Another 4 1/2 miles today…
This was ‘typical’ of the crowd scene. But it was VERY polite. It’s a lousy pan shot, but it was BUSY today.
Good to see some old friends, and to meet one of my beta readers, thanks for hunting me down Tom!
Quality is something one pays for. There is a reason that certain folks are well known for their ‘high priced’ guns…
Ed Brown, Doug Turnbull, and Les Baer are three that I saw today. Due to the crowds, I didn’t get any pictures at the Ed Brown or Turnbull booths, due to not being able to get a decent shot. I went by the Baer booth and got this pic of Les’ carry pistol, which is a 1911 in Super 38.
I know Les said this is his every day carry piece, but I didn’t see a scratch on it anywhere! Obviously he’s better at carrying than I am… LOL
And speaking of quality pistols, saw this one at Volquartsen booth. It has a nice little paint scheme on it too!
This young lady is the epitome of ‘Can Do’! McKenna Dahl is a member of Team USA, and was in the Rio 2016 Paralympics. And that medal in front of here is the Bronze she won in the 10M air rifle prone.
A very personable young lady, she suffers from amyoplasia arthrogryposis, is in a wheelchair, and has issues with her left hand. Yet with all that, she’s overcome those obstacles, learned to shoot, competed internationally, and beat some of the best in the world! Anyone who says ‘gurls’ can’t shoot to her, she’d probably laugh in their faces, and give them a running head start, then show them how well SHE can shoot! 🙂
And I’ll close with this one, which was pretty funny…
Grandpa was pushing the boy on his cart, as the boy was tuckered out! He was collecting pins while grandpa, grandma, and mother were shopping for carry pistols.
I was very happy to see the younger folks out, and single females, along with families with children looking at various ‘things’. While not as ‘focused’ as what we saw in Dallas, the folks I saw today were very knowledgeable, had good ideas of what they wanted, and were asking good questions.
I went by the Brownell’s booth and chatted with Roy Hill for a few minutes, sadly Frank Brownell didn’t make it out this year. And for those of you who remember Larry Weeks from Brownell’s, Roy said he’s enjoying retirement, playing with sprint cars, and spending a couple of months a year in Australia.
I won’t be here for Day 3, due to things I have to do Monday, but the other folks will be here and blogging, so check out the usual suspects!
But, but…
ALL THOSE GUNS AROUND!
How did you ever get out of there alive?
Gun show LOOPHOLES!
Drudge is all about Ollie North resigning and bugging out.
Couldn’t help but wonder if you had thoughts.
Thanks for the reports. Wish I’d been there!
> Super .38
It’s the cartridge John Browning invented and optimized for his locked-breech autoloader, which is why the Super “just works”.
If JMB had wanted his gun to shoot a .45 caliber bullet he would have designed it that way to start with. The .38 Super was his; the .45 ACP was Colt’s response to the Army’s request for a .45 caliber variant of the gun.
.38 ACP a 426 ft-lb (130gr, 1215 fps) (1)
.45 ACP at 356 ft-lb (230gr, 835 fps)
After the fiasco the Philippines the Army wasn’t interested in any .38 caliber cartridge no matter what the numbers said.
The way they figured things back in the first half of the 20th century, the .38 Super was substantially more powerful than the .45 ACP.
(1) that’s actually the .38 Super; the original .38 ACP load was a bit hotter than that, but Colt de-rated it because they had made some poor choices on steel and heat treatment, and it was breaking guns. In the late 1920s they re-introduced the original load, more or less, as the .38 Super. So there are two different .38 ACP cartridges with the same name, and the Super is just another name for one of them… well, at least it’s not complicated, like why .38 Special bullets are .355, .356, .357, or .358 depending on who made them and when…
INTERESTING!
I knew the original round Brother John Moses had for the 1911 was in .38 caliber, but never heard anything about the performance.
I DID know that it was to replace the .38 Long Colt, which was ineffective in the Model 1892 (which I understand to be significant as the first double-action sidearm).
