NRA Annual Meeting/Exhibition

General General Discussion
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Just spent most of the day at the Pittsburgh convention center and will be heading back tomorrow.

Completely awesome, it was like a mini shot show except not as comprehensive and quite a bit more relaxed.

Highlights:

The closest thing to a star struck moment I ever had. Got to meet and chat for a bit about long distance shooting with John Plaster. I was a bit tongue tied at first but he put me right at ease…A hell of a nice guy who gave me some good information about .338LM. Squeeee! (yeah I know kind of ghey but still it was John Plaster).

Guns that interested me:

Walther booth, got to handle/fondle the PPQ. The trigger is excellent (somewhere between Glock and M&P) but with very positive reset. The gun fits the hand perfectly. Honestly I’m sold on Walther. HK quality at a more reasonable price. I’m definitely in the market for the PPQ/PPS. Definite buy.

HK lots of similarities in terms of the grip with Walther, both had that ergonomic feel. Didn’t like the trigger on the HK45C or P30 as much as I did on the PPQ but all told quite nice. If I buy another .45ACP (sold my other ones) it’s going to be an HK45C though there isn’t really much that’s “compact” about it except by comparison to the HK45. I’ve owned and sold several USPs but the HK45/P30 are much more reasonable in terms of size. It’s a very elegant handgun. Probable buy.

Benelli, yeah I’m getting an M2. M4 is nice but I prefer the ability to throw on a bird barrel. All told the rep was very helpful in answering questions. I really like that shotgun. Eventual buy

Kimber had some nice stuff. The Solo is an interesting concept and very small/compact…maybe too small. There is a weird proprietary issue with the barrel where there is no bushing it’s very loose tolerances inside the gun (it would rattle if you pulled the slide back and shook the gun). I asked the rep if that was normal and she said it was. The highlight for me was the hunting rifles. Very light weight and manageable…now if they only made a carbine/scout version. Eventual buy.

Ruger, I played with the Scout rifle and it’s a very light, handy rifle. I like the concept and execution thought I’m not sold on the scope mounted so far forward. The downside of moving it back is that you might have to remove the rear sight. It would make an excellent truck/field gun. Probable buy.

FNH, SCAR 17 goodness. awesome, very light for .308, easily 4-5 lbs lighter than my FALs. I’ll be waiting until the price comes down on these but genuinely an awesome gun. Very nice trigger. Eventual buy.

.338LM rifles - I’m not sure where I want to go with these. I checked out the Remington, Barrett and Savage offerings. The Remmy was somewhat standard. The Barrett was very light weight and manageable, the Savage was more heavy and seemed more rugged than the Barrett but I’m not a fan of the magazines. I’ve long since caught the long distance bug and .338 seems to be what I want I’m just not sure where to go yet.

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Did you happen to ask a rep on when the PPQ will start shipping to dealers?

Thanks

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I did but he was kind of vague, “in the next few weeks” was the answer I got.

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Did they give you any idea as to pricing on the PPQ?

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MSRP for the standard model was $729, so I presume you can knock about 10-20% off that.

They had models with threaded barrels that were about $820 and a few in between.

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Update from today’s show. The PPQ are shipping now according to a more knowledgeable rep. Tactical version shipping late May.

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I had a good time walking through, although doesn’t hold a candle to Shot.

Geissele- makes some really nice triggers. I particularly liked the SSAE and never gave much thought to replacing factory triggers, until now.

Vortex PST 1-4 looks to be about the best bang for your buck 1-4. good eye relief, lightweight, good fov. I need another rifle to mount one on.

The Leatherwood CMR 1-4 isn’t bad if you’re really limited with money.

The Leupold Hamr is nice and clear but a little pricey. The new CMR-2 reticle is nice on that and the 1.5-5 MRT.

I wasn’t really impressed with Nightforce except for the size of their 1-4.

Fondled the Larue OBR 7.62 and picked up a green NRA dillo. I really wish we could hunt with semi’s in PA b/c that really kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Adcor Bear? new freefloating piston design. I don’t have a need for a piston and know notihng about them but looked anyways. It’s very light weight. The bolt carrier and the upper seem to have really tight fit that looks like it will eliminate carrier tilt but I would be unsure if that tight fit could withstand dit, grime and mud. I guess only tests will tell and it sounds like he wants to submit to the military for testing.

Waited in line 90 minutes for an autograph and get my pic taken with R Lee Ermey at the end of the day. As you can see I really wanted to fondle optics that I most likley would never be able to without buying. I held them all up toward the skylight to get an idea of daytime washout. They all pretty much washed out but were all still useable.