Is the New Sig P365 the Perfect Carry Gun?
It is a reasonable question to ask. The latest pistol offered by Sig Sauer is small, light, compact, and has a respectable round count for a pistol this size. While it may not be a hand-filling, full-on combat pistol, it does look like it will mark many of the boxes on any CCW checklist; and it might just be THE new concealed pistol.
While some folks will always want to carry something more along the lines of that combat pistol, many just want something that works, is effective, and is easy to carry. Obvious comparisons that come to mind are the Glock 43 and Smith & Wesson Shield – both fine pistols in that role, and quite popular. But then Sig did this.
The Sig P365 maintains approximately the same one inch width that it shares with both the G43 and the Shield and, at 4.25 tall, is about the same height as the 43 while about half an inch shorter than the Smith. The new Sig, however, gains a big advantage for those hoping to pocket carry it: with a 5.9″ OAL, it is a quarter- to half-inch shorter than the S&W and Glock, respectively. While that reduction in length won’t matter much for carrying it on your belt, this smaller size will likely be quite noticeable in the pocket. Continue reading
Mossberg and Remington Unleash Double-Barreled Blast of Mag Fed Shotguns at SHOT Show 2018
Mag Fed Shotgun Showdown
A few weeks ago, Big Green made a lot of noise with their launch of the new Remington 870DM that involved a bunch of marketing-department-generated secrecy and rumors and buzz that culminated in a live online product unveiling of what turned out to be (much to nobody’s surprise) a detachable magazine fed model of their popular pump action 870 shotgun.
Then, last week at SHOT Show 2018, Mossberg introduced a competing detachable box magazine fed version of their popular pump action 590 shotgun called the 590M.
Nothing ground breaking, earth shattering, or game changing, but pretty cool products from the two main sport and defense shotgun manufacturers in the US. But the big question on our minds around here is “why did it take so long?” Or maybe it’s “which one is better?” We’ll try to answer at least one of those below.
Of course, box magazine fed shotguns are nothing especially new. Semi-auto box-fed shotguns have been around for a while. Black Aces Tactical does it with their Mossberg 500-based shotguns. And what about Hurricane Butterfly’s Typhoon 12, based on Hawk’s Chinese Remington 870 clone? Adaptive Tactical has been offering their Venom conversion kits for Mossberg/Maverick shotguns for a number of years, although they kind of cheat by feeding into the magazine tube and/or using a rotary magazine.
So, while feeding fat, blunt, sometimes ribbed, plastic, rimmed cartridges with varying lengths and weights from a magazine may be a challenge, it is not impossible. So, other than being difficult, why did it take so long for the major players to make their own? Our guess is that they were just taking a wait-and-see track and finally noticed the interest in this market segment based on the other third-party offerings.
As for which one of the new offerings from the big manufacturers is better, we’ll give you some info about them and let you decide. Continue reading
Pistol Sights of SHOT Show 2018
Face it, pistol sights are kind of a boring topic. There is not a lot of real estate for mounting fancy optics, pistols are not typically used for long distance shots that necessitate heavy duty upgrades, and, often, it can be a difficult or impossible task depending on the pistol. Many concealed carry guns have integrated sights machined into the slide, proprietary dovetail mounts that make it hard to find sights for, or simply require a pricey tool to do (unless you’re not afraid of whacking on them with a punch and hammer or if you use this one weird old trick).
And pistol sight upgrades are usually just not sexy unless you have a tricked out race gun topped off with the latest, greatest, highest speed, lowest drag optic, which seems to be the latest trend for “carry” guns. You will certainly find more “2-pound trigger of the week,” “custom Louis Vitton laser stipling,” “unicorn horn speckled platinum infused Cerakote,” and “slide cut” talk at the gun counter and on Instagram than you will “I put new sights on my self defense handgun” talk.
But, alas – we did manage to find some interesting new products on the show floor that fall into this obscure category. Despite all of the above, upgrading the sights on your defensive handgun is often one of the most practical and affordable ways to make it better and more useful.
