Tag Archives: Media Day at the Range

Slide Fire Turns an AR-15 Upside Down!

At SHOT Show 2014’s Media Day at the Range, Slide Fire showed off a fixed mounted upside down semi-automatic AR-15 that mechanically bump-fired to shoot in “full auto.”  Watching it chatter elicited much joy from the assembled press, who did not fail to gather when the demonstration dinner bell was rung. There were many remarks from those around me who said that they had thought that Slide Fire was a flash in the pan.  There was surprise at the growing popularity of the product line, which kinda turns a semi-automatic rifle or shotgun (AR’s, AK’s, 10-22’s, Saiga’s, etc) into a fully automatic firing weapon.  This is done with a modified … Continue reading

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Media Day at the Range 2014

The high desert was good to us this morning. Temperatures were a balmy 45 degrees for SHOT Show’s Media Day at the Range 2014. Compare that to last year’s 28 degree deep freezer. The winds, though prevalent again, were also relatively tame. Richard, Aaron, and I rode out to Boulder City on one of the shuttle buses, arriving promptly at 0800 after the 45 minute commute from the Strip. Approximately 700 media members were invited to the morning session. The rest of the general media could come after noon. There seemed to be less of a crush this year, although we had a comical end to the bus ride when … Continue reading

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New Springfield Armory XD-S 9 Pistol

At last year’s SHOT Show, USPSA and IPSC championship shooter Rob Leatham showed me Springfield Armory’s new XD-S, a sub-compact single stack .45 ACP pistol.  I shot one and I was impressed with it.  For 2013, Mr. Leatham was running around at his normally frenetic pace giving media members a look and trigger time with SA’s new XD-S 9. Mr. Leatham told me the new 9mm semi-auto has the same basic dimensions as the .45 XD-S, except for cartridge capacity, which increases to 7+1 in 9mm.  Springfield Armory’s XD and XD-M series have been very popular.  The XD-S single stack guns, at only 0.9” in slide width, are just that … Continue reading

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SHOT Show 2013 Media Day at the Range

Today was the SHOT Show 2013 Media Day at the Range. It was about 28 degrees when we arrived in Boulder City with a steady 20 mph wind, gusting to 35. Why the weather report? It definitely affected both the guns and gunners. I saw at least one handgun negatively impacted by the freezing temps–think polymer changing its resilience. No, not a Glock. The temperature variable and gusty wind also led to challenging conditions under which to evaluate the firearms. I know that my shivering and numbed hands definitely did not lead to steady sight pictures or clean trigger breaks. All in all, there was substantial bitching about the wind … Continue reading

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