SHOT week finished today, leaving a lot of exhausted people after the miles of aisles. While AR15 sales have softened since we learned in November that Hillary Clinton wasn’t going to be in charge of anything, sales in general are still good and the firearms industry is overall in optimistic mode.

SHOT sponsor NSSF, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, announced today, “Industry professionals packed the aisles from the opening bell, and attendance totaled nearly 65,000, surpassing last year’s turnout to make it the second most attended SHOT Show ever.”

My editor and old friend Roy Huntington opines that with gun-banning pressure from the White House turned for at least four years, shooter folk are turning more to recreational firearms. This year’s Show certainly featured lots of traditional double barrels, sporting rifles, and John Wayne-esque lever action rifles and single action revolvers.  Double action revolvers are coming back strong, with entries from Colt as mentioned previously, Smith & Wesson, and Ruger.  The latter just before SHOT announced a Redhawk snub-nose that holds eight rounds of .357 Magnum and a five-shot, three-inch barrel GP100 in .44 Special. You can read my take on the latter here. At a writer’s intro last September at the fabulous FTW hunting and shooting ranch in Texas, Ruger had an impromptu match in which we all shot these two powerful wheelguns on bowling pin tables. I had the good fortune to win, followed by Tamara Keel of Shooting Illustrated and Gail Pepin of the ProArms Podcast. (That told me two things: double action revolvers can be very amenable to the female of our species, and I was apparently in touch with my feminine side that day.)

A high point of the show was touching bases with many old friends and colleagues, a few of whom appear below.

It had been years since I’d seen Bruce Gray, whom I shot with on the first Team HK back in the day. Bruce and his GrayGuns firm are the acknowledged masters of tuning HKs and SIGs, and he consults for the latter company. Bruce has done a lot to publicize SIG’s relatively new P320, just adopted by the US Army as announced during the SHOT Show.

Anthony Spitale, left, gets a lot of the credit for Colt resurrecting its iconic double action revolver this year. Mark Redl, at right, is another Colt exec whose deep knowledge from the end user perspective has been invaluable to Colt. He and I shot together for Team Panteao not too long ago.

Dennis Reese, honcho at Springfield Armory, showed me their new economy version of one of my favorite guns, the little EMP 9mm subcompact 1911 they introduced back in 2004.  It shoots very well and will put this great concept in the holsters of more good people.

8 COMMENTS

  1. Mas,

    I am part of that “Loyal Opposition” to the semi-auto dominance. I have seen (and experienced) too many “malfunctions” with semi-autos to have much faith in them. I am reminded of the old John Dillinger quote:

    “Never trust a woman, a district attorney or an automatic pistol.”

    I’ll reserve judgment on the first parts but, in my book, old John was “spot on” when it comes to pistols. 🙂

    I also tend to side with the “big bullet” folks. Especially since I just finished reading Duncan MacPherson’s book on “Bullet Penetration”.

    So, the Ruger GP-100 certainly looks interesting to me. I read your write-up. However, I am unlikely to buy one mainly because I am already “stocked up”. I currently own two Charter Arms 5-shot revolvers (a Boomer and a Target Bulldog) plus a S&W 629.

    The Boomer is equipped with Crimson Trace laser grips and only weighs 17 oz. empty. The Bulldog has Pachmayr grips. It weighs 22 oz. empty. Loading with Hornady 180 gr. XTP 44 Special ammo adds about 3 oz. to each. The Boomer makes a great “Summer Carry” gun but I need a cover garment to carry the 4-inch barreled Bulldog. I generally carry spare ammo in speed strips since they fit in pockets better than bulky speedloaders.

    The S&W 629 is very like this new GP-100. My 629 also has a 3-inch barrel. The rear sight is also adjustable and I replaced the front sight with a green fiber-optic aftermarket one. The factory grips were beautiful rosewood but (a) they did not fit my hand well and (b) they did nothing to moderate recoil. So, I set them aside in favor of rubber Pachmayr compac grips.

    My 629, of course, has a 6-shot cylinder and will take .44 magnum as well as .44 special rounds. It kicks like a mule with full power .44 magnum but is a sweet kitten with the .44 special ammo. Note that my 629, as configured, only weighs 39 oz. empty. That is only 3 oz. more than this new GP-100.

    So, with the 629 already in my inventory, I do not see a place for the GP-100. Otherwise, it would appeal to me.

  2. I noticed from the pictures that you are no longer wearing the Wolf Ears you wore for so long. What are the active hearing protectors you are wearing in the photos? What active hearing protectors do you currently recommend?

  3. ROTF, LMAO!

    Mas, so glad you’re back in touch with your feminine side! You know, it shows on your face in the pics: something,…. I don’t know…. *soft and sweet and gentle* about you now, that just wasn’t there before….

    : 0

  4. Metal detecting in Arizona has most often yielded 3 calibers of the oldest cases for me: .45-70, .30 Winchester center fire (.30-30), and .44 Special. I am not necessarily saying that I have kept what I found, but I always examine what I dig up. The very old cartridge cases are somewhat like old, thrown equine shoes. They all can tell a story by where found, and by what shape they are in. Most often the very old .45-70 cases look like they have been have been smashed flat with a boot heel, possibly to keep hostile finders from reloading. The abundance of .44 special cases speaks for the caliber’s popularity with the old-timers. In most instances I would imagine the .44 was used for hunting rabbits, as well as for general purposes.

  5. Suburban, those are inexpensive XT series Sport Ears. I alternate between those and Peltor 3M for extended range wear. The wonderful old Wolf Ears have been dropped by Gentex for lo these many years, and they say they don’t even have parts for them anymore. The closest you can get to the old Gentex 1030 Wolf Ears for tactical use (maximum low end amplification, totally directional) are those from Tactical Command Industries, which I find a bit tight for all day range wear but ideal for building searches and such. Hundreds of dollars, but more than worth it if you need the capability.

  6. Mas –

    Thanks for the info. I bought a set of Wolf Ears many years ago on your recommendation, and they still work great. I have been thinking of getting a pair of active protectors for my wife and when I saw you wearing something new wondered what it was.

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