We're Looking for a Few Good People...

...for an episode of SHOOTING GALLERY filming the last week of February (27 Feb-1 March) in Texas.


Basically, you'll be teamed up with 2 other individuals (2 men; 1 woman per team) and given a barrage of training from 2 legends in the world of Special Forces...then the 2 teams will face off...the remaining team will then run a simulation against yet another legend in the Special Ops world.


You will probably "die!!!"


But you will have the adventure of a lifetime!


We'll have details on what you need to provide us on DRTV later today...

Para Acquired by Freedom Group

First thing this AM, Para USA has been acquired by the Freedom Group of companies...here's the press release:

Madison, NC – Freedom Group, Inc., (FGI) through a wholly owned subsidiary has announced today that it has finalized an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Para USA, INC., (Para).

Founded in 1985, Para has built a solid and enviable reputation for innovation, performance and reliability. Firearms enthusiasts, serious shooting competitors and law enforcement agencies choose with confidence from a wide and growing variety of Para pistols. Para’s revolutionary high capacity frame and light double action ( LDA ™) trigger systems, are part of the innovation that Para has brought to the world famous 1911 design.

"We welcome Para into the Freedom Group Family of Companies,” stated. E. Scott Blackwell, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Freedom Group Inc. “Para USA is a leader in handgun technology and their fine products exemplify quality, innovation and performance. Para is a perfect complement to our industry-leading family of brands, and our success in 2011 with the Remington R1 - 1911. We look forward to deploying both human and financial resources to continue to develop and supply current and future handguns for consumers and our channel partners. We also wish to thank all its employees for their continued dedication that has made Para a success.”

Para will continue day-to-day operations at their Pineville, NC based facility

This is a deal that has been hanging for while. We reported as long as 2 years ago that Freedom was shopping for a handgun company to round out their now-huge portfolio. It's also been no secret that Para has been struggling a bit since the move to North Carolina. Despite a history of innovative products, including the first larger-capacity 1911s, the superior Light Double Action system and the one of the first small single-stack 9mms in the market, Para hasn't been able to get the traction. I would still argue that the Para Carry 9 LDA remains one of the best small 9mms ever made.

The Tactical Target Rifle, Para's entry into the AR market, fell flat despite a number of innovative features and was discontinued last year. The exit of longtime Para professional shooter Todd Jarrett, whose spectacular run of successes kept Para in the spotlight, has not yet been offset by new Para professional shooter Travis Tomasie, who signed on after he left the legendary Army Marksmanship Unit.

This is potentially a very good match ...Freedom has the financial resources that Para has lacked, and the extensive Para product line offers freedom a path beyond the success of the Remington R1 1911 platform.

My Five...

....Rob Allen started this meme about the 5 guns you'd buy if money was no object...Say Uncle, Bob Owen and John at No Lawyers weighed in, and I couldn't resist. Here's mine:

1) Cylinder & Slide Commemorative 1911 "Exactly the way John Browning made them" -- These may be some of the most amazing custom guns ever made. Bill Laughridge. a meticulous researcher as well as THE master 1911 gunsmith, decided to build a 1911 that would be EXACTLY like the first 500 1911s that rolled off the Colt lines in January 1912. This month he began delivering the guns, and they are the utimate heirloom 1911s. Bill estimates that he might eventually build as many as 130 of these masterpieces, but there will be a cut-off date. At least I got to shoot #1.

2) Holland & Holland "Royal" Grade double rifle in something tasteful, like .500 Nitro Express. And a time machine to take me back to the mid-1800s so I could join Richard Sir Francis Burton in his quest to find the source of the Nile. At least I got to handle the rifle.

3) The perfect 1928 Thompson, complete with correctly numbered drums, that Independent Studio Services sourced for a certain very famous Hollywood movie star. I'd like it even better if Said Movie Star would drop it by the Secret Hidden Bunker himself. I'd make cookies. At least I got to look at this one before it was delivered...

