Second Day!

20 Jan 10

2010 SHOT Show, Second Day:

Beretta had copies of their new TX4 shotgun. It's a five-shooter, gas-gun. Self-adjusting gas system permits it to cycle normally with all kinds of twelve-gauge ammunition. Looks like a nice patrol-shotgun!

SIG's P250 is available with an ambidextrous, manual safety. Nothing that I find useful, but it works like a 1911 manual safety. Comes "off" just fine during the draw, but a grip compromise is required to push it back "on. "

Who want a serious 308 have a choice between DSA's FAL, the PTR-91, and SA' s M1A. All are most satisfactory, run well, and all are on display. I have copies of all three. DSA tops the List.

Leatherman's new MUT (Military Utility Tool) is something I surely wish I had with me when in Vietnam! I have several Leatherman tools, but the MUT tops them all. It includes a seat-belt cutter, brass carbon-scraper, wire-cutter, pin-punch, along with all the other usual Leatherman accessories. All serviceman going overseas should have a copy!

High-Vis makes a square light-tube as the front sight on Ruger's LCR. Fits nicely into the square rear-sight notch! All other light tubes I've seen are round.

Taurus' "Slim" 709SS 9mm, eight-shot, polymer-frame pistol really is thin! Similar in size to Kahr's excellent PM9.

Winchester is now making a "Buck & Ball" twelve-gauge shotgun round. A Forester slug, plus three 00 buckshot pellets (ahead of the slug), in the same round! It is called the PDX1. Seldom seen since the Civil War! They' re also making a 410 round (also called the PDX1) for the Taurus Judge Pistol that features twelve BB-Shot pellets behind three plated, lead disks up front. This round will be popular with Judge-owners!

Friends at Winchester tell me they still sell a lot of 9mm 127gr +P+ ammunition. It is restricted to LE, but much filters to other users. They also tell me that current 45ACP sales are so strong, they're approaching demand for 9mm! By contrast, 45GAP and 357SIG are produced, but constitute little more than obscure footnotes by comparison.

Bushmaster had on hand copies of their ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle). Once called the "Masada," this 223 gas-piston rifle has a nice folding/adjustable stock. Bolt holds open on the last round, and it takes AR-15 magazines. Bulkier than the AR-15.

Firstlight's Tomahawk flashlight, a copy of which in carry daily, features a combination of red and green lights that make blood stand out. Popular among medical folks!

MGM (Mike Gibson Manufacturing), celebrated makers of targeting systems, has a charging-target system called the "Attack Target." The target charges the shooter at a high rate of speed, and requires neither electricity nor compressed gas. Teaches students to get off the "X!"

Mark LaRue is making a quick-release, offset mount for the Aimpoint T1. It mounts on the rifle's top rail, but offsets the optic to the right, so that one can use his magnifying ACOG normally, but quickly tilt the rifle counter-clockwise and pick of the T1's red dot. The two optics otherwise do not interfere with each other.

C-products, makers of rifle and pistol magazines, is now making a twenty-five-round FAL magazine, and a forty-round AR-15 magazine. Both all-steel. They're also marketing a "magazine for magazines." It is a spring-loaded AR-15 magazine dispenser, worn on the chest, that holds three magazines. As they are grabbed and removed, a new one pops in place. Clever!

More people to see tomorrow!

/John

2010 SHOT Show, Third Day

21 Jan 10

2010 SHOT Show, Third Day:

I talked with friend and blade-master, Ernie Emerson, today. Like Lynn Thompson of Cold Steel, he really lives the Art! Ernie showed me his new " Gentleman Jim" folding blade. It is a thin 3.75-inch folder, equipped with his famous "Wave" quick-opening feature. "Gentleman" Jim J Corbett was a famous boxer of the early Twentieth Century who was celebrated for routinely dressing up when in public. This new blade honors him.

My friends at PTR91 (formally "JLD Inc"), famous for their wonderful PTR91 308 military rifle, showed me their newest addition, the PTR32. It is in 7.62x39 and proportionally smaller than the PTR91. It takes standard, AK magazines. Collapsing stock is available, which makes it suitable for low-profile transport. Its fluted chamber, necessitated by its gas-delayed blowback system, makes it sensitive to some foreign ammunition that uses tar as a sealant. However, I've run some pretty disgusting stuff through my copy of the PTR91, and I've never had so much as a hiccup!

