Erika of GBGuns began shooting just three years ago. Prior to meeting me she had, “shot a gun before” and that was it. After a few weeks of plinking on the weekends I took her to Front Sight for back-to-back four-day handgun and carbine courses. The rest is evident in the excellent shooting we see her do in review after review. Recently I asked her if she had any favorites. Including anti-materiel rifles in Serbia Erika has shot and not cared for more firearms than the average gun guy can even list. We shot and reviewed over 90 firearms in 2016 alone. The following are broken into different categories from her response.
Carbine: The M1 Carbine by Inland Manufacturing. A faithful reproduction of the light rifle developed to give support personnel and airborne troops something lighter and easier to manipulate in WWII. I have an original from 1943, but it doesn’t run as smoothly as a 2017 model from Inland. Erika enjoys the M1 Carbine because it’s, “pretty, compact, handy, and fun”. Nearly forgotten by the latest generation of shooters Erika makes some great points about the M1 Carbine. Just as it was intended it’s very quick and easy to manipulate thanks to its simplistic design, short overall length, and with a weight of about 5lbs it’s easy to pick up and hard to put down.
Single-Stack Handguns: From Diamondback to Walther we’ve shot a lot of them. The names that came out first were the Walther PPS Classic, Springfield XDs .45, and Diamondback DB9. The PPS Classic is her daily carry gun most days and she prefers it for its accuracy and paddle mag release. The Springfield won her over with the factory fiber-optic sight and smoothness with which is handles .45 acp. The Diamondback DB9 is not for the faint of heart, but it gets the job done and is the most concealable 9mm we’ve ever handled.
Range Time: The Metro Arms Bobcut. One of the few handguns she’s labeled as pretty. The Bobcut of course has all the beautiful lines of the classic 1911, but something about this version from Metro Arms just has an extra touch of appeal. Combine with that the incredibly smooth cycling, great accuracy, and crisp trigger and the Bobcut is an all-around winner.
So now the question for the ladies, or their men who may be reading this: What are your favorites and why?
