Notes from the ...
2009 SHOT Show
By Kathy Jackson
It's difficult to describe the atmosphere at the
SHOT Show. The place is huge
(of course), crowded (you betcha!), exhausting and exhilarating both at
once. In all the miles and miles of aisles and aisles, you'll see very
few people wearing blue jeans: it's all business, business, business.
The people who are in denim are almost invariably wearing company logo
clothing ... or else you know almost at a glance that they snuck into
the show just to ogle & drool & dream, and aren't here for any serious
purpose. This is not just a larger version of an ordinary gun show, not
by a long shot. Its purpose is to allow industry professionals to touch
base, show off and sell the new products, get in a little schmooze time
as needed, and make all the major buying and selling decisions that many
companies will make for the entire year. So although it is a lot of fun
to see the new gear (and mock the ridiculous), nobody ever forgets that
the idea is to Do Business, lots of business. By the end of the show,
most participants will be utterly exhausted because they had to be alert
and upbeat and "on" just about every waking hour during the show. Not
to mention walking all those miles of aisles.
So let's get started ...
Check this out: SigArms finally
came out with a gun that fits my hand. Whodathunkit? It's the Sig P238,
a small 1911-ish .380 ACP that bears a suspicious resemblance to the old
Colt Mustang. It's interesting hitting the show as an editor rather than
primarily as a writer – despite my strong urge to get my hands on this
gun and wring it out myself, I've assigned one of CCM's regular contributors
to review it for us. The bummer is he lives halfway across the country
from me, so unless and until I buy one myself or one of my local buddies
gets one, I'm out of luck.
By the way, the Sig Mosquito pink is actually a really nice color. Pictures
really don't do it justice.
One of the booths we walked past was a supplier for different types of
snaps and fasteners. I'm interested because I have a secret (don't tell
anyone!) project in the works, for which I'm going to need some specialty
snaps. More later ... maybe.
Everybody who's anybody in the gun world has a booth at SHOT Show, it
seems. Even the FBI. They've got a nice large booth apparently advertising
the NICS system. Buddy Don points out that it makes sense, since a large
portion of the show consists of independent gun shops making their orders
for the year. Having the FBI here to directly answer NICS questions from
gun shop owners might be a good thing.
There are some single-battery flashlights that caught my eye at the Fenix booth. There's the Fenix
LD10, which throws out 180 lumens powered by a single lithium C123 battery,
with a 1 hour run time. It'll retail around $55. Compare that to the Fenix
L1D, which features a single alkaline AA battery powering the same 1 hour
run time at 120 lumens in a package roughly the same size. Scuttlebutt
has it that lithium batteries might be "technically" against the TSA rules
for air flight, but I don't know anyone who's ever had a problem flying
with a lithium-powered light. Still, it's one more reason someone might
opt for a standard alkaline light rather than a specialty lithium one.
And 120 lumens is plenty bright. While two-cell flashlights are typically
brighter, with longer run times, I'm attracted to lights that are small
enough that you will have it with you when you need it. Everyone
says they'll carry a larger light, but few people actually do.
We should probably do an article about .22 conversion kits, I'm thinking.
The Marvel Precision booth
advertises high-end 1911 .22 conversion kits ranging in costs ranging
from $330 - $500. They claim to be most accurate conversion kit in the
world. I'm wondering if they're reliable enough to function as realistic
training for people practicing for defensive use.
The Extreme Shock booth looks just like their advertisements. The salespeople
do not.
In the Kimber booth, they've
got the stainless Ultra Raptor II, a 1911-type gun "ideal for concealed
carry." The gun itself is very stylish and attractive, which it certainly
should be with an MSRP of $1300.
Kimber is also really pushing the Pepper Blaster product line. I'm wondering
if I should persuade one of my braver writers to "take one for the team"
and then write up the experience. Maybe one of the FOF guys?
Duane Daiker reviewed the basic Rohrbaugh R9 awhile back, and the
Rohrbaugh company isn't announcing any great innovations. They
do have some slight improvements and alterations to the existing line,
including special runs with Hogue grips (hmmm – softer shooting, maybe??)
and various options for different finishes. DeSantis is now making a paddle
holster designed for the little gun too.
Oh, look! The BATFE has a booth too. Don't know what they're advertising.
