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NRA Annual Meeting - Post your impressions, pics, etc.

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  • majormadmax

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    nra5868_zpsa7a8bd8d.jpg

    Best pic in the entire thread!
     

    Texasjack

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    There was some stuff on the 2nd floor besides the Wall of Guns, but not a lot. The only reason I toured it was because I got there early and was killing some time until the exhibition floor opened.

    BTW, I went today to cash in the ticket for a free Leupold hat at Carters Country. Carters - being Carters - had no hat and not really any idea what was going on. ("I don't know why they didn't just hand out the stupid hats at the show." Me - "Um, it was probably because it was advertising for Carters." Sales idiot - "Oh. Maybe so.") Anyway, they offered me a Beretta freebie bag, so I took that and was happy enough with it.

    Not any surprise, but Carters had no powder or useful primers at all.
     

    benenglish

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    Saturday, cont.

    Just Nice Guns

    I need to put in a section for those firearms that you hand to a buddy and they go "Nice gun!" There were plenty at the show.

    E. Arthur Brown had their falling block action in both rifle (the 97D)...

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    and pistol form. These pistols are legendary among pistol silhouette shooters for the fact that they originally offered super high value for the dollar. Over the years, the rights have moved on and prices have gone up but they're still simple, accurate, elegant shooting machines.

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    The Krieghoff pump rifle has been out for a while. It works backwards from other pumps. You slide the forend forward to eject a fired case, then rearward to chamber a new round. When you think of the way a rifle recoils this seems to be a more natural motion. They sure were neat.

    Here's the rifle closed, as it would be with a round chambered.

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    Here's the rifle fully open with the first half of the pumping action complete. Note that the entire mechanism, barrel and all, slides forward, exposing all the innards. For a second, I thought I was about to see a Transformer appear.

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    As long as conditions are good, this seems like a great pump rifle but I'm not sure I'd want to use it in the mud.

    OTOH, here's a close-up of one of Krieghoff's nice little stalking rifles. I can find nothing to criticize here.

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    Blaser offers a similar single-shot stalker with similarly amazing wood, engraving, and overall workmanship.

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    BTW, I got a definitive answer on how to pronounce the name. I've heard it was "Blazer", "Blouse-er", and "Blah-sir". According to the guy in the booth, it's "Blah-sir" with a fairly hard "ah" (or soft "au") sound in the middle, almost "Blau-sir".

    "Blah-sir" it is. It's their name so they get to dictate how to pronounce it.

    Next we have just your basic Accuracy International bolt gun. There's not much to say about them other than they work like they're supposed to. I could go on about "standard of the industry" and other such blather but, instead, I'll just post a pic.

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    Apparently you can now get a modular-chassis, bolt-action hog gun from Shilen, of all people. Who woulda thunk it?

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    I didn't even go into Doug Turnbull's booth. Everything with his name on it is too beautiful and too expensive for me to own. I just racked my lens to a telephoto focal length, took this picture from long distance, and kept moving. Temptation, get behind me!

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    Champion's Choice had a wall of the kind of pistols that win national and international championships. On the lower right is a Feinwerkbau AW93, the smallbore choice of our current National Champion in Conventional Pistol, Brian Zins. Middle left is a Walther SSP. The pistol is fairly new to the market; it's been dribbling out over the last few years but this is the first one I've seen in person. It's light and seems to me to potentially have better balance compared to Walther's previous standard-bearer, the GSP, seen at the lower left.

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    It's a personal pet peeve, I guess, but Walther thinks so little of the market for precision pistol in the U.S. that the actual Walther booth didn't have these guns on display and, when I asked, they didn't seem to know to direct me to Champion's Choice. That might explain why the SSPs have only been trickling out of the factory and I've never been able to find one at a show before now. Grrrr.
     

    Texasjack

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    Taya Kyle ('American Sniper' Chris Kyle's Widow) - 2013 NRA Annual Meetings - 2013.05.03


    If you do not shed tears please, turn off the world and do some soul searching.




    I watched her speech at the big screen TV at NRA's broadcast booth. There were at least 100 people standing around there. Not a dry eye in that group or in the auditorium. "...In case you think that evil doesn't exist in this world, I'm here to tell you that it does exist....."
     

    Acera

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    Not as impressed on second and third day with the Turnbull. Talked extensively to them the first and second day. Conversations on second day put them down on the priority list. They don't make the upper and lower, only do the finish and assembly (I can do that). The parkarized barrel with the military cut took a lot away from the rifle. We did talk to them about that and came up with a cost to upgrade to a straight, no M4 cut, barrel that is blued from the gas block forward. However, if we want a blued gas block, we will have to find and supply that ourselves.

    For the upgraded price (plus significant charge for better wood) and effort I will be looking for a supplier for the steel upper and lower along with a separate company to do the color case hardening on those parts. Figure I can come up with a better looking rifle for significant hundreds less.


