Monday, January 18, 2010

SHOT 2010 Range Day!

One down...4 to go! No pixs because we shot video like crazy people today...some initial impressions.

I'll be damned, but the 4th Gen Glock is a significant improvement...the combination of a slightly smaller base gripframe and the double spring recoil system translates into a more shootable, less-felt-recoil gun. Honest! I ran a bunch of magazines through the 4th Gen G17 9mm and am impressed enough to buy one...and that says a lot. My Sweetie, who has never been happy shooting a Glock, absolutely rocked with the 4GG17. Will have one for T&E ASAP, and I've already told Glock I'd be keeping it.

• Beretta's "home defense" shotgun is a pleasant surprise. The ancient company's first personal defense shotgun in 25 years is based on their new semiauto platform and is light light light. The gas systems sucks up the recoil, though, as good or better than my sporting clays Win X2. The Beretta gas system is also amazingly forgiving — we ran Federal LE slugs, Fed 9-pellet tactical buckshot and low brass field loads without a blip.

• The new Winchester .410 PDX1 self-defense rounds are incredible out of the Taurus Judge snub! The 3 "self-defense disks" stacked on top of 12 BBs may be the best round ever for the diminutive shotshell. I found the disk to actually group excellent at 5 yard targets, with the BBs adding that extra special loving touch.

No love on ammo...I talked to one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, and he didn't offer me much comfort...we're looking at at least another year of this, maybe longer: "It's going to be loosening up as more imports fill the military ammo niche, but it's not going to go back to the way it was," he said.

• The next generation of the Barrett 98B .338 Lapua is a significant step forward. They had the proto at the range, and even sad and pathetic me was able to make 800-yard shots. The proto with its stainless steel match barrel was suppressed, which truly helps.

• I bought a Rat Pack fedora...expect to see it on SG!!!

19 comments:

  1. Hmmm...I bet the 4G17/G22 will be a big hit with competition shooters too....Michael, I even know of a HK owner who bought a 4G22. He would not admit to favoring the 22 over his P30 but he did admit that the newest generation from Glock was going to give S&W and others a run for their money....

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  2. Anonymous10:59 PM

    Hey Michael! I follow the blog a lot and love to watch you on the best defense. Could you post some info on the Ruger booth? They recently announced the Two reevolvers in .327, and the SR9c compact version. Supposedly they have a few more guns up their sleeves for Tuesday!

    Keep up the great work! Can't wait until I can go to SHOT show someday.

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  3. Check our videos on the Blackhawk, the SR9c and the GP100...I'm hearing that the next Ruger launch was delayed, but I'll know for sure tomorrow...

    mb

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  4. Anonymous5:58 AM

    RE: ammo

    The black rifle craze has collapsed and Glock's are once again everywhere.

    I just wonder if your "insider" is trying to keep shooters at a fever pitch to keep the ammo boom going? And you are helping by reporting this "fact".

    Let's face it, someday shooters will wake up to the fact they have three lifetime's of ammo stored away and will stop buying. Maybe that's a year from now, or maybe it's sooner.

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  5. Looking forward to hearing what the rest of the week will bring. Tantalize us! Thanks for the excellent reports Michael!

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  6. ericire128:07 AM

    I got the chance to handle a fourth gen on saturday and I really like it alot. Run down on my thoughts here:
    http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=9772.msg141830#msg141830




    Buying a new Glock, Bane? Why not buy two and do a giveaway........ Come on, I'm due! :)

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  7. Anonymous9:30 AM

    I hate to be a party pee-er, but I just bought the 2010 Glock "Annual" magazine that featured the new Gen-4 Glock on the cover and in the issue. In the photos of the gun with the grip "insert" on, it looks like the added piece fits as good as a greasy hairpiece. It doesn't lay flat to the grip at the top, adjacent to the attachment pin. It looks like a lint-trap in the least, but also a point that might snag on things when used in concealment. Yeah, I know, I'm nit-picking and I haven't handled a gun yet, but I would expect more from the best handgun maker in the world. The insert looks like an after-thought. Now flame me!
    Life Member

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  8. Anonymous @9:30AM, we can't flame you without knowing your name. Just wouldn't be right.

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  9. Never mind Glocks, stroll on over to the VLTOR booth and get the skinny on the Bren Ten!

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  10. ericire121:06 PM

    Anonymous @9:30AM

    The Gen 4 Glock I handled a few days ago looked great..... If you did not know that it was an interchangeable backstrap you would have thought it was all one piece..... It was very well done.