Taurus has the Model 85 UltraLite
available with "adorable" pink rubber grips – including Crimson Trace
grips in same shade. Truthfully? That's Pepto Bismol pink, or gag-me-with-a-Barbie
doll pink. Not my favorite for sure. It would be much nicer to see a paler,
more attractive pink paired with black trim for a more professional look.
Kel Tec is announcing rifles;
they do not have any new handguns to announce. Since I'm a handgun gal,
I barely glanced and kept moving. Sorry, rifle folks!
Everybody is here. Even the Energizer company has a booth, advertising
all kinds of cool power units, USB port devices and – quel surprise! --
batteries.
The booth babes phenomenon is still happening. We would think that phase
would have passed by now, but it has not. There are still booth babes.
For the uninformed: a "booth babe" is an attractive, buxom woman hired
to entertain the visiting sales reps with her cha-chas rather than inform
them with her knowledge of the product line. They've been a staple at
the SHOT Show for many years, since for many years the firearms industry
has been heavily tilted towards male purchasers. The demographic profile
of firearm owners has changed rapidly in recent years, to the point where
women are almost (but not quite) equally represented among purchasers,
but certain portions of the industry haven't yet received the message.
Hence the booth babes and everything else that implies.
Some of these booths are just funny. We feel very sorry for the salespeople
at one of the camouflage booths, sitting there wearing business vests
made out of ghilli material, just waiting for people to come talk to them.
ProEars offers some of the best electronic
hearing protection on the market. These days, they're selling their familiar
high-end electronic muffs in pink and also in pinkoflage. You can also
get a pink ProEars ball cap to match.
Okay, this positively takes the cake. At the
LaserLyte booth, they're showing off a ... bayonet? For
a handgun?? It's a Ka-Bar blade with picatinny rail mount system,
so you can sling it under any firearm with a picatinny rail. Got a tiny
j-frame that needs a bayonet? (Me neither!)
Should be noted that the LaserLyte salespeople appear to know that this
is nuts. It might be just a $50 joke.
The other thing that catches my eye at the LaserLyte booth is a laser
designed to mount on the rear sight. Interesting! Perhaps I need to direct
one of my writers to Do Something About This.
Walking the floor at the shot show you hear a surprising number of European
languages and accents that obviously came from the other side of the pond.
While the group I'm walking with all think this a good thing, we can't
help but wonder what these people are doing here and what they must think
of us.
Not Your Daddy's Gun Cases
offers some marvelous gun bags in feminine styles. I want one. Hmmm. Perhaps
they can become part of my super-secret project too. I take a business
card and a snapshot.
There sure are a lot of different ways to store a gun in your car! One
of these days, we need to do a feature on all the different car storage
options and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different choices. It's
easy to get caught up in trying to solve software problems with hardware,
but in the case of good storage, hardware is definitely an essential.
When walking around the SHOT Show it's easy to get sucked into spending
a whole lot of time talking about and looking at stuff that is totally
Not What We Came For. For example, we just passed a booth that featured
– get this! -- chain mail. For re-enactors, maybe? Amazing stuff, somewhat
amusing, grabs your eye on the way past ... but ... Not What We Came For.
Crossman is selling "Skirmish Grade" airsoft guns. Yes, really.
Interesting phenomenon at the NRA booth.
At first glance I thought it was full of booth babes. On second glance,
I realized it wasn't. Turns out there's another category: Pretty Young
Things. These are intelligent, cute, college-age young women who are there
to appeal to both sexes with their savvy and their youthful good looks
on the sales floor. I think this is a good sign of how the world is changing.
Lots and lots of pinkoflage everywhere you look. Lots of the camouflage
places are also selling pink camo. While it's good these folks have noticed
the number of women getting into the shooting sports, it's somewhat discouraging
that the answer they come up with to exploit this market is to offer an
impractical color of non-camouflage that is clearly NOT for serious field
use. I don't have to be a hunter to understand how annoying that would
be. Would it really be that much more difficult to spend some
time designing practical field boots that fit women's narrower feet, or
sturdy, practical hunting pants engineered to cope with feminine curves?
You can't use pinkoflage in the field, after all.
Speaking of pink, there are also lots and lots of pink handles on knives
and such. The
Boker booth has a pink knife that says "Cruel Girl" on the blade.
It's very vivid. (Hey, at least they didn't call her a bitch. I guess
that's a step forward.)
When it is time to get me a small 1911, I want a
Colt Defender, Model 07000D. The grips on it are cushy and rubber
and exactly fit my hand – in fact, the whole gun exactly fit my hand.
