Even though there were little .380 pistols on the market before it, the introduction of Ruger’s LCP set off a .380 buying craze to such a degree that there were localized ammunition shortages. These guns are now so prevalent among the concealed carry crowd that shooting schools are, for the first time I can recall, teaching specialized little gun tactics and courses. There are a lot of benefits to such a compact defensive package, but as with many things in life, to get something you have to give up something.

Many shooters will recognize Chiappa as the company offering the distinctive Rhino revolver. That innovative design fires from the bottom cylinder resulting in recoil dynamics that tame loads otherwise punishing to shoot in conventional snub-nose revolvers. But that’s not all Chiappa has. They also offer a line of dedicated rimfire guns that replicate the look, feel and function of popular defensive firearms including the 1911 pistol and M4 carbine. New this year is Chiappa’s rimfire version of the Beretta M9 pistol called the M9-22.

Many of you out there are familiar with the company known as Leapers or UTG. They are well known for selling firearm accessories such as mounts, lights, and optics. This year they came to SHOT with more gear than ever, taking up quite an amount of space in the hall. I was looking through it, and there is something for everybody.

What you may not know about Leapers, is that they are all American owned, and continue to transfer ever growing amounts of manufacturing here to their Livonia Michigan address. Any work done outside the US is in Taiwan, and is completely owned by UTG / Leapers. Their people make it and inspect it. And above all else, I’ve found these products to be quality made, and at a substantial savings. (My police department even uses their gear on our issued rifles, and has been very pleased.)

I did a study not to long ago tracing the average group size of Remington Model 700 rifles over the past 50 years and found that, at least for Remington 700s, factory, centerfire, bolt-action rifles have become progressively more accurate. It’s no wonder, then, that everyone seems to want to shoot at longer and longer ranges. Scope manufacturers are doing everything they can to make long range shooting easier, and Swarovski is no exception. This year they showed a neat little replacement turret cap called a Custom Ballistic Turret that for $99 turns any Swarovski ballistic turret scopes into a long range marvel.

OK, if you’ve read some of my earlier articles, you’ll know I’m a pretty stout Glock fan. I’ve carried one or another Glock pistol almost consistently since 1991. So when Glock came to SHOT, I couldn’t wait to get to their booth and see what was up for this year…
I found Glock’s pretty huge chunk of real estate in SHOT and there took a look at their latest and greatest. For this year, the Gen 4 marches on in two new models, the Glock 21 in .45 ACP, and the Glock 32 in .357 Sig.

Many people have seen or heard of Rohrbaugh Firearms. They made the first mini 9mm I ever heard of, the R-9. It was a 6+1 shot aluminum frame semi-auto that shook the firearms world at SHOT show in 2002 when the prototype was introduced. The gun came into full production in 2004, and then was named by Shooting Illustrated as Handgun the Year in 2005. It is a truly tiny package that they say is very easy to shoot.

The news from holster giant Bianchi is their latest entry into the concealed carry market. Three new holsters blending old technology with new are their entries for SHOT show 2012.

The Allusion series of holsters, is aimed at the concealed carry market. Allusion holsters blend the advantages and looks of leather (old technology) with the advantages of synthetic materials (new technology). These new holsters have a polymer inner shell that goes around the gun itself, while there is an outside layer of leather.

Bianchi recognizes that there is a certain allure of leather, some like the smell or look. However, there is a certain usefulness of polymer that helps lock in the gun, and allow for easy re-holstering.

Another new entry to the optics world is from well-respected optic manufacturer Nikon. At SHOT show I got to see their brand new Nikon P223 3×32 BDC Compact optic for the AR style rifle.

This is a compact 3-power scope made just for the AR-15 style rifle. The optic is a fixed power 3x magnification, with hash marks in the reticle for bullet drop programmed for 55 grain bullets built into the scope.

The first thing I realized at SHOT show this year, was how many firearms companies there are that were new to me. One of these was SAR Arms.

Funny thing is, this company shouldn’t be new to anyone. SAR Arms is the importer / distributor for the Sarslimaz firearms group, who is one of the largest manufacturers of small arms in the world. They are based out of Turkey, and have a 125-year history of making guns of all kinds. They have an extensive line of shotguns, as well as pistols. Some of these pistols are based on the well-respected CZ-75 system. Today, they use state of the art CNC and CAD/CAM systems to make these modern weapons for the world market. Many of these weapons are chosen by Turkey’s military and see time on the battlefield.