Gun Nuts

Every year at SHOT, I’ll invariably be told by people that I have to see product X at some booth because it’s totally incredible and will melt my brain and change the way I think about something or another. That’s usually not the case, however at SHOT 2014 when I received a text from GunUp the Magazine’s managing editor Shelley Rae, I was quite interested in the product.

Shelley had sent me a picture of the grip pictured above, the new Delta grip from ERGO. My first thought was “what in the actual…” because let’s be honest, it’s not going to win any beauty competitions. It looks like a big black potato has attached itself to that poor j-frame, and your initial impulse is to just laugh and walk away. That lasted right up until I picked it up and went “ohhhhh, that’s what they’re trying to do.”

The point of the Delta grip is that it changes the way you interact with the grips on your defensive revolver. Instead of a small grip with not a lot of purchase area, the Delta gives you

Do want. Can not have. Makes me sad. The HK416 in FDE with a happy switch.

Shot Show 2014 is in the books, and it was a crazy year. This was my 7th SHOT Show, and for me it continued the trend started in 2012 of seeing less product, and spending more time behind the curtain. Looking back on the show, a few things did however stick out for me.

The Remington R51 is going to sell like hotcakes
Despite the fact that it is actually a lot bigger than I’d been led to expect, the R51 is going to sell. On Friday, when things are normally pretty laid back, there was still a crowd at the Remington display surrounding the gun. With its street price point of $350ish, lots of people will buy it just because it’s affordable. It doesn’t matter if the gun works as well as the Shield or not, it’s going to sell.

The Glock 42 will also sell well
Initially, I didn’t think the Glock 42 would be a big hit. Then at the Show, word on the street about their actual retail price point hit. According to Glock rep

For a few years now, I have held out on joining the NRA because, while I supported some of their programs, I didn’t feel comfortable being aligned with others. Then, after a year of discussion with members, I realized there were ways to join, while sticking to my guns, so to speak.

I decided to take the plunge and SHOTShow seemed like the best place to do it. Here’s how it went down:

I spent a lot of time on the road. Last year, I logged over 90 nights in hotels, over 50,000 air miles, and racked up rental car points like a pro. I had a request from a reader to put up a post talking about traveling with guns, so here is our best attempt. Please note that any interpretations of laws are not legal advice, because I’m not a lawyer.

Step 1: The TSA
It is absolutely, 100% legal for you to fly on a commercial airline with firearms in your checked luggage. It is also absolutely legal for that same checked luggage to contain both firearms and ammunition, so long as the guns aren’t loaded and the ammo is packed in either factory packaging or a container designed to transport ammo.

To check a gun on a major domestic carrier, you must have the gun secured in a locked, hard sided container. There are two types of locked containers: a smaller locked case inside a regular suitcase, or a rifle/pistol case which is locked on the outside and contains primarily your guns and ammunition. Their are advantages to both methods. I generally recommend having your locked case inside another regular looking suitcase. Secure the gun case with a lock to which only you have the key/combination and then lock your regular bag with a TSA lock to prevent tampering by airline employees.

One of the cooler guns from Shot Show this is the new Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 9mm. It’s been flying under the radar a bit this week, overshadowed by the new four inch XDs. We’re big fans of the RO line from Springfield, it’s a lot of gun from a reputable maker for not a lot of money. We also like 9mm 1911s a lot, because they’re amazing to shoot. We think the Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 9mm is going to be a big hit.

Last year at Media Day at the Range, I made a bee line for Springfield’s bay where I fell hard for the XDs 9mm. Truth be told, I was primed to love the 9, since I had been very impressed with the 45 months earlier. This year I wasn’t expecting any major announcements, but what I found may become the sleeper success of 2014. Meet the XDs 9mm 4.0. In comparison to last year’s release, the 3.3, this one has a longer barrel… (4.0″ vs. the original 3.3″) That’s about it. But, as we all know, that really isn’t it, that’s actually the tip of the iceberg.

While a nice slim body still makes the XDs highly concealable, the longer barrel brings more accuracy and the longer sight picture gives, well, even more accuracy. I still love the standard red fiber optic front sight, and the trigger is crisp (the right trigger for a CCW), but now a pinky extension on one of the two included magazines, turns the 4.0 into much more. I know we always say, “the right tool for he right job,” but I think Springfield may have actually killed t

As you can tell from the other coverage here on the Gun Nuts site, this week is the annual SHOT show, where the firearms industry shows off their latest and greatest wares for large buyers and the gun media. I like learning about the new stuff as much as anyone else, but I like some of the old stuff even more…especially when that old stuff is belt-fed.

Getting some trigger time on the spectacular MG-34

In last week’s post I gave a brief rundown on the unique Lewis gun, arguably the first successful man-portable machineguns. Today let’s look at the machinegun that was arguably (because everything about history can be argued) the first to fully realize the machinegun’s potential on the battlefield and in modern warfare: The MG-34.

The Treaty of Versailles placed heavy restrictions on Germany’s manufacture of weapons after World War I, but like every other gun control effort in history it did precisely

New from Lancer this year is the L30, their new dedicated .308 rifle. This particular model is the Designated Marksman configuration, so it comes from the box with an 18 inch barrel and full rail for mounting the scope of your choice.

Earlier this year, Smith & Wesson announced two new 9mm revolvers. First announced was the 929 Performance Center gun, an 8-shot N-frame revolver designed with input from Jerry Miculek. Today we’re doing a review of the Smith & Wesson 986, the second gun announced. The 986 is a seven shot 9mm on S&W’s L-frame, which means that holsters for you other L-frame guns like the 686 will work for this.

The 986 features a five inch barrel, titanium cylinder, patridge front sight, adjustable target rear sights, and of course is cut for moonclips. The DA trigger is heavy but smooth, exactly what I expect from a Pro Series revolver. There is no grit, creep, or stacking whatsoever, making DA shots pretty easy even with the factory trigger. The SA trigger is light and crisp, again exactly what I’d expect from a Pro Series gun.

What I like
It’s accurate and easy to shoot. The S&W guys let me shoot way more of their ammo than they should have, so I was able to get a solid idea of how well the gun runs. I could hit an IPSC torso target