It's always fun to go to Las Vegas, Nevada for a few days. It's even more fun when you can visit during the annual Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade (S.H.O.T.) Show week. For the past three years I've read about the show, but this year was able to attend. It was worth the trip. The show was held this year on January 30 through February 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. There were about 18,000 people there from all over the world. In order to see all the exhibits, you get to walk between 5 and 6 miles inside the convention center and adjoining showrooms.
There were several surprises. Glock has two new compact pistols, a Model 29 and Model 30, one in .45 ACP and the other in 10 mm. These are follow-ons to the very popular Models 26 and 27 (9 mm and .40). I don't think a compact .45 will be any big deal, but a 10 mm that has a small grip should be a real adventure.
Ruger did the right thing by coming out with a Bisley Vaquero model, something people have been making out of regular Ruger parts for several months now. The new Bisley Vaquero is available in .45 Long Colt and .44 Magnum models.
Beretta also did something I've been hoping they'd do: add two single action versions of the Model 92/96 pistol to their catalog. The Beretta is a nice "big" pistol, but not good for IPSC because of the double action trigger. The new models have large thumb safety levers on both sides of the pistol, and a decent single action trigger. The reliability of the Beretta design, coupled with a single action "cocked and locked" feature, should make this a good seller in IPSC and action shooting circles.
Paxton Quigley was in the Smith and Wesson booth "wearing" one of the new 9 ounce J frame .22 revolvers on a colorful lanyard around her neck. No wonder. You just won't believe how light the new snub nose revolver feels until you pick one up for the first time. I don't know how much heavier it will be with 8 rounds or .22 Long Rifle ammunition and a larger grip, but when you start out with 9 ounces empty weight, you're way ahead of the game anyway. S&W also has a couple of new .22 semi-auto pistols. The fancy one has a grip that I don't like (but that's just a personal preference). The sport and field model has a different grip, more like the Sigma pistols, and I like that one a lot. The new S&W .22s have great sights and provisions for a "dot scope." There's also a new L-frame .44 Special 5 shot revolver. I guess this would be lighter and smaller to carry than the 629 "Mountain Gun," but any place I'd want a high power revolver I'd want the .44 Magnum capability. Cor Bon, MagSafe, and others have decent .44 Special loads so this new S&W should be very popular.
SIG has modernized their .380 pistol, the Model 230. It appears as though it might be possible for me to shoot one of these thing without leaving two "Walther PPK" type scars on my hand between the thumb and index finger. That's a definite improvement. SIG put .357 SIG barrels in the Model 226 and the new Model 239. I wonder if the Navy SEALS will try the .357 SIG Model 226? That would provide quite a bit of firepower in a small package.
Colt had a great booth with a western cowboy theme. Colt has a new double action only version of the Mustang .380 pistol. They also have a modernized Detective Special back on the market. And you can buy all sorts of personalized single action models, some for cowboy action shooting.
CZ introduced several new pistols based on the CZ-75 design. One is a .45 (about time!) and another is the CZ-75M model for IPSC shooting. This one is available in .40 S&W.
The S.H.O.T. Show isn't the biggest convention in Las Vegas every year. Comdex, the annual computer dealers trade show is much bigger. So is the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The large shows bring major traffic jams and cause hotel room prices to skyrocket. The firearms trade show was just the right size, with just the basic convention center filled with about two day's worth of exhibits. This means a normal person with common sense would take two days to see everything. The extra day allows for the feeling to return to both hands after carrying bags filled with catalogs, brochures, and literature. As with most trade shows in Las Vegas and everywhere else, there seems to be a system. Once you figure out the system, you can get more accomplished. In Las Vegas, once you go into the front of the convention center there is a large room off to the right and a smaller room to the left, plus a lot of meeting rooms straight ahead. At the S.H.O.T. Show, the large room was filled with more of the established companies. The room to the left contained a lot of hunting and outdoor clothing exhibits, and the meeting rooms were pressed into service for the small, new, niche market start-up companies. Often you find some great ideas coming from the people who were just able to scrape up enough money to get the smallest booth they could afford. On the other hand, sometimes you wonder why people came at all.
I wondered this when I saw a new magnet ring safety device for the Model 1911 Pistols. As we know, the Magna Trigger (from Tarnhelm Supply in Boscawen, NH) works fine in Smith and Wesson revolvers. Some small company figured out a way to do something like the Magna Trigger for semi-automatic pistols. In general, I don't like this sort of thing. My idea of mechanical safety devices on guns is that they should allow the gun to fire when you pull the trigger, and keep the gun from firing when you don't. Period. Anything else is going to take too much time in an emergency. Anyway, I tried this new magnet trigger on the sample 1911 they had and it wouldn't work. The person said I should move my hand a little. So I did, even though it sort of breaks a major rule of trying to attain the exact same grip each and every time. The pistol still wouldn't go click. The person suggested the ring was upside down! To make a long story short, it never worked and I'm not going to wear a ring anyway. Anyone who served in the Navy in the late 1960s will remember a famous safety poster of what happened to a guy whose ring caught on an airplane latch as he jumped down from the cockpit.