Perhaps this will be the 1911 year for me.
S&W just introduced a subcompact
M&P that's roughly the same size as a Glock 26 or XD9 subcompact. We'll
have to get a copy of that to review for CCM. It's really cute, and definitely
what the doctor ordered for concealed carry. I wonder whether the interchangeable
grip panels make any difference at all when the grip is practically nonexistent
anyway?
A group of us are standing here looking at M&P subcompact, and we think
they should be offering that in a whole plethora of colors for the grips.
We think they'd sell like mad. (Oh, yes – I'm not immune to the appeal
of pink. Can you tell? But we're not just discussing pink! How 'bout royal
blue, or deep purple? Something attractive and just a bit different from
the next gun on the line?)
Even better than that, S&W is also offering an M&P compact with integrated
Crimson Trace grips on it that we must have. I want it. My buddy Donald
wants it. Buddy Diane likes it and so does her husband, Tom. We're going
to be fighting over who gets to review it for CCM. One thing is sure:
I won't be assigning this one to a writer halfway across the
country. I must get my hands on it for myself!
S&W also intro'd several small 1911 variants for concealed carry. There's
a 3-inch scandium frame that looks interesting, but with a $1200 MSRP,
it's probably too rich for my blood. Pretty sure one of my writers will
be desperate to write it up. We shall see! S&W also offers an Officer's
frame with an extended slide, at roughly the same MSRP, and also an attractive
9mm Gov't frame in stainless. We only run 8 issues a year, and there are
only so many gun reviews I can cram in per issue. Not only that, my revolver
friends have been bemoaning the lack of revolver reviews. Decisions, decisions...
Would it be terribly tacky of me to admit that I've been known to flip
a coin to decide between two, equally-meritorious guns to review in the
magazine?
Don't tell the folks at Taurus,
but it's hard to get excited about their new product line every year.
They typically announce a lot of new products, which is cool, and we love
that they've always got different "pretty" options. They sure do that
part of marketing and design better than anyone else in the business.
But the downside is that Taurus has historically been very eager to announce
new products, to the point where some years it's seemed as if the majority
of their announcements were destined for the "vaporware" designation –
or to be boring old news by the time the products were finally available
to us ordinary people. Nevertheless, we must check out their pre-production
models anyway. And who knows? Perhaps we'll see all of them in immediate
production. Someone at that company should be learning from past mistakes
... shouldn't they?
Let's see: here's a Taurus 738. That will be the Taurus answer to the
call for a tiny, polymer-framed .380 carrying 6+1 rounds. Typical for
Taurus, there will be several different finishes and variants available.
And here's the Taurus 709, a slim, polymer 9mm remarkably similar to Kahr's
9mm offerings. It's super lightweight too. And again, typically for Taurus,
lots of different finish options.
Lots more there, but I grab a catalog and keep moving. My feet hurt already
and the day is still young!
The Cold Steel booth features some
awesome walking sticks that look really cool – and also look really violent,
even on first glance. Cane and stick defense is a great idea, especially
for those who will do the work to learn how to use the tool to best advantage,
but I'm not real sold on the notion of a walking stick that screams violence.
I think a walking stick should be a little more subtle about its potential
defensive use. But these sticks from Cold Steel are very attractive and
uber cool, and you know they're quality.
Some of the booths are incredible. Stoeger came in with a huge fake two-sided
fireplace made out of massive river rocks and rough-hewn pine logs, complete
with logs glowing and crackling as if on fire. Very detailed, very elaborate.
Everyone's competing to be the booth that catches people's eye and gets
them talking.
Bumped into Mas Ayoob, who gave me a hug and a grin. We compare notes:
"What's the funniest item you've seen at the show so far?" You may be
able to glean my contribution from this account (hint: a knife was involved).
Mas cited his favorite, a completely inexplicable but revolutionary firearm
design from a well-known maker. The next day, my husband caught the picture
you see on the right while Mas was signing his latest book, The Gun Digest
Book of Concealed Carry. If you haven't read it yet, pick up
a copy and do so – it's a great resource.
Traveling with Mas that day was Vincent Schuck, one of the founders of
the Armed Citizens' Legal Defense
Network. That's another great resource for those interested in
armed self-defense.
