Stream of consciousness:
HK:
- No new pistols to report. Pretty much all attention is on the MR556A1 carbine.
- The HK competition pistol team of K.C. Eusebio and Jason Koon was introduced for the first time at the HKPRO/pistol-training.com Q&A. They’ll be shooting P30LS LEM guns this year… a model that HK imported accidentally and has no plans to sell in the future. Their plan is to compete in both USPSA and IDPA.
S&W:
- The Governor we’ve already discussed.
- The M&P22 is nice from a size/holster-compatibility standpoint. The trigger feels nothing like a “normal” M&P. Safety lever appears to be mandatory, which means that many folks who are used to getting a high grip on standard (no thumb safety) M&Ps will have to compromise their grips. No interchangeable grip sizes, either.
- I’m probably going to break down and buy a S&W 41 for no good reason whatsoever.
- Julie Golob understands more about marketing than any ten other people in the firearms industry.
- Gen4 G26 and G27 are on display.
- The Gen4 G34, G35 and G21 are in production; the G35 was available for folks to shoot during the Media Day range event.
- Glock is very confident that early issues with 9mm Gen4 pistols have been resolved. (as an aside, talking to a bunch of other well known trainers over the course of two days, the general consensus seems to be that the more recent production G17 and G19 guns are, in fact, running very well)
SIG:
- The E2 guns I was so excited about last year were, apparently, intended to be a one-year-only thing to introduce the one piece slim grip… which is now going to be standard on all mainstream SIG P220, P226, and P229 pistols (the older, wider 2-piece grips will still be available as an option). They’ll also all be transitioning to the lower profile decocker lever. The SRT short reset mechanism will not be standard.
- With the elimination of the E2, the 9mm P229 will now come standard with the narrower profile slide and 15rd magazines.
- The P226 Extreme, celebrating SIG’s increased involvement with Hogue, is a great option for folks who want a P226 but (like me) despise the anti-ergonomic beavertail that SIG puts on the Elite guns. The P226 Extreme comes with custom high-friction grips, front cocking serrations, and the SRT short reset mechanism.
- The P290 left me underwhelmed, as expected. There’s just no place for a too-big-for-a-pocket-but-too-small-for-a-full-grip 9mm pistol in my universe. Contrary to some other reports, the P290 shares absolutely nothing with the the P250 and is in fact much closer to the under-appreciated SIGpro P2022 in design. Interestingly, the company’s decision to forego double strike capability has raised some hackles with long-time SIG aficionados and another trigger package option may become available.
- The chance of a striker-fired P250 still exists; otherwise, at least unofficially, it appears the company is slowly letting the P250 series guns fade into memory.
- Would you like a P229 chopped down to G26 size? If so, keep your eye on SIG later this year…
- Handled the PPQ. I’ve seen a number of internet commentators refer to it as “a striker fired P30.” I can only assume most of them have not handled a P30. The long, ultra-thin paddle magazine release on the SHOT Show samples, at least, required ten billion pounds of pressure to drop the mag.
- The LC9 is the big deal at their booth and, like the SIG P290, simply does nothing for me.
NLT:
- The guys at Next Level Training sent me one of their SIRT Training Pistols a few weeks ago, and a more in-depth report will be coming next month. But not happy to rest on their laurels, they released the AR15 version (which is just a bolt replacement for your standard AR) and have some other pistol models fast tracked for development before the year is up. While the SIRT pistol isn’t cheap, it has some incredible capabilities.
- The Uni-Max Micro new tiny laser for mounting to your pistol’s accessory rail. It’s red, constant (which I prefer to their normal blinkers), and tiny. Battery life is advertised at five hours. MSRP is $129.
- The Genesis is a bit bigger than the Micro but features an incredibly bright day-visible green laser. It’s a blinky, though, unfortunately. Rather than run on a normal battery, it has an internal unit that it recharged — get this! — through your computer’s USB port.
Finally, what has to be the dumbest pistol accessory I’ve seen so far:
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a replacement Glock floorplate with its own built in glass breaker. Because (a) what better use for your loaded gun than as a hammer and (b) what better way to donate blood than by performing a reload with a spike sticking out the bottom of your mag? According to the manufacturer, “If your reload technique is correct, you won’t even touch it.” I guess my reload technique isn’t very good.
More to follow…
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
And here I was, an avid IDPA competitor (who also wants to start shooting USPSA), hoping that with the announcement of the first HK shooting team in years, there would be some new match grade pistols, or at least factory supported match triggers and such.
HK, why do you hurt so bad?
Why are they using LEM’s with safeties?
Great wrap-up, by the way.
Sometimes you look at stuff like that glass breaker floorplate and think “it had to be done”. You know someone out there is designing a rail mounted bottle of hand sanitizer. It’s got to happen at some point and there will be someone who buys it.
When would you ever use the butt of a plastic pistol which is likely to be loaded to break glass? LEO and the like have collapsible batons for that and I’ve noticed they tend to work 95% of the time. Was there a demand for this which had to be filled?
I don’t know if it was the only “L” they could get with LEM, or whether they like it for some particular reason. All they said was it was the best configuration they had for the matches they intend to shoot.
Todd,
What about the P30 “S” that I saw pics of on Ken Lunde’s site? Ambi non-decocking manual safety lever with the rear mounted de-cocker. A single action, cocked & locked 9mm P30 has me interested.
David — “You know someone out there is designing a rail mounted bottle of hand sanitizer. It’s got to happen at some point and there will be someone who buys it.”
Someone would buy it. And his initials are SLG. 8)
Nick — The P30S came out last year, though the 9mm version didn’t begin shipping until the very end of the year. The version with a decocker is a standard DA/SA (“V3”) that can be carried cocked and locked (or hammer down and locked, or hammer down with safety off).
