The Remington, err, Freedom Group booth was huge! It was a very nice walk in arrangement of multiple vendors (Bushmaster, DPMS, AAC, etc).
They had a nice display of the RM380 with multiple versions to play with. In the exact same spot and arrangement as they had for the R51 two years back. That begged the question, of course, WTF happened to the R51? So I asked.
The rep. was a little embarrassed and said that the project was still active, however, that they had not fully worked out all of the problems (holy cow!) and that they would not release it (again that is) until they were all resolved. I offered my support of the concept (it felt great in the hands and a polymer lightweight +P pistols sub-$450?) but that I wouldn't be holding my breath. I do hope that they get it worked out, but from the looks of things - I got the impression that they just wanted to forget that it ever existed and move on.
I wasn't super excited by the RM380.
More suppressors you say?
One of the companies that I wanted to visit was Rugged Suppressor. They come highly recommended from SilencerShop.com, especially now that they are not a supplier of SilencerCo (don't know the story on that deal).
Who are they? Apparently, the founder is the former head of SWR prior to it being bought out by SilencerCo. If I heard correctly as I was walking up, the Octane was his design.
I took a look at the Obsidian. If is a modular pistol suppressor. You simply twist off the bottom part of the suppressor and it removes a baffle and part of the tube leaving you a "short" suppressor. Probably of not a lot of functional need - but very cool.
I talked baffles and longevity with them. Their baffles are made of a proprietary material called "Stellite." They said that it is much more durable than stainless and aluminum. MSRP is $950.
The product looked good and they have the knowledge to make good suppressors, but my only concern would be that they are a very young company having only launched their first product in 2014.
P.S. to the person that asked me to go to the Strike booth, my apologies! If you click on the below pic you will see that it was actually at the top of the list in my notebook to visit. I couldn't find it on the first pass and never got a chance to try again. Sorry.
(click pic to enlarge)
Speaking of suppressors, I also stopped by the AAC booth and chatted with one of their reps. It was nestled in the "Freedom" booth along with several other brands like Remington, Bushmaster, etc.
I chatted with them about using aluminum baffles and they were very adamant that their aluminum baffles lasted longer than stainless, were lighter, and had better sound suppression despite others' printed numbers. You can write it off as just company propaganda but sound tests I have seen do seem to indicate that shooters perceive the sound from a TiRANT to be less than other brands - despite what the print #'s indicate. Regardless, nice products and the person was very knowledgeable as we chatted suppressor cleaning.
One of my favorite booths to visit was SilencerCo. They had plenty of product on display that you could handle and the staff was attentive and friendly. I was hoping that they were going to have a modular pistol suppressor (a full size that you can take a baffle out and make a short length) coming out but they have no plans currently. Both Rugged and AAC have one now.
However, they had one of the coolest pistols at SHOT that I got a chance to handle: The Maxim.
Initially, I wasn't too interested due to how bulky it looks in pictures and that it was based on the S&W (tm) M&P (tm) pistol. I am pleased to report that the final specs are in and the pistol will take Glock 17 mags AND Glock sights!
Handling the pistol was a completely surprise. It is not heavy or front-heavy what so ever! It is very manageable and promises to be a great shooter. While they may not be building a modular suppressor they are building some out of the box stuff. Remember when the wild looking (not round) Osprey came out?
(click on a pic to enlarge)
There has been a lot of questions on this somewhat of a surprise new product. I have to admit, being a revolver fan, I was excited about it myself. Not too many new revolvers, especially from a non-revolver company.
The K6s was not a disappointment. It is a cross between the Ruger SP-101 with its beefiness and a S&W (tm) J-frame magnum or more specifically the 640 Pro (tm) with its sights and moon clips. The price reflects this (the other product has an MSRP of $839).
The trigger was very good (keep in mind stock pistol) - Smooth pull that is not too long. The initial pull stacks a little but I suspect that it is on purpose. The grips were decent - they had both rubber and wood although the wood is not in the catalog. These were pre-production guns as noted by the wood grips that were stamped "SHOT Show 2016" and their SN's.
Some things I noticed: They rotate counter clockwise and the back-strap is serrated. It's cut for moon clips. Overall it is very well done. I can't wait to see what other models they come out with (with moon clips hopefully semi-auto round chamberings are next).
(click on pic to enlarge)
Check out the SN and the SHOT Show grips:
So, a bunch of us were waiting patiently in line to look at, what appeared to be, the only K6s in the booth.
After viewing it, leaving, we all noticed that there was a stack of them on display a few feet away. LOL
Here are pics of the K6s brochure. I include it here because I know that not everyone has seen it yet, and it also contains all the details:
Nighthawk had a set of absolutely fabulous custom Browning HiPowers on display!
These pistols were amazing. The trigger was AMAZING, what you expect a good single action pistol to be. The shape of the trigger was almost straight, unlike most HP triggers including the C&S. Much thinner than the C&S also. Definitely for and from 1911 folks. The grips (there were wood and synthetic) were THIN. This is great considering that thin HP grips are hard to find now.
I had the chance encounter of being at their booth at the same time as some of the guys from FN actually taking a look at the pistol. I am not sure if they were too happy with the pic but they did reluctantly agree. I said that I thought it was amazing custom work and they agreed. Very cool chance meeting.
More...
It is that time of year again! I will be on my way shortly and look forward to what will be (so they say) one of the largest SHOT Shows ever. I was forced to miss last years, so needless to say I am excited!
I only got a few requests for booth visits, but I will be stopping by them while there. If there are any additional, please let me know! I traditionally don't do what everyone else will cover and like to peek at the things that others may not find interesting.
When you don't have public support parade Hollywood actors
Written by reg mathuszI guess when you don't have public support for your gun control schemes Obama Fails To Sway Public on Gun Control, Poll Finds:
Just 42% of the public thinks stricter gun control laws will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, while 52% think increased gun ownership increases public safety.
