I got back home late Friday night, after having a great time at SHOT Show. I believe this was my 6th SHOT, but my first one since 2011, so it had been a while.
The main reason I went this year was to do a signing in the JP Enterprises booth. I’ve teamed up with them to do a custom MHI rifle. The idea was that Owen needed a longer range weapon in the next book anyway, so we might as well actually build it in real life. (unlike Abomination, where there are all those pesky ATF rules, I could pull this one off).
It is .308, because obviously. I thought about going with a different caliber, but I’m being faithful to the books here, so that was a no brainer. Because I’m running it with a suppressor (when it gets home it will have a SilencerCo Omega) I went with the side charger, just because I really don’t like carbon in the nostrils from a regular charging handle. And the JP roller trigger, because once you try it, you won’t want to use anything else. It automatically pivots your finger tip around it so that your pull is always consistent. You have to try one to see what I mean.
The pictures don’t do the finish justice. It is a burnished bronze, so it looks a little weathered, or washed even. (basically, black Cerakote base, building up bronze over it). I wanted something that had a little more flash than just black or flat green or brown, but not so much flash that it was too bright to be impractical and would look more like a game gun. (don’t get me wrong, I have those too, but this is for MHI).
Now JP Enterprises is offering the MHI and MCB logos laser etched on any of their lower receivers.
The signing went really well too. It was supposed to start at noon on Thursday. I got back to the booth almost an hour early and there was already a bunch of people waiting. Because SHOT frowns on “selling” from booths, I only brought a few cases of books, and promptly blew through all of them. However, unlike most book signings I do, the people waiting in line got to occupy themselves because I kept passing them rifles to look at. Alas, I still probably didn’t have 500 people there, so still not a *real author*.
Gun podcaster Hank Strange caught me at the end of the signing and we did this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_kxCGa8CKs
Then I got to wander around and spend the rest of my filthy capitalist D List Author money.
A while ago I decided that because I don’t own a bullpup rifle, I obviously need one. So I posted and asked my fans what they thought was cooler, Aug or Tavor. In the ensuing gun nut melee the marketing director for Utah’s own Desert Tech saw it, sent me a message, said a bunch of my fans worked there, they were local, and I really needed to see what they were coming out with soon before I got something else.
That’s the MDR, and it is really sweet. It’s ambidextrous, forward ejecting, multi caliber on the same chassis, can switch between .308 or 5.56 sized calibers on the same frame because it uses a mag well insert, and is just all around a really well thought out gun. Bullpups have come a long way from when I was a kid, with actual good triggers and ergos.
They’re supposed to be shipping 2nd quarter, so I told them to put me in line. I’m getting one of those.
And next I decided to get one of these:
That’s from Hill and Mac Gunworks. It’s a reproduction of the infamous STG-44 Sturmgewehr. I’ve always wanted one, but there are only like a dozen NFA legal real ones in the country. I’m a sucker for WW2 guns, especially oddballs, and this was only $1700 compared to an original which costs about the same as a small house. So I told them to sign me up. Which reminds me, I probably need to call them and actually pay for it. 🙂
The original is in 8mm Kurz, which is a fairly obscure cartridge. So what they did here is that they’ll offer it in the original chambering, but also in 7.62×39, .300 Black Out, and 5.56. .300 Black Out is actually the closest in size to the original round. Another nifty thing is that magazine might look like the original, but that’s actually a STANAG magwell, so you’ve got your cool display mag that looks period correct, but you can also shoot it with normal, readily available mags too.
It’s all stamped sheet metal like the original, and I looked at it next to a pic of the original receiver. There is only a small difference (the BATF did not like the bubble where the original had for the auto sear I think). Otherwise, it looks pretty much spot on.
