Monday, May 17, 2010

I Can't Believe It's Monday Monday...

Post-NRA Monday...got in at 1 AM; just finished a pot of coffee...my ears are still ringing from the noise!

Anyway, I'm going to try to pull my thoughts together for Wednesday's podcasts. Meanwhile. take a look at these IWB holsters from N82Tactical:


I met the designer, who was walking the floor, and I thought these things looked exceptionally comfortable. There's a layer of neoprene between the soft side that contacts your body and the main body of the holster. I got one to fit the Ruger SR9c and I'll be trying it out over the next few weeks.

Speaking of holsters, I finally got to see the Tactical Solutions Kydex holster for the Ruger Mark-whatever series of .22 rimfires. I liked it...the Ruger semiauto rimfire pistols are so ubiquitous that they sometimes get left out of modern trick holster development. The Tac-Sol unit remedies that situation.

With the caveat that I haven't shot it yet since the production versions are still about 60 days out, I really liked the Tac-Sol Glock .22 version. The slide is steel, so the gun with conversion looks and feels like a, duh, regular Glock. A second absolutely critical issue is that Tac-Sol has designed their own magazines, which will be manufactured by Black Dog. The weak link for every .22 conversion unit is the magazine...Tac-Sol and Black Dog have proven conclusively that they know how to make 22 magazines that work. The new Glock mag will be 15 rounds, and the first conversion units will be for ehte G17/22 platform. There's already a waiting list, so all you Glocksters need to get your names on it ASAP. 

American Tactical Imports had a couple of interesting surprises. They made their bones with the .22 versions of the H-K and AK platforms. They're adding a whole line of .22 1911s (a BIG category at the NRA show this year!) and, surprisingly, a whole line of 1911s in .45 and at least 1 9mm. The 1911s are from the well-regarded manufacturing facilities in the Philippines, and the versions they had at the NRA were very slick, very well done. BTW, my understanding is that all the ATI .22s, including the 1911 pistol, will run with the new more reliable 100-round .22 drums that are starting to show up on the market.

 My pal Steve Hunter, whom I didn't even get to wave at across the floor, emailed me about the little Kimber 1911 Super Carry .45 with aluminum frames and the rounded mainspring housing. Here's Steve's note:

BTW, the coolest new gun I saw was the Kimber concealed carry with the sliced-off backstrap. Man, did that li'l baby feel good in the hand. Must acquire one. 

Dwight Van Brunt, the King of Kimber, showed me the gun earlier in the show, and I loved the neato scaled serrations on the slide...sort of a one-way grip, exactly what one would want on a slide:

I'll be putting together a round-up of the commemorative edition 1911s for 2011 a little later (Kimber's is heartbreakingly beautiful), but they one I'm going to have to take home is the Colt Model of 1911-2011, modeled on their hugely successful 1918 retro configuration. Figure about $1300 MSRP.


BTW, the guys at Tuff Products have added a 6-shot Quick Strip in 12 gauge.  Quick Strips are wonderful things...the advantage for the defensive shotgunner is that the strips can hold specialty rounds, and since the strips are available in 2 colors you can sort out the slugs from the buckshot from the field loads. I just "updated" the bedroom Vang Comp 870 ammo stash with 6 slug rounds in the yellow Quick Strips.

Gotta go make another pot of Caffeine Delivery System!

11 comments:

Overload in Colorado said...

Anyone have experience with a Bobtail 1911 carry? I like the concept as the butt isn't shielded from poking you, but does it make a difference?
Could you do tis conversion on an officer's size 1911?

Anonymous said...

I can see how the 12 gauge Quick Strip would be useful for a single shot or double shotgun. Fail to see the utility for a pump or auto.

Chris said...

Michael, those are the holsters I thought you were talking about. I have seen them in stores here locally and they seem pretty well made like you said.

Daniel E. Watters said...

Finally, someone decided to give bobtail an attractive radius instead of simply cutting off at an angle. I realize that Ed Brown had to do the latter for retrofitting existing frames in order to completely remove the hole for mainspring housing's retention pin. But there is no excuse for a manufacturer when you can specify where you want the pin hole located on your own frames.

I can't see why the pointing characteristics of a bobtail Government/Commander frame would be significantly different than an Officers ACP. After all, the Ed Brown bobtail unit uses the OACP mainspring.

A bobtail OACP should be feasible using a ParaOrdnance P10/P12-type mainspring and a custom mainspring housing. I imagine that this is how Cylinder & Slide achieves the round-butt OACP-sized frame for their M2008 Pocket Model. The photos in American Handgunner clearly show that the pin hole was relocated on the frame.

Dan said...

I need a .22 conversion for my Sig P239, 9mm. Hint, hint...

Anonymous said...

To "Overload in Colorado":
This may be a late comment, but I have a Colt "Compact Carry Officer's" / "CCO" model from their Custom Shop and it is my favorite 1911 for carry. It has a Commander-length slide on an Officer's frame, meaning that it is one round shorter than the normal 7 / new 8 round full-sized frame. The reason that I like it so much is that I use Wilson 7-round magazines, so the capacity is the same as the original 1911, but the grip length is shorter and it doesn't "lever-out" as much as the full-sized grip, when you carry concealed. I carry it mostly in a Wilson "Covert Carry" IWB holster. The whole combo', as I've written here before, is my favorite for 1911s.
I've surmised, that for me, rounding-off the butt may reduced the height of the grip in the carry position, but it doesn't reduce the amount the grip rotates out to the side, at least on my carcass. Your mileage may vary.
All being said, that Kimber is still causing me to slobber!
Life Member

Overload in Colorado said...

Thanks, 'Life Member'.
I just took a 2 day defensive handgun course, and started with a .45 sub-compact. It's great to conceal and carry, but not great for shooting a 1000 round class. On the second day, I switched to a full sized 1911, and while that shot great, the barrel stuck down too far inside my pants to sit down without it starting to draw itself (the Crossbread holster has an open bottom to allow any 1911 to fit). Also, it's heavy, causing discomfort around my waist.
So, the age old question of size/weight comes up again. Almost everyone else in the class had larger guns, mostly what I'd call mid-size guns, like a Glock 19, which I don't consider 'Compact'.

Overload in Colorado said...

Forgot to mention one thing about the Crossfit: the standard cut is much larger and doesn't follow the lines of the top of the gun, making it hard to get a grip on the gun (it's hard to get your thumb behind the gun). I'm going to send it back for the 'Combat Cut' they offer.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reply "Overload",
I also did not mention that my "CCO" has an alloy frame and stainless slide with a flat-top "rib" on it, which adds some weight to it. 'Sights are Novak's fixed combat. The frame is black-annodized and the slide is bead-blasted to a matte-but-not-rough finish. It glides into and out of leather very well, but still has enough friction to add a secure hold in the holster.
The alloy frame and one-less-round in the mag give it just about the right weight for extensive shooting, and it's at its best when carried.
Even though I still prefer my "stable" of 3rd Generation Smiths' for defensive carry, that CCO is my favorite 1911.
Regarding open bottomed holsters for IWB: I've found that full-coverage holsters cut for longer barreled semi-autos' tend to allow a shorter barreled gun to be squeezed up and out when you move "actively". An example would be a "Commander"-length gun carried in a "Government"-sized holster. That gives me a less secure feeling about carrying any other gun in a holster not specified for that shorter barrel length. I do not have that problem with open bottom IWB holsters that are cut shorter and desigened to carry "any" barrel length.
Just "thinking out loud....".
Life Member

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