Some random SHOT Show observations

[JudgeColt]

My aching feet have just returned me to my room at the Venetian after two days at the 2011 SHOT Show. As usual, there were lots of new items of interest. I will make some random observations about what I saw. Please forgive me if I ramble a bit as my tired brain tries to think of relevant information to pass on. Typing on this little travel computer is also difficult so please forgive any typos.

Since this is a Colt forum, I will make Colt the focus of my remarks. For the first time since the Double Action New Agent was announced three years ago (but which sadly has yet to reach production as far as I know), Colt actually has something new. In addition, Colt announced the resumption of two discontinued models and made a couple of detail changes I find significant. Unfortunately, there were a couple of downers as well.

The new Colts are both long guns. First, Colt will have a piston-operated AR-type rifle. The LE6940OP is the semi-automatic version and apparently will be sold by Colt Defense only so I do not know if "civilians" will be able to buy it.

The other is the SP901 .308 Winchester AR-10-type rifle that has already been discussed here. It is being marketed as a hunting rifle and has a monolithic upper receiver covered with rails. The example I saw had a plastic 20-round PMAG magazine in it. There is NO mention of magazine capacity in the 2011 catalog. The lower will accept AR-15 et seq uppers and there will be a magazine well adaptor to use AR-15 magazines so this is a pretty progressive product for Colt. Unfortunately, I think the price will be much higher than the .308 competition so that will be hard to take.

I found it a major change in attitude that two COLT Sporter AR-15-type rifles were reintroduced with those evil FLASH HIDERS installed! (I have been telling Colt that it should be competitive with the evil features since the AW ban expired in 2004. It only took seven years - not bad for Colt!) One might qualify as a new product because it has a monolithic upper receiver. Both have collapsible stocks and bayonet lugs as well! I am serious when I say that this represents a major philosophy shift for Colt. I hope it is just the beginning.

The New Frontier is back. I know that will please many, but, to me, a Single Action Army should have fixed sights.

It is wonderful that Colt thinks it should re-enter the concealed-carry market, and it has done so with the Mustang Pocketlite. When I asked the Colt guy why the Mustang and not the Pony, he did not know. (Considering that Colt thinks it important to have the New Agent in double action, one wonders why that same thought process did not carry over when deciding which .380 to bring back.) Another attendant claimed to have shot the Pony and that it will be coming back. I felt he did not know what he was talking about, but I hope he is right. No one could give me a price for the Mustang. The name will be all it has going for it compared to the competition.

Each Model O produced in 2011 will apparently have a rollmark of "100 Years of Service" on the slide. The regular production 100th Anniversary model has awful-looking roll marks. There is awful-looking displaced metal around each letter, and the letters seem small to me. Why Colt chose to not polish off the displaced metal, as has historically been done on the Model O, is a mystery. The gun is based on the World War I O1918 model, but with the different markings. A duplicate of the first Model of 1911 should have been the product to commemorate the centennial of the Model of 1911. (Cylinder & Slide has a centennial Model of 1911 that comes closer to the way Colt's gun should look.) The limited-production version (750 copies) has a garish gold banner on the high-polished slide. Ugh!

Much to my disappointment, Colt still did not chamber the high polish stainless Government Model in .45ACP. Why does Colt do such odd things? The .45ACP is the iconic chambering in the Model O, and the most popular, yet this one and only Model O with all steel parts (no alloy or plastic) is not offered in .45ACP. Puzzling.

Colt does not see fit to build the Single Action Army in stainless, but is offering a version in brushed hard chrome! Go figure! (You can't.)

Now for some more disappointments. I was looking at a stainless Colt Gold Cup Trophy and the slide-to-frame fit was so loose that the slide could be rocked from side to side, and the gun rattled like a worn-out old GI .45 when shaken. (The almost-white aluminum trigger looks out of place too.) I did not handle a 1911-clone from any other maker (and there are hundreds of variations being produced by dozens of manufacturers) that rattled. The Walther-made, Umarex-marketed, .22 Government Model with the Colt name on it looked pretty good, but had a ugly roll pin through the rear of of the slide (probably to retain the firing pin) left "in the white." Blackening the pin would help the appearance. Apparently there will be rail gun and Gold Cup Trophy versions. Why Colt chose to license these guns instead of bringing back the Service Model Ace is another bad and puzzling marketing decision from Colt. I thought the .22 Model O clone from American Tactical Imports looked about as good for less money and had a VERY substantial steel magazine that impressed me with its design.