Have you had the opportunity to shoot the rear mounted de-cocker, cocked & locked “V3”? If so, what do you think?
and is HK going to offer this same “V3” configuration on the HK45?
ToddG,
“The version with a decocker is a standard DA/SA (“V3?) that can be carried cocked and locked (or hammer down and locked, or hammer down with safety off).”
And it doesn’t have the retarded USP decocking setup that penalizes you for holding your pistol right? ‘Cause if not, I’m suddenly all ears…
Great summery of what’s going on in the pistol world at Shot.
Couple the Glock Floor plate Glass Breaker with a Laserlyte Pistol Bayonet and you can be the envy of every Mall Ninja.
How similar is a narrow profiled 9mm Sig P229 to a P228?
What did Julie Golob say or do that lead you to this conclusion?
Todd,
Just because you have to wait till SHOT to see the new stuff doesn’t mean we all do. I got my rail mounted skel gell almost 4 months ago.
Seriously though, I wouldn’t buy that…I’d wait till you did and then sent it to me:-)
And yes, Julie does know more than any other 10 people in the industry. Except the guy who’s going to make a rail mounted skel gel.
I’ve always said that the primary problem with magazines these days is that they are nowhere near sharp or pointy enough…and that whole tap-rack thing for fixing a malfunction is just a fad anyway.
Other than the new recoil spring assemblies on the 9mm Gen4 GLOCKs … was anything else done that makes the newer production ones run better than the first batches? I haven’t ran my Gen4 G19 enough since changing to the 04 spring to really tell if it’s “fixed” yet. Just wondering if I need to make a Smyrna run to have anything else “upgraded” on it. I plan to run it in your AFHF class the first weekend in March so I guess we’ll see.
Todd,
Is the M&P22 close enough to a M&P9 to be of use as a training tool or does the trigger and safety make it different enough that it is not any better than a Buckmark, etc?
NickD & Tam — The “V3” is the designation for an HK P2000-series (to include the P30) with a DA/SA action and the decocking lever mounted at the rear of the slide. The P30S adds a 1911-like thumb safety. The HK45 (and all of the other USP-series guns) uses a different naming convention, but yes you can also get an HK45 that is intended to be carried cocked and locked.
Jesse — The recontoured P229 slide in 9mm only now has the same profile as a P228.
As for Julie’s genius, it wasn’t any one thing. I’ve known Julie for many years and every time we get together and talk guns/shooting/the industry, it’s just obvious. But as just one example: F.A.S.T. Challenge Coin? Julie’s idea, actually.
SLG — Excellent point. Actually, I’d just tell the manufacturer what an internet superstar I am and have them send me a few free samples, right? 8)
TCinVA — If you have the magazine-spike, you don’t tap rack. You rip the mag out of the gun and throw it at the enemy like one of those uber-deadly ninja throwing starts (with the half inch long blades that somehow are supposed to penetrate deeper than a bullet…)
VolGrad — No other design changes that I’m aware of. I’m meeting with Glock this morning, so if I learn anything new I’ll report it.
Bryce — The M&P22 is definitely closer to an M&P9 than a Buckmark. If I were still shooting the M&P, I’d get one. It’s not that the design is useless by any stretch. It just would have been nice if they’d put a little more effort into making it a truly identical repacement.
I’m out the door for the show soon. More to follow…
The idea that the recontoured slide of the 9mm P229 is now the P228 makes me happy.
Argh, HK really ??? Give us a shooting team with guns we cant get?? Nice.
Oh and just so ya know, the Gen 4 G35 is the best .40 EVER!!!!!
Wait, where’s your review of new Taurus “Raging Judge” 28-gauge?
Maybe someone will put a stock and lever on THAT thing and make all of TC’s dreams come true!
So, if window-busting becomes necessary and a handgun is our only choice of tool, the big chunk of steel that already comprises at least half of the gun is insufficient?
Definitely looking forward to hearing more about the NLT SIRT training pistols Todd. Thanks for the updates.
Todd – Any chance you can show off the SIRT pistol at the next NRA practice session? Looks promising, but yeah, pricey.
Thanks for the update Todd. I’m disappointed to see the news about the Sig P250. I was just about to buy one. Glad I learned now rather than later.
It strikes me as odd that HK’s new shooting team will be using pistols they “accidentally imported” and “have no plans to make”. Really HK?!?
The Glock floor plates are ummm… hmmmmm…
would those be the mistake guns for CSC/CBSA?
You neglected to report on what the SHOT “Watch Of The Year” is for 2011
Actually, Sinn seems to be a lot more common this year. Pannis and Rolexes are still reigning supreme, though.
Thanks for the excellent report from the show Todd!
I’m severely disappointed in the .22 “M&P” handgun. I was hoping (perhaps foolishly) that they would try to be faithful to the real M&P in order to produce a useful cheap trainer that M&P shooters could use for practice.
Something that is merely shaped like the M&P isn’t really good enough. It was good enough to make me buy an Advantage Arms kit for a Glock 17, however.
Thanks for the kind words, Todd!
So great to see you at SHOT and thanks for making these posts on the show. I missed so much of it that it’s such a treat to be able to see some of it virtually!
Those Glock floorplates are hideous. Perhaps it’s a training tool, to break people of the cup and saucer grip?
Todd, I just busted out the HK calendar I got at the show and was pleasantly surprised to see your P30 as the January photo. Hope to see you soon in another class!
I was hoping S&W would release two pistols from my wish list this year, namely a G19-sized M&P 9/40/357 and a single-stack polymer 9mm. Instead we get a Taurus bubba-gun imitator. Oh well, maybe next year…