SHOT Show 2013 Report

[John]

ATTENTION: Several pictures from the manufacturers sites, which were linked in this article back in 2013, are no longer available. Please do not blame us for that.

This is the first post, in this 2013 SHOT Show report, brought to you by M1911.ORG. There will be more posts added here, on a daily basis, as I visit the exhibitors at the show floor, with everything new I find, in the 1911 world.

So here is some pre-Show information that I have found:

Armscor/RIA is coming out with some exciting new firearms.

First and most important for us 1911 lovers, is their new 10mm 1911.



Rock Island will introduce not one, but two 1911s in the 10mm caliber. You can read about these new pistols at their web site.

They also announced some new models of their TCM pistol, in their 22TCM caliber.



At least three new models will be added in Rock Island Armory line, in 2013. You can read all about them in their web site, here.

Finally they are also introducing a bolt-action rifle, chambered in the same 22TCM caliber, as the TCM pistols above.


Click on the image for details.

Come back for more, I'll keep adding material in this article, as I learn them.

Discussion about our 2013 SHOT Show report will take place in our Forums Site.

[John]

As it happens every year, the day before the grand opening of the actual SHOT Show includes a special even for the media, to get acquainted with the new products the exhibitors have to show.

Like every other year, yours truly was at that event.

Unfortunately for everyone, while the media and of course the exhibitors were all there to enjoy the Media Day at the Range (taking place at Boulder Rifle and Pistol Range, Boulder NV), the weather was not cooperative to our efforts. For the last few days, Las Vegas has temperatures below what is considered to be normal for the season. Today, it was no exception. While a bright sun was shining above us, the temperature was so low, that everyone was really freezing. I therefore need to apologize, both for the quantity but also for the quality of the pictures shown below. I was aware of the low temperatures, but I could never believe that it would be so cold, at the desert. My ears were the first victim, but thank God, the good folks at the Rock Island booth, were kind enough to offer me a hat to cover them. Below, you can see me with Martin Tuason, President and CEO of Armscor/RIA freezing in the middle of the desert.



With my ears relatively warm, the next victim were my fingers. After a little while, I wasn't really sure if I was holding a 1911 in my hands or my camera. And while there were several companies showing their "tactical" gear, no one has thought of bringing some tactical or not so tactical gloves.

As a result of the weather conditions, I was forced to pack early and return to my hotel. I enjoy as much as the next guy here to shoot 1911s, but doing so at such temperatures is -to say the least- masochistic. And I am no masochist for sure.

With that out of the way, and please take it as an apology and acceptance of my weakness, here are the new 1911s I saw today.

1. Rock Island

As I've already reported previously, RIA had two new TCM pistols at the range and their new 10mm 1911. Hoping that the recoil of the 10mm would make my adrenaline flow a little bit, I decided to start my shooting with that pistol, shown below:



The full power loads that I shot, were not enough to warm me up though.





Below is a video of me shooting the 10mm.



Here are some more pictures of the new TCM pistol, the 4.0" barrel length one.



Here is another RIA.



It is the 6" Longslide RIA in .45 ACP.

2. Ruger

Ruger took the logical step this year, and presented a Commander-size pistol.



Lori Petoske (Ruger's marketing person) was lucky enough to have gloves on. She didn't accepted to trade them for a free lunch though, so my hands continued to freeze.

3. Colt

Colt had three "new" 1911s to show us.

The first one was the well-known Gold Cup.



The second was the also well-known US Marines pistol.



And the third (which I think was the most beautiful of the three) was the standard Series 80 Government pistol, with a few enhancements.



A typical no-frills, down to earth 1911, with all the right improvements a shooter is most likely asking today, for his pistol. Good work Colt! Can we have this in Commander length too?

4. Cabot Guns

The nice folks from PA, had several great looking 1911s. I managed to snap some pictures of some of them, so here they are:







After two full hours at that extreme weather, I returned to the bus and went back to my hotel.

Again, I apologize for not bringing you any more news from the 1911 world, but I really didn't feel well spending more time freezing.

