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Jump to:

• Colt's Crazy Triggers
• S&W's Crazy Triggers
• More Rumor about Ruger LCR Reliability
• Cuffsox
• Promatic Huntsman XP
• PSA Baby Brownings
• S&W .22s
• Bren Ten? Isn't that a Cartoon?
• Taste the Charter Arms Rainbow
• The Hi-Point of the Show
• More CRKT
• Ergo Grip
• Franzen Security Products:
• Aluma-Trans Three Gun Safari
• Force One Advanced Ballistic Systems
• Maxpedition
• SOG
• Just in time for the Olympics
• A Chiappa Off of the Old Block
• Some Random Stuff
• The End?

The hardest part about covering the SHOT Show isn't figuring out what to write about, but what NOT to write about. You see, the SHOT Show is big.

The Sands Convention Center held nearly 60,000 attendees (almost twice the population of the town where I live), spanned two floors, and was filled with hundreds of booths laid out to maximize the confusion of any poor sots who wanted to go from Point A to Point B. Instead, we went from Point A to Point C, realized that Point A was actually closer to the Swarovski booth, tried to backtrack to Point A but instead went in the wrong direction and ended up at Point L, ridiculed Fang for his horrible sense of direction, and then set out to take a shortcut through Point G, before we realized that we were actually on the wrong floor. Next year, we're wearing pedometers to confirm whether or not we were covering the ten miles a day we suspected we were.

Until then, here's what we stumbled upon by accident and/or spent an hour searching for.

Colt's Crazy Triggers

Our visit to Colt's booth was intitially not very positive. We handled a .38 Super Government Model 1911 whose slide hung up during cycling. Investigation showed that it was underlubricated and clogged with lint. We figured that a Colt representative might be interested in fixing this, but the one we spoke to just shrugged. "So what?" he said, "it's just a show gun." Not exactly a good example of pride in one's product.

On the technical side of things, we were taken aback by a few triggers. First were the triggers on the Colt New Agent and Colt Government Double-Action semi-autos.

Both these guns use the same double-action triggers, which have a pull that is longer and heavier than the triggers on almost any gun we've handled--including revolvers. After pulling the trigger, reset required releasing it all the way forward. That anyone could expect someone to use a handgun with a trigger like this seemed ludicrous.

A nearby gun, the 9mm Protector, also had trigger issues. Although this handgun used the standard 1911 trigger mechanism, we were able to detect stacking. Carefully pulling the trigger back would produce some creep; if you let go of the trigger after the creep occurred but before the trigger broke, pulling the trigger again would instantly drop the hammer. The sear was moving up the hammer hooks, but was able to reach a point where it was partially pulled, but in a state of equilibrium where the lack of pressure didn't cause it to return to its original state. Needless to say, a staged trigger is dangerous, requring only a good jolt to drop the hammer without human intervention.

Fortunately, we returned to Colt before writing up our complaints and discovered that the issues we saw were not nearly as bad as earlier thought. While handling the New Agent and DA Government, we discovered that holding the trigger back while cycling the slide (as would be the case when firing the gun) gives the trigger a very short reset, followed by a relatively light and crisp trigger--almost a single-action in feel. The mechanism is a lot like H&K's LEM trigger or Sig's DAK, allowing a full reset and double-action pull without having to cycle the slide, but taking advantage of a slide cycle to allow a better trigger.

With respect to the 9mm Protector, we weren't able to reproduce the stacking we'd earlier felt. This suggests that the sear broke in with use, and its stacking may have been caused by a hastily-replaced sear.

S&W's Crazy Triggers

Yesterday we reported that the Smith & Wesson's polymer revolver, the Bodyguard 38, had a rough trigger with a hitch at the beginning. Returning to the S&W booth today revealed some happy news: The triggers on the Bodyguard 38s we handled had become much better due to repeated dry-firing, suggesting that they were just new and rough before. There's still a little hitch in there, but it's much more subtle than before.

Also, we learned that the Bodyguard 38 does not use a J-frame, but an entirely new design that's incompatible with existing J-frame grips. This is unfortunate but, as the S&W rep explained, the Bodyguard handguns are intended as an entirely separate line.

