The first order of business is to lighten the hell out of the slide. The slide pictured is a standard Glock 17 length slide, but for the L10 build, we’re going with a six inch slide. That’s a lot of metal on top of a plastic frame, and to make sure it cycles nice and fast, we’re going to cut a bunch of material out of it. The cuts pictured above remove more weight than the standard “big hole in the slide” cut you see on most Glocks, and they look pretty rad to boot. We’re also going to cut the nose of the slide down a little bit to give it a more aggressive appearance, which also cuts some more weight out of the gun.

We’re going to be putting some sweet parts in the gun as well, obviously I’ll be using a Lone Wolf extractor and a Lone Wolf 3.5 lb connector; my usual Warren tactical sights will be riding on the gun as well. I’ll send the lower off to Southpaw Custom to get it stippled and have the Sevigny Speedway added as well, because that is a modification that I cannot live without. Right now, the gun only exists in theory – as we get parts and supplies in for it, I’ll keep you updated on the build process.

At SHOT Show one demographic was drawn to the Sapphire Ultra II. You guessed it: women. And how could we not be? A shiny blue 1911? Sign me up!

I’ve never been a big fan of the Ultra. Difficult to control and easy to limp wrist, the Ultra is not a gun suited for novice shooters. While putting the shiny blue coating on it certainly makes it pretty and kind of makes me want one, I wish they could have pimped a cool gun. For example, if they’d put the same coating on a Custom Eclipse II in 10mm I would buy it in a heartbeat, and then I would own the only one because no one else would be that ridiculous.

In all seriousness, opting to put the blue PVD coating on something like Kimber’s new Micro CDP would have made a lot more sense. The .380 pocket guns are already frequently targeted toward the female demographic, and with the success of Sig Sauer’s many P238 models (including the rainbow titanium) it would seem that something like the Sapphire would fit well into the market.

Instead they put the shiny blue PVD coating on a lightweight 3″ .45. While there are plenty of women out there who can handle a firearm such as the Kimber Ultra with extreme skill, these more experienced shooters are less likely to purchase a shiny blue 1911 than inexperienced shooters who have been told .45 ACP has great “stopping power” and that they need a small gun with slim grips because they have small hands. (Hint: Next time get a Glock 34 Cerakoted.)

I appreciate gun companies recognizing women as a target demographic, but I wish they would be smart about it.

Photos by JP Visual Design.

I know what you’re thinking, because I was thinking it too. “A 15+1 .380 that’s the same size as a 9mm? Why not just, I don’t know, carry a 9mm?” That was exactly what I thought, until I actually shot the Sig P250 in .380 at Media Day. Then it dawned on me that the little P250 in .380 was actually a neat little carry gun with an odd niche. Sure, it’s too big for pocket carry, but it has almost no felt recoil, a very smooth DA trigger, and was generally easy and pleasant to shoot. What it becomes then, is the new K-frame. There are a lot of people out there that want a gun but don’t want to become shooters – but they’ve taken a safety class and have decided they want a gun for home protection.

Here it is. The Sig P250 in .380 is a perfect no-muss-no-fuss little gun. The recoil won’t bother anyone, the trigger won’t be too difficult to pull for someone with small hands – basically, it’s the modern version of an old fixed sight K-frame, but instead of shooting 158 grain lead round nose, it shoots 90 grain JHP. And it holds more than double the ammo of a K-frame, while weighing less and having better sights. I’m not going to take a 1,000 round training class with this gun, and it’s not going to be the kind of gun that rides around in tactical thigh holsters.

But after kicking the idea around, it really is perfect for that niche. Buy a bunch of Hornady Critical Defense and the occasional box of CCI Blazer for practice and you’re all set. I imagine you’ll find yourself buying more than a few boxes to shoot, because it really is hilariously fun to burn rounds out of.

A Ruger Number 1 in .303 Enfield (aka .303 British). This goes back to what I alluded to in the post immediately under this in that I don’t “get” black rifles. I understand their utility as a sporting and defensive arm, but I don’t understand why people will spend over a thousand dollars on a flat black people popper (thanks for the phrase, Tam) when we live in a world with beautiful rifles chambered in .303 British. I mean, imagine staring down the zombie hordes with one of these while wearing a pith helmet and sporting a glorious handlebar mustache. Zombies would be swept away by the sheer power of how AWESOME you were, not to mention the .30 caliber bullets punching through their skulls.

