GJM
01-16-2014, 09:30 PM
I only made it to one state away from SHOT, and with the caveat that I am not as smart nor classy as Bill Riehl, here are my thoughts.
Remington made a big splash with their new 9mm, and the PF thread has reached 16 pages. This new pistol was greeted with the enthusiasm of a new, pretty girl moving to the neighborhood in high school. We wanted to believe, suspended our normal caution, and gushed openly, despite the obvious -- this is a Remington product (the people that managed to screw up the 870), it is 3/4 as big as a 1911, it holds not many rounds, it costs about what a Keltec does, and it has a grip safety. Early reports are you won’t need to get to day 2 of a South Narc class, to realize the grip safety is a problem. Given the investment Crimson Trace has made in lasers, my guess is they suspended belief too. You heard it here -- I am predicting Remington does something similar to the batteries for life Crimson Trace program, and include six heavy duty rubber bands with each pistol, plus a free rubber bands for life guarantee, so you can disable the grip safety like Jeff Cooper did with a 1911.
Springfield Armory hit it out of the park. Riding the grip safety frenzy stoked by Remington, they doubled down on the XDs, to go with a four inch “long barrel” model of their popular pocket pistol. My guess is they have two pistols on back order, one each for Robbie Leatham and his wife, with another dozen in manufacturing, targeting the ten remaining handgun enthusiasts without an internet connection, who primarily rely on Guns and Ammo for their information on what is good.
HK did it again. Building on their reputation of refreshing their products at least every other decade, they did what they are known for -- absolutely nothing. They have been working night and day trying to put the P30 spiderman grip on on the P2000SK, knowing that is all there is between them and military contracts worldwide. Now we learn, that rather than announce a product, and have a delay getting product on the shelves, they will push back their striker announcement until the NRA show (at which point they will announce and have product out there.) This is what all that translates to from German to English -- “oh crap another year with nothing new. Let’s say it will come at NRA, but leave out what year NRA.” Wayne Weber is no doubt busy at SHOT with his iPhone sneaking pictures of Glock, FNS, M&P and Walther pistols to send them back to Germany in hard copy, since Germany doesn’t have email, to explain to them again what a striker pistol looks like.
GunBlast is my evening fix for SHOT show developments. The GunBlast dude hasn’t realized cool beards look like Costa, and aren’t so long they can have pony tails. Doesn’t he realize nobody gives a crap about the 134 new AR15 variants introduced, and all we watch his video for is to see the booth babes. I think he needs a far greater focus on the babes and cool it with all the AR footage. Oh, and that Weaver stance modified with an Eric Graufel finger on the trigger guard grip isn’t doing it for me.
Another disappointment, was there was no sign of something I thought was a sure bet -- an SME branded line of tactical clothing. I thought for sure that there would be a heavy duty orange SME polo, stiffened to help the draw, and with a special lining to keep from being worn through by sharp rear sights. It would be optimized for a seven yard draw, repeated 10 times.
Based on PF page count, as well as the rest of the interwebs, the biggest story of 2014 is the Glock 42. With the operators, this thing has a disapproval rating higher than Sarah Palin in Madison, Wisconsin. Slowly, though, the resistance is fading, and even the cool boys are sneaking off and buying them. Consider this:
Chuck Haggard has already identified what serial number ranges are the most reliable.
Bill Riehl has decided that carrying a pair, coated with his special finish, in a top of the line leather shoulder holster, will make chicks find him not just smart but also sexy.
Gary Roberts has stippled a 42, and mounted the prototype G42 Unity Atom top end with a T1. He still fusses about how much better he shoots his S&W .380 Bodyguard, but I notice he is carrying the 42.
Even Bolke is curious. I hear Wayne Dobbs has one, and Darryl is sneaking over to try it in his small Havasu fanny pack now that the P30sk didn’t happen this year.
Gardone has bought both a Glock 42 and a Beretta Pico. Every three days he issues a manifesto in his training journal, proclaiming either the 42 or the Pico, in successive entries, to be his choice for life. A secondary benefit is the barrel on both pistols is short enough, it doesn’t look so much in his video like he is muzzling everyone else in the range.
That old saying “guys talk .45, shoot a 9, and carry a .38,” is perhaps needing a revision.
Most troubling, I hear that even Tam wants one. Apparently her plan is to go buy one just before closing in disguise. She has one of the new 2014 Jessie Duff lycra tops, from the Jessie Duff GM clothing line, she will wear. The front has just a copy of Jessie’s GM card, and the back of the jersey has each of her GM classifier scores, along with a short rebuttal from Dr. No in small print at the bottom, explaining why she is just a grandbagger.
