For me, the annual trade shows begin with NASGW – the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers – in October of every year. We get a chance to visit with manufacturers in the relative calm of a strictly limited attendance show in advance of SHOT Show. We get a head’s up on upcoming products and can get our features calendar for the coming year in advance.
In keeping with that traditional kick-off of the new products season, some industry news is in order.
Melanie Bolke, formerly of Shoot Like a Girl/Hunt Like a Girl, is now the Director of Business Operations for the gang at American Fighting Revolver. That is a pay site which brings “the latest industry insider news and historical information with detailed photo articles.” Knowing about the round gun is part of a basic shooting education - Darryl Bolke and Bryan Eastridge are trying to keep the legacy and tradition of revolver use alive.
From the expo, I got to see some products that had been mentioned in releases – and that I’d yet to have handled. First, while we’re on the “old technology,” reports of the demise of the revolver are clearly exaggerated; Taurus announced its first “competition-ready” revolver, the Model 608 Competition. A 357 Magnum, 8-shot revolver with an adjustable rear sight and fiber optic front sight, it’s cut for moon clips – a smart move for revolvers meant for use in ICORE or USPSA competition.
I also got to handle their sister-company’s DA revolver, the Roscoe from Heritage Arms. Nicely polished, the new gun accepts stocks from its predecessor, the Taurus Model 85. I got to handle the 22TUC, a slick little tip-barrel 9-shot 22 LR. I asked about holster availability and among those mentioned was the Sticky Holster variant, useful for pocket carry of the fly-weight 22 Auto.
The Executive Grade Model 692 is a steel revolver that’s chambered for 357 Magnum/38 Special – and 9mm. The release for the gun appeared in our services. It’s a 3” seven-shot revolver that is supplied with a pair of cylinders to accomplish the caliber swap. The cylinder is unfluted – if you’ve ever reloaded a revolver in conditions of adverse light, you know why flutes are there.
With the seven-shot nature of this cannon, there’s precious little space for flutes – and the cylinder is cut for (proprietary) moon clips.
The Caliber Awards from the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers were given Tuesday night. The Best New Handgun award was issued to the new Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 2.0. Not just a facelift of the previous S&W 380 Auto, it was described by one insider as the best-shooting 380 pistol he’d shot - like a Shield Plus but smaller.
One innovation was a rather strange ballistic shield - the TAE Shield fits over your pistol. The gun functions within this Lexan-looking shield with its own forward mounted lower pic rail. I was doubtful, but the vendor had one with a model gun installed and did a demonstration. The coverage was nearly that of concealable body armor.
Rost-Martin, maker of the RM1C 9mm pistol, an innovative design, has a product coming in the New Year that will be of particular interest to the concealed carry crowd. I hope to have more information on it soon.
Dave Biggers, Sales & Marketing Director of Ed Brown Products, showed me the 25th Anniversary Kobra Carry – announced in yesterday’s wires – that was being shown at the NASGW Expo. With the Ed Brown Bobtail mainspring housing, the 4 ¼” 1911 is limited edition and is marked with the 25th Anniversary marking. It’s available in 45 ACP. I was also taken with the work Ed Brown’s company did on the Springfield Armory Prodigy – the Fueled Prodigy Comp.
Everett Deger from Kimber showed me some of their new guns. One was the CDS9, the Covert Double Stack 9mm. A metal handgun, it’s a bit to hang onto, but has a short barrel for a 9mm auto. The controls are bilateral, with a reversible magazine catch and the pistol is optics-ready, fitting the RMSc optics pattern. A dust cover accessory rail and 15-round capacity rounds out the feature set.
He also showed the Carbon Compact with a frame made from a “carbon fiber infused matrix” for strength. The base of the trigger guard is relieved to allow a higher grip and the gun has a “performance carry trigger” (it felt quite good). There’s an extended, flared magazine well and the gun has a fifteen-round capacity.
The folks at Military Products, Inc. have increased their scope from military gear under the Tac Shield name to the new Sport Ridge line of shooters’ gear. Products include firearms care goods, ear pro, slings and bipods.
It’s always good to have choices.
I got to speak with a few current members of service while on site. There was some discussion of pistol-mounted optics, a current hot topic in the police field. The discussion leads me to believe that some law enforcement agencies need to upgrade their training and sustainment game. Early reports on qualification scores and street engagements were promising, but those data were based on the early adopters, all of whom were “gun people.” They tend to be high-performing on the range and the results on the street reflected that. In the time since optics went “general issue” in some agencies, the results have been marginal. It’s not the fault of the optics - the gear is the best it’s ever been.
It’s the users.
This is a continuing story and one that we’ll be following.
— Rich Grassi
