2 Oct 00

I'm here at the IALEFI (International Association of Law Enforcement firearms Instructors) Convention in Tampa, FL. New information:

>Glock is no longer shipping guns to dealers in the State of Maryland. There is much confusion over that state's new gun regulations, and Glock has given up trying to understand them. Other manufacturers will probably follow.

>Remington has "fixed" the problem with there new, locking manual safety on the 870 and 1100/1187. The manual safety cannot now be "locked" on without the key, according to them. The Remington rep assured all of us that the new contraption is confined to "civilian sales" and will not be installed on "law enforcement" guns. So nice to see how much they care about our safety. Everyone else's is of apparently no importance at all.

>Both the Remington and Federal ammo reps indicated that the most popular 9mm loading is now the 125gr, eclipsing the 115gr. The 147gr is now all but a dead issue. Only a few hold outs still use it.

>At the S&W booth, there were no Sigmas on display. S&W has put all its emphasis on the P99 series (more on that below). Sigma pistols will soon be out of production all together.

>I got a chance to handle the FN 49 pistol. Self-decocking with a heavy, but smooth, trigger pull. Big and clunky.

>Here is the deal on the S&W P99: There are now four models, P99, P99QA (Quick Action), P990, and the SW99NJ. The "NJ" model was designed exclusively for the NJSP and is not currently available for sale to other customers.

>P99 lexicon:

The original P99 is the one I've had experience with. It has the decocking "button" on the top, left, rear of the slide. The trigger can be staged, but if one refrains from doing that, he probably won't have an AD. The Walther version is carbon steel. All S&W P99s are stainless steel, with a "Melonite" coating (similar to the "Tennifer" process on Glcoks)

The P990 is self-decocking, with a smooth, but not too heavy, trigger pull. This is the gun NJSP should have selected. The trigger cannot be staged. It's the best of the lot. Field stripping does not require pulling the trigger, as it does with the Glock. This is a pistol I can recommend.

The P99QA stays cocked. The trigger pull is short and light, and there is no manual decocking. The trigger cannot be staged. Similar to a Glock with a "competition" trigger. Too light for defensive carry.

Not surprisingly, the SW99NJ combines all the worst features into one package! It cannot be decocked, but the trigger can be staged. And, once staged, the trigger cannot be returned to its forward position (without reciprocating the slide). This gun is going to generate, for years to come, multitudinous ADs within the NJSP. On the side of the slide is etched, "Caution-decock feature removed" The trigger is way too light for a duty gun, and, when officers try to stage the trigger (which they will, despite efforts to stop it) they will AD with great regularity.

I secured a copy of NJSP's self-serving "justification" paper for selecting the SW99NJ. They really need to talk to someone who knows something about guns!

>Finally, I handled several of S&W's "Scandium" revolvers. Scandium is an alloying element for aluminum. It makes aluminum flexible and less likely to crack. Very light!

More later.

/John