The 1986 FBI Miami Gunfight

On April 11, 1986, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s C-1 Miami Bank Robbery Squad were moving into position after finishing their stakeout briefing, when a pair of agents spotted a vehicle that matched the description of the one they were looking for. Continue reading “The 1986 FBI Miami Gunfight”

Why The Fitz?

Recently, there has been a lot of interest and posts on “Fitz” revolvers on social media. I simply shake my head at the level of pontification and commentary by folks who have absolutely no concept of the reason they existed and what the intent was in their creation. There is a huge disconnect, so I thought I would do a post to explain the historical significance of these guns. Continue reading “Why The Fitz?”

Weird Revolvers & Revolver Cartridges

I’m thinking about weirdos right now.  Not the people panicking during these unprecedented world times, but rather weirdo revolvers.  This doesn’t mean that I think weirdos are bad or good, inferior or well-made, it just means that they’re out of the norm as self-defense handguns.  They’re just weird. Continue reading “Weird Revolvers & Revolver Cartridges”

Fighting Leather: The Breakfront, Part II

In Part I of this series, we discussed the birth of the breakfront holster with the Berns-Martin design, as well as the development of competing designs from popular police holster makers Hoyt and Safety Speed.

We now pick up the breakfront saga where we left off  . . .

Continue reading “Fighting Leather: The Breakfront, Part II”

Fighting Leather: The Breakfront, Part I

While some of the nation’s oldest uniformed police departments trace their roots back to the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until the early 20th Century that the majority of American police sidearms moved from tunic pockets to openly-carried duty holsters. The earliest rigs were generally substandard in materials and design, and it wasn’t long before the search for the perfect police duty holster occupied the minds of uniformed lawmen from coast to coast.

Continue reading “Fighting Leather: The Breakfront, Part I”