A TACTICAL RESPONSE

In the 1990s, the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) went looking for a new handgun. By 1998 its search led the agency to a full-size 1911 built by the Springfield Armory Custom Shop, known as the Professional Model. Later, a similar model was chosen to equip the bureau’s regional SWAT teams.

The development of those handguns led Springfield Armory to offer a production handgun for the civilian market based on the pistols developed for the FBI. The result was the Tactical Response Pistol (TRP), an enhanced 1911 with many of the bells and whistles that, in those days, you’d expect to see only on a custom pistol.

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More Inside This Issue:

HIGH OCTANE HANDGUN

Ed Brown expands its Fueled By series of customized M&P pistols with a new model boasting a metal frame.

MATCHED PAIR

Walther delivers not one but two new competition pistols with steel- and polymer-frame versions of the PDP Match.

READY FOR A TUSSLE

Rossi's Brawler is a break-open single-shot .45 Colt/.410 that can take on a variety of shooting tasks.

PUTTING IT ALL IN FOCUS

Your ability to react appropriately to possible threats depends a lot on quickly gathering information. Here are tips on what to look for.