Back and Ready to Go …….. 1/4/10
In two weeks, it’ll be SHOT Show 2010.
To me, it’s the equivalent of a second holiday season. If you’re not a manufacturer, SHOT Show is the time to make new acquaintances, visiting with old ones; see new products and spend long, uninterrupted hours checking out the industry and gauge expectations for the coming year.
For most of the rest of the industry, it’s a realization that six weeks of crazed travel, tired feet and endless trade show questions are coming up.
Marketing directors are flipping out over brochures and reference materials that were “no problem” before the Christmas holidays. Logistics managers are sweating bullets over shipments of products and trade show displays, and everyone else is trying – unsuccessfully- to slide back into the post-holiday work rhythm.
If it’s frantic, it must be January.
This January is a bit more frantic. It wasn’t an uneventful holiday season. Once again, a terrorist has reminded us that extremists don’t take holidays. Unfortunately, neither do elected officials hell-bent on spending the country into oblivion while thumbing their noses at the people who elected them to office.
January 2010 has the potential to be remembered as the prelude to a very eventful year.
Today, however, we’re finally loose to talk about three new products we’ve had the opportunity to try out over the holiday break.
Ruger has fired the first product introduction broadside of the new year, announcing a new iteration of their popular SR9 pistol and both single and double action revolvers chambered in the .327 Federal Magnum caliber.
Ruger’s SR9c – a smaller, lighter version of their first striker-fired pistol. In standard ten or seventeen round configurations, it’s a solid performer.
The first, SR9c is a compact version of their SR9 striker-fired pistol. It is smaller (24 ounces, 6.875 inches long, five inches high and a svelte 1.27 grip width) and comes equipped with a pair of magazines that show off the new compact’s ability to hold either a standard 10 or 17-round magazine when using the included grip adapter.
When shooting the new SR9c, I found the standard ten-round configuration easy to manage with the three-dot sight system quick to acquire and get on the steel plates I use for testing.
I also liked the new serrations on the front portion of the slide, making it easier for me to press-check the chamber. Like the original SR9, the compact has a 1911-style ambidextrous manual safety, internal trigger interlock and striker blocker, trigger safety and magazine disconnect. It also has one feature I recognize as useful, but would modify on a personal model – the loaded chamber indicator. Granted, it provides a quick visual or touch confirmation of the gun being loaded, but it’s too-tall to my liking. It doesn’t interfere with the sights, but I’d like it either shorter and/or more rounded.
There’s more on the new SR9c in today’s news section, but everyone who’s seen my test gun agrees that it’s a product that should score well with consumers.
I’ve already seen that on a personal basis.
My eldest daughter shocked me by asking to come along to the range for my testing. When she asked to try the SR9c, I gave her a quick safety overview and handed it to her.
Trying a new pistol on a new shooter can be habit forming.
Long story short, I didn’t get it back until she’d run out of 9mm ammo. It was one of those moments I didn’t expect, but was glad to have enjoyed.
Anytime you have the opportunity to get someone out to the range, it’s a good thing.
When you see them smile and start progressively moving to more difficult targets, you have them hooked.
If you’re a fan of revolvers (and I am) today’s announcement of a pair of Ruger revolvers in the new (and hard to find) .327 Federal Magnum will get your interest.
While some say the .327 Federal is another solution in search of a problem, others find the mild-shooting, high-performing round one that gives shooters a manageable magnum-powered round for anything from target shooting to hunting to self-defense.
With a very limited supply of .327 Federal ammo (two boxes, scrounged from two different stores), I didn’t put a lot of time in shooting either, but found both the mid-sized GP100 and the New Model Blackhawk to be the kind of solid performers you’d expect.
The Blackhawk weighs in at 48 ounces, sports a five and a half-inch barrel, eight shot capacity, fully adjustable rear sight and a stainless finish. Like every model in that single-action line, it feels solid and easy to manage, despite my having not put enough rounds through it to get really familiar with it. With the weight and single-action, it’s a solid performer that would be be suitable for targets or small game, but would also offer a viable option for home defense.
Ruger’s New Model Blackhawk and GP100 revolvers are now available in the .327 Federal Magnum cartridge, offering an easier-handling magnum load in proven single and double-action platforms.
Ditto the mid-size GP100. With it’s shorter (4.20-inch) barrel and lighter weight, it’s no more difficult to manage than the Blackhawk – even shooting in double action. Again, with its solid construction, it’s a nice expansion into another proven Ruger product line.
What’s the big deal about the .327 Federal Magnum? Performance. Ruger says the Blackhawk will give 1,655 feet per second velocity with 100-grain American Eagle loads. The SP101’s shorter barrel has delivered 1,525 feet per second with the same AE rounds.
We’ll be shooting them more later in a variety of loads, but they are the first new products to come out of the gate in 2010.
It appears some bogus Leupold products have been sold to internet customers. Apparently illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China, they’re pretty close to the real item in looks, but are decidedly not the real deal.
A notice on the Leupold website says the company has received counterfeited Mark 4 riflescopes at their Beaverton, Oregon headquarters for service. Since they’re not Leupold scopes, they’re not covered by Leupold’s Full Lifetime Warranty.
If you think you might have a scope that’s not really a Leupold, you can find out – quickly. The company uses serial numbers for tracking all riflescopes. If you have one that’s suspect, write down the serial number and call 1-800-LEUPOLD to confirm either its authenticity or your fears.
Here’s one way to tell if your scope’s legit-or not.
Here’s a couple of tips from Leupold: Most of the scopes seem to have come from Hong Kong, have Leupold Mark 4 laser engraved on the bottom of the turret in a silver etch, while the black ring on the objective is etched in white and does not include the name Leupolid. Authentic Mark 4’s will always be engraved black on black and have the name “Leupold” engraved on the black ring.
There’s much more going on in the shooting world – as always, we’ll keep you posted.
–Jim Shepherd
Love these updates on the Shooting Industry….. think I am looking into the 327 magnum. Could be a good varmint pistol, plinker, meat gun.
For additional info on the 327 magnum…. check out Chuck Hawks
Some more data here: TFL