Remington made a big splash with their new 9mm, and the PF thread has reached 16 pages. This new pistol was greeted with the enthusiasm of a new, pretty girl moving to the neighborhood in high school. We wanted to believe, suspended our normal caution, and gushed openly, despite the obvious -- this is a Remington product (the people that managed to screw up the 870), it is 3/4 as big as a 1911, it holds not many rounds, it costs about what a Keltec does, and it has a grip safety. Early reports are you won’t need to get to day 2 of a South Narc class, to realize the grip safety is a problem. Given the investment Crimson Trace has made in lasers, my guess is they suspended belief too. You heard it here -- I am predicting Remington does something similar to the batteries for life Crimson Trace program, and include six heavy duty rubber bands with each pistol, plus a free rubber bands for life guarantee, so you can disable the grip safety like Jeff Cooper did with a 1911.
Springfield Armory hit it out of the park. Riding the grip safety frenzy stoked by Remington, they doubled down on the XDs, to go with a four inch “long barrel” model of their popular pocket pistol. My guess is they have two pistols on back order, one each for Robbie Leatham and his wife, with another dozen in manufacturing, targeting the ten remaining handgun enthusiasts without an internet connection, who primarily rely on Guns and Ammo for their information on what is good.
HK did it again. Building on their reputation of refreshing their products at least every other decade, they did what they are known for -- absolutely nothing. They have been working night and day trying to put the P30 spiderman grip on on the P2000SK, knowing that is all there is between them and military contracts worldwide. Now we learn, that rather than announce a product, and have a delay getting product on the shelves, they will push back their striker announcement until the NRA show (at which point they will announce and have product out there.) This is what all that translates to from German to English -- “oh crap another year with nothing new. Let’s say it will come at NRA, but leave out what year NRA.” Wayne Weber is no doubt busy at SHOT with his iPhone sneaking pictures of Glock, FNS, M&P and Walther pistols to send them back to Germany in hard copy, since Germany doesn’t have email, to explain to them again what a striker pistol looks like.
GunBlast is my evening fix for SHOT show developments. The GunBlast dude hasn’t realized cool beards look like Costa, and aren’t so long they can have pony tails. Doesn’t he realize nobody gives a crap about the 134 new AR15 variants introduced, and all we watch his video for is to see the booth babes. I think he needs a far greater focus on the babes and cool it with all the AR footage. Oh, and that Weaver stance modified with an Eric Graufel finger on the trigger guard grip isn’t doing it for me.
Another disappointment, was there was no sign of something I thought was a sure bet -- an SME branded line of tactical clothing. I thought for sure that there would be a heavy duty orange SME polo, stiffened to help the draw, and with a special lining to keep from being worn through by sharp rear sights. It would be optimized for a seven yard draw, repeated 10 times.
Based on PF page count, as well as the rest of the interwebs, the biggest story of 2014 is the Glock 42. With the operators, this thing has a disapproval rating higher than Sarah Palin in Madison, Wisconsin. Slowly, though, the resistance is fading, and even the cool boys are sneaking off and buying them. Consider this:
Chuck Haggard has already identified what serial number ranges are the most reliable.
Bill Riehl has decided that carrying a pair, coated with his special finish, in a top of the line leather shoulder holster, will make chicks find him not just smart but also sexy.
Gary Roberts has stippled a 42, and mounted the prototype G42 Unity Atom top end with a T1. He still fusses about how much better he shoots his S&W .380 Bodyguard, but I notice he is carrying the 42.
Even Bolke is curious. I hear Wayne Dobbs has one, and Darryl is sneaking over to try it in his small Havasu fanny pack now that the P30sk didn’t happen this year.
Gardone has bought both a Glock 42 and a Beretta Pico. Every three days he issues a manifesto in his training journal, proclaiming either the 42 or the Pico, in successive entries, to be his choice for life. A secondary benefit is the barrel on both pistols is short enough, it doesn’t look so much in his video like he is muzzling everyone else in the range.
That old saying “guys talk .45, shoot a 9, and carry a .38,” is perhaps needing a revision.
Most troubling, I hear that even Tam wants one. Apparently her plan is to go buy one just before closing in disguise. She has one of the new 2014 Jessie Duff lycra tops, from the Jessie Duff GM clothing line, she will wear. The front has just a copy of Jessie’s GM card, and the back of the jersey has each of her GM classifier scores, along with a short rebuttal from Dr. No in small print at the bottom, explaining why she is just a grandbagger.