A couple of comparisons with competitors need to be made. Smith & Wesson has a modern .380ACP pistol with polymer frame and a built-in laser, and a small .38 Special revolver with polymer frame and optional laser sight. Smith just cut the price on each significantly. The Colt name is worth a lot to many, but will the public pay hundreds more for a Mustang than a .380 Bodyguard Smith? The answer is no.

Smith introduced the "Governor," a .410 gauge/.45 Colt/.45ACP SIX shot revolver. Taurus has about a dozen or more variations on the theme with its "Judge" line. The Smith name will be preferred for anyone in that market, but the many variations from Taurus will still sell a lot of guns, especially the very small versions. Nothing close from Colt.

Taurus announced the "Raging Judge," a 28-gauge revolver and even put it on the cover of its 2011 "New Product" catalog, but pulled it off public display for reasons unknown. Taurus does some strange things once in a while too, but just think of the mind set to come up with the Judge and Raging Judge! Colt needs some (a lot) of that thinking.

Some of the most inventive firearms have always come from Kel-Tec. (The Kel-Tec .32ACP and .380ACP pistols are responsible for Ruger and Smith entering that market.)This year, Kel-Tec announced the KSG, a 12-gauge bullpup pump shotgun with TWO 7-round tubular magazines side-by-side below the barrel, plus one in the chamber for a total capacity of 15 rounds! Because it is not a semi-automatic and the magazines are not removable, it is California-legal. It is a mere 26.1 inches long! Suppose Colt had come up with that!

After constantly hitting the wrong keys on this compact computer, I am going to quit for now. If I think of anything else, I will add it later. Others who attended are invited to comment.

[twaits]

That little Kel Tec shotgun looks pretty good. Lots of firepower in a small package. It may be California legal now but give them another year. They will ban it. And at some point it will go the way of the Streetsweeper and be considered a destructive device.
Great looking design though. I was impressed from the pictures I saw.
Thanks for the report Judge!
There's also a thread on the high road forum dedicated to SHOT show which is worth a look

[broknaxl]

Thanks for a very informative review. I appreciate your views and the time you take on stuff like this. Very interesting stuff. Thanks again

[DESERTFOX]

[QUOTE=JudgeColt;217276]My aching feet have just returned me to my room at the Venetian after two days at the 2011 SHOT Show. As usual, there were lots of new items of interest. I will make some random observations about what I saw. Please forgive me if I ramble a bit as my tired brain tries to think of relevant information to pass on. Typing on this little travel computer is also difficult so please forgive any typos.


I found it a major change in attitude that two COLT Sporter AR-15-type rifles were reintroduced with those evil FLASH HIDERS installed! (I have been telling Colt that it should be competitive with the evil features since the AW ban expired in 2004. It only took seven years - not bad for Colt!) One might qualify as a new product because it has a monolithic upper receiver. Both have collapsible stocks and bayonet lugs as well! I am serious when I say that this represents a major philosophy shift for Colt. I hope it is just the beginning.


They need to roll mark the gun AR15 not sporter. They own the name why not use it.
I got the new 2011 Colt catalog today and see the two sporter models listed.

[mesquito whitey]

My aching feet have just returned me to my room at the Venetian after two days at the 2011 SHOT Show. As usual, there were lots of new items of interest. I will make some random observations about what I saw. Please forgive me if I ramble a bit as my tired brain tries to think of relevant information to pass on. Typing on this little travel computer is also difficult so please forgive any typos.

Since this is a Colt forum, I will make Colt the focus of my remarks. For the first time since the Double Action New Agent was announced three years ago (but which sadly has yet to reach production as far as I know), Colt actually has something new. In addition, Colt announced the resumption of two discontinued models and made a couple of detail changes I find significant. Unfortunately, there were a couple of downers as well.

The new Colts are both long guns. First, Colt will have a piston-operated AR-type rifle. The LE6940OP is the semi-automatic version and apparently will be sold by Colt Defense only so I do not know if "civilians" will be able to buy it.

The other is the SP901 .308 Winchester AR-10-type rifle that has already been discussed here. It is being marketed as a hunting rifle and has a monolithic upper receiver covered with rails. The example I saw had a plastic 20-round PMAG magazine in it. There is NO mention of magazine capacity in the 2011 catalog. The lower will accept AR-15 et seq uppers and there will be a magazine well adaptor to use AR-15 magazines so this is a pretty progressive product for Colt. Unfortunately, I think the price will be much higher than the .308 competition so that will be hard to take.

