Bill
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Poster: Bill @ Sat May 16, 2009 12:47 pm
Latewire was represented at the 2009 NRA show in Phoenix, Arizona. Crowds for the convention where incredible, and getting heavier long before the heavy hitting speakers and authors where due to show. This author was there for one reason only, to see the manufacturer's displays and was not disappointed. So here is a brief list of what caught my eye (not necessarily new for the year):
- Ruger - The biggest news is the launch of their entry into the AR market, the SR-556. Whoopty do. It appears to be a quality product, but there are already many makers of quality ARs especially for the whopping $2000 MSRP. Why not get the Mini series to not take proprietary magazines or restart the XGI (.308 Mini) program? For those of you keeping score, that brings the number of established manufactures releasing a AR line for the last two years up to six.
- EAA - Gun bunnies! How best to sell a bunch of Italian value line pistols and rifles? Why with models in t-shits and short shorts! I wouldn't have noticed their newish AK offering otherwise.
- Sig Sauer - The entry of their Sig 556 rifle was a bit rough to say the least. It would appear from the models on display that a good number of issues where addressed and ironed out. Here's hoping they put a dent in the AR clone market.
- Mossberg - Mossberg enters the semi-auto shotgun market with the 930, and I am very impressed as it had a decent trigger pull and quality optics.
- Bushmaster - Bushmaster releases a .50BMG... it's for plinking, right?
- FN - The big thing out this year is their fantastic FN SCAR. Having played around with one, I'll give mad props to FN for bringing a new and quality product to the market.
- HK - HK had their full stable of small arms including their MP5 (stock,navy, and suppressed), PDW, UMP, and G36. Not that those where terribly new but they were fun to see.
- CZ - New polymer wonder nine this year! (Author goes cross-eyed.) In news that does not induce product-glut brain damage; CZ is trying to move their new manufacture Vz-58 as a competitor to the AK design. Good luck to them, but their price point at $950 seems a bit high.
- Patriot Ordnance Factory - How do you stand out as one of the thousand AR manufactures? With eXtreme displays. Seriously, they had carbines mock-ups mounted machinegun on a Hummer with full 411 eXtreme videos and literature. Easily the winner of the eXtreme marketing department. POF has brought a good number of products to the market that this author approves of, but come just because your major buyers are keyboard kommandos doesn't mean that you can't pretend to have some degree of decorum.
MIA: Kel-Tec - Kel-Tec didn't make the show, which is a shame as I was very much looking forward to fondling an RFB.
All in all the show was a blast, while I don't think that the NRA is the most competent of firearm advocacy groups, they are far away the largest. The one thing that I find bothersome about what's new is the standardization of firearm patterns, if trends continue there will be only 1911s, glock clones, and ARs.
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