2018 SHOT Show

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2018 SHOT Show: Industry Day at the Range

February 6, 2018 by 2 Comments

I have finally finished my video compilation of my time at Industry Day at the Range. Bear in mind that this is my first attempt at video so be kind with the comments. The video itself runs for a bit over 12 minutes and features video taken by the Complementary Spouse and myself.

We did run into some technical difficulties. For example, shooting video sucks the life out of your iPhone or, at least, it did it to my iPhone 6. As a result, the video I shot of the Archon Type B and an explanation of its features was lost. I think a trip to the Apple Store is in my future to take advantage of their battery upgrade.

In addition to what I shot in this video, see this earlier post of mine that talked about some of the other firearms that I shot.

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SHOT Show 2018: A Truly International Event (Updated)

January 26, 2018 by 4 Comments

We started the day with the Law Enforcement and Tactical Section of the SHOT Show. It quickly became apparent that there were attendees from Everywhere!  So I began reading name tags and started a list of countries.

So far, in addition to the United States, I am at 28. It would be 29 if you consider Puerto Rico separate from the US as does the International Olympic Committee.

  1. Poland
  2. Switzerland
  3. Germany
  4. Australia
  5. El Salvador
  6. France
  7. Denmark
  8. Italy
  9. Spain
  10. Saudi Arabia
  11. Japan
  12. Philippines
  13. China
  14. Turkey
  15. Canada
  16. New Zealand
  17. Jordan
  18. Netherlands
  19. Israel
  20. Puerto Rico *
  21. Finland
  22. United Kingdom
  23. Thailand
  24. Belgium
  25. Ukraine
  26. Guatamala
  27. Taiwan
  28. Lithuania
  29. Sweden
I’ll update this with more countries as I notice them.

UPDATE: I have more to add to the list!

30. Russia
31. Croatia
32. Norway
33. Pakistan
34. India
35. Kazakhstan
36. Mongolia
37. South Africa
38. Hong Kong (China but not China)
39. Wales (part of the UK but….)
40. Costa Rica
41. Chile
42. Argentina
43. Czech Republic
44. Brazil
45. Mexico
46. Hungary
47. Singapore
48. Egypt
49. Dominican Republic

I wonder what country will be the 50th?

UPDATE: Number 50 is….Belgium  Lebanon!!!

50. Belgium   (dupe)
50. Lebanon
51. Latvia

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Industry Day At The Range

January 23, 2018 by 1 Comment

This will be a short post as we are getting ready for the first day of the SHOT Show. Both the Complementary Spouse and I attended Industry Day at the Range. We were on the first bus leaving at 7:45 and got to the range about 8:30. Despite being on the first bus a lot of people beat us to the range.

I had planned to shoot video of everything I saw. I did get some video which I’m in the process of editing but I think the Apple slow battery problem struck early. Under 5 minutes of video zapped the battery and I had to recharge it twice over the course of the day. So the bottom line is I got some video but not a lot of video. I will be taking advantage of Apple’s replacement battery offer sooner than later.

Some of what I shot:

  1.  Archon Type B in 9mm – very nice pistol coming from Germany with a very, very low bore axis.
  2. Ruger PC Carbine – loved it! Still, it was a bit heavier than I expected and not as light as the original M1 Carbine.
  3. Ruger Security-9 pistol. The trigger was very decent for a hammer fired double action pistol and was comparable to most striker-fired pistols at a lower price.
  4. Rock Island Armory Baby Rock – a downsized 1911 in .380 ACP. It still had a bit of a bark to it but was very slim.
  5. Rock Island Armory 1911 XT in .22 Magnum – this is a fixed barrel 1911. I found it very easy to shoot and very accurate. For someone who has trouble racking a slide due to arthritis or other malady, this could be a real winner.
  6. Tracking Point System – not cheap but very interesting. It does most of the work and decides when the optimal point is to actually fire.
  7. Mossberg Shockwave in 20 gauge – I didn’t think firing from the hip would be as accurate or effective. Once you get the feel for it and realize that you have to aim lower, you start hitting the target with regularity.
  8. Inland Manufacturing M1 Carbine clone – they were better than I expected. Still love the M1 but will stick with my own IBM for now. In a head to head battle between this and the Ruger PC Carbine, I’d go with the Ruger. More modern, cheaper ammo, and about $500 cheaper.
  9. Brownells Retro AR’s – Brownells has now manufactured their own period-correct retro ARs. This is a first for them in that they never manufactured their own firearms before. I shot the A1 version from the latter part of the Vietnam War. It was nice.
That concludes this for now. I’ll have small updates throughout the day (I hope).
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SHOT Show 2018

January 20, 2018 by

The Complementary Spouse and I leave in the morning for the 2018 SHOT Show. My coverage of the SHOT Show will be a bit different this year. I am (gasp!) going to try to put together a video for each day based upon what I’ve seen and who I’ve spoken with. I am a rank amateur at video but Adobe Premiere Elements seems easy enough for me to use. The videos will be posted here and on YouTube.

If there is something in particular that you would like either myself or the Complementary Spouse to check out, we’ll try. It’s a huge event and I know we can’t see everything. The Complementary Spouse mentioned reading this morning that if one tried to hit each and every booth they would only have less than a minute to see it.

You can either leave a message here or alternatively at jpr9954 AT gmail DOT com. I’m thinking the latter may be better as I’ll be checking it more often.

A guide to the exhibitors can be found here. Likewise, the list of exhibitors at Industry Day at the Range is found here. The SHOT Show has a free app available for both the IPhone and Android users which is quite helpful.