Guns Illustrated 2011. Dan Shideler

      Ed Brown Products has brought out a special commemorative 45-caliber 1911 to recognize Massad Ayoob.

      COBRA

      Cobra Enterprises, a Utah company, offers personal-protection semiautomatic pistols in calibers from .32 ACP to .45 ACP. Small variations slip into the catalog with little fanfare. A new finish is now offered for their Patriot 45, a 19-ounce polymer-frame double-action-only (DAO) pistol. Previously available with the stainless-steel slide covered in a matte black finish, it is now offered in polished finish for those who like a bright slide on a two-tone pistol. The Patriot has one of the best DAO autopistol triggers I have tried — much like a good revolver double-action trigger.

      COLT

      Needless to say, Colt is taking the 100th anniversary of its Colt/Browning 1911 design seriously. All guns made during the year of 2011 will have special markings. The company is not just going to put a new roll-stamp on existing products, however. Colt has a number of new variants of the basic 1911 offered, in order to cover as many niches as possible.

      The Colt Rail Gun, introduced on these pages last year as a stainless-steel pistol, is now also available with a blackened finish. The 9mm chambering, popular with many women, and with men who want a lower-recoiling pistol, is now offered in its small Defender (3-inch, stainless-steel carry pistol with white-dot sights) and New Agent (3-inch, blued carry pistol with trench sight system).

      The New Agent 45 is now also available in a new double-action-only version. Colt is coming back into the double-action world with relatively little fanfare, as its Double Eagle offering of the past did not take the firearms world by storm. The full-size 5-inch Government Model is also available in a double-action-only variant. This variant is of additional interest because it is also put together with a lightweight aluminum-alloy frame.

      In addition, the standard single-action Government Model is also now available with the lightweight frame. A number of shooters have expressed interest in a lighter full-size 5-inch Government Model as a good carry pistol. In some modes of carry, the forward weight distribution of the longer barrel actually allows easier carry, as well as slightly improved ballistics The reduced weight can make carry easier.

      Colt also is making a pitch for parts sales via the internet. A customer can go to www.coltsmfg.com and order original-equipment spare parts and accessories direct from the factory, at what the company describes as “unbeatable prices.”

      COONAN

      Coonan is back! Regular readers of this report will recall Coonan Arms as a manufacturer of modifi ed 1911 pistols that would handle the .357 Magnum revolver cartridge. Some years ago, they had expanded the product line to include the .41 Magnum, but then fi nancial problems caused the company to close. Now Coonan is back, with the guns in full production in .357 chambering. Standard 5-inch, and more compact 4-inch versions are offered. Will the .41 again be available? A company offi cial said it is a possibility.

      CZECHPOINT

      Czechpoint, Inc. (easy to remember the name), operating from Knoxville, Tennessee, distributes firearms manufactured in the Czech Republic. Along with a number of rifles, Czechpoint also offers the .32 ACP Scorpion pistol. Recall that the original “Skorpion” was a tiny .32 ACP submachinegun developed by the Czechs for clandestine use while the country was under Communist control.

      The newly-made Scorpion pistol is the same size as the original (10.6 inches long, 4.5-inch barrel, weight 39 ounces) but is semiautomatic only and has no provision for the wire shoulder stock of the original. The mechanism is straight blowback, and the gun is fed from either 10- or 20-round detachable magazines.

      With each Scorpion pistol comes a hard case, one 10-round and two 20-round magazines, a magazine pouch, a holster, and — a nice touch — a CD with the owner’s manual and the history of the gun. Grips can be one of four different styles of wood or plastic.

      CZ-USA

      The latest pistol to be imported by CZ-USA is the CZ 75 P-07 Duty, announced on these pages last year. It is a conventional double action, steel-slide, polymer-frame pistol. Barrel length is 3.7 inches. The overall dimensions are roughly 5x7 inches, placing the P-07 in the compact class. Weight is about 27 ounces. The capacity of this 9mm pistol is 16+1. Unlike the other CZ 75 variants, the P-07 is shipped as a decocker-only, but parts are available for an owner-installed conversion to permit cocked-and-locked operation. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the P-07 is its unusual extra-large trigger guard, with a long vertical front portion. Because the front of the frame has a moulded accessory rail, it seems almost as if the trigger guard was designed as an index for an attached accessory. Originally introduced in 9mm, the P-07 will soon be available in .40 S&W, with 12+1 capacity.

      A limited edition stainless-steel variant of the CZ 75 B (the B indicates the new firing-pin safety) was offered in early 2010. It is a full-size pistol with 4.7-inch barrel, in 9mm, with 16+1 capacity. The stainless pistol is fitted with an ambidextrous safety, which the standard CZ 75 B does not have.

      The CZ Custom Shop offers several competition and target variants that do not appear in the general CZ lineup. Although the pistol dates back to 1975, I have not yet heard of a 35-year commemorative edition, but one may be in the works. The company brought out a special 30-year commemorative, and at this time, when commemoratives are in the air, we might yet see a 35th year pistol.

      We are in a period of great interest in accessory rails on pistols. Relatively few shooters regularly use the rails for light or laser attachment, but the rails can be put to such use when desired. Now, CZ gives us another use. The company offers a bayonet suited to attachment on the rails! The bayonet also has a rail, so an additional accessory can be placed below the mounted bayonet. A real attention-catcher.

      DAN WESSON

      Dan Wesson (recall that the DW company is now under the ownership of CZ-USA) produces 1911-type pistols that extends CZ’s line of double-action autoloaders. Two new models were introduced in early 2010. The Valor is a stainless-steel full-size 5-inch 1911, available in brushed stainless finish, or a matte black “Duty” finish. The new 45-caliber Valor has a match barrel with 1:16 twist, and features Heinie “straight eight” night sights.

      Another introduction, the Dan Wesson Guardian pistol, is designed as a lighter “Commander-size” carry pistol. It comes in 9mm chambering, the only 9mm pistol in the Dan Wesson lineup. It is built on an aluminum-alloy frame, which has a “bobtail” treatment at the lower rear portion of the grip frame. The 29-ounce pistol has ambidextrous thumb safeties.

      DETONICS

      Since the beginning of its history, Detonics has always had the knack of coming up with features outside the mainstream. An innovation for its traditional small 45-caliber CombatMaster is putting the front sight on the barrel itself. This arrangement allows an interesting new way to index the slide and barrel together on the forward travel of the slide.

      DIAMONDBACK

      Florida has become a major player in the firearms industry, with a number of companies providing a wide range of firearms. The latest addition is Diamondback Firearms, of Cocoa, Florida. Their product is a small new 380-caliber locked-breech pocket pistol, the DB 380. The compact polymer-frame pistol is only 3/4-inch wide and weighs 8.8 ounces. It has a 2.8-inch barrel. Capacity is 6+1. Two 6-round magazines are available, one with a flush base and one with a fi nger-rest base. Trigger mechanism is double-action-only, with a reported 5-pound pull. The trigger activates a striker firing system. The three-dot