SHOT Show 2012 Reports

[BarryinIN]

I thought I'd start a thread to post news from the SHOT Show as it came. If you hear something, post it.

I have agents in place, but while they are good at "guess what I saw", they aren't so great at getting pictures. So I will probably be posting things with pictures to follow after I find them.

For now, the big news appears to be the Springfield XDS. A single stack .45 XD.

Finally. I thought Glock was going to get that right with the 36, but while an improvement, it weas more like a stack and a half than a single stack.

Other tidbits:

A .22 lokalike of the German Stg 44 from ATI (who imports the GSG Mp-5 lookalike and GSG 1911 .22).

A left handed 1911 similar to the old Randall, but from a company in PA nobody has heard of.

.22 UZI lookalikes from Umarex.

I expect a new Ruger shotgun.

[wwillson]

Video of the XDs at the SHOT show range media day.

[BarryinIN]

T/C Dimension:

Bolt action rifle that's modular- You can swap barrels and stocks around to your heart's content.

You need to swap bolts and magazines sometimes to match the cartridge. They make four magazines and bolts to cover them.

MSRP is $648 for a rifle.

No price on conversion parts yet.

[BarryinIN]

Re: XDS

Almost there. It will sell, and sell well, but I'd be more interested if it had a 7 or 8 round magazine and 4.2 to 5" barrel.

Or an 8/9/10 round 38 Super or 10mm.

Or better still, 9x23.

[BarryinIN]

Surefire has a bunch of new lights. Yes, Surefire is expensive, but they are the KING. Don't think so? OK, the typical handheld light like a Surefire 6P or 2Z has two 123 batteries and makes 110 lumens of light. That's a lot of light. These new ones bang out 200 lumens at the low end with the typical two-battery size and go to 500 lumens without getting much bigger. They are still about the same $95-200 for most of them. Remember, this is a huge amount of light for something as big as half a candlestick, and just a year ago, this would have taken something about in their big Dominator series ($550 and up) to match. And those (the Dominator) are now making 2,000 lumens. I can't even picture that. And it's still smaller than a 2-cell MagLite...by a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1F9ftwTeEE&feature=g-all-u&context=G2074059FAAAAAAAAAAA

[BarryinIN]

Email from a friend on the SA XDS:

"Had a chance to shoot about 15 rounds in this new pistol today at Media Range Day at SHOT. Shot like a skinny XD.

Nice pistol. Reminds me of the Kahr .45 subcompact.

No comments yet as to retail cost. Availability is supposed to be March."

Keeping in mind he probably likes the 1911 better than John Browning did, won't hardly glance at another handgun, and got his department to issue 1911s, the comment "nice pistol" means an awful lot. It kinda took me back a bit.

He wouldn't endorse anything after only 15 rounds, but it's more than I expected.

[Pablo]

I'm just listening in. Good stuff.

[BarryinIN]

I started this because there is usually so much new stuff at the show I keep getting emails saying "I gotta have this".

That's not happening this year.

I've been busy with one of our kids that's been home sick this week, so haven't been able to follow along, but there just doesn't seem to be much new this year.

Aside from the SA XDS, it's mostly crickets chirping.

Part of it is that guns were introduced in the weeks or months before the show, like the Sig P224, and Ruger's new bolt action and .22 pistol. Had they waited, it would seem more like usual, but I think there is usually one or two new things just before.

I'm guessing that manufacturers are selling everything they can make as it is, so they haven't felt much need to come up with new stuff. Everybody who has been to a Glock armorer's class tells a similar story: Someone will ask when Glock will introduce the carbine we've been hearing about since 1995. The instructor will answer "We sell every gun we make now."

That sums up just about everybody at the moment, I think.

[BarryinIN]

There is one other I haven't mentioned. I heard about it right from the start.

But it's usually accompanied by gagging sounds. It sounded so bad I didn't even click on the picture links I was sent. Until this morning. Whew, it's pretty bad.

Let me tell you what it is, then you tell me if you want a picture posted.

Mossberg has the model 464 lever action .30-30 rifle. They now have a Tactical model. As one email described it: "It's like someone was locked in a Tapco warehouse for a month with a lever action and nothing to do."

Another sent it to me with a YouTube clip of Nancy Kerrigan screaming "Why?" after her knee-whacking.

That's pretty much dead on. I guess Mossberg had to top their "Chainsaw" from last year.

I can't imagine buying one. I can't imagine being given one. I'd have to trade it off, but would have to drive so far to a gun shop I could walk into with it that it wouldn't be worth doing.

Remember, this is coming from someone who bought one of the early Remington XP-100s in 1982 because he thought it looked good, and now wants one of the least practical guns made (Rossi Ranch Hand).

[Pablo]

I was just going to ask if anyone saw this ugly beast:

http://www.mossberg.com/products/default.asp?id=31&section=products#

[BarryinIN]

Nasty Mossberg rifle.

An at the show rumor, as in, come back after the crowd goes down and see what we have under the table over there- is a polymer frame single stack 1911. It's from a place that makes Arms by a River of Rock that goes by the initials RRA. Shhhhh.

I don't think many double stack 1911s have panned out well aside from the STI/SVI. The Kimber/Bul and Wilson KZ45 seemed to be hit or miss.

