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Bryant Ridge's Analysis: The Colt Pocket Nine was made for one year only, in 1999, and approximately 5000 were produced. It was discontinued for a variety of reasons, the most important being Major General Keys, USMC (ret) took over Colt and started to divest the company of civilian litigation-prone products and focused on the production of military and law enforcement products, of which there was a huge backorder. Additionally, the gun was the subject of a lawsuit by Kahr Firearms for copy …

Bryant Ridge's Analysis: The Smith Wesson 624 is an N-Frame double-action six-shot revolver chambered in 44 Special. A 4 or 6.5 barrel features an adjustable rear sight and a ramp front sight. The 44 Special round has become increasingly popular as a target round, especially with cowboy action shooters. The 624 has a stainless steel frame and barrel and is a magnificent all-round revolver! The Model 624 was the Stainless Steel version of the Model 24 and was manufactured from 1985-1988. You …

Bryant Ridge's Analysis: The Smith & Wesson Model 629 was introduced in 1978 as a stainless steel version of the Model 29. During its release, the Model 29 was considered the most powerful production handgun until it was surpassed by larger cartridges like the .454 Casull and .50 Action Express. The model gained popularity worldwide through its association with the fictional character "Dirty Harry" Callahan. The 629 model designation comes from Smith & Wesson's practice of adding a 6 in …

Bryant Ridge's Analysis: The Winchester Model 1200 was introduced in 1964 as a more affordable alternative to the iconic Winchester Model 12, a pump-action shotgun that had been in production since the early 20th century. The Model 1200 was designed to offer similar performance and reliability as the Model 12 but at a lower price point, making it accessible to a wider market. While the Model 1200 retained the classic pump-action design, it featured cost-cutting measures, such as a simpler const …

Bryant Ridge's Analysis: The AMT AutoMag II is a semi-automatic handgun that uses .22 WMR ammunition. It was manufactured by Arcadia Machine and Tool from 1987 to 1999 and is currently produced by High Standard. Designing a reliable autoloading .22 WMR handgun posed several engineering challenges, particularly with extraction. The slow-burning rifle powder of the .22 WMR cartridge creates a late peak pressure, which can cause the case mouth to expand and jam in the chamber when fired f …