feet and hit with seven rounds of Remington UMC 230 grain FMJ ammunition)

(Target at left placed at 50 feet and hit with 50 rounds of Remington UMC 230 grain FMJ ammunition)

Interestingly in the April/May edition of Guns & Ammo Handguns Paul Scarlata gathered a panel of five people to conduct a shootout of the most popular polymer police pistols, the Glock 17, Springfield XD, Smith & Wesson M&P, and the H&K P2000. The shooters rated the pistols from 1 to 5 in the following areas ergonomics, trigger control, recoil control, sights, accuracy, and ease of reloading. For the purposes of comparisons they threw a Para Ordnance LDA pistol into the mix. Here’s how they faired:

Glock 17 Rating of 113 out of a possible 150
H&K P2000 Rating of 109 out of a possible 150
S&W M&P Rating of 126 out of a possible 150
Springfield XD Rating of 118 out of a possible 150
Para-Ord LDA Rating of 126 out of a possible 150

This is pretty fast company and the Para Ordnance LDA tied for first place. This is not to say that the polymer pistols are not good. They are good. This just shows that if you are looking for a double action pistol the Para LDA is a very good choice…and a much better choice than a Glock.

Handguns of the Communist BlocNagant Model 1895 Revolver and the Tokarev Model TT-33 Pistol

In the early 1890’s the Russian military began looking for a replacement for the Smith & Wesson breaktop revolvers that they had been issuing since the 1870’s. The Smith & Wesson model #3 chambered in .44 Russian was a well made revolver shooting a formidable round; however the .44 Russian was a black powder cartridge and smokeless ammunition was taking the world by storm. Black powder created a lot of smoke and it only took a few rounds fired by each soldier to completely obscure the unit’s field of vision.

After looking over many designs the Russian military settled on a revolver design with a seven round capacity patented in 1894 by Leon Nagant, a Frenchman. Nagant was well known by the Russian Army as they had adopted the Mosin-Nagant rifle in 1891. The Nagant revolver was accepted by the Russian government in 1895 and thus it became the Nagant model 1895 and was chambered for the 7.62X38mm cartridge.

The Nagant revolver saw duty in World War I, the Russian Revolution and World War II. By WWII the Russians had adopted the Tokarev Model TT-33 but the Nagant revolvers were produced through 1942 and were exported to Communist Bloc countries. Our armed forces continued to bump into Nagants in both Korea and Vietnam. It is difficult for me to understand the proliferation of this revolver at it seems to me to have several major flaws. The first is the caliber. The 7.62X38mm cartridge pushes a 98 to 108 grain bullet along at 950 feet per second. Recoil is minimal, about the same as firing a .32 caliber cartridge. I just cannot see this round being effective in normal conditions and it certainly must have been at quite a disadvantage during the Russian winter when everyone was bundled in multiple layers of heavy clothing and outerwear. Again the Smith & Wesson breaktop revolvers in .44 Russian fired a much more potent manstopper.

The second flaw is the operating platform. The Nagant was produced in both single action for enlisted men, and double action for officers. The double action pull is the longest and hardest trigger with which I have ever dealt. The double action pull is so strong that it is infinitely easier to just fire it in single action, the same action as employed in their Smith & Wesson revolvers.
The last flaw is the slow reloading process. Once the seven rounds have been fired here is the process for recharging the revolver.

Step one: Lower the loading gate on the right side of the revolver behind the cylinder.

Step Two: Pull the ramrod out of it’s housing underneath the barrel. In some productions the ramrod had to be unscrewed.

Step Three: Rotate the ramrod over to the right and line it up with the front of the cartridge chamber.

Step four: Use the ramrod to knock out each of the seven cartridges one by one. And, by the way, the ramrod is not spring-loaded so it does not automatically retract after punching out the cartridge.

Step five: Rotate the ramrod back underneath the barrel, align it with its housing and push or screw the ramrod back into place. (If you forget this and leave the ramrod out and rotated to the right of the barrel, the cylinder will lock-up after a shot or two.)

Step six: Load seven new cartridges.

Step eight: Close the loading gate.

Step nine: Turn around because by now the enemy has overrun your position.

At least with the Smith & Wesson revolvers, the breaktop action ejected all of the spent shells at once, making reloading a lot easier and much faster.

Century Arms International has acquired a large number of Nagant 1895s and done a stellar job of refurbishing them. The exteriors have been reblued with great care as all of the markings remain crisp. The revolvers have an attractive price and can be found for less than $100.00. However, here’s the rub; the 7.62X38mm ammunition is a specialty round. It is difficult to find and the retail price hovers around $40.00 for a box of 50 cartridges.

The Nagant is an interesting and unusual revolver; this particular specimen was manufactured in 1939. The grips look unfamiliar and uncomfortable to the western eye; however they turned out to be quite comfortable when firing. The firing pin is attached to the hammer and is a long, slightly crooked spindle looking thing that appears to be exaggerated and possible delicate. The same goes for the rest of the revolver, it is a sparse and sinister handgun that looks as if it would be brandished by some weird gothic fantasy character in a Tim Burton movie.

Probably the most interesting feature is the cylinder operation. When the revolver is cocked the cylinder rotates and is pushed forward so that the cylinder overlaps the forcing cone of the barrel. This completely seals the gap between the cylinder and barrel so there is no loss of gasses or energy when the pistol is fired. The strange little bullet is completely seated inside the brass casing which is necked down and pushed into the barrel when the cylinder comes forward and overlaps the forcing cone. Because of this feature the Nagant is about the only revolver which can be quieted by the use of a silencer.