Funny story about that one. While I was talking to the HMG guys Breitbart ran an article about how some dipshit SJW was trying to get my books banned from stores in Toronto, for my imaginary hatemongery statements that nobody can seem to find (probably because I never actually made them), but anyways I didn’t pay it any mind, because morons are gonna moron. But then when I got on the internet later I saw a thread about the Breitbart article and some dude was screaming about how this was just right wing hatemongery of right wing hatey hatemongers throwing temper tantrums and being big babies. So to demonstrate how incredibly upset I was I posted a pic of me with that STG and said: “SJWs trying to ban your books got you down? Buy a Sturmgewehr! It cheered me right up.” And the SJW came back with some wussy variation of “OMG! IS THAT SOME KIND OF BIZARRE THREAT?!”
You can’t make this stuff up. 🙂
So that was three rifles bought in as many hours… Luckily, the lovely Mrs. Correia loves me, and knows that since I’m still an accountant at heart, I would draw the impulse buying line somewhere. Apparently that line was here:
Yes… I know it is beautiful. And I know I just got done telling you how I’m a sucker for WW2 reproductions of guns you can’t normally get, and come on it’s a friggin’ BAR, but… it is $4,300. Maybe if I hadn’t just ordered a scope, a suppressor, and two expensive rifles I might have done it.
I’m thinking I need one of these in the future though. Jake Sullivan would want me to have that. For America. And then there’s that 5k reproduction of the FG-42. Which Heinrich would want me to have. Or something. I don’t know. I’m making this up as I go along.
Anyways, now for the stuff that I thought was cool that I didn’t immediately purchase.
Over in the CZ booth I checked out the BREN and the EVO. The BREN seems nice and it appears to be in that same school of design thought as the SCAR and the ACR. I liked it. But man, I really liked that little EVO. I need an EVO. It is a groovy little piece. They had a couple different SBR packages there that were just slick.
Oh, yeah. You all need 9mm carbines of some kind. Why? I ran into a guy I’ve shot matches with. Mike Foley is now president of USPSA, and they’re thinking about adding a pistol caliber carbine class to USPSA matches. If you’ve not shot USPSA, trust me. That sounds really fun. It’s like the fun, short rifle bits of 3gun, but you can do it on any range.
Which brings me to the Sig booth. I like what they’ve done with the 5.56 now, and their new swappable barrel AR style rifles look really solid, but damn… That little MPX is cool. They had an SBR version set up sort of like an MP5 PDW, with the sliding stock (that actually has multiple positions unlike the original).
Keeping in mind that I haven’t used either, MPX vs. EVO… Tough one. The MPX costs more, but it does feel a little more solid. Overall though, I’m thinking EVO. Oh, who am I kidding. You know I’m going to end up with both.
I checked out the new Beretta 5.56 rifle (hey, keep in mind I’ve not been to SHOT in 5 years and I’ve been out of the gun business since ’08, so it was new to me). Eh… It felt okay, but it looks kind of like a pregnant guppy. No idea how it shoots.
Speaking of rifles that look cool but I don’t know how they shoot, it appears the Poles ain’t messing around.
That’s the new Radom. They’re not in the US yet, but they’re working on importation approval. Regular and bullpup chassis, seemed very solid and well built, but the reason I homed in on that one was the side break 40mm grenade launcher. It was very compact and well put together. I’m a big fan of 40mm. Now that I’m just a writer dude without my old super cool guy connections, I don’t get to shoot 40mm anymore, but hey, this whole trip was “research”.
Speaking of 40mm, my phone battery was dead when I hit that booth so I didn’t get a picture but the guys at Vltor are making a 10 shot, semi auto 40mm. They had a mock up there, as there is currently only the one working prototype. It was just… I don’t have the words… It was like a poem about a beautiful sunset… and ten explosions in two seconds. A ten shot semi-auto 40mm is like saying Screw you, and everyone around you, and everyone on your block.
Then there’s the Crye Salvo Six, I think that’s the name, crazy little revolver shotgun. As of right now I don’t know if this thing is actually going to exist or not, or if this is just one of those vaporware proof of concept things, but if it does get made, I’m getting one. Because Yo Dawg, we put a gun on your gun! (and I just read that in Xzbit’s voice, which is funny, since he was at SHOT Show too)
On a serious note, if you’ve ever used an old Master Key this feels nothing like that. It is far lighter, and holds more rounds. It isn’t nearly as unbalanced as you would think from looking at the pictures. So fingers crossed, I’d like to see it come to market, because I’ll get one.
