Gun Digest 2011. Dan Shideler
Of course, what would Gun Digest be without the usual assortment of pieces about oddball handguns, custom rifles, great gunwriters of the past, and controversies? All of this can be found in these pages along with much more that I hope you’ll find as entertaining and intriguing as I did.
Speaking of Which. . .
You may notice that the catalog in this edition of Gun Digest may look different to you unless you’re a very long-time reader. We’ve reverted to a format that Gun Digest used back in the mid-sixties. Aside from providing a nice retro touch, the new layout allows us to keep the picture of a gun closer to its description, which we hopes eliminates the page-jumping and other contortions readers formerly had to endure. As always, guns are presented by major type, then in alphabetical order. Prices shown are representative, of course; a 10-minute visit to the internet or your neighborhood gunshop will show you that, truly, there is no such thing as “suggested retail price.” Some manufacturer’s don’t even provide them — and if a manufacturer doesn’t provide good photos of his products, there’s a good chance they won’t appear in our catalog section.
You will also notice that we have shortened or eliminated entirely the catalog sections that formerly dealt with optics, reloading presses and literature. We have left the former two categories in the capable hands of Wayne Van Zwoll and Larry Sterett, respectively — and this for a simple reason: were we to include all shooting-related wares in this book, the book would have to be twice as big, twice as expensive, and would include no feature articles, which we feel have always been the heart and soul of Gun Digest. As for including periodical literature or books, we have discovered to our dismay that many retailers of this specialized literature have suspended operations, so if you are looking for a particular out-of-print book on guns or shooting, we refer you to www.amazon.com. If a book exists, you’ll find it there.
A Call for Papers
Gun Digest remains what it has always been: the world’s leading firearms annual. Many of the pieces written in the pages were not written by profesional gunwriters but gun just plain folks. We have never met a gun owner who didn’t have something interesting to say, so if you would like to write something for possible future publication in Gun Digest, be our guest! All materials must be submitted in electronic format (e.g., MS-WORD or .rtf files) and must be accompanied by a suitable number of in-focus, high-resolution images (300 dpi or greater) in digital format (,jpg or .tif).
If you have such a manuscript, or an idea for one, contact us at: Editor, Gun Digest
Gun Digest Books 700 East State Street, Iola, Wisconsin 54990
Please include your full name, street address, telephone number and email address with your submission.
Dedication
This edition of Gun Digest is cheerfully and respectfully dedicated to you, the reader, who has made Gun Digest the world’s leading firearms annual since 1944.
Acknowledgments
This edition could not have been completed without the support of Jim Schlender, Gun Digest Books’s guiding hand, and of David J. Blansfield, our strongest corporate sponsor. Dave Hauser, Tom Nelsen and Patsy Howell lent their peerless layout talents, without which this book would never have been completed or look so attractive.
And a final word of thanks to those who prefer to be known only as EGH, EC, NA and JW, without whose help and support I would have been quite out to sea.
Cordially,
Dan Shideler, Editor GUN DIGEST
About the covers
FRONT COVER Today, without serious question, the 1911 is the King of the Hill of semi-auto pistols. A few of us remember one of the first major departures from the “traditional” 1911: the Coonan Model B of the late 1970s. Chambered for the .357 Magnum, the Coonan Model B was a solid performer from a smaller firm, but it happened to appear just as the “wondernine” phenomenon was taking off. The Coonan faded into obscurity, leaving behind a hard-core cadre of True Believers.
Today, glory be, The Coonan Model B has been reborn in two incarnations by Coonan Inc. of Blaine, Minnesota. The new Coonan .357s are available in two configurations: the full-size Coonan Classic, with 5-inch barrel and seven-round magazine; and the Commander-sized Coonan Compact, with 4-inch barrel and six-round magazine. Both Coon-ans feature frames and slides made of 17-4PH stainless steel, and both are 100% made in the USA. A number of custom options are available. For more information, visit www.coonaninc.com.
BACK COVER In this, the 1911’s centennial, we thought it fitting to tantalize you with two noteworthy examples of the greatest pistol of all time: the Kimber Centennial Edition (top) and Remington’s new 1911 R1.
The Kimber Centennial Edition is limited to a run of 250 pistols with a suggested retail price of $4,352. It’s all Kimber, meaning top-of-the-line, and is of course made here in the USA with special finishing work by Turnbull Restoration. For more information, visit www.kimberamerica.com.
Though Remington Arms never mass-produced the 1911 or 1911A1 until now – that distinction belonging to affiliated office equipment manufacturer Remington Rand – it is awfully nice to see again the name of Remington on a handgun. At press time we know but little about Remington’s plans for the 1911 R1, but next year we expect to have a full report. For breaking news, visit www.Remington.com.
Gun Digest Staff
| EDITOR | Dan Shideler |
| CONTRIBUTING EDITORS | Holt Bodinson: Ammunition, Ballistics & Components; Web Directory |
| Wm. Hovey Smith: Black Powder | |
| John Haviland: Shotguns | |
| John Malloy: Handguns: Autoloaders | |
| Tom Tabor: Rifles | |
| Jeff Quinn: Handguns: Revolvers and Others | |
| Tom Turpin: Custom and Engraved Guns | |
| Wayne Van Zwoll: Optics | |
| Gila Hayes: Women’s Perspective | |
| Kevin Muramatsu: Gunsmithing | |
| Tom Caceci: Airguns | |
| Larry Sterett: Reloading Components and Equipment |
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