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  11. Uno Mas1:34 PM

    .
    Read a report (with pictures) that the next Ruger is a .357 LCR.

    Truth -- or internet?

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  12. Fiftycal4:47 PM

    Bad news from Texas; Local cops threaten to confiscate property unless gun show is shut down. I can't find an email for Michael. So I'll post as much as I can here.

    Sadly, it appears that the other shoe has dropped. Please refer to the news bulletin below. I didn't attend this show but it is where I live. It now appears that the chief of police has decided to use the police power of the state to end gun shows. He is a recent transplant from Kalifornia. I will be writing city council, but they are as liberal as the head cop, so I doubt I will get any action. The "multiple arrests" described in the release were, according to the Public Information Officer for APD, a total of 12. Over a year. During which 12 shows were held and probably 250,000 people attended the shows. Any suggestions would be welcome.

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    January 19, 2010
    Contact: Public Information Office, 974-5017
    Gun Shows at 10601 North Lamar Boulevard
    Federal Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) agents worked
    cooperatively with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
    (ATF) agents last year in a long-term operation targeting illegal gun trafficking that
    was stemming from local gun shows. Austin Police Department Firearm Review
    Unit detectives assisted in the Austin portion of the operation. They observed and
    participated in multiple arrests of prohibited persons (primarily convicted felons
    and illegal immigrants) that obtained firearms illegally at a local gun show.
    Federal convictions were obtained in a majority of the cases.
    Virtually all of these sales to prohibited persons were made by unlicensed dealers
    or private citizens, both inside the gun show and in the parking lot of the gun
    show. While the sale of firearms between private citizens is not illegal, the
    anonymity of these sales in or around the event created an easy avenue for illegal
    immigrants or convicted felons to acquire firearms. Because of this recurring
    activity at a single location, the Firearm Review Unit referred the case over to the
    APD Nuisance Abatement Unit.
    Due to the history of criminal activity at the gun show, the Nuisance Abatement
    Unit scheduled a meeting between the property lessee (HEB Grocery), the
    building sub-lessee (Andrew Perkel a.k.a Austin Market Place), the event
    promoter (Darwin Boedecker-Texas Gun Shows) and ATF. During this meeting,
    APD along with ATF offered to all parties, recommendations to curb the illegal
    activity that had been documented in the past. At the conclusion of the meeting
    the lessee agreed that the recommendations should be followed and instructed
    their sub-lessee to follow the recommendations. The sub-lessee then informed
    the event promoter to implement the recommendations at the next show. The
    recommendations that the lessee directed the sub-lessee and the event promoter
    to follow were:
    1. Only licensed gun dealers are allowed to sell firearms at the gun shows
    2. The promoter will provide on-site security to prevent parking lot gun sales
    Public Information Office: (512) 974-5017 715 E. 8th St. Austin, Texas 78701
    www.ci.austin.tx.us/police
    3. The promoter will define a process for people other than licensed dealers that
    show up with a gun that they want to sell
    There was an understanding that the January 16-17, 2010 gun show would follow
    these recommendations.
    Media Advisory: APD personnel will be available for an interview at 3:00 pm today
    at the headquarters building. Please call PIO if you plan to attend.

    Also the website for the gun show promoter.

    http://texasgunshows.net/default.aspx

    NEAL in AUSTIN

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  13. KMitch2006:02 PM

    Were any of the *sellers* charged or just the prohibited purchasers/possessors?

    Was there more illegal activity at the (relatively infrequent) gun shows than take place out of the daily newspaper ads?

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  14. Mad Saint Jack11:21 AM

    Any idea if the 4G17 double recoil spring will fit in a 3rd generation gun???

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  15. Lawrence1:57 PM

    I cant seem to find a pic of the new beretta hd shotgun. Can anyone provide a linky link?

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  16. Anonymous7:21 AM

    Ericire12,
    The new Gen4 Glocks appear not to have an interchangeable backstrat because, well, they don't, if you start with the "SF", or short-frame configuration. The SF size is just a plain Glock pistol, with a solid grip frame. To get to the medium and large size grip configurations, the inserts are added on from there. That's where I think that Glock could have done a better job.
    I also think that the new interchangeable mag' release button is too square and sharp for an already de-horned gun.
    Don't get me wrong, I love Glocks and believe that they are the best all-around semi-auto handgun of the Twentieth Century. I just think that sometimes, in the spirit of improvement, we may actually go backwards. In this case, poor execution affects function.
    Since I was in the market for a new Glock, I'll pop for the older version, or maybe a new RTF/Rough-Textured-Finish model that still has the older grip design and mag' release.
    Life Member

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