More Rumor about Ruger LCR Reliability

Another thing we reported yesterday was a story about how an exhibitor's demo model of a Ruger LCR had repeated issues with breaking. This was just hearsay, but we're glad to present opposite hearsay from today: The owner of a gun range reported that his rental LCR had been chugging away under heavy use for the entire year since it came out. Maybe the demo model was just unlucky, or huge volumes of dry-firing harms the action in ways that regular shooting does not. Either way, we're glad to bring some good news on this front.

Cuffsox

As promised, here is our review of a pair of socks. These aren't just any pair of socks, though; that would be masochistic to write and sadistic to ask someone to read.

Instead, we've got Cuffsox. These are boot socks with a fringe of sock material attached to the outside of the sock about where the top of a boot would sit. This fringe can be folded over the top of a boot while the full length of the sock is pulled up. When used correctly, it looks almost like two pairs of socks are being worn, one folded over the top of the boot and one pulled all the way up.

There are a number of advantages to this setup: Debris has a hard time getting into the boot and the tied bootlaces are kept out of the elements and prevented from catching on anything. The cuff holds the sock up and prevents it from bunching in the boot, and because the sock is held up by the cuff, it doesn't need to fit as tightly to stay up.

If you think this sounds like a gimmick, then the US Marine Corp would like to have a word with you: They're using cuffsox.

Jules Schiatti, a carpenter by trade, invented Cuffsox in order to address problems he encountered while wearing boots. He was kind enough to give us a pair for testing and evaluation, so look for a more extensive writeup on this product in the future--just as soon as we can find some mud.

Promatic Huntsman XP

Those of you who haven't spent long periods of time blowing clay pigeons to smithereens with a shotgun should probably take this opportunity to examine your life with sober introspection. Meanwhile, we'll be talking about this little baby:

The Promatic Huntsman XP features three independent clay throwers, each of which can throw one clay every 1.5 seconds. That works out to 120 clays per minute. If you can hit all those, your shotgun can survive doing so, and you can afford the ammo to spend proving this, then you probably already own a Huntsman XP.

The claythrower proper has controls for arming, disarming, and tweaking the mechanism so the the controller doesn't have to put his head in front of armed throwing mechanisms.

Actual control of when and how the Huntsman fires is contained in a remote.

The entire point of this contraption is to act as a very versatile game bird simulator. A company rep explained that it was designed in part to allow Scottish bird shooters to prepare and practice for their expensive hunts. Its featureset allows repeated patterns for practice, with the ability to introduce randomness once the fundamentals have been established.

Whatever the reason for its design, though, it looks just plain fun.

PSA Baby Brownings

Precision Small Arms' Baby Browning autoloaders aren't new at this year's SHOT Show--they've been around for decades, and the design itself is over a century old. (It was originally called the M1908.) However, we're covering the PSA Baby Brownings because they're cool.

LINK=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Browning;Here's the wikipedia entry on Baby Brownings;, but for those following from home they're .25 ACP straight-blowback striker-fired semi-autos fed from six-round magazines. It'll never win any contests for terminal ballistics or capacity, but the gun makes up for it in the areas of size and weight.

The original FN/Browning M1908s were discontinued a long time back, but have been remade by various manufacturers on and off since then. The latest PSA incarnations are hand-made by Larry Kristal and include some variations using decidedly modern materials.

There's some debate as to whether these pistols are safe to carry cocked-and-locked. The owner was noncommittal on this point, but if carried with the safety on, the location of the safety switch is very ergonomic, falling directly under the user's thumb.

All in all, the Baby Browning is a very attractive design that continues to be too good to die.

S&W .22s

With some notable exceptions, the entire 230grain.com editorial staff loves .22 rimfire revolvers. Thus, it seemed only natural to share some interesting S&W .22s we saw at SHOT.

S&W has brought back its .22LR Model 63 "kit gun." This is an eight-shooter J-frame with a 2.5" barrel, traditionally popular for light outdoors usage and much-mourned by its fans when it was discontinued. Good thing it's back.

If you can handle the punishing recoil of .22LR in an aluminum frame and prefer a lighter handgun, there's the eight-shooter S&W 317.

Bren Ten? Isn't that a Cartoon?

We've been hearing about the VLTOR attempt to resurrect the Bren Ten since 2008 but we've hardly seen many working models of its F0RTIS project. VLTOR and Sporting Products LLC were displaying several of their hand fitted pre-production guns in their booths. The display models included a full size version and a compact "Special Forces" version of the F0RTIS/Bren Ten.