Now I'm not a hunter and I don't understand hunterly things. I do understand
decoys and I also understand the idea of realistic targets you might want
to shoot for archery, that kind of thing. But some of the decoys are kind
of puzzling. For instance, here we have a very fake looking, plastic,
phony, toy-like plastic deer, with a semi-realistic looking floppy fuzzy
tail stuck on its rear end. Ask me why? I don't know ...
They have to take all the firing pins out of all the firearms on the floor,
for safety's sake. But nobody has dulled any knife blades. Don't ask me
how I know this.
Pelican's got easily-portable emergency
area lighting that comes in a nifty case roughly the size of 1 gallon
gasoline jug (or a motorcycle battery). It's got a burn time of 15 hrs
on low or 8 hrs on high. It's superbright with 24 Cree LEDs pumping out
2000 lumens. There's a similar product with dual output in a larger case
too. Didn't write down the MSRP, but I do recall it wasn't cheap. Nobody
else appears to be making anything like it.
By the way, we love Pelican. They make great products and really stand
behind their work. Unfortunately, apart from their cases, they don't make
a lot that's applicable to concealed carry. Their incredibly-robust flashlights
are excellent for nightstand or camping use, but tactical they are not.
Still, if you're in the market for something really good, really sturdy,
and definitely designed to last -- Pelican's the way to go. They're absolutely
worth the money.
One of the things that really stands out walking around SHOT Show is how
diverse the world of firearms really is. You have the cowboy action people
and the other single action folks. You've got hunters, further divided
into all different types of hunting, big game and small. There are shotgunners,
who may or may not be hunters. Then you've got the tactical and self-defense
people who overlap some with law enforcement but are really an entirely
different genre. There are the gun gamers, shooting in an amazing variety
of different types of games, everything from action pistol to high-accuracy
precision rifle and everything in between. Then there are plain old target
shooters and plinkers. Oh, and collectors, people who buy guns just to
have them. There's just a huge variety of different products that appeal
to different market groups, and even though we are all firearms lovers,
it's not at all the same as far as who the market is designed to appeal
to or who you need to talk to about it if you want to make a sale.
The sheer volume of products presented here is unbelievable. And you continually
find yourself going around a corner looking down an aisle and wondering,
"Did I do this aisle already?" After awhile it all looks the same because
there's just so very much of it. It's overwhelming.
There's apparently a Shooting for Women Alliance.
From the posters in the booth, I can't really tell if it's another variant
of "I'm an instructor and you should come take a class from my school,"
or if it's a legitimate professional organization for different schools.
Or even if it's for defensive shooters at all (maybe it's more geared
to competition shooters?). There's no one at the booth. Guess I need to
surf the website or make some phone calls. Or both.
Something surreal happened when I stepped over to the
Babes with Bullets booth. I asked a question of the first person
I encountered, and she demurred, saying that I'd need to ask that question
of "the woman standing over there." Patiently waiting a chance to talk
to the indicated person as she wrapped up a meeting with someone else,
I was utterly floored when she came over, glanced at my nametag, gushed
all over me – pinned a microphone to my lapel ... beckoned a video camera
over ... and before I knew it we were talking on-camera about something
or another. Haven't the foggiest idea what! I hope I didn't look too terribly
askew, or sound too flabbergasted. :)
One of the things amazing about this show is you'll see people wearing
three piece suits and tennis shoes. There's a reason for that. Miles and
miles of aisles and aisles ...
It appears that BB guns no longer exist, at least, not as we used to know
them. That market has split into airsoft type guns (for games and FOF)
and air rifles for accurate target shooting. The notion of handing a BB
gun to a prepubescent child to play with unsupervised (as my parents did,
and probably yours did too) would cause a lot of folks these days to run
screaming the other direction. Was the world really that unsafe back in
the old days? I wonder.
SureFire has a classic, attractive
self defense pen that accepts various different pen refills so you can
use your favorite. The pen comes with a flowEASY unit, which writes smoothly
and feels great. It's got a window breaker tool on the back end in case
you need to get out of a car in a hurry. For those who have had at least
a little bit of short-stick training in any modern martial art, it's a
great, sturdy, useful defensive tool which is legal to take everywhere
with you. For those who have not, it's just another really expensive executive
pen.
SureFire also offers some good one-cell flashlights. For instance, the
E1B "backup" light has a bright first push, or dim on second push (80/10
lumens if I remember right ... the brochure's around here somewhere).
