2010 SHOT Show

19 Jan 10

2010 SHOT Show, First Day:

The SHOT Show is in Las Vegas this year, and for the next five years!

Mood in the Industry is upbeat! All ammunition companies are still in backlog. Gun companies are getting caught up, and some even have excess inventory, but there is much enthusiasm and many new products.

My notes:

ASP showed its new "Agent" extendible baton. It is extremely compact and collapses manually, so there is no need to bang the tip on something hard to re-collapse it, and it will not re-collapse inadvertently. Excellent for concealed self-defense!

At the SIG booth, SIG's 556 rifle is on display. With its adjustable/folding stock, I have a copy, and few rifles run better! SIG also showed its new 516. The 516 is a gas/piston rifle with the profile of an AR-15 and three gas setting (the 556 has two).

I have not had good luck with gas-piston rifles with the AR-15 profile. SIG's attempt is well put-together, as is everything from SIG. However, in general with these rifles, the piston and op-rod are both way too thin, and most have a two-piece op-rod, so it must bang into the bolt-carrier with each shot. The best system is where the piston, op-rod, and bolt-carrier are all one piece, as on the Kalashnikov and the RA/XCR. But, when piston and op-rod are thus adequately robust, cosmetic similarity with the AR-15 is lost.

Cor-Bon's DPX line is extremely successful, in both rifle and pistol calibers. This year, new African calibers are available, including 458WM, 404 Jeffreys, 458 Lott, 505 Gibbs, and a host of others, DPX and solids. Great stuff! I killed my Cape Buffalo two years ago with a Cor-Bon 458WM. First round was a solid. Second was a DPX. Both performed superbly!

Crimson Trace is making a nice laser for Kahr's P380. Most lasers are now green, and most pulsate. That is the current trend. Crimson Trace also has a wonderful, compact unit for rifles that includes both a light an a laser.

Vertical/forend-units for rifles, containing both light and laser, are popular this year, and are offered by a number of companies.

Nighthawk's line of serious pistols are impressive, albeit expensive! The "Ladyhawk," with its thin grips and high-tech coating, garnered much attention. Nice carry-gun!

Lasermax introduced its new "Gemini." It's an extremely compact unit, containing both laser and light, designed to fit on both pistols and rifles. It is so small, it can be left on permanently with all rifles and most pistols.

Prisim was on hand with an active display of its video-simulator. They're now integrated with the "Davork System," which uses a CO2 cartridge to realistically simulate recoil in both pistols and rifles. Slides reciprocate normally, and normal decocking is required on manually-decocking pistols. Felt recoil is also normal. The only thing missing is ejected cases, and there is no tether!

Directly competing with Ruger and Kahr, S&W had on display their " Bodyguard/380," a small 380 autoloader, very similar to Kahr's P380, albeit slightly thinner. It has a two-position (redundant) manual-safety, manual slide hold-open, and excellent sights. And, it features an integral laser. It's built-in! I think S&W has decided that most purchasers of this kind of pistol will want a laser anyway, so the pistol just comes with one!

At Springfield Armory's booth, I saw their XD/M "3.8" compact (short slide) pistol. I have an XD/M, and it is extremely reliable and an excellent carry-gun, albeit big. The 3.8 makes a superior carry package, while retaining the XD/M's legendary capacity.

Glock's "Generation 4" pistol was on display. With variable grip-geometry (similar to S&W's M&P's), the gun is eligible for contracts that demand that feature. The pistol comes as a standard "short-frame," but two individual inserts can be used to make the grip sequentially bigger. But, the biggest advance is a vastly improved recoil spring that does not need replacing nearly as often as its predecessor. The pistol is built around the 40S&W cartridge. It is set up for long service!

CSE (Critical Safety Equipment) displayed a clever, light, and compact system for restraining prisoners who must receive an MRI. There is no metal in it. Nothing needs to be removed! Here is a product I wish I'd thought of!

More tomorrow!

/John