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.
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