drmitchgibson
The white Morgan Freeman
Some impressions:
I wasn't interested in shooting very many of the offerings, and was disappointed a little that Glock didn't show up this time. I tried out a CZ75 SP-01 Shadow, and seemed like a fantastic shooter's pistol with the exception that the slide was tough to get a grip on. I wouldn't buy one just because of that.
The HK P30 in .40S&W has an amazing grip, maybe perfect, but either the recoil spring was completely worn out on the one I shot, or was a POS design. It was like 450in/lbs of torque furiously and needlessly hammering my forearm, not at all like any other .40S&W I've ever shot. Doesn't have the absurd o-ring. Also, $1000 can buy so much more.
The Springfield XD 5.25 was the best non-STI shooter there, but the slide release tab sat right under my thumb, and with the grip I practice the slide would not lock open. Really kind of douchey on an otherwise fine shooter. They were just released for regular sale this week.
I finally got a chance to shoot the STI GP5, which I've seen as more of a curio until now. Great product, fantastic trigger. I'd buy one straight up. Also shot the Sentry, because my brother said Cyrwus' single-stack is a Sentry, and also because I hadn't yet shot an STI single-stack. It was super-smooth, a 9mm version, but the trigger was too heavy and had enough over-travel to drag my nonchalant POI about 3" low for the group.
Every single gun (3 or 4) I picked up at the Para table was a piece of ****ing elephant dung. The LDA hammers were jamming, the SA guns I picked up wouldn't drop the slide with a mag inserted. My brother was manning the Para table and I was going to use a ticket for one since he was there, but he tried to talk me out of it as soon as I walked up. I'd have been drastically less disgusted if I'd just turned away when he told me to.
In lieu of the Para guns, he poked the Browning guy next to us, and had him give me the Browning 1911 in .22LR. That was one sweet-ass gun. Stock GI in design with some small differences, but scaled way down. It was tough to shoot without getting hammer bite, but it was extremely accurate, and oddly comfortable to hold. They aren't available yet, but Browning is taking orders.
Did the S&W TR8, the eight-shot 38/.357 Scandium-frame revolver. Bad to the bone, but tough for me to get used to a revolver grip. Great gun, especially for a well-used demo. I was seriously disappointed S&W did not bring 1911s. That was a really poor choice in 1911 country. The Walther P99 shot really well, better than most. Ergonomics were great, the mag release is a flimsy and friction-ridden piece of garbage.
The Looper Leather people have apparently become business partners with Blade-Tech. Their offerings were good, and the leather/kydex hybrid holsters almost gave me a gun-boner. I picked up a Looper IWB for my EMP, and found out that you can order Blade-Tech parts, which I didn't know before, so I also bought a DOH attachment for my ARS holster. Hopefully this will prevent my near whole-body/shoulder shuffle I have to do to get my hand over the grip when I'm drawing at speed. All the Blade-Tech and Looper products are 20% off while the expo is going on. It ends tonight.
I wasn't interested in shooting very many of the offerings, and was disappointed a little that Glock didn't show up this time. I tried out a CZ75 SP-01 Shadow, and seemed like a fantastic shooter's pistol with the exception that the slide was tough to get a grip on. I wouldn't buy one just because of that.
The HK P30 in .40S&W has an amazing grip, maybe perfect, but either the recoil spring was completely worn out on the one I shot, or was a POS design. It was like 450in/lbs of torque furiously and needlessly hammering my forearm, not at all like any other .40S&W I've ever shot. Doesn't have the absurd o-ring. Also, $1000 can buy so much more.
The Springfield XD 5.25 was the best non-STI shooter there, but the slide release tab sat right under my thumb, and with the grip I practice the slide would not lock open. Really kind of douchey on an otherwise fine shooter. They were just released for regular sale this week.
I finally got a chance to shoot the STI GP5, which I've seen as more of a curio until now. Great product, fantastic trigger. I'd buy one straight up. Also shot the Sentry, because my brother said Cyrwus' single-stack is a Sentry, and also because I hadn't yet shot an STI single-stack. It was super-smooth, a 9mm version, but the trigger was too heavy and had enough over-travel to drag my nonchalant POI about 3" low for the group.
Every single gun (3 or 4) I picked up at the Para table was a piece of ****ing elephant dung. The LDA hammers were jamming, the SA guns I picked up wouldn't drop the slide with a mag inserted. My brother was manning the Para table and I was going to use a ticket for one since he was there, but he tried to talk me out of it as soon as I walked up. I'd have been drastically less disgusted if I'd just turned away when he told me to.
In lieu of the Para guns, he poked the Browning guy next to us, and had him give me the Browning 1911 in .22LR. That was one sweet-ass gun. Stock GI in design with some small differences, but scaled way down. It was tough to shoot without getting hammer bite, but it was extremely accurate, and oddly comfortable to hold. They aren't available yet, but Browning is taking orders.
Did the S&W TR8, the eight-shot 38/.357 Scandium-frame revolver. Bad to the bone, but tough for me to get used to a revolver grip. Great gun, especially for a well-used demo. I was seriously disappointed S&W did not bring 1911s. That was a really poor choice in 1911 country. The Walther P99 shot really well, better than most. Ergonomics were great, the mag release is a flimsy and friction-ridden piece of garbage.
The Looper Leather people have apparently become business partners with Blade-Tech. Their offerings were good, and the leather/kydex hybrid holsters almost gave me a gun-boner. I picked up a Looper IWB for my EMP, and found out that you can order Blade-Tech parts, which I didn't know before, so I also bought a DOH attachment for my ARS holster. Hopefully this will prevent my near whole-body/shoulder shuffle I have to do to get my hand over the grip when I'm drawing at speed. All the Blade-Tech and Looper products are 20% off while the expo is going on. It ends tonight.
