20 Jan 2020
2020 SHOT Show, Las Vegas, NV
Range Day:
Today was “Range Day” at the Boulder Gun Club Range Facility in Boulder City, NV
At Range Day, we get to shoot all the new guns!
Of note:
Walther’s 380Auto small carry pistol in called the CCP. Nice size!
It has a manual safety-lever instead of a tabbed trigger. However, it has a magazine safety, which is a deal-buster for me!
Walther’s flagship, full-sized carry/service pistol is the PPQ. The PPQ is a double-column 9mm, striker-fired, polymer-frame pistol. I’ve carried it, and it is very acceptable. It has a trigger-tab safety, no manual safety, and no magazine safety!
Walther also makes an all-steel version of the PPQ. Nice to shoot, but too heavy to carry!
I shot the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pistol today. It’s a 14-shooter, compact carry gun. Small, flat, with tabbed-trigger, no manual safety, and no grip-safety!
Magazine is not quite “double-column,” more like a “column-and-a-half,” like the SIG 365.
Rear sight is a Cirillo-style “U” Front sight is big and illuminated (night sight)
As a small, serious, carry-pistol the Hellcat represents an excellent choice. I like it!
H&K’s VP9 is another excellent, double-column, full-size carry pistol. H&K has redesigned the VP9’s magazine follower and floor-plate, so that it now holds two more rounds, making it a 20-shooter!
H&K’s VP9SK is the flat, single-column version, It’s an 11-shooter.
I also shot the Glock 44 today!
It’s a G19 in 22LR caliber. Everything is the same except the weight. I was fully prepared to dismiss this pistol as irrelevant, but I was compelled to soften my opinion after shooting it!
The G44 is nearly weightless! The frame is polymer, of course, but the slide is mostly polymer too!
I think this pistol will be useful in training new shooters. They can get used to the trigger, do a lot of shooting without a lot of noise and recoil, and of course eventually move-on to a serious caliber.
The “G44-to-G19 Progression” may represent the best way to accelerate aspiring Operators’ mastery of serious pistol skills!
I shot several of the above-named pistols equipped with Aimpoint’s ACRO compact red-dot system. Of all the currently-available red-dots small enough to go on pistols, the ACRO is probably the most durable.
I’ve been trying to get a copy of the ACRO since last year’s SHOT Show, but they’ve been very popular.
Maybe this time!
The Show starts tomorrow at the Sands Convention Forum here in Las Vegas!
/John
