Review: Rost Martin RM1C Pistol

A new handgun from a brand-new, American manufacturer is always newsworthy, and Rost Martin’s first model is an outstanding debut.

For centuries, the Austro-Hungarian Empire sprawled across what humorist P.J. O’Rourke referred to as “the cellulite thigh of Europe,” the rugged Southeastern quadrant of the continent. Serving as a bulwark against the expansionist dreams of the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian realms were the home of some of the most innovative arms makers, especially in the early days of repeating cartridge arms. It is from the stew of this declining empire that we got names like CZ, Mannlicher and Steyr.

Several important pistols in our current marketplace have come from constituent states of this now vanished ancient regime. Most notably was a polymer-frame, striker-fired pistol from Austria that hit our shores in the mid-1980s and was sold for (at the time) a relative pittance, arriving in the buyer’s hands in a funky Tupperware-like container. As we all know, the Glock has gone from a budget-priced curiosity to a market-dominating titan in the intervening decades.

Read the full article from ShootingIllustrated.com by Tamara Keel >>