You need to pull out the celebrity card. Because celebrities are smarter than the voting public. If you read their statement, which is devoid of anything except rhetoric, I think you will agree that they are not. Actually, considering that a lot of these folks make a living depicting people who use guns to save their own and others' lives I think we have to wonder how they sleep at night. Double-standard much?
You can read the non-statement here:
Dozens of Hollywood A-Listers Sign Letter Backing Obama on Gun Control
More importantly here is the list of "A list" signers:
Jessica Alba, Judd Apatow, Alan Arkin, Dylan Baker, André Balazs, Talia Balsam, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Bateman, Tony Bennet, Aloe Blacc, Dustin Lance Black, T Bone Burnett, Steve Buscemi, Sophia Bush, Nick Cannon, Graydon Carter, Maverick Carter, Rosanne Cash, Liza Chasin, Andy Cohen, Bruce Cohen, Marc Cohn, Kenneth Cole, Maria Cuomo Cole, Bradley Cooper, Victor Cruz, Rosemarie DeWitt, Griffin Dunne, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Steve Earle, Rich Eisen, Noah Emmerich, Carolyn Everson, Edie Falco, Marshall Faulk, Will Ferrell, Viveca Paulin-Ferrell, Jenna Fischer, Rupert Friend, Scott Fujita, Nely Galán, Alex Gansa, Victor Garber, Tony Goldwyn, Clark Gregg, Jennifer Grey, Ted Griffin, Dan Gross, Paul Haggis, Jon Hamm, John Benjamin Hickey, David and Joan Hill, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arianna Huffington, Timothy Hutton, In-Q, Brad Jakeman, Richard Jenkins, Beverly Johnson, Rashida Jones, Michael Keaton, Michael J Kelly, Neil LaBute, Donna Langley, Kristin Lemkau, Nanette Lepore, Ben Lerer, Tracy Letts, Ron Livingston, Justin Long, Carey Lowell, Josh Lucas, Tobey Maguire, Julianna Margulies, Tom McCarthy, Adam McKay, Kelly Meyer, Ron Meyer, Julianne Moore, Mandy Moore, Elisabeth Moss, Olivia Munn, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mandy Patinkin, Sarah Paulson, Amanda Peet, Jeremy Piven, Josh Radnor, Paul Rivera, Shauna Robertson, Holly Robinson Peete, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Schiff, Taylor Schilling, James Schwab, David Schwimmer, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott, Suzy Shuster, John Slattery, Sir Martin Sorrell, Nicholas Stoller, Steve Stoute, Ed Templeton, David Wain, Robyn Wholey, Kristen Wiig, Olivia Wilde, Debra Winger
Sue happy gun company "Smith & Wesson" (registered trademark) threatens again...but then apologizes
Written by reg mathuszMany of you will remember that I received a letter from the company known as "Smith & Wesson" (registered trademark), who I have no affiliation with, a while ago that caused me not to mention their name ever again (unless qualified with legal disclaimers). They required me to remove all items from this website that might POSSIBLY be claimed as copyright infringement- the letter even specifically mentioned promotional items that I actually own personally. So remove pics of my coffee mug that their own employee gave me? Got it.
I am not posting anything directly on their latest sue threat against a number of companies including Brownells, but here are a couple of links:
https://www.facebook.com/ballisticradio/photos/pcb.738309049633261/738308282966671/?type=3&theater
https://www.instagram.com/p/_miiI5F8ZN/
When you buy, I urge to consider what type of company you are buying from - I will again this year be posting a picture only from outside their SHOT Show booth.
12/23/2015 ADDENDUM: The president of the company in question has released a statement that they did not intend on the 'cease and desist' to say that owners could not modify their own pistols without infringing on their intellectual property but they were merely trying to protect their copyrights and not confuse the consumers who might think that they endorsed said products/modifications (sound familiar?) It adds that they are "enthusiastic" about such products. As long as you don't use their name, name of the product, or pictures of your work.
Back peddling link: https://www.instagram.com/p/_o0tvBqguc/
ADDENDUM2: The president of the company has called the parties involved personally to apologize and has also publicly.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1170700316281096&id=662145557136577&hc_location=ufi
Link from their Facebook page to BearingArms article: http://bearingarms.com/smith-wesson-fully-understand-dream-gun-project-apologizes/
ADDENDUM3: Some have suggested that I remove this and "let it go" because it is "negative" towards the "industry." The company "Smith & Wesson" (registered trademark which I have no affiliation) is NOT the industry and are the only company actively pursuing its own support base.
THIS IS THE SAME COMPANY SUCCESSFULLY SUED BY GLOCK FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!
I choose not to support them. There a lot of gun manufacturers that have not threatened to sue me.
And the other big one (Ruger) has been removing their "internal locks" not requiring that you buy a much more expensive "Performance Center" (registered trademark) model not to have one.
All trademarks are held by their respective holders - I am not affiliated with any of them.
Virginia removes 25 States from CCW Reciprocity including WA and FL (Note: UT is still valid)
Written by reg mathuszVirginia's Attorney General has completed an audit of 30 States and removed 25 of them from their reciprocity list. The VSP has accepted the changes which go into effect Feb 1, 2016.
Of interest is that Florida has been removed - which also means VA residents lose their ability to CCW in FL and must now get a FL non-resident license to continue to do so. My home state WA has also been removed.
Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia will continue to be recognized.
Here is some commentary from the Washington Post that it is suspected to be a political move by the AG:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-attorney-general-mark-herring-delivers-blow-to-gun-rights-advocates/2015/12/21/d72ce3d0-a821-11e5-9b92-dea7cd4b1a4d_story.html