Until tomorrow then.

You may of course use this thread in our Forums Site to discuss this article.

[John]

And finally, the first day of the SHOT Show has arrived.

I arrived there about 10 am, with my buddy Ike Ziros. The first impression, before even entering the halls was "WOW"!!!! I have never seen so many people visiting the Show. The first day is typically more crowded than the rest of them, but this year, it was really something else.

With that small remark behind us, here are the new 1911 models I found today.

1. MetroArms - Eagle Imports

MetroArms, a Philippino manufacturer of 1911s has teamed up with Eagle Imports of NJ, who is importing MetroArms pistols in US and this year they had an impressive number of new pistols. Some of them are based on the MetroArms own frames (single-stack) while some others are based on the well-known in Europe, SPS modular, double column frame. Here are some of their new models for 2013.





In addition to these pistols, they also had two Open Category guns.

The following are their MAC pistols.




A Longslide one!





You can expect to read reviews of some of the above models in our E-zine in the near future.


2. Louder Than Words

The artists in LTW have come up with some impressive pistols this year. Here are some:


by Jason Burton


by Jason Burton


by Jason Burton


by Steve Bailey


3. Guncrafter Industries

Alex Zimmerman had two beautiful pictures to show.




This is his Model No 4




And this is the FRAG

Again, you can expect to read a review of one of these pistols in our E-zine in the near future.


4. Cabot Guns

Some more pictures of the impressive Cabot guns.


The Jones, while it appears to be stainless, it is in reality a very highly polished blue pistol.


See anything strange with this pistol? And no the picture is NOT reversed. It is a 1911 for lefties.






5. STI

The Texan manufacturer had some new models too.


This is the Duty One in 5"


Duty One in 4"


Tactical SS 3"


Tactical SS 4"


Tactical SS 5"


6. Rock Island Armory

In addition to the pictures shown in the previous posts in this article, here are some ones, which arrived just this morning.








7. Nighthawk Custom

Nighthawk had only one new model to show us.





It is their new T4 in 9mm Para.


8. Christensen Arms

Here are some pistols from Christensen Arms (not to be confused with Ned Christiansen).



















Enjoy the gun porn!

You may of course use this thread in our Forums Site to discuss this article.

[John]

Here are some things that I thought you would like to see, in addition to the new 1911 models.

1. Hi-Power VZ Grips


Excellent grips for the Hi-Power, from VZ Grips

2. Cast vs forged


This is a forging for a 1911 frame.


And this is a casting from which a 1911 frame will be made.

See the differences?!?!?!

3. Not street-legal



You need to love ingenuity. This is a rally car, at least that's how it is promoted. Rear-drive only, with Ford engine and rear axle.

4. Chris Reeve

One of the best folding knives in the industry, just got better.


Chris Reeve Sebenzas

5. Rio Grande Custom Grips


Some nice grips for your 1911.


Some nice grips for your 1911.

[John]

Here are the new models I discovered during the second day of my visit to the 2013 SHOT Show.

1. Louder Than Words

This is a masterpiece made by the whole team of Louder than words (Lou Alessi (in memorium), Steve Bailey, Tony Burness, C.T. Brian, Jason Burton, Stan Chen, Ned Christiansen, John Harrison, John Ralston, John VanZyck, Don Williams and Ted Yost).



The holster is going with the gun.




2. Ned Christiansen

Ned is a master gunsmith and a great guy too. Here is a pistol named "Lieutenant Colonel", since it is made for a Lt. Col. of the US Army, by Ned.





Pay attention to the treatment of the front strap.



In case you are wondering, Ned's backlog is almost 7 years!!!!


3. Sig Arms

The following pistols were in Sig's booth.


Compact Nitron


Traditional TACOPS


Carry Scorpion


4. Para

I was amazed by the number of new models Para had in their booth, practically, their entire line was redesigned for 2013. Below are their new models. I tried to include the label for each one, otherwise it would be next to impossible to remember what is what.




























































5. American Tactical Imports (SAM)

ATI had the following new pistols in their booth.


