{"id":3498,"date":"2016-01-22T12:46:28","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T16:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/?p=3498"},"modified":"2016-01-22T12:46:28","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T16:46:28","slug":"shot-show-2016-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/shot-show-2016-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"SHOT SHOW 2016, PART 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog reader Jim Burke asked about the new Honor Guard, an 8+1 shot 9mm subcompact pistol with polymer frame. I spent some time today with the gun and its maker, Gary Ramey, and with some folks who unlike me were able to test-fire it on Media Day.\u00a0 All looks good so far. I\u2019ll be getting one to test for American Handgunner magazine.\u00a0 Nighthawk Custom has its first Browning Hi-Power, made specially for them by Browning and then given Nighthawk\u2019s own Cadillac\/Ferrari upgrade. Trigger pull is excellent, and Nighthawk\u2019s Shawn Armstrong assures me it is drop-safe, unlike early High Powers.\u00a0 The frames are made by Browning WITHOUT the usual magazine disconnector, which a lot of American pistoleros hate.\u00a0 Removing it from the gun allows an unscrupulous prosecutor to claim, \u201cLadies and gentlemen of the jury, for you to convict the defendant of manslaughter, you have to believe he acted recklessly with his gun. You have seen the proof: he deactivates the safety devices on deadly weapons!\u201d <\/em>With this <\/em>particular Browning, it came from the factory without that feature, and while I didn\u2019t tear down the one on display to examine it, Shawn told me the mag disconnector safety can\u2019t be retrofitted. Therefore, that blood is out of the water should you come to trial for an action involving this pistol. I have an assignment to test this one for American Handgunner too, and am looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-7\"<\/a>
Gary Ramey, president of Honor Defense LLC, shows Mas his Honor Guard pistol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SHOT_4-8\"<\/a>
This is the trigger system (“chassis”) of the Honor Guard pistol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SHOT_4-1\"
Smith & Wesson’s new Victory .22 target pistol gave a good first impression.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith & Wesson\u2019s new Victory model .22 looks<\/em> like one of their low-priced plinkers,
\nbut the S&W rep I talked to swears that from a machine rest, it shoots like their bigger, heavier, and justly famous Model 41 precision target pistol that has been winning championships since 1957. In the hand, it feels more solid than it looks, and reminds me of the pre-war Colt Woodsman. Trigger is surprisingly good and, for a truly match-grade pistol, price is surprisingly low. I want to spend more time with this pistol.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-2\"<\/a>
Sample Victory .22’s trigger pull was nice, and overall “feel” was reminiscent of the classic early Colt Woodsman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, though, the hit handgun of the show is one I\u2019ve asked Springfield Armory for since they introduced the 9mm EMP a decade or more ago. The Enhanced Micro Pistol is a tiny gun that shoots 2\u201d groups, and was scaled down from the original 1911 design to fit the overall length of the 9mm cartridge, which made it the first 1911 9mm that could be counted on to feed reliably out of the box. \u00a0Mine became an often-carried favorite of mine, until it was torn away from me by my evil girlfiend<\/span> became a token of love that now belongs to my sweetie, the only such pistol owned by a Princess of Polymer Pistols infamous in shooting circles for her anti-1911 rants. It won me several IDPA BUG (Back-Up Gun) matches, and at least one IDPA match in the Enhanced Service Pistol division against full size, tricked out 1911s, long barrel Glock 34s, etc.\u00a0 Back then, I implored Williams to make one with a longer slide for more advantageous sight radius, and a longer grip-frame to extend the 9+1 magazine capacity to 10+1, the maximum allowed in IDPA. That request has been answered this year with the EMP4, whose configuration now resembles a slightly thinner Colt Commander.\u00a0 This is the one gun I\u2019ve seen here that gets my \u201cMost Likely I\u2019m Going To End Up Owning One\u201d award if it turns out to shoot as good as it looks. The smaller grip frame and shorter trigger reach makes us average-size guys feel like a six-foot-four John Wayne holding a regular 1911 .45, but it ain\u2019t about machismo: it\u2019s about getting more flesh and bone wrapped around the grip to stabilize the gun, and more finger into the trigger guard to give more leverage for fast, sure trigger-pulling.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-5\"<\/a>
Springfield Armory EMP4, left, is only slightly larger than the proven EMP, right, but holds one more round and offers a longer sight radius.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-4\"<\/a>
Left, Springfield EMP; right, its new companion gun, the EMP4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On other fronts, I missed meeting gun expert Richard Mann, for whose work I have a lot of respect, at the Galco booth. However, Galco\u2019s Mike Barham showed me the new sling Richard designed, appropriately called the RifleMann sling.\u00a0 In can be used as a hasty sling, of course, but also more or less like a marksman\u2019s sling, and<\/em> like the Ching Sling popularized by the late, great Jeff Cooper. What particularly intrigues me is that the sling can be quickly locked onto the shooting arm instead of the support arm, which could be a game-changer in certain awkward or disadvantaged positions. I\u2019m getting one. Or two. Or three\u2026<\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-3\"<\/a>
Galco’s Mike Barham shows the solidity of new RifleMann sling, which can be applied to the firing arm instead of the support arm if user chooses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SHOT_4-6\"<\/a>
One pair in hand and one pair on, a 5.11 staffer demonstrates the already infamous Tactical Yoga Pants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And, finally, in the matter of the 5.11 Tactical Yoga Pants: I am ordering a pair, which will be tested by my beautiful surrogate stepdaughter, a second degree TKD black belt and pistol-packing ex-Marine. One blog reader who will remain nameless, and whose twisted sense of humor is frighteningly like my own, suggested that I model a pair. A much more suitable model is depicted in the attached photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog reader Jim Burke asked about the new Honor Guard, an 8+1 shot 9mm subcompact pistol with polymer frame. I spent some time today with the gun and its maker, Gary Ramey, and with some folks who unlike me were able to test-fire it on Media Day.\u00a0 All looks good so far. I\u2019ll be getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}