4) An original Ithaca Auto & Burglar 20 gauge double-barrel pistol. Hell, I've seen pictures!

5) My Father's .357 Flat-Top Ruger Blackhawk, now long gone. It was the first centerfire revolver I ever fired, and my favorite. I spent a lot of money creating its duplicate, and that gun, and old Wyoming cowboy gun rebuilt by Dave Clements and refinished by Doug Turnbull, remains the single most accurate revolver I've ever fired...but it's not the same.

High Speed Cameras EAT Light

Laughridge Under the Lights

Slow Night in Omaha...

...heading to Cylinder & Slide tomorrow, then home. Am documenting Bill Laughridge's "recreation" of the 1911...he is one stubborn cuss, to be sure!

Am finally back under way with THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS, plus I'm working on the outline for the concealed carry DVD, which I'll be filming with Panteao Productions in March. I'm talking with Marshal Halloway about expanding our DRTV video coverage of .22s for this year. One thing I think we'll definitely be doing is a sort of "Ruger Rimfire 101" later this spring, with Tim Norris. I've invited Tim out to Colorado to do a 2-day RRC class, so if you live here in the High Country, email me for the details. We will have a few open slots.

My .22 M1 Carbine is under way! I think I did a pretty good job on explaning the rise of .22s on today's podcast. Lemme know what you think!

Am a little worried about the upcoming cowboy nationals, Winter Range, in Phoenix next month. The weather has pretty much demolished most of the weekend cowboy shoots, and my Sweetie and I haven't gotten in nearly the match time we did last year. Am hoping dry-firing carries me home.

Alf the Wonder Beagle is recovering well from her surgeries...she had some bumps removed and looks sort of like a Franken-beagle with all the stitches. Luckily, she's healthy as a horse...you couldn't tell that she was carved up yesterday. 

Next week I'll be putting in a couple of ATF forms for building SBRs, a Ruger Charger for one and a .300 AAC Blackout AR for another. I've always wanted a little bitty 10/22, and with the right paperwork I can build out the Charger. I'll also be puting together my iron-sight RRC gun next week, going with a Green Mountain barrel with a set of Fire Sights replacing the heavy Ruger target barrel  in my Target 10/22. I gotta make a hard decision whether to go limited or open...if I do go with the red dot, it'll be a Tac-Sol X-Ring with one of the new 2 MOA Aimpoints on it. Still considering changing handguns...maybe I could talk my Sweetie into loaning me her 1911 Kimber with the Tac-Sol conversion unit on it. LOL!

Take a few minutes to look at the Cabot 1911s...Joe Mantegna and I were absolutely blown away by those pistols...the 1911 as artwork. If I had one, I couldn't bring myself to ding it up shooting (probably why I'll never have one). That said, I got an email yesterday asking me if money was no object, what 1911 would I buy tomorrow...maybe I'm boring, but I said it would be a top-of-the-line Wilson Combat Classic Supergrade, maybe in .38 Super. Or one of Laughridge's perfect Retro-1911s. 

See? Plastic guns just can't generate that kind of longing!

Of course, I carry a plastic pistol...the contradictions continue to mount!

Gee Whiz...Nursing SHOT Hangover...

Man, I can't seem to catch up on my sleep! Maybe by tomorrow, when Alf the Wonder Beagle has to go in to get a tooth pulled. Better her than me, I suppose...

I'm working on a SHOT round-up for this week's DOWN RANGE Radio podcast. I'm definitely calling the 2012 Show the "Year of the .22 LR." I think there are several reasons, but I want to highlight and discuss 4 for Wednesday:

• The Great Ammo Shortage of 2009/10 

• Gun Culture Ver. 2.0 discovering that guns are fun to shoot

 • Enhanced training opportunities with the .22

• The canny marketing of companies like Umarex and GSG

I also want to talk about the abrupt acceptance of the .300 AAC Blackout and the "suppress everything" movement, which is now in full swing.

Gee, They Noticed...

From Reuters, as lined on Drudge & InstaPundit:

Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.