Rich Lucibella
Staff
Got a chance to wander the 1999 Shot SHOW today. Here are my (rambling) impressions.
There's *lots* to see of interest but real innovation is hard to come by. Of note in this category is Rob's wife's clothing line, RealTree Accents. While this may appear as shameless flattery, I'm quite serious. The mixture of camoflauge into *attractive* female attire is, to my knowledge, a first; I think it's quite well done.
Much ado about KelTech's new .32 auto. It *is* small and it *is* inexpensive (@$200). Other than that, I am not impressed (sorry Spectre). Double Action Only with a rather poor finish and larger than the Seecamp ranks it a cheap imitator, IMHO. Nothing wrong with that, overall.
*Finally* got to handle Robar's Glock grip reduction, which renders the angle similar to the 1911. This is worth checking out; they do a fine job. As the owner of about a half dozen Gaston specials, however, I am loathe to fork out the $150 per to convertall of them. Time will tell if I'll be happy converting just one.
The new Glock 36. Ah, yes, the single stack, 6 shot, .45 auto. Interesting, to say the least. They will not confirm a 10mm variant at this time, though I believe it would be ambitious for any defensive shooter to attempt full power 10mm loads in a Glock with a mainspring housing that narrow. The gun feels *good* and I will probably buy one. Unfortunately, at 6+1, I cannot think of a niche that it can fill better than a tuned Colt Lightweight Officer model, except in price.
Robar, BTW, is taking large framed Glocks and reducing the mag capacity, while retaining the slide length. Thus, you can have the grips of your G20 or 23, for instance, cut down to the size (and mag capacity) of the G29 and 27. For those of us with 40's vision, and the need to conceal, every inch helps.
Steyr has introduced the Scout .376. Again, I was interested. However, again, I question the niche. It seems unlikely that the existing .308 or 7mm will be inadequate for North American game while the .376 is not considered optimal for dangerous game. So, what's it used for? I'm not a big time hunter and would appreciate info here.
Trijicon has come out with a new generation Reflex sight which sports a triangle rather than dot. Ostensibly, the dot covers too much of the target at distance and the triangle allows you to place the traget *on top* of the triangle. Infatuated at first, I found it slower than the dot sight. Now I question why the dot is "too large" in an unmagnified optic. The older, dot sight is not being retired.
I was duly impressed with Kimber's products and would have ordered one if they hadn't referred me to a Dealer in my area. (This is a good thing, economically, but really kills the impulse buy.) I find their finishes, triggers, sights, options and "feel" are well worth the money. While I did sit with Les Baer and work up an order for a Lightweight Officer with Commander slide, the price is almost 3X that of a Kimber Custom. The quality of the LB is certainly higher, but hardly 3X higher.
Then we have EAA. Oy! While I was sadly disappointed in the lack of scantily clad babes sporting Saran Wrap gowns, I am even more unimpressed with their offerings. The triggers are terrible, the finishes are poor and the slides are too small to get a hand on. No wonder they need to sell their products with nearly naked women.
Finally, I was surprised at the number of Knife makers...not just Buck, Cold Steel, KayBar and BenchMade, but a host of hand made and semi hand made brands including: Busse, MicroTech, Emerson, Mission, Bud Nealy and others. The notable absence of our favored rabble rousing canine did little to urge me on to part with my money.
At one counter a maker who admitted copying Chris Reeve's titanium Sebenza lock, explained that Chris had done it "all wrong"; that *Chris'* lock would break with the slightest outward pressure. (If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Chris and Anne should be walking on air.) He then handed me a fixed blade and asked me who's market niche I thought *it* might fall into? It was obvious that he was referring to those who believe they can buy Mad Dog quality at half the price...I didn't bother to explain that Kevin was probably greatful for the decrease in phone inquiries from that "segment" of the market.
At another "big name" knifemaker's booth, I experienced enormous difficulty opening a very compact folder by rotating the stud with my thumb. Rather than attributing the problem to it's cause (my alien sized digits), the child-expert behind the counter launched into a treatise on tactical indexing and opening of folders. I replied by producing an open and palmed Sebenza and suggesting that maybe all knives didn't fit all hands...he was quite insulted at the apparent slur to his Company name.
I understand Spectre, Scott Evans, Spark and Mike Turber are here. If either reads this, please get in touch with me at 892-6000 X2611.