One fun thing about posting SHOT Show pics on Facebook when you’ve got 5,000 friends and a few thousand more followers, of those thousands of people somebody is going to have an idiotic gun hater in their friends list, so they’re going to jump into LITERALLY ALL of my gun threads to try and get all self righteous and scoldy about our terrible scary murder cannons and multi automatic round weapons with shoulder things that go up. Mew mew mew you gun nuts just need that to shoot up schools! My panties are in a twist! I don’t know anything about guns, law, or violence, but I FEEL SO HARD!
So I posted this picture
And you can guess what happens when the brainiac anti-gun scold brigade shows up at my place. I’ll just post James Schardt’s brilliant summary of the events. 🙂
A friendly public service announcement to my gun control supporting friends:
Why Google is your friend.
If you should feel the need to troll a gun enthusiast,
Google the person you are attempting to troll first.
1. Do not sarcastically tell the person they obviously know a lot about guns. The person you are attempting to troll might respond with a resume that includes all of the following: Competitive Shooter, Firearms instructor, Gun Store owner with a Type 7 FFL (meaning he could sell fully automatic weapons), and that he has testified about guns to his State Legislature.
2. When the person you are attempting to troll responds with his (incomplete) resume, do not tell him you will take his lunch money. If you had Googled this individual you might have seen that he is about 6’5″ and his size reflects that he was raised on a cattle farm. And anyone Googling you will show that you are not Andre the Giant.
3. When others mockingly point out you are looking like an idiot, do not ask why they are angry. They are laughing at you and popping popcorn while watching the fun. They will simply mock you more.
4. Be careful how you phrase your insults. If your insult makes you sound like a pedophile you will be called a pedophile.
5. At this point, don’t try to claim you just wanted to talk about guns. You’ve barely mentioned guns. Nobody believes you.
6. Do not be surprised you have a small horde of people mocking you. If you had Googled the person you were trying to troll you might have realized he was a New York Times Bestselling Author as well as a gun enthusiast and he might have a fan base.
This has been a public service announcement. No Gun Control Supporters were harmed in the making of this announcement (well, maybe their pride.)
So you can guess how that went, but anyways, back to the gun!
That’s a SilencerCo Maxim 9 prototype. It is an integrally suppressed pistol. Shockingly enough, no it isn’t front heavy. It actually feels pretty good. And you can feel like Robocop. Only quieter. It takes Glock mags. It was probably the most innovative new idea I saw at the show this year.
When this comes out, I’m getting one. The picture makes it look like it is huge, but it isn’t much bigger than my STI Perfect 10. Stick a flash light on the longslide 1911 and it would actually be bigger. Compared to any other pistol with a suppressor screwed on the end? It is positively stubby. I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea.
Yes, the NFA laws are still stupid, pointless, violations of our freedom and you have to fill out a Form 4 and pay your extra taxes, and then you can’t just slap this on your belt and carry it across state lines, but come on… That’s still freaking cool, and it isn’t SilencerCo’s fault your state laws suck. I salute SilencerCo for the out of the box thinking.
Oooh, but while I’m on the topic of state laws, I love this thing.
Why do I love this rifle? I’ve never shot it, don’t know much about how it works, and will probably never own one, BUT I love it because it is telling California to go to hell.
When I posted that on FB, some screechy Concern Trolls showed up and they were all like “How dare you tell a whole state to go to hell! What’s wrong with you? Harrumph! Harrumph!” (okay, I might have added the harrumphs).
For the humor impaired, let me explain what this is, and why it is awesome.
That’s a KelTec ambidextrous bullpup rifle that is designed to take standard 30 round magazines. Cool, right? No. Because California’s ruling class hates its people, it has made their laws so ridiculous and onerous that it is almost impossible to comply. They’ve got all these absurd rules where you can’t have this part, or that part because it is scary, or this other thing that is super scary (that most everybody else in sane America can purchase and nobody cares) so KelTec made this thing that complies with the letter of every single law… Which is certain to cause California politicians fits of apoplexy because you know it certainly violates the spirit of the law. I believe said spirit is “Screw you, peasants. Only my bodyguards and Leland Yee’s gangster pals should have guns!”