I can’t find my COTW, but my Lee Reloading says the .38 Long Colt CAN be loaded with minuscule amounts of modern smokeless powder, but you dasn’t enter modern cartridge pressure ranges. 150 grain pill at less than 800 fps is the upper limit; no wonder it was hard to make bad Moros into good Moros that way.
Well I wouldn’t use the effectiveness on the Moros as a useful measurement.
They had a rough time making “bad Moros into good Moros” with full power rifle cartridges (ie. .30-40 Krag)
I would be interested in your take on the membership meeting
My .38 Super dates from 1949. Was my Great-Uncle John’s. Still has the original bbl. so it headspaces on the rim. No, not particularly accurate but at “social work” distances I can keep all 9 rounds in a 3.5-4″ group. Yeah, yeah. It’s 70 years old and my eyes are 63. I can deal with that.
Tell Mr. Baer that when the Virginia Lottery Board stops giving MY money to total strangers he’s number 2 on my Call List (Tax atty. will be #1)
That’s a nice looking gun, but I can’t see any practical reason reason to carry a .38 Super over either a 9×19 or 45acp with modern jhps.
There are no available 38 Super loads with either a Gold Dot or HST.
FIVE PRACTICAL REASON REASONS TO CARRY A .38 SUPER INSTEAD OF 9X19 or .45 ACP:
1. All pistol rounds are functionally equivalent, so, why not stand out?
2. All pistol rounds are functionally equivalent, so, why not stand out?
3. All pistol rounds are functionally equivalent, so, why not stand out?
4. All pistol rounds are functionally equivalent, so, why not stand out?
5. All pistol rounds are functionally equivalent, so, why not stand out?
If you’re Les Baer or one of his customers, the price of ammunition shouldn’t be a notable factor either…
And if you’re a reloader, one cartridge is about the same as another.
– TRX (still occasionally yearns for a gun in .38 Casull)
Also on the subject of the “younger crowd/Families”
The last gun show in Orlando(March’19) was mostly families and/or women (60-70%ish) and busy.
I was also at the Les Baer booth and Ed Brown and ogled the toys at Volquartsen as well. Had just gotten back a Brown 1911 that I had minor work done on, namely a general service and a new front sight (their HD XR in bright orange) – FWIW, their turnaround time was awesome! I also got a kick out of telling the guys at Les Baer that I was wearing my Premier II that day – it’s had a LOT of rounds through it, and the only time I sent it back for a minor issue, their customer service was great as well.
The other gun I enjoyed looking at was the “new” Dan Wesson revolver. The first handgun I ever bought was an original Dan Wesson 4″ Vented Heavy Barrel, and it was and still is very accurate and easy shooting. The only thing wrong with it is that my wife claims I gave it to her a while back! But that gave me an excuse to buy a couple more when I ran across them at gun shows. The new one comes in a Pistol Pak with 4″, 6″ and 8″ barrels. Oh, and the new barrels will fit the old original revolvers, so I’m gonna be looking seriously into a couple of those.
I too was glad to see the good number of younger people at the show – it’s a good sign, I think.
And regarding the Super .38 (which we more frequently call the .38 Super), two things come to mind – one, the FBI and police in the 30’s liked it since it was able to penetrate car bodies that shrugged off the anemic .38 Special RNL rounds of the day; and two, it became a very popular round in Mexico since it was not a military cartridge and thus not prohibited for peons to have by the federales. Oh, and CorBon makes defense ammo for that caliber.
Yep, great in the 1930’s and the CorBon ammo is a bargain at between 93¢-$1.90 a round, it’s even on sale.
Too bad that it is backordered at least 1-2 weeks.
Totally off subject. Why is the first line of the updated side bar “Rimworld Jayce”
I wanted to attend so badly, but life-mostly school and finals- got in the way. I kept up in the news. Sounded exciting. Not thrilled about all the NRA infighting, however, but it too, shall pass. Thanks for keeping us updated. Looks like it was fabulous. One day we shall meet there.
Really like the 1911 Super 38. Really nice!