Gobango - Auto Load Pistols

Handguns -- Auto Loaders

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This is - or was - a very under-rated gun. Its reputation has grown such that most people have heard of it and there are very few reports of problems. This one was taken over by a certain spouse for carry! ..... and two others have been engineered for other people. For as little as $219 originally, plus tax it represented excellent value.

It certainly is not the lightest or smallest .380 but if concealment options allow, well worth considering. It is blowback operation but it is still quite comfortable to shoot and accuracy is well acceptable. Capacity 7+1.

Never had a chance to shoot this gun but received it totally in pieces from the current owner, to reassemble!

Some time and care rebuilt it, although with some parts there were several options. It may not be by any means an ultimate 1911 but it is of some interest and often regarded as quite collectible. It still required final restaking of the plunger unit. This is the 'conventional' right side view.

This is very much a Govt A1 ''basic'' 1911. The addition of a Chip McCormick trigger is the only modification, which can be easily reversed to bring it back to original specification. Overall finish is very fair and serial numbers all match. It dates to around 1951, made in Argentina.

The worst aspect is the sights! The rear sight is not very good as a simple ''V'' but the small front side blade is awful! To change that would unfortunately be relatively hard to reverse and so it has remained.

As most 1911's, a pleasure to shoot and a surprisingly nice trigger following a small adjustment to angles, prior to which it had a very slight ''snick'' feel part ways through the pull.

Made by Auto Ordnance this gun celebrates the 1st Cavalry. While owned it had never been fired and hopefully remains that way. Most guns are shooters of course but this example was very much one for the wall display case.

It was bought and retained for two or three years and then sold back to the original owner - the recovered funds raised going into another gun (of course!).

Another of Bera's offerings and a very nice handling gun too. Despite alloy frame it is no lightweight but that is not detrimental, as being for std pressure 9mm, it is eminently controllable and surprisingly accurate.

Like it's small brother the Thunder .380 - it relies on DA/SA operation, the (ambi) safety being moved to 'safe' - decocking at same time. DA pull for first shot is quite smooth and not so long as to be awkward, later SA action being of course shorter but predictable. Sights are fixed but present a good picture.

The Browning Hi Power is a long established favorite for many, now of course available also in .40 cal. This BHP Practical has a few features that make it even better than standard - including ambi safety and in this case some Uncle Mike's grips which give a very good feel. This one however just has fixed sights, which is no disadvantage.

Accuracy and reliability are legendary, as one would expect from a classic JMB design. For a very fine source of information on Hi Powers and other handguns do visit Stephen A Camps excellent site

This FEG was somewhat of a ''stopgap'' until a genuine BHP could be tracked down, and afforded. It is perhaps doubtful that metallurgically it is up to Browning's high standard but, it does however perform extemely well and accepts regular Browning mags, as well reputedly as std Browning parts.

For those wanting a Browning style for only modest shooting then this is worthy of consideration. It certainly ''feels'' every bit a Hi Power and function and accuracy are good.

This gun is one of the C&R ''must haves'' if possible. For not much over $100 it is quite easy to find, or was. Some quite novel engineering within but care is needed not to dry fire if fitted with the original cast firing pin. A machined pin can be found for replacement however and some people favor uprating the recoil spring a bit.

The 7.62x25 ammunition is fairly easy to find, is moderately productive of some muzzle flash and is quite high velocity with probably reasonable effectiveness but the platform is not really that amenable to carry.

This was a first generation example and was not over reliable. It was also not the most comfortable gun to shoot being so small and light - not that surprising in truth! Still manageable however. There is no doubting the actual usefullness of its small size for pocket carry however and this is why it has been such a good seller. The second generation models seem to be totally reliable.

It is hard to come to terms with the plastic ugliness and grips feel like a coarse file! But does fit a pocket well.

The Makarov has been imported in seemingly huge numbers, mostly it seems as Bulgarian imports. Research on this one suggests by the marking on left side (see inset) that the triangle with a circle is actually a Russian origin, even tho imported as Bulgarian. Gun shows were selling ''Bulgies'' at about $149, but this one was just over $200. Information on these can be found at makarov.com.

The 9mm Makarov round (9x18) is mild but almost certainly can be regarded as a useful step up from .380 (9x17). The gun is very pleasant to shoot and here we see a pair of grips that came with it in the box - the regular grips being light brown with a star emblem. Much of the ammunition availability seems to be Russian origin steel cased, such as Brown Bear, Silver Bear etc and the gun eats that for a pastime.

Strictly a cheap plinker! It is very inexpensive, and was running around $150 for a complete ''outfit'' which gives a choice of two barrel lengths. It is reputed to start falling apart after several thousand rounds and this one had the mag' release come apart early on. It was an easy DIY fix which avoided a return.

With the 3" barrel it is very compact but for passable accuracy it performs much better with the 5" barrel as shown in the pic'. Only to be regarded as an inexpensive fun gun - no more.

This is one of the Para Ordnance line of 1911 platforms and is a very nice handling and shooting gun. It had some problems with FTE's early on and had been bought as a used gun. It was eventually discovered that the old extractor which was cast - had lost much of its claw!! A replacement with a quality ''bulletproof'' version solved the troubles and it ran well.

It was quite mag' sensitive also and changing to Wolff plus 10% springs helped, although two mags were actually inferior after market specimens and were never quite right. The gun was part traded in order to finance the aquisition of a little used SIG 228. Here, a conventional right side view.

Shown here is an early 2004 example - produced from the small Farmingdale (NY) factory - the company is now in a much larger premises at Deer Park NY. The 'silver' frame has long been dropped due to problems over consistent anodic finish and also due to cost considerations the carbon fiber grips are now replaced by black G-10 grips.