This sounds like a good idea because you get bright first time every time.
BUT it's not as good as it sounds. If you are searching, you'll flash
that bright on, run the light up and down, turn it off, move a step, turn
it on again – and it'll be dim. If you see someone you're uncertain of,
you might put the bright light on to check it out, fumble, and try to
light him up again, and – it'll be dim. That might be a bad tactical move.
On another level, if you start out superbright but actually only needed
the dim, you've just ruined your night vision too. So I'm not a fan of
this type of switch.
Fortunately, SureFire does offer another option in a one-cell, the LX1
Lumamax. With this one, if you touch the switch gently and depress it
only partially, it's on dim. But if you jam it down hard, it'll be bright.
I like this option better because if you are under stress you are going
to mash that button anyway, and you will definitely want the bright light
that results.
As far as the manufacturers are concerned, one-cell flashlights are just
backup lights. That's because they're never going to be as bright, and
never going to have equivalent run times as larger lights. But realistically
for a concealed carry person, you're a lot more likely to carry that one-cell
than you are the brighter and bulkier two-cell. It's the lighting equivalent
of a carry gun versus a home defense gun.
The sights on the newer S&W j-frames are a significant improvement over
the old, nearly invisible type. We're going to need to wring one of these
out, too.
Speaking of improved sights, the NAA
Mini is sporting real sights these days. Not new at the show, but it's
a major improvement that hasn't gotten a lot of press. As a single action
in .22 caliber, it's still not really a defense gun, but as a range toy
it's sure a lot more fun if you can aim accurately.
Rumor has it that CorBon teamed with another company to create a .380 ammunition
optimized for short barrels. We're going to have to double back to chase
that rumor down. I sense an ammunition-comparison article in CCM's future...
Springfield is offering
interchangeable grip panels for the XD, calling it the XD-M. Of course,
that's older news but it's still a neat thing. Nice to see a company recognize
that hands come in different sizes.
Meanwhile, it seems unbelievable that the best
Glock could do is a retexturing of a grip frame and a change in
serrations. Those people should be offering truly integrated
laser grips by now, and other innovations! And the number of Glock shooters
out there who either have or who have expressed a desire for a grip reduction
should give someone in Austria a clue as to what might be offered next.
Glock could and should be the most innovative company in the marketplace,
but instead they're futzing around with do-nothing cosmetic changes. Is
it possible that the "Glock Perfection" bit that the rest of us see as
a simple advertising slogan is actually believed as a fundamental
truth by the company designers? Perhaps: If you're already perfect, there's
no need to find ways to improve.
Hey, check out these wonderful pink range bags and gun rugs from KNJ.
Nice people. I think maybe part of my super-secret project will involve
some gear from this company. (Hint: How would a Cornered Cat carry her
gear to the range ...?)
Probably the most elaborate booths at the show are the ones that belong
to places that cater to hunters. This booth I'm walking past -- they've
set up something that looks like an outdoor cafe, glass tables, fancy
chairs, a huge expanse of hardwood flooring and a waterfall. It's amazing.
There's obviously good money in hunting.
That said, over a third of the show is devoted to "tactical", police,
and self-defense types of firearms and related gadgetry. You'd think the
NSSF (the folks that put on the SHOT
Show) would treat us like something other than red-headed stepchildren
as a result, wouldn't you? But no. It's all about shooting sports,
and don't you dare imply that "target shooters" is really a euphemism
for "self defense shooters." Babe, we aren't all hunters.
Savage arms is selling a very attractive single-shot pink rifle for kids.
Can't stretch this one into CCM, but it's sure nice to know that the next
generation is being courted. And with such a pretty little firearm too!
It's probably time to pull together an article about car storage options,
because everyone drives up to prohibited environments from time to time,
and nearly all of us prefer to follow the law. But leaving the gun inside
the car can be risky too.
Charter Arms allegedly figured
out a way to do a rimless semi auto round out of a revolver without moonclips,
called the CARR. We're going to skip a few aisles ahead to check it out.
It's not in production yet.
Okay, so here's what happened at the Charter Arms booth. There's a nice
poser behind the counter advertising the CARR, but we cannot find an example
of it in the product samples on the counter. As the sales guy comes over,
we ask him about it and he grimaces. Turns out there's not even a pre-production
model available for handling yet! Guess we'll call that "vaporware" unless
and until they actually get into production. (Oh, I should add that the
reason they weren't showing the gun was something about patent protection
– they didn't have their legal ducks in a row and didn't want to spill
the beans about their revolutionary design until the legal details were
nailed down. As may be, I'm always a little suspicious of new product
announcements that don't involve, you know, actual products.)