Titan Lightweight


Fatboy (new version)


45-K

SAM representative for US, David Leonard, is proudly posing with one of their guns.




6. Taurus

I am not sure if those two Taurus models qualify as "new models" or not, but these were the only ones I haven't seen before, in their booth.





Two highly-polished 1911s, in .45 ACP.


7. Remington

Only one new model in Remington's booth, but a very nice one.




Finally, a couple of pictures from Colt's Custom Shop. Brent Turchi was kind enough to show me the 1913 replica model, of which only 1911 pistols will be made. From what I've heard, half of them will be sold via Colt's distributors and half of them via their dealers.





The pistols will be made exactly like the original 1913 pistols were made, down to the tiniest detail, and they'll be finished by Mr. Turnbull himself. Of course, the two-tone magazine will be standard.

You may of course use this thread in our Forums Site to discuss this article.

[John]

Continuing our ... mission to bring you all the news from the 2013 SHOT Show, as far as 1911s are concerned, here is what I spotted today.


1. Kimber

Here are the two new models I spotted in Kimber's booth.


Warrior (SOC)


Master Carry Pro


2. Cylinder & Slide

While C&S didn't have a booth of their own, a masterpiece from Bill Laughridge was shown in Caspian booth.



Unfortunately, Bill was not there to get details, but I'll try to catch up with him today and give you all the details of this beautiful pistol.

You may of course use this thread in our Forums Site to discuss this article.

[John]

Here are the final bits and pieces from my visit to the SHOT Show this year.

1. Cylinder & Slide



Cylinder & Slide had their new Trident II on display, in Caspian's booth. The new Trident II is now build using C&S own parts, including their frames and slides (instead of being based on Springfield Armory pistols). Every pistol is made by one and only one gunsmith and every part is tested for correctness, not only as far as fit is concerned but also for the proper hardness. The pistols are finished in Nickel Boron, which gives them a very attractive color. Bill advertises these pistols as the "1911s which will work in any environment that you may encounter anywhere in the world".

The pistol will be offered in three variations. The Trident II-A1 is a 5" pistol with an integral magwell and Picatinny rail. The Trident II-A2 is again a 5" pistol with an integral magwell only. And the Trident II-A3 is a 4.75" pistol without a magwell or rail.


2. Les Baer

Les Baer involvement with souped up cars, is well known, his logo shows a combination of a pistol slide together with a cylinder head of a charger-equipped engine. So this year, Baer's new model is called Hemi 572, the name derived from the well-known Hemi engines.



The pistol is guaranteed to shoot 3" groups at 50 yards (I assume you must be able to see the target at 50 yards, in order to shoot it, something I am not sure I can do).


Overall

This year SHOT Show coincided with the announcement of the new anti-gun measures by the American administration. What I saw during all these days, was people buying like as if there was no tomorrow, and companies taking orders as fast as they could do it. That was especially true for AR-15 manufacturers, but it also affected the 1911 world, several manufacturers told me that they were selling so many pistols, they've not sold the entire previous year. I do not know if this is true or not, but it looked as if it is.

The number of people in the SHOT Show was amazing during the first two days, much less crowded during Thursday and especially Friday. I guess the four days make this show a very long one, several people manning the booths were exhausted on Friday.

Finally organization-wise, I would like to see the SHOT Show separated into categories, each hosted in different rooms. The way it is now, for example, gun manufacturers are scattered in three or four different rooms, while in these same rooms, you can see everything from clothing apparel to dog food vendors. I believe that the Show would benefit very much, if firearm manufacturers were in one room, gun accessory makers in another, hunting-related product vendors in another etc. On this same topic (organization), I have to praise NSSF (the organizers of the show) for allowing shuttle buses to reach almost all the hotels on the Strip (contrary to last year, when some hotels were not served by shuttle buses).

Another year passed, another SHOT Show is now history and the whole industry is still expecting to see what the anti-gunners will come up with. Stay united, stay alert and talk to your representatives.

From your very tired correspondent.