Rich
[This message has been edited by Rich Lucibella (edited 02-03-99).]
There's *lots* to see of interest but real innovation is hard to come by. Of note in this category is Rob's wife's clothing line, RealTree Accents. While this may appear as shameless flattery, I'm quite serious. The mixture of camoflauge into *attractive* female attire is, to my knowledge, a first; I think it's quite well done.
Much ado about KelTech's new .32 auto. It *is* small and it *is* inexpensive (@$200). Other than that, I am not impressed (sorry Spectre). Double Action Only with a rather poor finish and larger than the Seecamp ranks it a cheap imitator, IMHO. Nothing wrong with that, overall.
*Finally* got to handle Robar's Glock grip reduction, which renders the angle similar to the 1911. This is worth checking out; they do a fine job. As the owner of about a half dozen Gaston specials, however, I am loathe to fork out the $150 per to convertall of them. Time will tell if I'll be happy converting just one.
The new Glock 36. Ah, yes, the single stack, 6 shot, .45 auto. Interesting, to say the least. They will not confirm a 10mm variant at this time, though I believe it would be ambitious for any defensive shooter to attempt full power 10mm loads in a Glock with a mainspring housing that narrow. The gun feels *good* and I will probably buy one. Unfortunately, at 6+1, I cannot think of a niche that it can fill better than a tuned Colt Lightweight Officer model, except in price.
Robar, BTW, is taking large framed Glocks and reducing the mag capacity, while retaining the slide length. Thus, you can have the grips of your G20 or 23, for instance, cut down to the size (and mag capacity) of the G29 and 27. For those of us with 40's vision, and the need to conceal, every inch helps.
Steyr has introduced the Scout .376. Again, I was interested. However, again, I question the niche. It seems unlikely that the existing .308 or 7mm will be inadequate for North American game while the .376 is not considered optimal for dangerous game. So, what's it used for? I'm not a big time hunter and would appreciate info here.
Trijicon has come out with a new generation Reflex sight which sports a triangle rather than dot. Ostensibly, the dot covers too much of the target at distance and the triangle allows you to place the traget *on top* of the triangle. Infatuated at first, I found it slower than the dot sight. Now I question why the dot is "too large" in an unmagnified optic. The older, dot sight is not being retired.
I was duly impressed with Kimber's products and would have ordered one if they hadn't referred me to a Dealer in my area. (This is a good thing, economically, but really kills the impulse buy.) I find their finishes, triggers, sights, options and "feel" are well worth the money. While I did sit with Les Baer and work up an order for a Lightweight Officer with Commander slide, the price is almost 3X that of a Kimber Custom. The quality of the LB is certainly higher, but hardly 3X higher.
Then we have EAA. Oy! While I was sadly disappointed in the lack of scantily clad babes sporting Saran Wrap gowns, I am even more unimpressed with their offerings. The triggers are terrible, the finishes are poor and the slides are too small to get a hand on. No wonder they need to sell their products with nearly naked women.
Finally, I was surprised at the number of Knife makers...not just Buck, Cold Steel, KayBar and BenchMade, but a host of hand made and semi hand made brands including: Busse, MicroTech, Emerson, Mission, Bud Nealy and others. The notable absence of our favored rabble rousing canine did little to urge me on to part with my money.
At one counter a maker who admitted copying Chris Reeve's titanium Sebenza lock, explained that Chris had done it "all wrong"; that *Chris'* lock would break with the slightest outward pressure. (If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Chris and Anne should be walking on air.) He then handed me a fixed blade and asked me who's market niche I thought *it* might fall into? It was obvious that he was referring to those who believe they can buy Mad Dog quality at half the price...I didn't bother to explain that Kevin was probably greatful for the decrease in phone inquiries from that "segment" of the market.
At another "big name" knifemaker's booth, I experienced enormous difficulty opening a very compact folder by rotating the stud with my thumb. Rather than attributing the problem to it's cause (my alien sized digits), the child-expert behind the counter launched into a treatise on tactical indexing and opening of folders. I replied by producing an open and palmed Sebenza and suggesting that maybe all knives didn't fit all hands...he was quite insulted at the apparent slur to his Company name.
I understand Spectre, Scott Evans, Spark and Mike Turber are here. If either reads this, please get in touch with me at 892-6000 X2611.
Rich
[This message has been edited by Rich Lucibella (edited 02-03-99).]
)!