And that’s how I’m going to end this post. An image of a lone man in safari shorts, with a pith helmet and a handlebar mustache holding back the waves of the seething undead with his trusty single shot .303. Far too classy to hold his rifle aloft and shout “Wolverines”, when he is finally overrun by the hordes he simply says “oh bugger” and places his trusty Webley revolver against his temple and embraces that cold night, knowing he has done his duty.

That’s the new lower for the Magpul branded S&W M&P15. Yes, it has the Magpul rollmark right there on the lower receiver, and no I don’t get all the hubbub. Of course, I’ll freely confess that I honestly don’t “get” rifles, but that’s a post for later on.

“With a year of celebrating the legacy of the 1911 under our belt, we felt it was time to introduce modern-day ballistics to the venerable pistol,” said Jeff Creamer, SIG SAUER Director of Product Management. “The .357SIG turns the old war horse into a race-ready thoroughbred.”

Initially, four models of SIG SAUER 1911s will be offered in .357SIG, two 5″ full-size guns and two 4.2″ carry models. Following their .45 Auto counterparts, these 1911s feature match-grade barrels, hammers and sears. Skeletonized triggers and hammers reduce lock time and offer enhanced accuracy.

The only single-stack production 1911s chambered in .357SIG, these SIG SAUER pistols offer 9+1 capacity in the battlefield proven single-action only platform.
- The 1911 TACOPs is a full-sized traditional slide 1911, with an all-Nitron® finish; Ergo® XT grips, ambidextrous safety and low-profile night sights.
- The 1911 Reverse Two-Tone features a natural stainless frame and a Nitron-finished slide.

The new .357 Sig 1911s will be available “shortly” from what I understand, and will carry an MSRP similar to their .45 ACP models. Of course, most of you are scratching your head and thinking “this is great and all, but why does Caleb want one?”

It’s actually pretty simple. The new 1911 in .357 Sig has a capacity from the factory of 9+1, which I’ve said in the past is my favorite magazine capacity for ESP shooters. Plus, the gun already has the right extractor for .40 S&W, so it should be a simple swap to put a .40 S&W barrel in the gun and use it for USPSA Single Stack division scoring major. But the simple truth is that I’ve always had a fascination for oddball cartridges, like the .38 Super for example. The .357 Sig is in many ways my generation’s .38 Super. It delivers excellent terminal ballistics, some people swear by it, but by and large it hasn’t really caught on.

A quick check of Hodgdon’s data tables shows several .357 Sig loads that are minor power factor, which means with a little reloading time and dedication you could easily set this up for an excellent ESP or Single Stack Minor gun. You know, honestly if I wasn’t in Glocks all year, I’d actually think about doing this.

While the pistol caliber carbine may have been eclipsed in LE use by the 5.56 platform, for civilian shooters it still makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re a Glock shooter. The ability to change mags and share ammo between a rifle and a pistol is certainly a nice feature, and it’s also easier to make tough shots with a rifle than it is with a pistol. Yes, your terminal ballistics with a .45 ACP aren’t going to be as good as they’d be with a 5.56, but I’d much rather take a 50 + yard shot with a rifle just for the advantage of a longer sight radius or an optic even if I’m using a pistol cartridge.

Now, I realize that .45 ACP has some limitations out of a carbine, but because I run a Glock 21 I’m definitely interested in one of these. However, there’s another prototype carbine (not pictured) that we had on the show floor at the Lone Wolf that is going to make a good friend of mine reconsider his debt free lifestyle. You see, Lone Wolf will also be offering a carbine in…10mm. Now, normally I’m not a big fan of the 10mm, but from a carbine I think it’s an awesome idea. Especially if you cut the barrel down a bit and put a can on it, you can play Battlefield 3: Modern Hog Warrior and go down to Texas and slaughter feral hogs with a suppressed 10mm carbine and night vision. Because who wouldn’t want to do that?