As we're chatting with the sales rep about other products from Charter
Arms, a very nice older gentleman comes over and expresses his delight
with the USCCA, which he has just joined. Would I be willing to check
on his membership and make sure he's in the database? You betcha! I pull
out a pen and jot down his name: Dick Heller.
Dick Heller? As in the Dick Heller of the recent Supreme Court
case?? Yep. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for pursuing that one –
and for prevailing. Regardless of how you feel about the details of the
Heller Decision, the most important and most prominent fact is this:
all nine justices affirmed that firearms ownership is an
individual right. That's huge.
A little bird told me that CCM's "Ordinary Guy" columnist Mark Walters
will soon be interviewing Mr. Heller about which major issue he's planning
to tackle next. The original Heller v. DC suit is, we're told,
just the beginning...
Meanwhile, Mr. Heller and his attorneys are building a website at http://www.gunfreedomdc.com,
which I'll check out when we get back to the hotel.
Next stop on our wander is the
Magnum Research booth, where they are introducing the Micro Eagle,
a .380-caliber semi auto which carries 6+1 rounds in an all steel format
with a Teflon finish. It's got a heavy, long DA trigger, and at 14 ounces
it's quite heavy for a little gun, but that added weight will undoubtedly
make it more pleasant to shoot. It really feels like a solid gun, which
is not something we can say for some of the other tiny .380s we've handled
this week. To give you an idea, size and weight-wise it's very reminiscent
of the NAA Guardian. The front sight is nearly invisible in the shadowy
SHOT Show lighting. I hope they slop some contrast paint on the sights
in the production models.
A few companies are already making holsters for the Micro Eagle, some
of which Magnum Research will be promoting. For example, the Blackhawk!
design has been approved by Magnum Research already. The sales rep tells
us that several other companies have holsters still in the design stage
and will also be seeking company approval.
And away we go.
The thing with the 1911 design is that you can realistically only get
so many variations on a theme. Walking past the Springfield booth, we
see lots of 1911-pattern guns in various sizes, sights and configurations
– and don't get me wrong, that's all wonderful! – but when all is said
and done, a 1911 is a 1911. Nobody who makes a 1911 is going to be announcing
any true innovations, because innovation is not what the 1911 is about.
Pinkoflage everywhere in the hunter booths. For instance, Leupold is offering
pink camo binoculars done by Mossyoak. Correct me if I'm wrong, but while
blaze-orange camo might sometimes be required by law in some places, I'm
not aware of any laws anywhere that require pink camo. Are you?
Hey Doug Ritter! You did a great thing with the flashlight you designed
for Equipped to Survive,
which eGear is producing. Lightweight,
super-sturdy, small enough for a keychain or (better!) clipped on a belt
loop, and amazingly bright. That twist-on switch means I don't have to
fight with a button light coming on in my pocket and running down the
batteries (glory be!). Did I mention bright? LED tech has sure come a
long way in recent years – this tiny little micro-sized light puts out
more light and throws it further than full sized LED flashlights were
doing less than a decade ago.
eGear is also offering a flashlight you can recharge by plugging the whole
thing into a cigarette lighter. It's roughly the size of a regular one-cell
light.
Okay, there's a booth where a Brit company is making radio controlled
giant airplanes made of corrugated plastic to use as shotgun targets.
I failed to get a photo and didn't jot down the company name ("Not What
We Came For"), but they were in booth 2604 and looked like a hoot for
shotgunners.
All the buzz at the show is about the
Ruger LCR, a lightweight polymer revolver. Some opine
that it looks like it was beat with an ugly stick, and plenty of traditionalists
have their feathers rumpled. But rumor has it that it's surprisingly soft
shooting, since the polymer frame and the included Hogue grips combine
to really soak up the recoil. When I finally get my hands on one, I'm
surprised that the trigger has only mild stacking, and – well, frankly,
it doesn't feel at all like a Ruger trigger. I'd sure like to wring it
out on the range to feel the recoil for myself. Columnist Duane Daiker
pointed out that this superlightweight revolver in a j-frame size will
be competing directly with spendy titanium and scandium frames. Those
wondermetals tend to produce a lot of felt recoil, and retail around $700
or so. The LCR will probably end up with a "good deal" price of around
$450, making it the least expensive lightweight revolver on the market,
and (perhaps) the most pleasant to shoot. We predict they'll
sell a bunch.
