One of the most exciting new lines of handguns I saw at the show was Springfield Armory's new "Cat" series. (To be honest, I don't know the real name of this four-gun line, and I keep trying to resist the urge to call it the "Feline." The four guns are called the Panther, the Firecat, the Bobcat, and the Lynx. The Panther is a full-sized automatic chambered in .45, .40 S&W, and 9mm, the Firecat is a compact 4-inch-barrel auto chambered in .40 S&W and 9mm; the Bobcat is a small .380 auto; and the Lynx is a tiny .25.
Sound familiar? Yes, in fact this series is manufactured in Spain by Astra, imported by Interarms, and customized by Springfield. These guns are very similar in appearance to the Astra guns, but they have a few extras, like checkered wooden grips, checkered front and back straps, and white dot sights. They won't be available until March or April, but when they hit the market, I have no doubt that these guns will be very popular in the self-defense market.
