Monday, January 25, 2010 Filed in:
Shooting
industry, Revolvers, Accessories
A
LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME - Frankly, I've never found
much of a use for Twitter - until last week, when I started
following tweets related to the SHOT Show. It was one of those
140-character messages that lead me to these:

They're from a company in Turkey called, appropriately
enough, handmadegrips.com. The grips are of ebony,
while the designs are inlaid metal and mother-of-pearl. While they
may not be something you'd want to carry on a daily basis, you have
to admire the superb craftsmanship. They'd be great for a
presentation piece, or perhaps to commemorate an important
milestone. Prices are incredibly reasonable, bordering on a
steal.
MORE
ABOUT THE CHIAPPA RHINO REVOLVER - First is
this take from "Richard" at Guns, Holsters, and
Gear.
Then there's this counterpoint from Massad
Ayoob.
Since I haven't handled one I'll sit on the sidelines, but the
stark difference in opinion is intriguing.
HUH??
-
I'm not quite sure
what to make of these. (Now it could be that I've
been married too long, but if my memory is correct and my
supposition of the target market is accurate, they should have a
fur lining...)
NOW
THIS I CAN GET BEHIND - I don't own any Magpul
products, but their new iPhone case may be my first.
Unfortunately it only fits the 3g/3GS, not my Original iPhone, but
I've been meaning to upgrade anyhow. As Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media says,
"now that there’s an iPhone case that makes hippies cry,
I’m all in."
LAUNCH PARTY - The Personal
Defense Network held an official launch
party at SHOT, and from what I'm hearing the industry response was
terrific. If you haven't seen it yet, head on over and check it
out. (Hey, join in the new forums while you're there!)
SOMETHING YOU WON'T SEE ANYWHERE ELSE - I conned
Gila
Hayes into visiting the Chiappa
booth, and she managed to get this great shot of the Rhino's open
cylinder:

This gives a much better perspective on the cylinder's shape. Note
the crane lock sticking down from the topstrap, where the barrel
would be on a normal revolver. Also note the unusual design of the
ratchet.
(The Chiappa folks wouldn't let Gila dry fire or even handle the
gun; the female person holding it is a Chiappa employee. One is
left to wonder why an anonymous blogger got to play with it, while
a well-known trainer and author - a person who's held highly
visible positions in the industry for years - got the cold
shoulder?)
-=[
Grant ]=-
Tags: SHOT show, chiappa, Rhino, grips, Magpul, Personal Defense
Network
THEY'RE
BA-AACK!: The ProArms Podcast gang has
returned from a forced hiatus. The servers at Podbean, which had
been handling their podcast feed, went south in December leaving
ProArms high and dry. It took them some time to get back, but they
have a new site (www.proarmspodcast.com) and they're also available
on iTunes. You can listen to the
stream on their site, or subscribe to the feed - whichever you're
most comfortable with.
The newest episode features interviews with two attorneys. One of
them, Brian Hallaq, is an acquaintance; he's an interesting guy who
went from being an antigunner to owning Norpoint, a range facility just
north of Seattle. Definitely worth a listen!
SHOT
SHOW OPENS TOMORROW: I only wish I were there!
The ProArms team is, and they promise updates on their site. Jeff
Quinn over at Gunblast
always has good
coverage of the show (with lots of pictures), while
Outdoor
Channel has Rob Pincus there with a
video crew. Rob tells me that they plan to have online coverage of
the show, as will Down Range
TV. Fear and Loading is already there spending
money on beer, and The Firearm
Blog is trying to
crash the best SHOT parties. There are lots of others,
of course, but just these should give you enough news to satisfy
your curiosity!
TARGET
RICH ENVIRONMENT: I'm amazed that people still
buy targets these days. There are tons of downloadable and
printable targets out there, and here's a good
collection of some of my favorites. (If
you haven't tried "rimfire tactical" shooting, you're missing out
on a lot of fun. Scroll to the bottom of their site for targets for
this emerging discipline. The targets have instructions printed on
them; try "Know Your Limits" with iron sights!)
OUCH:
The Firearms
Blog is reporting that Ruger will be showing a .357 Magnum version of the
LCR at SHOT. I'm not a fan of
uber-light guns in Magnum calibers, but some are, and Ruger
apparently aims to supply them with all the pain they can
stand.
-=[
Grant ]=-
Tags: SHOT show, ProArms Podcast, Rob Pincus, targets, Ruger