So no, you humorless dolts. I’m not telling the people of California to go to hell. My people are telling the asinine government of California to go to hell. Huge difference.
Now, pragmatically speaking, it is actually way more comfortable to hold than it looks. You just go side thumb, resting along your hand, rather than putting your thumb over the grip like you would on a normal stock, and then take up a normal shooting stance.
What else… Oh man, there are so many black rifle companies now it is crazy. I couldn’t keep up with all of them.
Chiappa Rhino. I looked at this thing on behalf of the HIll brothers.
Frankly, I don’t get it. It’s weird, and kind of cool. I suppose I’d get one for kicks and giggles if I was really in a revolver mood. But for my mutant hands it feels too small and feels kind of pinched.
On the topic of revolvers, everybody was talking about Kimber’s new revolver. Eh… Again, I’m not enough of a revolver guy to form a coherent opinion. It felt nice, looked good, seemed pretty well built. Trigger was Smith like. Even though it was 6 shot instead of 5 it felt like it was about the same size as a Ruger SP101. But the SP is a tank of a 5 shot. I have a friend who has put over a hundred thousand rounds of full pop .357 through a single SP, and I’m not exaggerating that number, and it is still going.
So is the Kimber worth it? Beats me. That’s one for the revolver guys.
Walther’s new .45? It felt great. My wife carries a PPQ sometimes, so I was over there to check out the compact for her. The .45 looks like a real winner.
This was the first time I looked at the Sig 320 series. I actually really liked them. I hated the 250 series when it came out, but I’ve heard good things about these. The 250 struck me as cheesy, and it felt cheap. Especially since I had a 226 Tactical that was my suppressor demo gun, that I’d shot the hell out of, and it was a beast. The 250 just felt disappointing next to it. Plus the original double action trigger was light, but sooooooooooooo long. The 320s feel like a well put together piece with a trigger you could actually use.
The Ruger American pistol… To me it felt kind of like a skinnier stretched out Glock. Trigger was Glock like. Overall, it feels like a pretty well put together pistol. I don’t know what they’re selling for, but if it is Ruger prices (reasonably cheap), the way it feels, if it shoots good I imagine they are going to sell tons of them.
That double barreled pump action 12 gauge? It isn’t for me. That’s not to knock them. You might love it. Me? I’ve got approximately 150,000 rounds through various Remington 870s. I’m really, really, really fast with a pump shotgun (or used to be, before the writer thing killed my competition shooting time) so shoot-shoot-pump when I’m used to shoot-pump is something my brain is never going to overcome. It certainly feels robust.
What else? There’s a new lever action shotgun design, but I was rushing off to a meeting and only looked at it for a minute. I forgot to take a picture. Not my thing, but that was for Mike Kupari. He’s got this weird lever action shotgun fixation.
Century is importing a Turkish pistol called the Canik(?) I think that’s what it is called. It appears to be based on the Walther P99, and feels surprisingly good. I’m not familiar with this one at all, but depending on what it costs it could be something for people to check out. I’m so out of the loop about what is new nowadays.
The Kalashnikov guys were showing off a prototype called the AK Alfa. No idea what is going on with it, but it is a sexy AK.
And I found our Illuminati gun for the next Dead Six novel (coming in October). Remember that Swiss company B&T and their groovy little MP9? (love that little gun by the way). They’ve got another line of rifles and larger subguns.
No idea what they’re going for, was rushing past in a hurry to get to something else, but tell me that thing doesn’t just scream Montalban security forces gun.
SHOT was, as usual, exhausting. There is just something about walking for miles around a trade show that sucks the energy right out of you. It’s just this never ending sea of cool stuff to play with, and interesting people to talk to. Having worked a bunch of SHOT Shows as both a booth monkey and as a dealer doing all his big purchases for the year, going as a minor celebrity doing “research” is the best way to go. 🙂
