Smith & Wesson
A whole corral of the new and exciting is being announced at S&W for this year. To start with, all models--full-size and compact--of the popular M&P semiauto will be available with thumb safeties. As with the standard M&P, all feature interchangeable palmswell grip inserts, stainless steel barrel and slide with black Melonite finish and polymer frame.

Three cheers for the S&W Classic line, which now includes the wonderful Model 17 Masterpiece, a .22 LR revolver with a traditional six-round cylinder. It features a six-inch bright-polished blue barrel, adjustable rear sight and pinned Patridge front and a square butt. I'm guessing the Masterpiece will become one of the line's greatest hits.

The Model 14 also lives again. It features a six-inch bright blue or bright nickel barrel with unshrouded ejector rod, six-round .38 Special cylinder and a square butt.

Rejoice, .41 Magnum lovers. S&W has breathed new life into the Model 57; the new M57 is available in both four- and six-inch barrel lengths.

Moving into the realm of the modern revolver, the Model 632 Carry Comp Pro Series revolver sports a three-inch barrel with tapered full underlug, six-round .357 Magnum capacity, adjustable sights and a matte black finish on the all-stainless construction. The muzzle features PowerPort technology with an expansion chamber.

The growing Night Guard line brings us the .41 Magnum-chambered Model 357. Confused? Just focus on the caliber, not the model number. It's possibly the perfect caliber to complement the Night Guard concept in revolvers and features tritium sights, scandium alloy frame, 2.5-inch barrel, and Pachmayr Compac Custom grips.

And last but not least in the revolver world, a new Model 642 lightweight .38 Special hammerless snub-nose without the internal lock will please those with a distrust for all things lawyer-generated.

Notable--and the single all-new introduction that we are aware of in the semiauto line--is a 9mm Pro Series 1911. Built on a full-size stainless frame, it sports multiple upgrades such as a 30 lpi checkered frontstrap, hand-polished integral feed ramp, oversize extractor, ambi safety, extended mag well and stoned hammer and sear for a crisp trigger pull.

Sights are fixed three-dot, grips are stippled wood, and capacity is 10+1 rounds.

Kahr Arms
If you want a really fine micro-compact pistol, consider the new P380. Chambered in .380 ACP, it has a 2.5 inch barrel and an overall length of 4.9 inches. It has a black polymer frame, matte stainless slide, and textured polymer grips. The barrel is a premium Lothar Walther match grade polygonal rifled design. Drift adjustable white bar-dot combat sights are dovetailed into the slide; night sights are optional. Weight: 10 ounces without mag. Two stainless-steel six-round magazines come standard.

Sig Sauer
If you saw our October/November 2008 issue, you know about the P250 already. And while the gun is not exactly new for 2009, it does now fully deliver on the promise of its platform.

The P250 is a polymer-frame semiauto built on a modular design that allows it to be converted from a full-size gun to a compact or subcompact simply by buying a new grip module and slide assembly.

Calibers can be changed simply by buying the appropriate slide assembly and magazines. And that's what's new for 2009: all the calibers--9mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W and .45 ACP--are now available.

The base P250 comes in two different grip modules: one for 9mm, .357 SIG and .40 S&W, another for .45 ACP. These can be ordered as full size, compact or subcompact, and the P250 offers the option of a short trigger or a long trigger as well.

Dimension are 8.1 inches long, 5.5 inches high and 1.4 inches wide for the full size; 7.2/5.3/1.4 for the compact; and 6.7/4.7/1.1 for the subcompact. Weight: full size, 27.6 to 29.6 ounces; compact, 25.1 to 27.0; subcompact, 24.8 to 25.1.

Suggested retails range from $750 to $870. Upgrade packages go for $375.