22Nov04

Observations from the 2005 ITOA (Illinois Tactical Officers' Associa tion) meeting and conference in Oakbrook, IL

The 2005 ITOA Conference is the biggest yet. Vendors' displays are

extensive and valuable, as are the various presentations. Friends Jeff Chu dwin, Al Kulovitz, and the rest of the Board members deserve a lot of credit for putting it on.

S&W's long-awaited LE service pistol will be making its debut next summer (probably at the IALEFI Conference in Reno, NV), I'm told by reliable sourc es within S&W. This is the gun that will, with any luck, successfully compete

with Glock, SIG, and H&K for the American police market. It doesn't have a

name yet, but it is all USA-made, self-decocking (DAO), double-column, and available in 9mm, 40S&W, and 357SIG. Trigger will be in line with SIG's DA K and H&K's LEM. Magazine safety will be an option, not standard (thank Heaven!) . This is the move we've all been waiting for from S&W, and I, for one, hope it will be extremely successful. Stiff competition is, in the long run, good for everyone.

S&W's table featured their traditional line of pistols, as well as the P99. No Sigma was present. The version of the P99 that is most attractive is th e P990L. It is self-decocking, and the trigger is just fine. It features no

buttons. However, both the P99 and Sigma lines will likely be swept to the

side by S&W's new pistol.

Betterbilt has on display their Safe Direction line of bullet-absorbing pistol cases and notebook inserts. These provide an instant safe direction in which to point a pistol during loading and unloading. Not designed to prev ent accidents, this product is designed to limit the damage. All gun owners an d carriers should own one!

Beretta is introducing in spring of next year their polymer-framed, rotary-barrel Cougar pistol, called the PX4. Dimensions are identical with the current version of the Cougar, except that the PX4 is a half-inch longer. Beretta had one on display. Interesting that they are going with the Cougar design , rather than continuing trying to push the 92. The 92 is just too big to be

attractive to the majority of the American police market. Unfortunately, t he DAO PX4 trigger is still long and heavy, no improvement over what Beretta has always offered with their DAO pistols. Without a shorter, lighter trig ger pull, this pistol will not successfully compete with Glock, SIG, and H&K.

Curiously, Beretta has stopped making their wonderful 1201 autoloading shotgun. Too bad. I love mine. They are now marketing the Benelli. Bere tta's "Storm" carbine was also on display. With American law enforcement moving away from pistol-cartridge-firing longarms and toward full-fledged rifles i n 223 and 308 caliber, this product come along at the wrong time.

Friend, John Milano at DSA is now making and selling the new LMT bolt for the AR-15. It is available as a drop-in replacement for the existing bolt. He is sending me one, and I'm going to install it on my DSA AR-15. The LMT is

designed to eliminate the notorious extraction issues that have historicall y plagued the existing bolt. It features two extractor springs, rather than one, and locking lugs have been modified so they don't break. If everythin g it is cracked up to be, this product will breathe new life into the AR-15 system.

M&A, a Chicago-area company specializing in AR-15 modifications and accessories is now marketing the SOPMOD extendible stock. The SOPMOD featu res an extended cheek rest (both sides). Concealed within the cheek rest is a compartment for storing spare batteries for the EOTech sight. M&A is also marketing a replacement upper that converts the AR-15 into a side-cocker, much like t he FAL. They'll sell lots of them!

Friend, Gary Klugiewicz is on hand to, as always, personally demonstrate th e DRS riot ensemble. Designed to take a beating (Gary did!), this outfit is perfect for folks who have to wade into civil unrest.

Dick Davis is back in the driver's seat at Second Chance! The old regime has finally been thrown out. Dick is on hand to talk with customers personally. If anyone can bring Second Chance back, Dick can.

More later.

/John