While SHOT begins tomorrow, the Industry Range Day was today, on the 20th. Dan and I attended, and managed to look at everything that we had interest in. Now, there wasn’t a ton there that really caught our eyes, but I wanted to highlight some of the things that did.
This is not an extremely in-depth look at these guns and accessories. Range Day is very much a day to try things out, and between the howling wind and the cold temperatures, it’s not an easy day to get information out of reps for companies.
KelTec – PLR16 Pistol & PR57
KelTec is a company that I’ve had a sordid past with. Mostly bad experiences, but when the readers and viewers express interest in a new gun, we check it out. All of the pre-show hubbub was for the PR57, but we checked out a new PLR16 variant first.
Dan shot the PLR16, fitted with KelTec’s new folding brace. The PLR16 is a gun that I used to think was neat, but owning a SU16 kind flipped that around. It’s a nifty gun, but very 2000s, and very Nutnfancy.
Now, the PR57 is the gun of the show, at least so far. The 20 round, clip fed, rotating barrel 5.7mm pistol is very interesting. It’s a callback to the Grendel P10, and it’s really unique.
The pistol loads via loose rounds, or a 10 round clip through the ejection port of the pistol. Loading is easy, however we never had more than 10 rounds in the gun while we were shooting it. KelTec’s grip texture is good, but not amazing. The trigger pull is a strange DAO style, but with a light weight. It reminded me a ton of the HK LEM trigger, but a little springier.
The recoil impulse is soft, and follow up shots were fast. The gun was mostly reliable, with one sluggish return to battery when Dan was loading it. KelTec ships the gun with an optic mounting plate, and we mostly shot the RDS PR57 today.
MSRP is $399, and KelTec expects to be shipping these guns after SHOT wraps up. I think that they’ll sell like crazy, but only time (and build quality) will tell if they’re a worthwhile buy. Dan and I will be checking them out again once they are fully available on the market.
Aimpoint (and Glock)
While the PR57 was the big gun for the range day, the Aimpoint COA was the optic that I really wanted to check out. Being transparent (as always, but especially here), I did not like it from the info that I saw prior to range day. I don’t like the optic being tethered to the rear sight, nor do I like having the rear sight locked into needing to be behind the optic. However, those were “long-range” gripes, so maybe they got squashed when we saw the COA in person.
So what is the COA? Well, it’s a Glock and Aimpoint combined effort, with a new optic cut, and a new optic. Rather than relying on an ACRO optic cut or plates, the COA uses a new dovetail method, and also uses the rear sight with screws to keep it in place. The optic feels like a smaller P2, and still uses the 2032 battery. It does ditch the 4 panes of glass, and uses just 2 now.
Dan and I both shot with the COA, and it felt like a red dot. I’ve used a ton of Aimpoints over the years, and they always offer a clear reticle, and great glass. Dan and I don’t dig the bottom mounted battery tray, as we’ve seen the screws that hold them in place fail with Holosuns over the years. I also still don’t like the footprint, or the reliance on the rear sight to keep the optic on the gun.
I do dig that Aimpoint and Glock partnered up to do this venture, but this feels like an optic that isn’t for me. This screams law enforcement procurement, and I certainly won’t be getting rid of my current optics for a COA. Price factors in a new Glock, and runs the gamut from about $850, up to $1200.
Mec-Gar Magazines
Mec-Gar is a household name for aftermarket magazines. Hell, many companies go to Mec-Gar to be their OEM for magazines. Well, Mec-Gar finally made their own Glock-pattern magazine.
Mec-Gar is a steel magazine maker, so they made a steel Glock mag. It’s 18 rounds, and has a lot of the Mec-Gar fixin’s that we like.
Rather than doing a full-hole punched into the mag body for your magazine release, they just mostly relieved it. This means that you don’t need to switch to a different metal magazine release if using these mags, and can stick with the OEM Glock one. Gotta love that.
For the magazine nerds out there, I want to direct your attention to the floorplate on the Glock 19 magazine. It’s still an extended magazine, but uses a taller floorplate to act as an over-insertion stop. This might seem like a minor detail, but I like that Mec-Gar actually designed a good way to prevent damage to the ejector.
The Mec-Gar reps were very transparent about the desire to make a Glock mag, but that it took a lot of R&D and prototyping to get one that they were happy with. Between figuring out a nitride process that they liked, to getting the mag release cutout correct, they really put in some effort here. MSRP on these are $29.99, but we were told a street price of $22-$25. For that price, I think these will certainly be neat, and I’m looking at trying some out.
Stacatto announced a new 2011 that takes Glock mags, and Mec-Gar is the maker for those. For me, these would be going into a Glock-brand-Glock, but I still think it’s neat to see iterations on a classic design. Visiting Mec-Gar was certainly the highlight of Range Day for me.
Colt
Well, we checked out Colt, and they had zero 1911s. I guess that the “Colt’s Government Model” took the day off for the holiday. They still had revolvers on display, so we checked those out.