    One thing I did have success in getting set up. Looks like we may have purchased two guns from the display of a large vendor. Had a couple of conversations with an executive of that company and got his cell phone and a time in the near future to call him about purchasing for a sizable discount two of the firearms from the show. These two guns are currently unavailable from the large distributors and back ordered for a while. Will not jinx it with telling what company or what guns, but they should be at our FFL in 5-6 weeks after going through their custom shop to have firing pins re-installed and cleaned up.

    Cabot is at the top of my shit list, damn them and that bad ass looking 1911. The wait for it to arrive is going to be hell for herself :)
     

    benenglish

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    Parts and Pieces

    Williams Gun Sight Company was there with a whole slew of sights and accessories. If you need iron sights for anything, Williams can help out. I've done business with them many times over the years and it's amazing how many times I've found they can provide a receiver sight for some odd rifle. Good people to deal with, too.

    Just look at all those sights in all those variations.

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    Speaking of interesting parts, pieces, and accessories, Champion Shooter Supply has all sorts of stuff for competitive shooters. Their catalog is one of those must-have items if you have ambitions at Camp Perry. And they have a great rep, to boot.

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    How much do I wish those bricks of Lapua .22LR were full? Quite a lot, actually.

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    Eley was there, too. The big news about Eley is that they've opened a sophisticated test range right here in Texas specifically to allow rimfire shooters to conduct lot testing. You can visit and do the tests yourself or you can send them your firearm and they'll test it. Once they've determined which lot of Tenex works best in your firearm, they guarantee availability of at least (iirc) half a case. (You had to agree to buy that much before you set up the testing appointment.) For folks who need the absolute best match of ammo to rifle or pistol, their testing range is the best option available to normal people who don't have the same fixtures and an underground range.

    Yes, Tenex is (almost) as expensive as gold. Then again, it always has been.

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    If you like 1911s and want to shoot .22s, Marvel Precision makes conversion kits. Actually, lots of people do. Further, more than one company makes Marvel kits; it's a licensing thing. The whole picture is too complex to outline here but, suffice it to say, if you want the most accurate 1911 in .22LR, work with your custom gunsmith and build a dedicated pistol around a good quality frame and Marvel parts. You'll be glad you did.

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    On the other hand, if you want to become a better pistol shot for very little money, the Izzy (IZH46), a Russian air pistol, is good enough to show you everything you're doing wrong for very little money. It's been a standard entry-level pistol for people who want to accomplish great things in pistol shooting competition for as long as I can remember. The price is surprisingly low and the value unbelievably high.

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    For reloaders, actually knowing how fast your bullets fly is critical to real success. I have and highly recommend Oehler's 35P chronograph. The Oehler booth was an oasis of calm competence during the show.

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    I was surprised at the lack of night vision equipment at the show. There was plenty but not as much as I expected. Did anybody see anything better or more fully stocked than the HiViz booth?

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    benenglish

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    ... I will be looking for ... a separate company to do the color case hardening ...
    That's the problem. Who?

    Yes, others do color case hardening, sometimes quite well. Turnbull, though, is pretty much acknowledged as the only place to get *the* color case hardening you want. For example, if you want period-correct color case hardening for the restoration of an old gun, Turnbull is the only place I know of that can be reasonably sure of turning out a finish that actually looks like it would have come from the original factory at the time of original manufacture.

    Start a thread on how you decide who to use. If there are other folks out there doing color case hardening as competently as Turnbull, I really want to know about them.
     

    TundraWookiee

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    I had an amazing time yesterday and got to spend alot of time with guys from the forum perusing the booths. It came as no surprise but was very reaffirming to see how polite and approachable everyone was...both celebrities/personalities and other members. There is far to much to touch on everything but I'll pinpoint a few of the highlights for me and will throw in some pictures as well. I picked up a nice Maxpedition backpack, some VZ grips for my SR1911, and a Bladetech holster for my P226 along with a few other trinkets. I had a nice chat with the guys from XS Sights and they contacted me today to say they're going to send me some free sights for my pistol and AR. The IWI Tavor was probably the gun that most interested me for an upcoming purchase and it was great chatting with Brian and the others at the Cabot booth. After the exhibit hall closed I swung by for a quick visit with everyone eating dinner at China Garden before heading back over for the Stand and Fight Rally. The rally was a very emotional and moving experience for me and most of the others there. Frank Caliendo opened and was hilarious doing his trademark impersonations. Glenn Beck followed and didn't disappoint. I've always been a fan of his but this speech was particularly emotionally moving and had a lot of excellent points. I hung around to let the crowd clear out and actually got to briefly shake hands with Glenn, Lt. Col. Oliver North, and Frank Caliendo. The hardest part of the night was meeting Taya Kyle and Melanie Luttrell. I got an amazing opportunity to talk to both of them and thank them and they are both amazing women. I take no shame in admitting that tears were running down my cheeks the entire time...the strength of some people to endure amazes me. Overall it was a truly remarkable experience and wish I had made it to all three days and definitely hope to attend next year in Indy.