Below are the top three most interesting new (new to us, at least) pistol sight upgrades we found on the SHOT Show 18 show floor, and an honorable mention that will help you with the others. Continue reading
Fausti Celebrates 70 Years of Beautiful Shotguns at SHOT Show 2018
While visiting the exhibitors at the 2018 SHOT Show, we had the opportunity to stop by the Fausti booth, congratulate them on their platinum anniversary, and have a look at their high end shotguns.
Fausti has been manufacturing hunting and competition shotguns since 1948, when Stefano Fausti founded the company. Although the beautiful looks and craftsmanship of their classic over-under and side-by-side guns are a bit north of our typical scattergun budget, we can certainly appreciate them and would be proud to have one in our collection.
The Fausti mantle is carried into the company’s 70th year by Stefano’s three daughters, Elena, Giovanna, and Barbara. Giovanna took some time out of her schedule to go over some of their core and boutique shotguns and show us what they are doing to mark seven decades of craftsmanship, as well as invite us to their Fredericksburg, Virgina, headquarters of Fausti USA branch which was established in 2009.
Fausti is celebrating the occasion with introduced two handmade new shotguns, an commemorative O/U and a commemorative SxS model. Continue reading
Happy 40th Birthday, SHOT Show!
Firearms Industry Show Celebrates 40th Anniversary
As the largest show of its kind in the industry wraps up this week, we want to congratulate the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the entire SHOT Show family on 40 years of helping to bring the latest innovations in the industry to market so that we can all enjoy them.
Although this year marks the 20th that the show has been held in Las Vegas (with the GunLink team in attendance for nearly half of those), wasn’t always held here. The first show was held in St. Louis in 1979 and it spent a while moving around before settling down in its current Nevada home.
The show hasn’t been resting on its laurels in those 40 years either. The show floor itself has expanded from a mere 51,000 square feet filled by 290 exhibitors in St. Louis to more than 645,000 square feet packed by 1,660 exhibitors this year. With that expansion also came more attendees, growing more than ten-fold from just 5,600 in 1979 to over 60.000 in 2018. All of those exhibitors and attendees make a big impact too; last year’s show alone brought more than $88 million in non-gaming revenue to the Las Vegas economy. Mostly spa treatments and Fiji water, surely.
An Industry that Gives Back
Las Vegas is not the only place where our industry makes a major economic impact. Firearms and ammo are an $8 billion (yes, with a B) a year industry which supports more than 301,000 jobs and makes a total economic impact of more than $51 billion. Through the Pittman-Robertson Act, the industry also enables conservation efforts that everyone can benefit from with every firearms and ammunition sale.
The good that comes from the industry does not stop there, either. SHOT Show generates millions in revenue for NSSF programs with the mission of helping “promote, protect, and preserve” hunting and shooting sports along with safety efforts. NSSF’s Project Childsafe promotes comprehensive firearms education and safety, while their Don’t Lie for the Other Guy initiative works to prevent illegal “straw purchases” that could put firearms into the hands of prohibited persons. NSSF also works to ensure that more generations of shooters can get involved and participate in the shooting sports through their National Shooting Sports Month each year in August. Continue reading
Mandatory Gun Locks – Coming Soon To A State Near You?
Firearms safety is every gun owner’s job – from knowing the four rules of gun safety to enacting the Own It/Respect It/Secure It mantra of NSSF’s Project Childsafe. With many states eyeing legislation (no fewer than 15 states have proposed legislation in the past year and another dozen or so with it already on the books) to mimic California’s state gun lock law, a number of manufacturers are offering solutions intended to prevent unauthorized access to firearms. We had a chance to visit with a few of them at SHOT Show 2018.
Traditional Firearm Security
Before we get into the new stuff, let’s cover the way we have been locking up firearms for ages. There are, obviously, the traditional safes (or, more likely, residential security containers), locking cabinets, and handgun lockboxes that prevent access to anyone without a key, combination, or approved biometric ID such as a fingerprint. While these options are often large and allow storage of multiple weapons, they can be pricey (although a few states subsidize the purchase of a gun safe with tax credits) and it can take extra time to reach and retrieve a weapon in the event of an emergency. Continue reading