Colt is displaying their new 0781ODA pistol. It looks like a 1911 in profile, but it is self-decocking (DAO). Trigger is heavy at twelve pounds. Reset is deep. No manual safety (which would be a silly redundancy anyway).

Self-decocking, autoloading pistols (no manual decocking-lever and no manual safety) are definitely the trend in American Law Enforcement, but many federal and big-metro-area police contract specifications now require that pistols be "striker-fired." Traditional, arching, exposed-hammer ignition systems are thus being systematically excluded from consideration. So, Colt 's new pistol may be rearing its head at precisely the wrong moment. SIG' s otherwise-excellent P250 suffers from the same issue!

Rimfire-consuming AR look-alikes are all the rage currently, owing to high ammunition costs. Shooter's can acquire and exercise all manual, operating skills while consuming relatively low-cost 22LR, rather than 223 ball. Colt's version has a bolt-lock/release lever that is non-functional (cosmetic only), automatically eliminating it from consideration for most police training. I can't imagine why they designed it that way!

As originally designed and produced, John M Browning's 1911 pistol had no mechanical interlock that prevented the firing pin from going forward when the pistol was dropped on the muzzle, nor when the slide went forward in the normal loading procedure, nor during the normal cycle of operation. These theoretical circumstances through which the pistol could conceivably fire unintentionally (or even go full-auto) were considered so astronomically unlikely, Browning was unconcerned.

History has proven him correct! I, for one, have been training people (including myself) to carry and shoot 1911s since 1968 and have had thousands of 1911s come through classes, including many that were manufactured during, and even before, WWII. My students have loaded them, unloaded them, performed chamber checks, shot them, and even dropped them more times than I can count. In those forty-odd years, I've never once personally witnessed a 1911 slam-fire, a 1911 go full-auto, nor a 1911 discharge as the result of being dropped. Maybe these things happen, but they have never happened in front of me. Yes, like all of us, I've heard many third-hand stories, but my personal experience causes me to believe Browning was right, as we have discovered over the years that he usually is!

Today, nearly all major manufacturers of pistols, other than 1911s, have trigger-activated firing-pin locks standard on all their products, and have had this feature from the first gun they produced. In the 1980s, Colt added a trigger-activated system to their version of the 1911, and all Colt's 1911s have come with it ever since. A trigger-activated firing-pin lock makes it mechanically unachievable for the firing pin to reach the primer of the chambered round without pressure being applied to the trigger.

Other modern-day 1911 manufacturers, specifically Kimber, instead use their version of the "Swartz-System," which is a grip-safety-activated firing-pin lock. The Swartz System was designed to address the drop-safety issue only. It does not address the slam-fire issue, nor the full-auto issue, as the pistol is properly gripped (depressing the grip safety) when it is being loaded and/or fired.

My friends at Kimber tell me that ninety-percent of 1911s they produce come with the Swartz-Safety. A "II" stamped on the slide indicates a pistol is so equipped. However, parts and machining necessitated by the Swartz-Safety makes the pistol difficult to clean, so many devoted 1911 users and carriers thus don't want it.

Accordingly, Kimber makes their 1911s both ways, and you can order yours with or without!

My personal choice is "without."

STI, makers of excellent (albeit expensive) small, 1911 carry pistols, showed me their "Escort" version two years ago. Last year, the Escort had evolved into the "Shadow," which was even more thin, sleek, and smooth. This year, the Shadow has evolved into the "Elektra." All are fine, but the Shadow is still my choice!

Friend, Dan Coonan, is back in business with his "Coonan Arms" pistol. Introduced over a decade ago, the Coonan Pistol will again be produced later this year. The Coonan pistol is a 1911, chambered for the 38Spl and 357Mg revolver cartridge! The serious pistol field is currently crowded with many fine guns, and it remains to be seen if the Coonan catches on this time!

Finally, a company called Bright-Strike is making the "Flex-a-Ton," which is a collapsible baton, combined with a bright, strobe-enabled, flashlight. It is designed specifically for officers who are heavily restricted with regard to deploying batons, but essentially unrestricted with regard to deploying flashlights. An equipment solution to a political problem!

More to come!

/John