Maybe this will work.

I'm not sure what it will do that a frame of a good light alloy won't do. My S&W Scandium Commander weighs within an ounce of my M&P .45.

I'm still waiting on the new Bren Ten from VLTOR. Announced what? Three SHOT Shows ago?

[BarryinIN]

The same guy who Emailed liking the XDS commented that he enjoyed shooting the Colt Gatling gun more at Range Day. I assumed he meant they had an old one there to play with.

No.

Colt is selling Gatling guns now.

[Pablo]

[BarryinIN]

That's the Tavor, huh? I'm not a big bullpup fan but you never know.

[Pablo]

Not a bad design. But I'm sure it will be overpriced.

[BarryinIN]

I'm not a big bullpup guy. I've only had one- a Bushmaster M17- and was underwhelmed but would try another. The new designs like the Masada never seem to materialize in numbers. I'd be willing to give this Tavor-ish or one of the newer AUG copies a try.

I was offered a Steyr AUG for $3500 in a private sale last week and quickly passed. It sold within hours though.

Other SHOT news-

H&K .308 ARs. I almost didn't bring it up because they will cost so much and be so scarce.

The Sig P938 is there. That's the 9mm variation of the P238. It was announced a couple of months back, but when they announced the P224 I wondered if the 938 might be on hold. Guess not.

The P938 is .4" longer (mostly barrel/slide) but the same width and height as the P238.

Before seeing that ghastly Mossberg, this would have stunned me, but:

Pedersoli is making a version of the rolling block with a section of Picatinny rail about a foot long on it. At least I can sorta see that for the scope options.

I'm still surprised Ruger didn't spring a new auto or pump shotgun on us.

I bet there will be one at the NRA show in May.

[BarryinIN]

Kimber with a lighter version of their already light bolt action rifle- 4lbs, 13oz.

[BarryinIN]

Speaking of weight-

The figure I am hearing quoted by SA for the XDS is 29 ounces. That sounds high to me (that's pretty much the weight of a Lwt Commander) so maybe it's loaded weight. None of my on-the-spot sources seems to know however.

[Pablo]

Bullpup? Yeah I could live without, but a compact rifle it is.

Anyway - hotdog:

http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2012/01/16/sig-p938/

[BarryinIN]

I kinda like that 938. I have a Kahr that size I'm happy with, but you never know. I had a Colt Mustang (the forerunner of it's forerunner) and while no .380 fan, I liked the gun. I thought the STI BSL9 (mini 1911 in 9mm) would be a neat gun but the few that appeared locally were sometimes ammo sensitive. And expensive. The P938 might be what I wanted that gun to be.

[Pablo]

Is the P938 smaller than the CM/PM9?

[BarryinIN]

Let's see. Per the websites:

Sig P938:

Length 5.9

Height 3.9

Width 1.1

Barrel Length 3.0

Sight Radius 4.0

Weight w/ empty mag 18.0 oz (Stainless) 16.0 oz (Alloy)

Kahr:

PM9

Barrel: 3.0"

Length O/A: 5.42"

Height: 4.0"

Slide Width: .90"

Weight: Pistol 14 ounces, Magazine 1.9 ounces

CM9

Barrel: 3.0"

Length O/A: 5.42"

Height: 4.0"

Slide Width: .90"

Weight: Pistol 14 ounces, Magazine 1.9 ounces

So the Sig looks to be a half inch longer, but .1" less in height.

The width shows the Sig to be .2 wider, but I find width measurements can vary as to how their done. Kahr states "slide width" while Sig does not, and could include switches, buttons, or levers. I'm going on memory here, and talking about a different gun really, but I'd swear my Colt Mustang was clearly thinner than my Kahrs. Maybe not.

[BarryinIN]

Surefire has a bunch of new lights.

Closeouts on old ones:

http://www.lapolicegear.com/surefire-closeouts.html

I just ordered a 9P (3 battery, metal body, 105/200 lumens depending on bulb installed) for $43.99. That's well under half what they were. Shipping charges hurt, but it was still half what it would have cost to order and get one shipped a week ago.

I wanted a 3-batt model for a carbine light. The 2-batt ones I use now light up most of the propertty from the house, but a 3-batt should get it all easily.

I looked at Surefire's website, and a lot of the old standards are listed as discontinued.

[Pablo]

Thanks. Just a hair longer. I want one.

Oh that bullpup above looks to be in the $2500-3000 range. If correct, no thanks.

[BarryinIN]

The P938 should be almost identical to the PM9 Covert I'm carrying (PM9 frame with P9/K9 slide and barrel) so it's size would be OK with me. With my Covert working better than my shorter MK9, I might even feel better about the Sig's added length.

I'd give one a try too, but it's not real high on my list, so only if I stumbled into trading something at deal I can't pass up. I have something satisfactory in that area. I don't have a .22 the size of the Browning 1911-22 and some other things that I'd do first.

$2500 and up for the Tavor thing? No, not me. Besides the cost, it's again priority of wants. If spending $2500-3000, it would be for a SCAR, AUG, Brown or Baer 1911, US Krag, Bren Ten, DSA FAL, USFA Single Action (two probably) or more likely, 3-5 more Garands!