Here’s How She Shot

The first target was placed at 21 feet and fired at with 48 rounds of Fiocchi 98 grain ammunition. While no tack driver all shots landed within the 6 inch target.

It is also said that the revolver can also fired any .32 caliber revolver ammunition (revolver not .32 ACP semi-automatic rimless ammunition). The second target show 25 rounds of Federal .32 H&R Magnum JHP ammo fired at 21 feet. Again, the performance is OK, but not stellar.

The Nagant reportedly did not do well against enemy soldiers in WWI so it is no surprise that the Russians began looking for a replacement and adopted:

The Tokarev Model TT-33

The Tokarev is the pistol that replaced the Nagant as the official sidearm of the Russian military. What has intrigued me about this pistol is that the Russians were enamored of the John M. Browning designs for the Colt Model 1903 .32 ACP pistol and the venerable Colt Model 1911 .45 ACP. The Russians strived to produce the pistol with the appearance and ergonomics of the Model 1903 but in a more potent combat caliber.

(Pictured left: Colt Model 1903 was the pistol that the Russian military was attempting to emulate with the Tokarev.)

The Tokarev is a single action pistol chambered for the 7.62X25mm cartridge which has a lot more pep than the round fired by the Nagant revolver. The Tokarev 7.62X25mm pistols pushes an 85 grain bullet out the muzzle at 1647 feet per second with 514 foot pounds of energy. This is faster and more muzzle energy than any 9mm bullet and starts to put it on par with some of the +P .45 ACP and .357 Magnum offerings. Wolf ammunition makes a hollow point cartridge marketed in their Gold line of ammo. This is not a round to be trifled with.

The Soviet Union ceased production of the Tokarev in 1954 when it adopted the Makarov pistol. However the Tokarev continued to be produced in other communist countries, most notably by China whose People’s Liberation Army’s state weapons manufacturer, Norinco continues to produce them today.

The specimen being examined here is one of the Norinco models manufactured in 1958. Norinco added a safety mounted on the left side of the frame; there was no safety catch on the original Tokarev design. Norinco began to export large quantities of their Tokarev clone in the 1980’s primarily in 9mm; however the pistol examined here is chambered in the original 7.62X25mm. President Clinton banned the importation of Chinese firearms in 1993 and I have not seen one since the late 1980’s until this one landed at Cliff’s Guns, Safes, and Reloading in Boise. I believe this was a part of a large lot of police confiscation handguns that Cliff picked up at an auction in Reno.

To be honest, I rather like this pistol. It is rugged, fairly flat and thin (I is .83 inches wide as compared to the U.S. 1911 which is .92 inches wide), the fixed sights, which are rather rudimentary, provide a good sight picture (and I did have the gunsmith at Impact Guns move them to the right and enlarge the rear notch) and the single action trigger pull actually borders on very good. One common complaint was the fairly straight grip which was remedied by the Egyptian military who employed a wrap around, curved plastic grips. The Chinese Norinco model adopted these grips which greatly improve the overall ergonomics of the pistol. One would be well armed with this pistol. Ammunition is not as difficult to find and I secured Sellier & Belliot 85 grain FMJ and Wolf Gold 85 grain FMJ at Cabela’s. Logging on the Midway USA’s website I ordered up some Winchester 85 grain FMJ and the Wolf Gold 85 grain JHP. I put 500 rounds through this pistol this week without any reliability issues. The Wolf Gold ammo turned in the best performances in both the FMJ and JHP offerings (imagine that, the Russian ammunition worked he best!). I have not seen any ballistic testing on the 7.62X25mm JHP but I would imagine that the expansion should be pretty good since the bullet leaves the muzzle at over 1600 feet per second.

While I like this pistol, but there are a few negatives. First is the safety. This is little more than a lever that you move forward to fire and thumb it back to make the pistol safe. While it works well, I tested it with live ammunition in the chamber several times, there is no “catch” to indicate that you have engaged or disengaged it when moving it. Unlike a 1911 where you can feel the “click” when moving the safety the best you can do on the Tokarev is push the safety lever until it will go no further.

Another issue are the grips. They are certainly hand filling and an improvement over the original side panel grips on the Russian issued pistols, but they feel slightly loose and I cannot figure out how they are attached to the grip frame. I would love to find some classier wood grips but I doubt if anyone produces such an item.

Lastly is the fact that accuracy suffers at longer ranger. The accuracy at 21 to 35 feet is very good and far better than I expected. The accuracy suffers greatly at 40 feet and at 50 feet I could only get two or three rounds on the paper at all.

Here are the targets:

The first and second targets were placed at the 21 foot marker and absorbed 50 rounds of Winchester 85 grain FMJ ammunition. The Winchester rounds tended to shoot to the left.

The third target was placed at 35 feet and fired at with 40 rounds of the same Winchester ammunition.

The fourth target was placed at 21 feet and fired at with 25 rounds of Wolf Gold 85 grain JHP ammo. The Wolf shot truer to point of aim than the Winchester. Now this is good practical accuracy.

The fifth target was first placed at 50 feet and fired at with the Wolf ammo. This produced 4 misses and 4 hits in the outer ring of the target. The target was then reeled in to 35 feet and fired at with the remaining 17 rounds hitting closer to center.

In conclusion, the Nagant Model 1895 is an inexpensive curio and historical conversation piece but it was hardly a practical combat firearm in 1895 and is certainly less so 112 years later. The Norinco Tokarev clone is actually a fairly good pistol. I would not hesitate to carry it today and would pity the criminal aggressors who found themselves on the business end of the muzzle. If the Tokarev was good enough for Boris Badinov, Natash Fatale, and "Fearless Leader" it is good enough for me and if you do not understand these references you're too young to be reading this blog.