20 Jan 22
2022 SHOT Show, 3rd Day
NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) is to gun-related businesses as NRA is to individual gun-owner (but managed a good deal better).
NSSF has hosted the annual SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show, in January in Las Vegas, NV for nearly a decade now.
The SHOT Show provides manufacturers and vendors the opportunity to showcase new products and write orders for the on-coming year. So, when you go to the SHOT Show, you’ll talk with a salesman.
By contrast, the NRA Show (canceled last year) is a consumer-products show, and vendors are there anxious to get direct input, not from buyers, but from individual consumers. So when you go to the NRA Show, you’ll talk not with a salesman, but with a customer-service person.
Of course there is much overlap, but the foregoing is the way it has worked for as long as I can remember.
I do my best to attend both!
The brave vendors who were here this year deserve a lot of credit, and they were generally not a little annoyed at the drop-outs, particularly those who were supposed to be here but, at the last minute, didn’t show-up!
I was annoyed too, as there were several new guns I wanted to see but that weren’t here.
Of note today:
Cor-Bon ammunition was founded in 1982 (first in MI, then in Sturgis, SD) by my good friend and colleague, Peter Pi Sr. Cor-Bon quickly garnered a reputation for high performance and high quality. The company was taken-over by new owners several years ago, and moved to OH.
In October of 2021, Cor-Bon was sold again, this time to a group of naive investors, and there is no indication that they will stay in OH, or even stay in business!
My good friend and colleague, Mike Shovel, was Cor-Bon’s sales manager for many years, under both regimes, and it was Mike who invented the monolithic, homogenous, all-copper HP pistol bullet that is produced by nearly all manufacturers now and is currently considered the best choice for serious applications by most Operators. I carry it in my pistol(s)!
Acceptable versions are currently available from Supervel, Defiant Munitions, Black Hills, and a few others.
USCCA (US Concealed Carry Association) has a big presence here at this year’s SHOT Show. The USCCA is an organization of which I am not a member, but they train many people.
They’ve announced they’re now getting into Urban Rifle Training!
Mossberg’s MC2 pistol is a very acceptable 9mm carry-gun. I shot it two years ago, but have not seen a copy come through any of our Classes since. Resembles a G19. Nice size and nice ergonomics!
The MC2 features a tabbed trigger, as do most modern serious pistols, with exceptions I described in yesterday’s Quip.
However, some center-fire rifles from Mossberg (MVPLR), Ruger, and Savage also now feature a tabbed trigger. Since these rifles don’t normally reside in holsters, and are not usually inserted into gun-cases when loaded, I’m not sure I understand the reason for a tabbed trigger, at least from a safety standpoint.
There are any number of serious rifle manufacturers out there and many choices. I particularly like POF, Robinson Armament, Daniel Defense, Marcolmar, and others. However we have many S&W M&P M4s (under $800.00) come through Classes, and all have run just fine!
Masks were supposedly “required” in the expo venue, but I never wore one! Several “security” types said, “Do you have a mask?” I just said “Yes,” and walked on. Cops didn’t care, nor did concessionaires, doormen. As the day wore-on, masks started to come off!
We are departing Las Vegas, NV tomorrow morning, so we’re done for another year!
Next year’s SHOT Show will be in the same place, as far as I know.
/John