    Here are some of the pics I took and promised.

    RetArmySgt with the hot EAA girl, Brittany
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    Myself with Brittany
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    Jared with Brittany
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    Cabot Guns booth
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    Jared with Colion Noir. Colion was extremely down to earth and great to talk to. He chatted with us for a good 15-20 minutes and said he may join the forum soon.
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    Group photo with KC Eusebio and Michelle Viscusi from Team Glock and Colion Noir (not sure who the guy on the far right is). Michelle was getting her ear talked off by some old guy and was pleading with us to try to help her get free. We finally managed to get him to shut up and all had a good laugh as she thanked us. Absolute hottie
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    RetArmySgt with Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis. I didn't know at the time we met him what exactly he had received it for but read his citation when I got home. A truly amazing guy, I highly encourage you to read the citation. (Sammy L. Davis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
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    Tejano Scott with a UFC fighter whose name I can't recall
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    Last edited:

    TundraWookiee

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    RetArmySgt with a couple cool guns
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    Big safe
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    Gatling gun
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    Gorgeous Texas edition Sig's
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    Rock Island and Armscor
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    It was great hanging out with everyone and spending the day checking out exhibits. RetArmySgt, it was an honor meeting you and I hope you recover quickly. Jakashh, I know we give you alot of crap but thanks again for getting my hat signed by the Gunny...that was really awesome of you. Of course it was great seeing everyone and meeting new people outside the forums.

    Lastly, my NRA hat signed by KC Eusebio, Michelle Viscusi, Tori Nonaka, Brian Zins, R. Lee Ermey, Jerry Miculek, and Sammy L. Davis along with my SR1911 with the new VZ grips installed. Sandstone and Dirt Operator II's.
    Fif5fHQ.jpg
     

    Das Jared

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    Saturday, cont.
    I was surprised at the lack of night vision equipment at the show. There was plenty but not as much as I expected. Did anybody see anything better or more fully stocked than the HiViz booth?

    DSC_0031_zps08f2cd71.jpg

    That guy was a huge prick at that booth. Did not like his attitude at all

    sent from my dishwasher
     

    benenglish

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    SIG

    SIG had some great stuff and some interesting stuff and some "WTF?" stuff.

    I could have put their .50 in the "Big Iron" section.

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    According to the rep I talked to, this is the closest that SIG can come to a pure target pistol today. That's disappointing. I really miss the P240 and should have gotten one back when they were reasonably priced.

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    I've always liked the SIG 556 SBR variants. Oddly, they no longer catalog (or even list as a discontinued product on their web site) their 7.62x39 rifles and SBRs. That was the one I wanted and that was also another one that got away. If you've got the scratch and want one in 5.56, though, they're still in the pipeline (somewhere...).

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    This was exciting. It's an SBR pistol-caliber carbine called the MPX. It's convertible between 9mm, .40, and .357SIG. This is probably enough to make me pull the trigger on a trust and finally get an SBR and suppressor.

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    Of course, if you're willing to sacrifice the compactness of the piece, you're free to tart it up.

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    And now we get to the "WTF?" part of the SIG display. These are pistols.

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    Those are not collapsed buttstocks mounted to SBRs. Note the round hollow center and the strap with velcro for adjustment. Your forearm goes through the middle of the thing that looks like a buttstock and you tighten it with the strap. The demos looked strange.

    My first thought was that this couldn't be right. Under federal law, a pistol is supposed to be designed to be held with one hand. That's why you can't put a vertical foregrip on a pistol. However, I started thinking about it and realized this still meets the definition of a one-hand gun. It's no different, conceptually, from the old Bushmaster arm gun which was stabilized by contact with the forearm. So was the Merrill Sportsman in it's original format when it came equipped with a wrist bracket. SIG has found a neat way to make the forearm stabilization more, well, stable than on any pistol I've seen before. In the process, they've come up with a very interesting concept.

    I like it. I think I'm in the minority. Everyone I talked to just thought it was weird.

    Old West repros

    Going from ultra-modern to traditional, there were a number of reproductions or reimaginings of old guns on display. I was surprised that I liked as many as I did.

    Montana Vintage Arms makes traditional sights of the highest quality for your new old buffalo rifle. I've always liked their work.

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    I've also always liked the types of rifles those sights traditionally go on.

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    On the somewhat more affordable end of the scale, Lyman markets 1878 Sharps replicas made by Pedersoli. The one on the bottom is a slightly reduced-size, featherlight thing that seemed perfect for the .22 Hornet for which it is chambered. Then I saw that it also comes in .45-70, suddenly my shoulder became very sore, and I put it back on the rack.

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