The gun is produced to very tight tolerances by use of very high class CNC machinery and as a 9mm is very 'cutting edge'. It has not been without its problems along the way with a few cases but Rohrbaugh customer service has always endevored to put things right. For some general information on aspects pertaining to the R9 - check out the R9 FAQ site, although it is somewhat dated now and more relevant to the "early days".

Shown here is a later 2004 output - produced from the small Farmingdale (NY) factory - the company is now in a much larger premises at Deer Park NY. The 'silver' frame was dropped (newer color here) - this was due to problems over consistent anodic finish, and also due to cost considerations the carbon fiber grips are now replaced by black G-10 grips.

The gun is produced to very tight tolerances by use of very high class CNC machinery and as a 9mm is very 'cutting edge'. It has not been without its problems along the way with a few cases but Rohrbaugh customer service has always endevored to put things right. For some general information on aspects pertaining to the R9 - check out the R9 FAQ site, although it is somewhat dated now and more relevant to the "early days".

The Ruger 22/45 lacks the ''odd'' (to some) grip angle of the MkI and MkII series - and has controls which approximate the 1911 tho not as ideal. This gun is used mainly for pin shooting and is ideal and reliable, as long as crud is cleaned out now and again. A very fun and economical plinker!

A Volquartsen extractor was fitted and gave a good improvement in extraction which could be initially occasionally problematic, and the compensator is really there just to add some weight for better control. The red dot is a great addition for more rapid target aquisition (and old eyes) ........ and has four reticles to choose from - two dot sizes, a "+" and also a dot within a concentric circle. The ammunition finally settled on for cost to reliability factor was Federal ''Champion".

This and the P97 appear all but identical superficially and are very robust and reliable platforms. The polymer ''P'' series however are not going to win beauty contests and are somewhat ''chunky''.

Functionally, this is a platform which utilizes DA/SA with a decocker and so makes for a very safe carry option. Perhaps the biggest downside is the extreme difference between the very long DA pull and the very short SA pull. This is however something that can be adapted to with practice and the Hogue Handall addition makes for a much better feel to the grip. This P95 will accept +P ammunition readily and will provide a very long reliable service life.

This and the P95 appear all but identical superficially and are very robust and reliable platforms. The polymer ''P'' series however are not going to win beauty contests and are somewhat ''chunky''.

If that is acceptable then all is well, because functionally this is a platform which utilizes DA/SA with a decocker and so makes for a very safe carry option. Perhaps the biggest downside is the extreme difference between the very long DA pull and the very short SA pull. This is however something that can be adapted to with practice.

This P97 has eaten all it was ever given! The Hogue Handall addition makes for a much better feel to the grip.

Sig's answer for a superb .45acp platform if seeking an alternative to the 1911 genre. It is DA/SA and has a decocker so carry is very safe. The first shot DA pull is quite long as would be expected but not a problem and smooth too.

Crimson Trace grips were added, as they were also to two other SIG's (all can be carry options) and are not only better as grips than the factory ones (which are still good) but also give the added benefit of the dot - which does not have to be looked for but will be seen automatically when pointing and sighting.

This has been regular carry for six years now and while large and heavy is extremely controllable in the modest 9mm caliber. +P is safe to use fortunately, and with the gun's weight hardly noticeable.

It has the usual DA/SA and decocker functionality making for a very safe carry mode. Trigger pull on first shot DA is quite long but very smooth and transition to later SA mode brings no surprises. With practice this is fairly seamless.

This shares a place with two other SIG's by having Crimson Trace grips. These are slightly better to feel than factory grips and have the added advantage of producing the dot under all but the brightest of lighting conditions. There is no need to seek the dot, as normal pointing and sight aquisition will enable the dot to show so no bad habits need be aquired.

This is slightly smaller than the SIG 226 ST but feels very similar apart from being marginally lighter. It serves well as a platform for IDPA shooting where it represents something very close to use of the 226 without having to use that always for carry gun practice. The manual of arms is shared with the 226 and 220 - being DA/SA and decocker and very safe for carry.

While the 226 cannot accept 228 mag's the reverse is fine and so this gun can easily run on a 15 (or even 20) round 226 magazine. It shares commonality with the other two SIG's by also having Crimson Trace grips. These give a better feel than factory as well as providing an easily seen dot when light is reasonably below maximum.

This is in essence the exact same as the Walther P99 compact and was a surprise regarding its overall accuracy and shootability. This would normally utilize mag's with an extension providing a better hold for large hands. It also has fitted the largest palm-swell option on the back strap. It feels better than expected from pure looks.

Two things take getting used to - first the position of the decocker which is rear left on slide. That can however be easily used by right thumb or left when gun in two hand hold. The second aspect is the mag' release which is ambidexterous at lower rear of trigger guard - use of the right trigger finger has been found the easiest way to operate it. Practice makes this no problem. Two views shown so as to better show controls - this of course the 'conventional' right side view.

This is in essence the exact same as the Walther P99 compact and was a surprise regarding its overall accuracy and shootability. This would normally utilize mag's with an extension providing a better hold for large hands. It also has fitted the largest palm-swell option on the back strap. It feels better than expected from pure looks.

Two things do take getting used to - firstly the position of the decocker which is rear left on slide. That can however be easily used by right thumb or left when gun in two hand hold. The second aspect is the mag' release which is ambidexterous at lower rear of trigger guard - use of the right trigger finger has been found the easiest way to operate it. Practice makes this no real problem. Two views shown so as to better show controls - this is the left side view.