2008 SHOT Show, Last Day

05 Feb 08

2008 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, NV, Last Day:

The 2008 SHOT Show is now officially over. It is a big trade show, and I didn't get to see some things I intended to, but the great strength of our industry was on display, and I suspect the rest of 2008, an election year, will see brisk trading indeed:

Some additional notes:

I took a closer look at Ruger's LCP, 380Auto Pistol today. Unlike the Kel-Tec version, Ruger's has a manual slide lock and a distinctively shallow trigger reset, both significant improvements. This is going to be a popular concealment gun for some and back-up gun for others. The LCP represents a marketing masterstroke by Ruger!

Ruger's larger SR9 pistol garnered interest also, as it represents Ruger's active competition with Glock, SIG, S&W, Beretta, and H&K. Surely useable, but the trigger's substantial over-travel will negatively influence accuracy.

Ruger's excellent five-shot snubby, the SP101, comes well-melted and with the hammer spur removed. Nice concealment pistol!

Charles Daly is, along with everyone else it seems, now marketing an AR-15, as well as both single and double-column 1911 pistols. They look and feel nice to me!

The "Shadow Shield" is an ingenious barricade that is a large, continuous mirror on the front side (except for a small observation hole)! When tilted slightly downward, the mirror reflects the ground in front of it back forward. The effect is that whoever is standing behind it effectively vanishes! Designed for covert observation, The Shadow Shield, like a chameleon, instantly adapts to whatever terrain it is being used on. Amazing!

LiveSight produces conventional, paper targets, featuring good guys and bad guys, printed with a 3-D pattern! When observed normally, the target looks out-of-focus, but, through 3-D glasses, the target takes on a life-like, three-dimensional appearance. The effect is eerie indeed! The three-dimensional effect is retained, even when one eye is closed. This target will add realism to training, but wearing 3-D glasses is disorienting and, after a few minutes, nauseating. Sessions will have to be short.

Glock's "SF" (for "Short Frame") modification, now standard on the G21 and G30, makes the trigger reach slightly shorter, contributes to a generally improved grip, and thus represents a positive improvement. I predict the "SF" modification will quickly become standard on all Glocks's models. It certainly should!

The 2009 SHOT Show ill be back in Orlando, FL.

/John