I was allowed to photograph the gun to my hearts delight as long as I didn't disassemble. This is why I lack interior photos of the gun, but we can safely assume it's similar to the CZ-75 due to its heritage.

The Bren Ten can accept and function with existing EAA Witness magazines, which should help suppress the costs of additional magazines. Regardless of the existence of magazines that will function in the Bren Ten, VLTOR has gone ahead produced a magazine that is similar in appearance to the original Bren Ten magazine. They included the longer floor plate which they believe enhances the look and feel of the Bren Ten.

One of the most surprising things about the Bren Ten was the lack of a light rail on either of the models. I would have assumed there would have been a light/laser rail on at least one version of the Bren Ten but when asked the representative had no comment.

Taste the Charter Arms Rainbow

Since the foundation of the original Charter Arms founded in 1964 they have been viewed as acceptably acceptable budget handguns. Though the original company went bankrupt in the 1990s it was successfully revived and continues to enjoy a reputation for inexpensive, yet reliable, U.S. manufactured revolvers.

Fluff aside, I've never had any experience with any of their firearms before the show but I would certainly like to get some range time in the near future. Their rainbow of alloy framed handguns were eye catching and felt well made, but I had single concern about the guns.

The one concern I have about the Charter Arms line of revolvers is the trigger/cylinder reset. If the shooter starts pulling the trigger in double action but then lets the trigger back out the cylinder will not advance or retreat. Instead, the cylinder just stops where you stopped in the firing cycle and the trigger becomes locked until you manually advance the cylinder to the next position. I'd really have to play with the gun more to make any conclusive decisions but that is a pretty big concern of mine.

The Hi-Point of the Show

Hi-Point had a strong showing of their economy priced handguns and pistol caliber carbines. Their didn't draw a huge crowds unlike the Magpul booth but their representatives were more than happy to answer any questions and strike up a pleasant conversation. While I was at their booth I noticed they had several green handguns which was a nice change from the conventional black that their guns are typically sold in. Unfortunately, I was short on time and had a meeting with another vendor and could not stick around to better cover their products.

More CRKT

More from Columbia River Knife and Tool, today we stopped by so we could grab a picture or two of a knife that we wanted to show you which was the Carson M4:

Its an old classic brought back to life.

Gekkota:

Eros:

Light as a book of matches, slim yet durable.

Ripple:

Larger in size but just as lightweight.

What makes the Ripples and Eros models shown so neat was that they were designed by this man:

Ergo Grip

Ergo Grip 8 position stock:

Ergo Grip...Grips:

The standard Ergo grip comes in two styles, Rigid which is a molder polymer grip and the Suregrip which has an overmolded rubber grip.

Ergo Grips, Rail Covers:

Franzen Security Products:

Combination Cable, Keyed Cable, and Trigger locks:

Franzen Interbore Lock:

The Interbore lock is inserted into the firearm from the breech end. Twist the key and the breech reservoir expands blocking the bore, at the opposite end the chamber is blocked from accepting any cartridges. Turn the key again and the reservoir turns into itself and the entire lock can be removed. You can go from locked to unlocked and chambered (rack the slide or rotate the cylinder) in under a moments notice. The demonstration was very effective.

Has your firearms hobby driven your spouse to drinking? Not really a problem unless they start drinking your good stuff. Franzen has the solution:

Frazen Enforcer Weapons Case:

Frazen Armloc II case:

Aluma-Trans Three Gun Safari

We stopped by the Americase booth today and saw a distinctive travel case popular with big bore hunters overseas.

The square shape allows it to withstand greater weight than contemporary flat cases.

Since the bolts need to be out of the firearm for travel, they include a compartment to store them:

The middle of the case is left empty to support mounted scopes, the bottom of the case has blocks to ensure the rifles will not move. Very solid system.

Force One Advanced Ballistic Systems

We don't know that much about vest systems, but we do know a well made and thought out product when we see one. Made with their Micro-Dry lining and Pro-Mesh outer construction, this carrier system provides moisture and heat transfer with ease. You won't find bulky zippers, straps, or snaps but you will find and be amazed at the ease in which you can put on and take off the vest as well as insert and remove the plates. The carrier also overlaps in some areas, like the sides for example by as much as 4", giving you coverage where you need it and may least expect to find it. A custom fit ensures it stays and moves with you rather than letting you move inside of it.

