http://youtu.be/wx_PvlE9o7k
Dan and I got a tour of the new-for-2015 products from S&W and Thompson/Center. Details in the video above, and a few photos follow. . .
S&W
S&W Share Price Jumps 18%, WSJ Blames ‘Paranoia’
“Everybody needs money,” Danny DeVito sneers at Gene Hackman in David Mamet’s classic movie Heist, “That’s why they call it ‘money.'” If Smith & Wesson is making ‘money’ hand over fist these days, why won’t the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch blog show them some love? Their headline? “Smith & Wesson’s Future Depends On Continued Paranoia.” This puzzles me, because last I checked the WSJ hadn’t waded into the blue state/red state debate. As capitalists, the only color they’re supposed to care about is green . . .
Old From Smith & Wesson: Model 66 Revisited
Smith & Wesson is bringing back the well-loved, if not outrageously over-engineered, Model 66 ‘Combat Magnum’ for 2014. The original Model 66 has been out of production for nine years, which apparently has whetted shooters’ appetites enough to justify a new production run . . .
New From Smith & Wesson: Model 69 L-Frame .44 Magnum
I’ve long wanted a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, but the considerable size and heft of their marvelous Model 29 and 629 revolvers have been among the factors that have kept me from ever owning one. S&W’s engineers have put the mighty .44 Magnum cartridge on a diet, and shoehorned it into their medium-large L frame. They had to shed one round to make it work, but the 5-round Model 69 should be an ideal wilderness sidearm for hunters and fishermen . . .
New From S&W: M&P C.O.R.E. 9mm
The M&P “Combat Optics Ready Equipment” version features a worked-over 4.5 pound trigger (slicker than buttered Teflon), and raised iron sights to allow co-witnessing with mini red-dot sights like the Trijicon RMR shown here. The slide also has a factory cutout and five adapter plates so you can mount the mini red-dot of your choice. Now … Read more
Gear Review: Elite Iron CQC 1 Tactical Muzzle Brake
As a resident of Big Sky Country I am constantly running into native companies that are making some very nice firearms products. Recently I came across one of these firms while chatting up a professional varmint hunter who was taking one of the courses I teach. At the end of the day he pulled out his custom AR-15 complete with a very nice looking silencer threaded on the muzzle. Having chronic and severe silencer envy (I blame Nick), I immediately started drooling. However, what really fascinated me was underneath the silencer. It was threaded on a beautiful looking flash hider that also came with a separate flash hider/muzzle brake combo which threaded on the same way as the silencer. I was in the market for a new muzzle device so I called up Elite Iron in Potomac, MT to get the low down on their products . . .
Question of the Day: If Guns Kill People, Why Aren’t Prisons Filled With Guns?
I mean…wouldn’t that solve the problem?
I need a new wingman…uh…Wingmaster.
In my continuing effort to come up with a workable home defense strategy, some time back I bought a shotgun. Actually, let me be more specific. Sometime ago, I bought a shotgun to keep a borderline-homicidal, certifiably-crazy, martial-arts expert former roommate of mine from killing me. Curious? Well it was a curious story, and bears directly on my sad personal history with shotguns. To wit…
.38 Special Comparison: 3rd Place – Taurus Model 85
It just so happens that three extremely-representative samples of these guns live in the nightstands of people in my family. My dad (who used to serve warrants as a part-time constable) owns probably the newest of these – the very-mainstream Taurus Model 85. My mom (a former Justice of the Peace who issued the warrants dad served) owns the original-and-even-more-ubiquitous Smith & Wesson Model 36. And last but not least, my 82-year-old grandmother packs in her pajama drawer one of the most premium small .38s ever produced – the iconic Colt Cobra, a derivative of the famous Colt Detective Special.