Most of the exhibits made a lot more sense than that one, however. Some of the exhibits were, as the younger generation might say, awesome. Beretta had a fancy wooden display case with their shotguns behind a glass door. That was ok, but inside of the glass case was a fashion model holding the shotgun. I was so distracted by that, I almost ran into the woman who was signing autographs on the Colt cowgirl poster. Another great exhibit was the one from Galco. Remember the famous page from last year's catalog, the page which scored a minus 26 on the political correctness meter? That picture, missing from this year's catalog, is now available as a poster and I have one (and it will be awarded to this year's Piedmont NRA Instructor of the Year).
Safariland holsters had an interesting show Friday afternoon. Several of the top IPSC shooters were there to demonstrate their fast draw and reloading skills. I was thrilled to see one of them fumbling a magazine during a reload with as much style and grace as I'm able to muster every summer weekend. After this demo, my friend Jerry from Montana, who doesn't get out much, was able to shake hands with Rob Leatham, one of the greatest IPSC shooters of all time. I was feeling pretty bad that I hadn't met anyone that famous at the show, although Paxton Quigley ranks right up there as far as I'm concerned. Later I got a chance to shake hands with and talk to a fellow named Jeff Cooper. After I mentioned that to my friend Jerry, I didn't hear any more about Rob Leatham.
Speaking of Jeff Cooper, let me digress here for a minute or two. During the Christmas holidays, I was throwing out a lot of old magazines (the kind you read, not the kind you fumble and drop into the dirt at IPSC matches...), but kept a few copies of "Guns & Ammo" from around 1968-1970. One article was about how police shooting was in transition from revolvers to semi-automatics and something called the "modern technique." I read that article, written by Jeff Cooper of course, and realized that so much of what we take for granted today about pistol shooting was based on his ideas from almost 30 years ago. What he wrote then, and has taught since, at Gunsite and elsewhere, still makes sense and still works.
In addition to the Bisley Vaquero already mentioned, Ruger had their new carbine at the show. The carbine got a decent write-up in the NRA magazine in a recent issue, with just minor complaints about the need for a sling swivel and the balance point (right at the magazine). I think that one of the reasons Ruger's 10/22 was successful is that it has the ergonomics of the old M-1 carbine. The new carbine, which is aimed at the law enforcement market and at buyers of Marlin's "Camp Carbine," comes in 9 mm and .40 calibers. I'm not sure what I think of what amounts to a 9 mm rifle. If you put a .30-30 cartridge next to a 9 mm, it seems as though one is going to have a lot more muzzle energy than the other and that the .30-30 will win every time. I'm not sure what the .40 will do out of a longer barrel. That could be a useful caliber although a full 10 mm load would be even better. I continue to be amazed that more of the firearms companies forget to ask my opinion about these things before they go on the market.
If someone ever did ask my opinion, the first thing I'd say is to continue holding the S.H.O.T. Show in Las Vegas. I don't think there would be a lot of disagreement on that. I would also suggest that Ruger take their SP-101 and make it work with .40 S&W ammunition using moon clips. This could be a solution in search of a problem, but I think this would be a great revolver. With a three inch barrel and double action only, this would make an excellent concealed carry gun. Smith and Wesson might even be able to make their Model 60 .357 Magnum revolver work with .40 caliber ammunition. In terms of recoil, it couldn't be any worse than Glock's new 10 mm compact. Come to think of it, S&W did make a few 10 mm revolvers awhile back and there must not be much of a marke for that. If someone wanted that kind of performance, a .41 Magnum would fill the bill.
Back at the show, I did see some famous people besides Jeff Cooper. Louise Mandrell was there (and her older sister Barbara was in town, too) at the Remington booth. I also saw several people who write for the various gun magazines. It was fun to watch the vendors fawn over the writers. One person's name tag said his name and listed his occupation as "Gun Writer." I'm still trying to figure out how a "gun writer" is different from a regular ordinary everyday writer. Is there such a title as "gun editor?" Might be. I think I'd rather be a gun editor than a gun writer. Editors have to know the same basics, but do not have to be creative, which can often be hard work.
There were a lot of other new and interesting items, and people, at the show. Check this link in a few days for more information.