Did you ever wonder why gun writers never give bad reviews? Well ... one
morning not long after the show opened, I was talking to one of my writers
about the guns he's wanting to review this coming year. At that time,
he was holding a piece of paper with a half-dozen firearm possibilities
on it, and so was I. Our lists overlapped in some places, but not entirely.
So we discussed details, negotiated, and eventually whittled his list
down to four or five possibilities, all of which he was very eager to
tackle because he'd had his hands on the guns at the show already and
believed he'd enjoy shooting them. One of the guns I asked him to review
for CCM wasn't all that exciting to him, and we talked about his reasons
for that. Based on his comments, rather than handing that review to another
writer, I simply scratched the gun off my wish list for the magazine.
With only eight issues a year, there are only so many guns we can look
at. Why waste time, space, and energy on a potential dud? What it boils
down to is that any writer who cannot fill a wish list clear to overflowing
with quality guns that the writer is excited about handling should go
find another line of work! By the time the show was over, my writer had
filled his ticket with as many firearms as any one person could reasonably
be expected to review competently within a realistic time frame. Talking
to another writer friend of mine I found that she had done much the same
thing: negotiated with her editor about various possibilities, making
her case for reviewing the ones she liked while politely declining to
review those she didn't fancy. Quite frankly, doing a decently good job
on a gun review is too much work (and pays too poorly) for anyone to bother
with guns they don't even want to shoot in the first place. The show was
full of guns we simply don't have time or space to cover properly. With
all the great guns out there, why would any of us waste time talking about
or giving print space to guns we hate?
Lots of Pretty Young Things working various booths. These competent and
delightful young women are plainly aware of their own physical appeal,
but they aren't chosen simply for looks and they're not wearing skanky
clothes. Their job is to sell the notion of younger people being involved
in the firearms world, and they do it well. It's just a lot less ... sleazy
... than the old way of doing business.
At the Crimson Trace booth,
they're showing off lots of new products, especially for the newer guns.
We're particularly impressed with the redesign of the Glock "clamshell"
laser, which has morphed into a laser that does not fatten the already
fat Glock grip, does not increase trigger reach, and is less likely to
interfere with holster use. Best of all, the new design is stabilized
as a triangle shape, rather than being held in place with a single pin,
so it should hold zero much better than the older design. I'm impressed.
For the smaller Glocks, I'd go with the Crimson Trace Laserguard series,
which places the bulk of the laser body in front of the trigger guard.
Sure, it means you'll need a specialty holster, but it also neatly aligns
the laser with the bore and avoids affecting the gun's grip in any significant
way.
Moving along ...
I simply cannot believe the number of tiny little .380s that are being introduced
at this show. It does make you wonder whether the corporate spies fell down on the job
this year or what: "No, Boss, it's okay, we can go ahead with that tiny little .380. Nobody
else will have one, we'll corner the market!" Heh.
It's probably a sign of the increasing popularity of concealed carry. Certainly this year I've
heard more, and from more varied directions, about companies that want to "do something" to
get on the concealed carry bandwagon. Fine by me! That's another hopeful sign.
One unknown-to-me that I spent some time with was the company producing "Gun Toten' Mamas," a
new line of concealment purses. Had the good fortune to speak directly with the designer, who
had never designed a concealment purse before and was definitely open to suggestions and direction.
My suspicion is that they'll get it right -- she was a sharp lady and asked all the right questions.
Some of the deer stands you see at the SHOT Show look as if they'd be
more at home belonging to a SWAT team than to a hunter. Some of the high-tech
models also look as if the aliens have landed. And some, oddly, manage
to do both.
It occurs to me that the way we'll know we've really arrived is when the
women's gear isn't only pink but is instead simply great hunting gear
or great concealed carry gear or great competition gear. Although I personally
love pink gear, the color is really irrelevant. We'll know we've arrived
when the first thing the manufacturer looks at is whether the
gear will function on a practical basis, and only secondarily adds color
or other appearance-only design features. The final result may or may
not be pink, but would definitely be designed for full functionality.
Fortunately, there are companies that are making women's hunting gear
that's actually -- for hunting.
