The DoubleTap 45 ACP from Heizer Defense

SHOT Show 2012 had its fair share of surprises. So did media day at the range. Ironically there were several new guns I wish the manufacturers had presented at the range so our first assessment of them could have been more than just cosmetic. Alas SHOT Show 2012 was so large I probably shouldn’t be wishing that there was more material for me to try and digest. I’m sitting on enough as it is. Stay tuned for the full SHOT show recap.

See?

But one company we waited all too long to get a face to face with was Heizer Defense. They were in the lower level of the SHOT Show 2012, not on the main floor, but that didn’t mean their traffic and buzz wasn’t found all over the Sands Convention Center. In the video below you’ll get to see us receive the full run down on the ALL NEW design from the ground up of the Heizer DoubleTap .45 ACP. I’m going to call it a space age double barreled derringer, but it’s so much more than that. IF you consider the fact that a gun loads a cartridge into a chamber and requires a firing pin to send the bullet down the barrel, that’s basically where the DoubleTap’s similarities stop in comparison to other pistols.

It’s just 5/8″ thick, has a wide footprint than I would have thought but is barely bigger than an iPhone in the pocket. This may seem to be a bold statement, and I’m not a rep of Heizer Defense nor am I paid by them, but I firmly believe what they’re on to has the potential to change the way we look at concealed carry. The trigger is listed as 10 pounds, though when pulled straight through feels more like a smooth double action 7 pounder. Should the shooter choose to index the trigger to the rear then pull through the break, he’ll find a clean and pleasing single action feel. The model we looked at was the ported titanium, though beginning price points of $499 are given for their aluminum version of the DoubleTap.

The footprint makes you think it's a thick gun. But the exact opposite is true. Yet somehow it fills the hand VERY well.

Watch the video. Check out the photos. Tell us what you think. I think it’s fair to say Heizer Defense is fully prepared to change the game, and I can’t wait to get one of these in for a full handgun review. Also, while Ray Kohout explained things in easy to understand terms for this dummy, I’m gonna go out on a limb and let you know that the engineers at Heizer are geniuses, not limited by the box or boundaries of previous firearms thinking.

"Why yes, Ray, I understand every thing you're saying about the trigger system."