Colt had the new Grizzly available to shoot. It’s a Python, but comes ported, and also has an optic mount. Dan and I found recoil light, and the trigger pull fairly good. We’re S&W boys, but the Colt DA trigger is new, but good. To me, it felt very much like a nice rubber band, and I say that in a positive manner.
Dan shot the Colt Viper, and found it pleasant. It gives off classic vibes, very 1960s looking. Both guns are neat, but Colt’s questionable QC and high pricing turn me off a bit. The guns were reliable for us today, but time will tell how well they perform.
The Grizzly starts at $1599 MSRP, and the Viper at $999.
SDS Imports (Tisas)
While Colt lacked 1911s, SDS and Tisas did not.
I’m a big fan of Tisas. I have two of their 1911s that I’ve worked over (Stakeout and Tank Commander), and really think that they make some of the best production 1911s that money can buy. We shot a few of their guns today, with Dan trying out a Hi-Power, and me shooting a few 1911s.
Dan enjoyed the Tisas (Inglis) Hi-Power. The Inglis model has no magazine safety, so the trigger pull is a little better.
I was interested in the “Raider”, the Colt Railgun M45-patterned 1911. It had a nice trigger press, positive manual safety, and shot well. The Raider is a great example of what Tisas does well; a “budget” priced 1911 ($600 street price), but with performance much better than the price would state.
I also got to shoot the new Tisas update to their B9RDS. This is their “not a 2011 because Stacatto copywrote the name 2011″, and it’s an update to a previous iteration. For me, the Commander sized 1911 in 9mm is preferred, as 9mm guns are much harder to get working in the 5″ form, rather than the shorter 4-4.25” form. The new one has a longer frame, so it fits an X300 or TLR 1, and shot quite well today. One of these may be in my hands to review before too long.
SDS is importer, but the MAC, Inglis, and Tisas lines are really quite appealing. I’ve already got love for Tisas, and I only see that growing over time, as the company just makes great guns.
Shadow Systems
Dan and I like our Glocks to be Glock flavored. However, we meandered over to the Shadow Systems booth, and shot some of their small not-Glocks.
They had a pile of their pistols, but we gravitated towards the smaller ones, as we’re concealed carry focused, and these are those kinds of guns.
We shot guns from the “CR920” line, which are all sort of Glock-26 sized. They use a proprietary steel magazine, so they’re a hair thinner, and feel like an in-between for the Slimline and normal Glocks. The guns have great texturing on the frames, and good triggers.
We were able to get pretty good hits with them, and I chock that entirely up to the staff at the booth. This might shock you, but many companies do not zero the optics on their guns before the show, but Shadow Systems bucked that trend. Their folks made sure that the guns were zeroed, and they shot dead-nuts onto the sights for us.
The comped guns (CRP) were pretty neat, as I much prefer a comped pistol to a ported one. These guns really do feel different in hand, since they aren’t just a direct Glock 19 copy like a lot of Glock copies are (and feel like).
Hell, even the more traditional Glock-style guns were pretty pleasant. Prior to this year, I’ve not had a positive perception of Shadow Systems, as I’ve personally seen a lot of their guns have issues over the years. Both with online examples and ones that I’ve seen with my Mk.1 eyeballs, they’ve had a spotty track record for me. That being said, I was a little impressed by these today. Will I be running out to replace my OEM Glocks with these? No, but I do think I earned a kernel of respect for Shadow Systems.
Diamondback
I missed out on trying out a Diamondback SDR in .357 last year, so I wanted to change that. These are modern midsize revolvers, and I was really attracted to the good trigger, and good sights. Shooting the gun today was quite pleasant, as the sights were good, and the ergonomics (trigger, cylinder and release, and stocks) were all quite good.
They also released some new finished for the guns, and a 9mm SDR. I don’t like moon clips in revolvers, so I’d stick with the 357 SDR, but loaded with .38SPLs.
Shield Arms
I’ve been using the Shield Arms S15 magazines in my slimline Glocks since 2022, and really like them. However, we didn’t look at their magazines today.
Shield Arms recently released the “R.O.C.” red dot mount for the J-Frame. It uses the screw holes that hold the sideplate on, and I think that’s a pretty smart way to do it. Street price is $150, and come in either Holosun K footprint, or Trijicon RMRcc flavor.
Dan and I shot a 442 with the RMRcc, and we found it pretty intuitive. I like the simplicity of the mount, but also don’t really see a ton of practical usage. One of the benefits of the snubbie is small size, and this mount is adding a good two inches to the height of the revolver. It might still work fine if you’re carrying the gun AIWB, but it obviously isn’t an option on a pocket or deep concealment gun.
I see this more as a fun thing, rather than a practical one. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up with one down the line to test out!
To the Show
Range Day is over, so it’s time for the Show! We’ll be covering the companies that we like as the week goes on, so look out for that!
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I SNEEEEEED THE KELTEC I WILL SNORT FLORIDA BEACH PLASTIC