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While I will never claim to be anything close to being an expert in turkey hunting….I have pursued the quarry on more than a few occasions. I’ve named all those turkeys the “Roadrunner” which of course, makes me “Wile E. Coyote” and no… I am not the “Super Genius”. Far from it, according to my wife. I do give myself an “A” for effort though. How an animal whose head houses a brain the size of a pea can beat me and thousands of other hunters time & time again…for that I definitely do not have an answer. I make no excuses for not being able to routinely beat this Old World majestic game bird. I suppose that is what draws the strange breed of turkey hunters that obsess, scout, gear up, & lose countless hours of sleep and family time to outsmart a gobbler. It can be done and gets done thousands of times each year every Spring and Fall all across this great country of ours. While I will never claim to be anything close to being an expert in turkey hunting….I have pursued the quarry on more than a few occasions. I’ve named all those turkeys the “Roadrunner” which of course, makes me “Wile E. Coyote” and no… I am not the “Super Genius”. Far from it, according to my wife. I do give myself an “A” for effort though. How an animal whose head houses a brain the size of a pea can beat me and thousands of other hunters time & time again…for that I definitely do not have an answer. I make no excuses for not being able to routinely beat this Old World majestic game bird. I suppose that is what draws the strange breed of turkey hunters that obsess, scout, gear up, & lose countless hours of sleep and family time to outsmart a gobbler. It can be done and gets done thousands of times each year every Spring and Fall all across this great country of ours.

As much as I love, own and shoot modern shotguns, there is really nothing like a classic side by side doublegun. If you have never tried one, do yourself a favor and go heft one up to your shoulder in a gunshop. You may say eh, no big deal, but you also may fall in love, I warn you. The side by side shotgun has a contagious kind of energy to it, something like a built in romance, for a lot of us anyways.

Smith & Wesson re-launched their “E” Series of 1911s this year and they have been very well received in the market. With an MSRP in the $1300 range and street price much less, you get a lot of advanced features in this new 1911 that you would have to pay a gunsmith for with most other guns. These are 100% “nextgen” 1911s, and besides the modern looking fish scale serrations and the accessory rail that many of the guns have, the intereals of the gun appear to have the best of the good of the classic 1911 design, without including some of the bad ideas that have crept into the gun over the years. The Series 80 firing pin safety has been replaced with a titanium firing pin, so rather than block the pin with a problematic safety device, they just made the firing pin too light to set off a primer when the gun is dropped. They have also cleaned up the trigger housing and each of these guns has a hand fit trigger. Is it truly the quality of a $1,000 1911 with $2,000 worth of work as is claimed in the video? Could be, but we hope to see one of these come in the door for some real-world testing. They look to be a really great buy in a 1911, and hey, they say Smith & Wesson on them, so they will retain their value and eventually become collectible. That’s a lot of selling points on a gun that has so many variants and options out there. Check out the video, and please don’t harp on George in the comments. He’s a big, tough, sensitive guy!

This is one of the brands in the Lyman family of products, Pachmayr, perhaps the most recognized name in aftermarket grips. The Pachmayr Grip Glove is an aftermarket grip company’s answer to the one piece polymer grip, one that you wouldn’t think would be a candidate for aftermarket grips. The plastic on a lot of the new polymer pistols is slippery, and even the ones that are as slippery are going to leave a lot of people wanting for something more substantial to grap onto. The ruberized grip sleeve has been around for a while to fill this purpose, but many of them tend to twist and turn as you shoot the gun. We have not had any of these in for review yet, but in general, if there is going to be one grip sleeve that doesn’t do this, it will be a Pachmayr, and we hope to follow up with them and get some review product in soon. Note that the models are gun specific, so they will be much likely to be ergonomically friendly than a “one size fits all” kind of thing. This video introduces three new models into the line, for the Smith & Wesson Bodygaurd, Ruger LC9 and Glock subcompact models.

You couldn’t miss Caracal at SHOT Show 2012. They had a big booth at Media Day, and all of the buses to and from the hotels from the show were wrapped in Caracal artwork. Their booth was downstairs with us, but it was very impressive, and this could be a gun that makes it to the US market this year. At $500, however, it will most likely be a non-starter.

We already saw the new Ambush hunting line from Daniel Defense and these are their new tactial guns. The .300 AAC Blackout round is getting widespread attention accross all of the shooting disciplines because it can be shot as a subsonic, meant for work with suppressors, and a supersonic for .30 caliber ballistics from a small package round. There is also a new Daniel Defense in 6.8 SPC, and some lighter options on their existing popular models. This is an end of the day interview and a little subdued, but you can see that it’ll be a strong year for Daniel Defense.

Scott Mayer pics up a few more interesting products to close out SHOT Show 2012. McMillan CS5, KleenBore, Cleaning Kits, TUFF1 Grips

Ruger’s rifle is a well-loved firearm and enjoys a loyal following for its rugged reliable properties. Many people love the traditional look of a wood stock and blued barrel. It’s also just a light and handy rifle for many as their “truck gun”. And for some, it’s the only legal semi-auto .223 rifle for civilians in states that ban rifles such as the AR-15.

Two videos in this post from Beretta at Media Day at the Range, SHOT Show 2012. One is the .22LR version of the groundbreaking ARX-160 assault rifle from Beretta, and the other is a sneak peak at the Beretta Nano, a thin little semi-auto pistol for concealed carry that should be a big hit in the market. Beretta is full steam ahead for 2012 with great new products and unique innovations.