I found it a major change in attitude that two COLT Sporter AR-15-type rifles were reintroduced with those evil FLASH HIDERS installed! (I have been telling Colt that it should be competitive with the evil features since the AW ban expired in 2004. It only took seven years - not bad for Colt!) One might qualify as a new product because it has a monolithic upper receiver. Both have collapsible stocks and bayonet lugs as well! I am serious when I say that this represents a major philosophy shift for Colt. I hope it is just the beginning.

The New Frontier is back. I know that will please many, but, to me, a Single Action Army should have fixed sights.

It is wonderful that Colt thinks it should re-enter the concealed-carry market, and it has done so with the Mustang Pocketlite. When I asked the Colt guy why the Mustang and not the Pony, he did not know. (Considering that Colt thinks it important to have the New Agent in double action, one wonders why that same thought process did not carry over when deciding which .380 to bring back.) Another attendant claimed to have shot the Pony and that it will be coming back. I felt he did not know what he was talking about, but I hope he is right. No one could give me a price for the Mustang. The name will be all it has going for it compared to the competition.

Each Model O produced in 2011 will apparently have a rollmark of "100 Years of Service" on the slide. The regular production 100th Anniversary model has awful-looking roll marks. There is awful-looking displaced metal around each letter, and the letters seem small to me. Why Colt chose to not polish off the displaced metal, as has historically been done on the Model O, is a mystery. The gun is based on the World War I O1918 model, but with the different markings. A duplicate of the first Model of 1911 should have been the product to commemorate the centennial of the Model of 1911. (Cylinder & Slide has a centennial Model of 1911 that comes closer to the way Colt's gun should look.) The limited-production version (750 copies) has a garish gold banner on the high-polished slide. Ugh!

Much to my disappointment, Colt still did not chamber the high polish stainless Government Model in .45ACP. Why does Colt do such odd things? The .45ACP is the iconic chambering in the Model O, and the most popular, yet this one and only Model O with all steel parts (no alloy or plastic) is not offered in .45ACP. Puzzling.

Colt does not see fit to build the Single Action Army in stainless, but is offering a version in brushed hard chrome! Go figure! (You can't.)

Now for some more disappointments. I was looking at a stainless Colt Gold Cup Trophy and the slide-to-frame fit was so loose that the slide could be rocked from side to side, and the gun rattled like a worn-out old GI .45 when shaken. (The almost-white aluminum trigger looks out of place too.) I did not handle a 1911-clone from any other maker (and there are hundreds of variations being produced by dozens of manufacturers) that rattled. The Walther-made, Umarex-marketed, .22 Government Model with the Colt name on it looked pretty good, but had a ugly roll pin through the rear of of the slide (probably to retain the firing pin) left "in the white." Blackening the pin would help the appearance. Apparently there will be rail gun and Gold Cup Trophy versions. Why Colt chose to license these guns instead of bringing back the Service Model Ace is another bad and puzzling marketing decision from Colt. I thought the .22 Model O clone from American Tactical Imports looked about as good for less money and had a VERY substantial steel magazine that impressed me with its design.

A couple of comparisons with competitors need to be made. Smith & Wesson has a modern .380ACP pistol with polymer frame and a built-in laser, and a small .38 Special revolver with polymer frame and optional laser sight. Smith just cut the price on each significantly. The Colt name is worth a lot to many, but will the public pay hundreds more for a Mustang than a .380 Bodyguard Smith? The answer is no.

Smith introduced the "Governor," a .410 gauge/.45 Colt/.45ACP SIX shot revolver. Taurus has about a dozen or more variations on the theme with its "Judge" line. The Smith name will be preferred for anyone in that market, but the many variations from Taurus will still sell a lot of guns, especially the very small versions. Nothing close from Colt.

Taurus announced the "Raging Judge," a 28-gauge revolver and even put it on the cover of its 2011 "New Product" catalog, but pulled it off public display for reasons unknown. Taurus does some strange things once in a while too, but just think of the mind set to come up with the Judge and Raging Judge! Colt needs some (a lot) of that thinking.

Some of the most inventive firearms have always come from Kel-Tec. (The Kel-Tec .32ACP and .380ACP pistols are responsible for Ruger and Smith entering that market.)This year, Kel-Tec announced the KSG, a 12-gauge bullpup pump shotgun with TWO 7-round tubular magazines side-by-side below the barrel, plus one in the chamber for a total capacity of 15 rounds! Because it is not a semi-automatic and the magazines are not removable, it is California-legal. It is a mere 26.1 inches long! Suppose Colt had come up with that!

After constantly hitting the wrong keys on this compact computer, I am going to quit for now. If I think of anything else, I will add it later. Others who attended are invited to comment.

Thank you very much for posting this. Information some of us would be months in getting.