scatterSHOT
This week’s been a real rollercoaster ride for me, but I’ve been trying to keep an eye on the goings-on at SHOT. Some thoughts:
- I agree with the universal consensus re: pricing for the Masada/ACR/whatever-they-finally-call-it. I’m also sure they’ll sell every copy they can make, with early adopters paying a premium over MSRP. Then, in a year or two, Bushmaster will roll out a revised Gen 2 version, correcting the real-or-perceived faults of Gen 1, and all the fanboys will again (1) bitch up a storm but still (2) line up to buy it.
- The inexplicable success of the Taurus Judge still depresses the hell out of me. Taurus keeps cranking out new versions, each more grotesque, hideous and nonsensical than the last, and people KEEP BUYING THE GODDAMN THINGS. Just another sign that our culture is doomed, I suppose.
- Remington’s heavily rumored 1911 is nowhere to be seen. I just don’t know how the gun shops will stay in business without Yet Another New 1911 to sell.
- But it’s okay, because Ithaca is jumping into the 1911 game. At least until they go bankrupt again, which will probably be in <checks watch> oh, five minutes or so.
- Speaking of 1911s, Dan Wesson is producing some very impressive-looking guns, albeit with equally impressive price tags. If I were in the market for a $1500 1911, I’d look very hard at their offerings.
- The other Wesson has one new J-frame without the key lock, a nifty little 640 with tritium sights. They also seem to be going out of their way to only show the RIGHT side of their revolvers. They just might be getting the hint, verrrrry slowly…
- I believe every AR maker on the planet now has a piston-driven gun on the market. And of course, they’re all mutually incompatible. If you buy one, you’d better hope you can get spares for your particular mutation a few years down the road!
I definitely agree with you on the new Dan Wesson’s. I’d love to buy a Valor if I had that much cash lying around.
Comment by mike w. — January 23, 2010 @ 7:48 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yti5wcexyUE
video review of the bodyguard guns. There’s a good left side shot of the revolver at the 1:26 mark. I couldn’t see any indication of a lock on there.
Comment by Laughingdog — January 24, 2010 @ 1:34 am
I actually like the Judge, but then, I’m not so fond of copperheads.
Have you seen the Judge rifle? I believe it’s called the “Circuit Judge”, complete with Cylinder long enough for 3″ magnum .410. My Inner Gunsmith keeps whipsering “You know, it wouldn’t be that hard to convert to 460VXR/45-70/450 Marlin/405 Winchester/etc.”
Comment by HTRN — January 25, 2010 @ 8:18 am
[...] TD with thoughts on SHOT. [...]
Pingback by SayUncle » I don’t get the Judge either — January 25, 2010 @ 10:32 am
Since I will very likely never “dump fifteen, thirty-round magazines” from my bullet hose AR, I’m fine sticking with my awful smelly dirty filthy hot stinky – MOA gas impingement gun, even if it means cleaning it ever other couple matches – or less.
Comment by DirtCrashr — January 25, 2010 @ 12:28 pm
I thought the entire AR movement was built on a solid foundation of standardization. I guess I was wrong.
If you absolutely, positively must have that spendy a rifle, why not take a bit of Garand with you? Accuracy International will spiff you up a Ruger Mini to your specs, your caliber (any short-action caliber), etc for the same as that Bushmaster. How ’bout a .50 Mini in 50 Beowulf?
Or, you could just buy or build a decent impingement-AR and be happy with it, and have about $2K left over to play with.
People buy Judges because they don’t know how to load a decent shot load in a .44 Special or Magnum. You can make some SERIOUS face-removing defense loads with those shot capsules, and still have the power of the .44 maggy available, if you stayed with a .44 mag revolver. If you’re a cheap SOB, buy the Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special, if not, buy a decent Smith or Ruger, with a short ported barrel (or one of the several “bear” guns being sold).
Comment by Rivrdog — January 25, 2010 @ 12:31 pm
Gotta disagree on the Judge. I shot one at media day, and now I’m saving up for one of my own. And the Winchester .410 PDX1 load is simply devastating at close range.
Comment by Ed — January 25, 2010 @ 4:55 pm
“And the Winchester .410 PDX1 load is simply devastating at close range.”
I was unaware anybody had actually been shot with one yet.
Comment by Tam — January 26, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
After shooting a Judge with .410 birdshot at a stack of dirt-filled tires being used for a backstop, and getting dinged with the occasional pellet that bounced back off the tires, I lost a lot of faith in the power of small shot. Maybe the buckshot load is worth something; but from some ballistic tests I’ve seen, there’s probably not enough power in a .410 bore to provide enough penetration to hit the vitals.
Here’s a .410 slug from a 18″ barrel. Note that buckshot will be heavier and therefore slower and will penetrate less. International Wound Ballistics Association recommends at least 12″ of penetration in order to be able to reliably hit vitals on a human target.
http://www.brassfetcher.com/index_files/Page1934.htm
We must remember not to compare 12ga long-barreled buckshot performance with .410 bore 2″ barreled performance.
Comment by Redchrome — February 10, 2010 @ 9:46 am