Firearms Friday: New Products For The Wish List

This past weekend the NRA held their annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky during which a number of manufacturers announced new products… or at least had the first iterations of current innovations on display. It is one of those times in the year, along with Shot Show, when I look through the reports and reviews from the event, as well as those announcements from the beginning of the year, and slowly build a list in my head of all the new items that I would like to buy. Unfortunately, this is pretty much where things end as I am not one to run to the store and spend thousands of dollars to have the latest and greatest that the industry has to offer.

That being said there are a number of new firearms that pique my interest and I am curious to see what the reviews will be like and it they gain in popularity over the next year. If you take into account all the new firearms hitting the shelves this would be an absurdly long post so, for the sake of brevity, I will focus on the handguns that caught my attention. This year, that list includes full size versions of the Canik TP-9, Sphinx SDP Standard (accepts Glock 17 magazines!), and the competition ready CZ 75 TS. Of course, there have also been some brand new pistols that I am eager to see in my local shop which include the relaunch of the Llama 1911, Heizer Defense PKO, Honor Defense 9 mm, SCCY Industries CPX-3 (the .380 version of the popular budget pistol), the Schmeisser SLP-9, and, of course, the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in .45 ACP.

Magnum Research will also have a light weight Desert Eagle in .357 magnum available this year but I am choosing not to expound upon that mistake. Oddly enough, the ones that I am most curious about are the Llama, Sphinx, Heizer, Honor Guard, and Schmeisser. Given those four, here are some of my thoughts:

• The Llama was always a budget friendly option in the past that offered descent quality and I want to see if that has been carried over into this current incarnation of the, some would say, venerable line.

• Heizer is bringing to market a semi-automatic firearm that has evolved from the success of their derringer style handguns… this could be a huge success or completely miss the mark.

• Schmeisser is a completely new company to me and I am always fascinated to see what the adoption of a new manufacture is early on and the level of quality that they are able to provide during their first few years on the market. At first glance, the pistol seems to be a hybrid between many of the striker fired handguns currently thriving in the market. The question is whether this is the right combination of features from those popular pistols. The Honor Defense 9mm would also fall into this with a slightly different look which combines the features and aesthetics from other manufacturers.

• Sphinx continues to have a great reputation and they have definitely earned it with the quality firearms that they have produced. However, they remain well above average with regard to price point and I am curious to see what kind of deterrent that will continue to be in the marketplace. That being said, there is a luxury afforded to the owner about being able to use standard Glock magazines and one that can potentially save the shooter a good deal of money in the long run.

In the end, it should be another interesting year for the firearms industry (not including the presidential race) and one that could provide some notable developments as well as returns to prominence. And while most of us can’t afford the $4.5 million dollar price tag of the Cabot Guns meteor 1911s, there are plenty of affordable options new to the market as well as some interesting new incarnations that will provide us with some different and sometimes unique range experiences. Whether or not these new products will be a success is an entirely different question altogether. Of course, the most important thing to remember this year is that our right to enjoy this sport, our right to self-defense, our right to own these tools is more important than ever and this industry will not thrive without our support, activism, and willingness to defend our rights.

Firearms Friday: Pennsylvania Pride

Last week I came across a post on The Firearm Blog about a new handgun that was being introduced to the marketplace. Produced by Evans Machining, Nite Owl Firearms is only the most recent firearm to come out of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The new offering from my state joins a long list of manufactures that call Pennsylvania home. Here is a list of some of the companies that are producing high quality items:

Nite Owl Firearms / Evans Machining Services (Clairton): http://niteowlfirearms.com/

Evans Machining Service Inc. has over 35 years of experience in the manufacturing sector and a long history of producing key components and assemblies for all types of small weapon systems for the United States Department of Defense. With the launch of the consumer facing brand "Nite Owl Firearms", their vision is to be recognized as the most modern, reliable and customer friendly manufacturing company in the Outdoor & Personal Defense Industry.

IWI (Israel Weapon Industries) US Headquarters (Harrisburg): http://iwi.us/

IWI US, Inc. is a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., which for many years has operated in the global Defense and Law Enforcement markets. IWI US, Inc. was established in 2012 in order to offer the highest quality and most advanced products available - as well as to provide a high level of service and support for American consumers. Located in Harrisburg, PA, IWI US has appointed a very experienced team of senior managers to oversee its operations in the US market. The IWI US line of products includes several configurations of the TAVOR® SAR, GALIL ACE®, UZI® PRO and Jericho® pistols.

Kahr Arms / Magnum Research / Thompson / Auto-Ordnance (Pike County): http://www.kahr.com/

 Kahr Arms, an innovative firearms manufacturer, was founded on fifteen years of manufacturing service in precision metalworking industries. Kahr incorporates the inherited professional, technical expertise into all of its operations. Kahr's parent company, established in 1981, has been a leading supplier of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools and applications engineering. In 1986, the company expanded by forming a manufacturing division which provides quality contract machining, manufacturing and assembly services for diverse industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical equipment, scientific instrumentation and telecommunications. This division offers in-house engineering and precision tooling services, as well as, secondary operations that complement the machining and manufacturing capabilities.

Cabot Guns (Cabot): http://www.cabotguns.com/

Cabot Guns is collaboration between Cabot Guns and Penn United Technologies Inc., a world-leading precision manufacturer. Together they design, build, and market seven model 1911 handguns. Cabot Guns are machined from solid blocks of 4140 billet steel to within tolerances of 2/10,000th of an inch. Cabot believes our frames and slides are the most highly-engineered components ever made for a 1911. Penn United Technologies' proprietary technology allows the frame and slide of a Cabot 1911 to be completely interchangeable with other Cabot 1911 frames and slides. This is unheard of in our industry. Cabot Pistols exceed National Match Standards for accuracy right out of the box.

Geissele Automatics (North Wales): http://geissele.com/

Geissele Automatics was established in 2004 as a manufacturer of trigger mechanisms for the AR15 rifle. Our first trigger, the Hi-Speed National Match, was designed by our Founder, Bill Geissele, for CMP and NRA Hi-Power Rifle competition. Although designed for target shooting, the Geissele Hi-Speed trigger was found by the U.S. Military to have applications in semi-automatic sniper weapons. In 2005 Geissele Automatics received a request from the Department of Defense: "Can you build us a select-fire trigger that is as good as your Hi-Speed?" In response, Bill designed the Geissele Super Select-Fire trigger (SSF). After rigorous testing the SSF was adopted by entities in the U.S. Special Operations community and has become their trigger of choice for M4 carbine based weapons. A derivative of the SSF trigger was developed to meet the needs of law enforcement and civilians who do not need select-fire capability. This trigger, the Super Semi-Automatic (SSA,) combines stellar performance with the safety, reliability and forgiveness for which 2 stage triggers are known.

While Pennsylvania remains a second amendment friendly state and gun owners across the commonwealth are now able to legally defend their rights, it remains important that we hold fast to our tradition and continue to produce industry leading firearms and accessories. While we carry the northern stigma from those that surround us, we remain far different from our neighbors and embrace the rights that every citizen should have. We are dedicated to supporting individual rights and, despite recent political turnover, those rights will continue to flourish in this great commonwealth.