TASER is selling an "area denial system"
which looks for all the world like an electrical claymore. One for the
riot cops, by the looks of it.
You can even find sewing machines at the SHOT Show, but they're not the
sort of sewing machines your grandmother used. These beasts are very large,
very spendy, very sturdy, and designed for punching leather and sewing
holsters.
Oooh,
TZ Case sure offers some pretty products. I'm particularly enamored
of the pink alligator gun case. Should that be part of my super-secret
project? I wonder...
At the Para booth, they're introducing
the Para GI Expert, an entry-level 1911 with an MSRP of $599. It's nice
enough, got a good trigger and decent sights, comes with two good magazines.
Not a bad purchase, maybe, for someone who's just been bitten by the 1911
bug and doesn't have the scratch for a high-end 1911 at twice that cost.
By the way, Para's imitation mother of pearl grips are, in my opinion
anyway, even prettier than the real thing. They've really got some good
depth to them. And of course they're much more durable than the real thing,
being designed for shooting rather than simply for admiring.
Snurk! The EAA booth not only has booth babes, but also a large sign advertising
a wet tee shirt contest between certain hours. The tacky and aggressive
hype leaves me to wonder whether they're selling the sizzle simply because
they don't have any steak. Hmmm. Come to think of it, EAA does
produce a lot of impractical firearms that probably wouldn't sell at all
if not for the macho-fantasy market. So perhaps it's no wonder they believe
all they need to do to make a sale is to get the macho fantasy going.
Suppose it works?
And here we are talking to the Zoot Shooters Association people: Jason
Huss, Henning Wallgren, and Emma Hall. They explain about the outfits
and the organization: "It's a costuming shooting competition, dress up
in a period-correct costume for the Prohibition Era, 20s and 30s, and
shoot period-correct guns: single stack 1911s and Tommy guns, anything
built before 1939." What about those of us who live in states where full
auto is not for the common man? "Auto Ordinance makes semi automatic Thompsons,
they're very nice." And how did all this come to be? Well ... "We came
up with it over a year ago, bought the guns, then we're all, 'Let's get
suits! Let's have a match!' Then we convinced some of our friends, most
of whom are IPSC shooters, and got them to get the clothes. We all went
up to the range when it was empty, built a stage, shot it ... videotaped
it ..." and the rest was history, as they say. You can find their video
online on their website at www.zootshooters.com.
That's a shoot that looks like a hoot.
This one's hard to explain to anyone who didn't grow up in the internet
age, but this SHOT Show was my first opportunity to meet my boss,
USCCA founder Tim Schmidt, face to face. We talk on the phone
at least every week, and I've worked for the company since last March,
but a face-to-face meeting had simply never happened. We had a great visit!
Turns out Tim is every bit as nice in person as he comes across online
or over the phone. It was a pleasure getting to know him a little.
Score! I got a "Beverage Entry Tool" from
LaRue Tactical. It's one of the more useful useless little gimicks
companies hand out at the show, and I missed picking one up last time
around.
At the Kahr Arms booth, I bump into
Marty and Gila Hayes. Actually, we've bumped into these folks repeatedly
throughout the show, as it appears we had similar strategies for how we'd
tackle the aisles. Both Marty and Gila are well known firearms trainers
through the Firearms Academy of Seattle
(I'm an assistant instructor there, so Marty is my boss when I'm wearing
that hat). Last year, they founded the Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network
mentioned above. Marty gives me a nice introduction to the folks at Kahr,
and we enjoy looking over Kahr's new .380 – a solid little firearm that
looks as if it will run like a top. It's on our list of guns to review
in the coming year.
If the economy really is bad, you could not tell it either from the mood of people
at the show (cautiously optimistic, for the most part) or by the crowd (it was huge!). The
buyers all appeared very focused on buying and the sales reps were certainly doing their
part to keep the excitement going. As a media person, although I've definitely got my own
work to do at the show, I do feel a bit like an outsider looking in while all the deals are
made. There were dozens of distributor booths we didn't even bother glancing at, because
distributors have little to do with gun magazines in any significant way, but from the sheer
volume of people going into and out of these booths I'd say they were doing very good
business as well. All in all, I'd
say SHOT Show 2009 was a solid success!
Well, that's about all I can remember. The show went past in a blur! Now
I just need to sit down with all these business cards people handed me
and make some notes on them before my memory's completely gone...