Look for the new Lone Wolf carbines later this year, the .45, 10mm, and .40 S&W models will share the same ability to take standard AR accessories as the G9 model. I plan on taking a .45 and outfitting it with some MOE gear and if I can, pinning a can to the barrel to make an awesome .45 ACP suppressed SBR.

The Suppressor is designed for use with hearing protection. The temple arms of the glasses are so thin that they can be bent over on themselves and will return to their original position. This makes them easy to remove or put on even with ear muffs on. The thin temple arms also make it so that the ESS Suppressor design doesn’t break the seal of over-the-ear protection like many thicker eye protection designs do. Having never had an issue with the seal on my hearing protection being broken by eye protection, I have lent my Suppressors out to those who have this issue and have found tremendous success in the slimmer temple arms.

The Crossbow is an anti-fog glass designed to maintain clarity that I have found to be more comfortable for long-term wear than the Suppressor. I prefer the Crossbow for day-to-day wear, as advertised they don’t fog up (a problem I’ve had with eye protection frequently in the past) and they are extremely clear. I’ve been wearing cheap eye protection for the past few months and have found the fogging and distortion quite annoying, once you upgrade to good eye protection it can be difficult to go back. The clarity of the Crossbow is a welcome change and the design is comfortable and easy for me to wear.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have friends with wider heads who found difficulty in getting these sets of eye protection to stay on their nose. However, they fit my face a lot better than many of the competitors I have tried.  The Cross Series glasses, while designed for universal fit, seem to be best suited for those of us with narrower faces.

Owned by Oakley, ESS has been specializing in eye protection for law enforcement, military and rescue professionals. Recently they have been looking at moving more into the civilian shooting marketplace, which is great for us since it means an Oakley brand at non-Oakley prices.

As you can tell from the image, the beavertail grip will come in the form of an additional Gen 4 backstrap which can be added or removed from the gun. My hope is that the backstrap won’t add too much size to the gun; personally I haven’t been super impressed with the Gen 4 backstraps in general. However, this does address one of the concerns that many shooters have about the Glock. My concern, having not handled it on the range, is that it may end up like the Sig beavertail, which looked cool but actually positioned your hand lower on the gun than the regular Sig grip did. If the Glock beavertail allows shooters to keep their hands high relative to the bore axis of the gun, it should work just fine.

Here are some additional photos from JP Visual Design for reference:

Caleb has written before about giving new shooters a condescending head pat rather than showing them support and providing constructive criticism. The commenter on Andrew’s post is arguing that elevating women is unfair, and, as I am inclined to view the argument, the articles that elevate us within the industry are more of a condescending head pat. Which can be true, there are certain articles and certain ideals about getting women into the shooting sports that words have been expended on that are nothing more than condescending head pats. Do I think Andrew’s article is one of those? Absolutely not.

One example of the condescending head pat would be the concept of a “good girl’s gun”, the number of gentlemen who have argued with me after I recommend letting their girlfriend or wife try out M&Ps and Glocks first is astounding. I think I’m supposed to tell them to get something quaint, small, feminine and really awful to shoot. She is a person. She shoots guns. Let her find the one she likes. I don’t have any right answers anymore than anyone else does.

Conversely, there is a little bit of a mental block and, at some gun shops (thankfully not mine), women will get treated in a rather condescending manner. I’ve seen it, I’ve been subjected to it.

At the Ladies of the Industry Happy Hour

There is a psychological barrier where girls (and some gun shop employees) think shooting is “manly” and “tough” rather than a practical, equalizing and esteem-building sport. Which is why when guys at the range say “I have to get my wife in here and let her see you behind the counter and talk shop with you!” or “She has a bedazzled holster! Sweetie, take a look at this!” or “Check out her snakeskin gun! You totally want one now, don’t you?” I’m not offended at all. These men are excited because they’ve found something to help their wife or girlfriend relate to the sport, and that’s awesome, that’s what I want. This is all process of breaking down that psychological barrier and helping women realize this isn’t a man’s world anymore.

Walking around SHOT Show 2012 it was very apparent how many professional and very serious women there are in the gun industry. The demographics have changed and supporting this trend through positive articles such as the one at Vuurwapen Blog is excellent, but we all need to carefully tread that line between a condescending pat on the head and showing support.