The trend in concealed carry sometimes seems to match the trends we see in fashion magazines ... slim, slimmer, slimmest. There's a good reason for that, of course: The smaller and lighter the defensive handgun is, the easier and more comfortable it is to conceal. That said, Newton's Laws of Motion dictate that small, lightweight defensive guns chambered in calibers of .380 and up (which is generally considered the smallest effective defensive load) tend to be uncomfortable to shoot.
It's true that in a true defensive emergency, felt recoil will be the least of your worries. What will be at the top of the list of worries, however, will be your ability to be accurate with that firearm. The key to accuracy is range practice. If you want that practice to be more practical than punishment, then it might make sense for your gun to gain a just a little weight. That's where the Rock Island Armory STK100 handgun, with its all-metal construction, comes in.
The RIA STK100's slide is machined from 4140 steel, with a steel chassis with an aluminum grip frame, bringing its weight unloaded to 28 ounces (1.8 lbs.). The pistol is chambered in 9mm Luger, already a relatively soft-shooting round, so putting bullets downrange results in minimal recoil. Our testers at American Rifleman found it nimble and easy to handle, with terrific shot-to-shot recovery. Even better, the MSRP on this striker-fired pistol is a mere $500 ... meaning that you'll be able to find it at dealers for considerably less. Find out what else makes the RIA STK100 the NRA Gun of the Week in this video! Armscor.com
