those initial models, and although, like any manufacturer they’ve
had their “ups and downs” it’s been pretty much all “ups” as the
range has matured and grown!
WHY RAVEN?
I will admit openly to being a good friend of the guys behind the
RAVEN designs, and to working very closely with them, and if
truth be told I’ve been suggesting to them for a good while that
the ”6mm Training” market is one that they should embrace as
their pistols are completely up to the task! I asked my good friend
Ross at UK-based NUPROL (you may already know the brand from
their excellent gun cases) about the ethos of the RAVEN brand
though, and he told me:
“The raven is symbolic of mind, thought and wisdom in Norse
legend, as the god Odin had two Ravens as his sidekicks. The first
was Hugin who represented the power of thought and the active
search for information. The other raven, Mugin represented the
mind, and its ability to intuit meaning rather than hunting for it.
Odin would send these two ravens out each day to soar across
the lands. At day’s end, they would return to Odin and speak to
him of all they had spied upon and learned on their journeys. We
wanted to create pistols that you could rely on as your “sidekick”,
something that would always be with you as they progressed,
forever learning as you went.”
He also told me that as much as the existing RAVEN “Classic
1911” models are first rate, and that the range of models
continues to grow, he felt strongly that they wanted to really
make a firm statement of intent when it came to what they are
able to achieve, and the net result of that was the new range
of RAVEN HI CAPAS, both 4.3 and 5.1. Both these models have
moved on from the originals, with a modern, strong, almost
“blocky” look that is right on the button for current pistol design.
With the HI CAPA’s they’ve kept thing completely streamlined
without any fuss or ornate work to any of the main parts. These
are pistols fundamentally designed to be shot, to be used rather
than just carried in a holster. They’ve beefed up areas that they
felt the pistols needed to give them longevity and durability, only
adding features where necessary like the light/laser rail on the
frame. They also upgraded the slide spring to cope both with the
minimal increase in weight, and to give them a real kick!
COMPATIBLE AND UP TO THE MINUTE
When it comes to training I’ve found that the RAVEN Hi CAPA 4.3
is my preferred option, and even though the design is obviously
at variance with the lines of a “classic 19911” in terms of both the
frame and slide, the grip angle and operation is both familiar and
comfortable; it’s as if they’ve taken that classic “rake” and feature
set and incorporated it into a new, modern design that works well
and looks great.
Although the frame and slide are very different from the
classic style though the 4.3 fits sweetly into all my “1911”
holsters, both Kydex and leather, so I’ve had no need to change
this out on my Direct Action belt setup. The magazines, although
pretty chunky, also fit nicely into my Direct Action Speed Pistol
Magazine pouches; in fact I chose these pouches specifically
because they could be easily altered to safely retain magazines
from different handgun platforms.
Although I chose the “simple” 4.3 myself, you can also have
a 4.3 (or indeed 5.1 with the longer barrel and slide) pre-fitted
with a reflex red dot sight (RDS). Having an RDS on a handgun
seems to be all the rage right now, but is “just because it looks
cool” good enough reason to add an RDS or buy a RAVEN model
with one already fitted? I have to look more closely at this to give
you a sensible answer.
Advancements in sighting systems have allowed us to
enhance our pistols with options including adjustable sights,
tritium, and fibre-optic inserts. Changes in iron sight options have
enhanced our ability to see and track our sights but have offered
no way to change the way we see both the sights themselves
and the target; we’re all still stuck with the “front sight, rear sight
and target” thing; with an RDS for this changes.
Red dot sights are by no means a new thing as competition
shooters have been using electronic sighting systems successfully
for years. With companies improving red dot sights so they can
be mounted directly to a slide and handle the rigours of slidemounted
recoil RDS systems can now be trusted, and better
shooters than I have spent many a range hour proving this. Yes,
it’s a personal decision whether to incorporate “technology” onto
your pistol, and no doubt many a discussion will still be held over
nice malt over their efficacy, but the fact is that the technology
itself works, and can be trusted to work and perform.
In his article on Training Sights cards earlier in this issue
Trampas already illustrated that using an RDS effectively takes
time and effort, but simply put when you’re shooting a pistol
using just the regular iron sights this requires three focal planes.
This means the eye must “do work” to achieve its task; it
must take in and process the front sight, the rear sight and the
target to align everything prior to you taking your shot. With an
RDS the eye needs to deal with just a single focal plane; the
target. When shooting with an RDS you can remain focused as
the dot paints on the target and once the dot is placed in the
6MM TRAINING: RAVEN
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