Maxpedition

New colors:

Suitcase system:

SOG

While the content is a bit short with SOG, we would like to mention that they also had a busy year with 47 new products to market.

The Micro ToolClip features a pair of pliers, wire cutters, file, 2 screwdrivers, 1 Phillips screwdriver and bottle opener and a knife blade.

The model shown above is the Woodline Fixed Blade, not pictured is the second Woodline offering which is a folding version of the same knife. This is the 1st full run production outside of limited runs that SOG has produced that use a hardwood grip.

The SOG NW Ranger is a reintroduction of an older SOG knife made anew with the addition and changes like cross-guard grooves, grip and handle.

We obtained some press copy from SOG stating that their Arcitech knife used a core of VG-10 with 15 layers of Nickel and stainless steel on either side which was then forged and folded to produce a striking pattern. Later the knife is etched in acid to bring the pattern up clearly to produce a stunning Japanese Damascus. Price point would be around $600 with a limited run of 250 made.

They've got to be kidding. $600 for a knife?

Worth it. Look at it. Keep staring. It's okay.

Another exquisite this year was the SOG Tomcat LTD, crafted with the means and methods used generally for custom knives. The VG-10 is laminated with carbon fiber. Ambidextrous with spring action open, locking system and self adjusting. Limited run of 250. Price point around $450.

The two knives together:

Some of the SOG display:

Just in time for the Olympics

Olympic Arms has always been a regular on the AR-15 scene spear heading the AR-15 accessory market. This year Olympic brought their standard line of handguns and AR pattern rifles. They also debuted two very noteworthy products: polymer 9mm/45ACP/10mm AR-15 magazines with an integral bolt hold open, and a rifle chambered in their .300 Olympic Super Short Magnum (OSSM) cartridge.

I've experienced magazines like this in the past and these seem to be the most well made of their type. They won't require a drop in magazine block and instead of using occasionally hard to find Uzi/Sten/Colt/Whatever magazines. By being self-contained the magazines eliminate the possibility of losing or forgetting your magazine block. We are going to attempt to get a few samples of the magazine to try out with a Rock River 9mm upper.

Olympic Arms' other surprise was their introduction of the .300 OSSM cartridge and matching upper. The round is a 150 grain .30 caliber projectile that achieves 3,040 feet per second out of their "Game Stalker" rifle. HSM and Hornady are both currently producing the .300 OSSM cartridges in game loadings.

Currently, SAMMI is reviewing the cartridge's loading specification and is expected to approve it in the near future.

Two other chambering of the "Game Stalker" rifle are currently being provided: .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM) and .25 WSSM.

The representative at Olympic Arms informed us that a standard 20 round magazine can be modified to accept the .300 OSSM cartridge which yields a 5 round capacity. Olympic will also produce a standardized magazine for the consumers who prefer to keep their rotary tools away from their firearms components.

A Chiappa Off of the Old Block

Another spectacular design from the mind of Emilio Ghisoni (of Mateba fame) has made it to the show floor. Although though Ghisoni has crossed the river Styx his spectacular insight into revolver design lives on in the Chiappa Firearms Rhino line of revolvers.

The Rhino is designed to be an easy to carry, easy to control, and comfortable to shoot revolver. Instead of using the traditional round cylinder Ghisoni chose to use a hexagonal cylinder, which keeps a flat against the user's body when the gun is holstered. Ghisoni also chose to continue in his tradition of utilizing a low bore axis, a high grip, and high sights give the shooter a better leverage over the firearm during firing. Ghisonis design considerations theoretically result in a more controlled firing cycle for the shooter. In addition to the low bore axis the Rhino has 3 different grip heights to accommodate different shooter's hand sizes and grips.

Of course, the gun looks great on paper but we wont be able to determine if its worth its salt until we can get it out to the range. If Rhino bears an resemblance to its semiautomatic predecessor, the Mateba, it will certainly be another example of Ghisoni's brilliance as a revolver designer.

Some Random Stuff

Gatling's Battery Gun

The End?

Is this the conclusion of our SHOT coverage? We certainly seem to have run out of tabs up top; however, we still have a few odds and ends from this week that we weren't able to address earlier. Those will be going up soon.

Just as soon as we recover.