National Carry AcademyWorst of Shot Show
April 15, 2016
Actual Worst
Shot show brings with a wide variety of different unveils, and if a gun company is looking to advertise something new, it usually starts at Shot Show. Shot show gives media, gun shops, and Distributors an opportunity to see what the New Year has to offer in firearms, equipment, and everything in between. Shot Show is the first place to see the guns we’ll be drooling over in 2016, and unfortunately, the firearms we’ll be making fun of in 2016.
Heizer PKO45
Heizer defense has a history of producing some useless firearms, the Pocket AR in 5.56 and the Pocket AK in 7.62 x 39 come to mind. These weapons are useless and essentially billed as such, but the PK045 is an attempt to make a series self-defense fire. The resulting accomplishment is a hunk of aluminum and steel that screams ouch. The PK045 is an metal slide with appears to be a polymer frame 45 ACP semi automatic handgun that looks like the most uncomfortable firearm ever designed in a basement.
The safety looks like it’s in a terrible place; the gun is ugly as sin, and weighs 28 ounces. Comparatively this thing weighs three time as much as a Ruger LCP Oh Heizer, you beautiful disaster.
Wasp Weapon System
If I hadn’t ever seen this product on the Truth About Guns I would have happily never heard of it. The idea is to attach a six inch extension onto your firearm’s barrel via threading. Then you attach a giant, less than lethal, blue Nerf looking rubber football to the barrel extension. You then fire a live round, which propel the Nerf football at its chosen target.
The system looks slow to set up, slow to use, and god forbid you have two attackers to deal with. They invented something like this that is smaller, faster to use, safer, and more efficient, it’s called a Taser.
Yawn Worthy Glock Clones
Shot Show was actually rather good this year. A lot of cool products are coming out, and there is a giant jump in NFA weapons, and suppressor ready goodies. It’s honestly hard to come up with a ton of bad things, but like always, there is a lot of yawn worthiness, including new Glock clones and useless gimmicks on guns. I won’t mention them all, but a few that stood out.
Girsan MC28
A Turkish brand Glock! Complete with passive Glock trigger safety, polymer frame, striker fired design, but you get forward cocking serrations! I’ve read one review of this pistol and while it did well, the phrase “like a Glock’ or some variation came up three times in 800 words. C’mon Turkey, at least when you make Walther Clones it’s a little different.
Gimmicks
TCP With Wings
While I have no experience with the Taurus TCP, I have experience with stupid gimmicks. I don’t deride the TCP on design, or any supposed reliability issues, but the wings are just ridiculous. They are designed to make racking the weapon easier, and I’m sure they do. However, they fold in and look rather weak. I don’t really get the purpose of these wings, are they just for the range? Designed to be used in a gunfight? They don’t seem useful to clear a jam in a defensive situation if I have to stop and unfold the wings. Or just a dumb gimmick? Me thinks the latter.
Honor Defense Standoff device
The Honor Defense pistol line is actually a nice looking design. I have no hands on time, but the shooting previews seem promising. This isn’t about the about the actual handgun so much as it is about one of the compact’s standoff devices. These devices remind me of when everyone all of a sudden needed breacher barreled shotguns. The Standoff device is basically an extended dust cover with some checkering, designed to prevent your weapon from going out of battery when pressed against something, that something being a human body presumably. It’s so mall ninja it hurts.
Worst of Shot Show
April 15, 2016
Actual Worst
Shot show brings with a wide variety of different unveils, and if a gun company is looking to advertise something new, it usually starts at Shot Show. Shot show gives media, gun shops, and Distributors an opportunity to see what the New Year has to offer in firearms, equipment, and everything in between. Shot Show is the first place to see the guns we’ll be drooling over in 2016, and unfortunately, the firearms we’ll be making fun of in 2016.
Heizer PKO45
Heizer defense has a history of producing some useless firearms, the Pocket AR in 5.56 and the Pocket AK in 7.62 x 39 come to mind. These weapons are useless and essentially billed as such, but the PK045 is an attempt to make a series self-defense fire. The resulting accomplishment is a hunk of aluminum and steel that screams ouch. The PK045 is an metal slide with appears to be a polymer frame 45 ACP semi automatic handgun that looks like the most uncomfortable firearm ever designed in a basement.
The safety looks like it’s in a terrible place; the gun is ugly as sin, and weighs 28 ounces. Comparatively this thing weighs three time as much as a Ruger LCP Oh Heizer, you beautiful disaster.
Wasp Weapon System
If I hadn’t ever seen this product on the Truth About Guns I would have happily never heard of it. The idea is to attach a six inch extension onto your firearm’s barrel via threading. Then you attach a giant, less than lethal, blue Nerf looking rubber football to the barrel extension. You then fire a live round, which propel the Nerf football at its chosen target.
The system looks slow to set up, slow to use, and god forbid you have two attackers to deal with. They invented something like this that is smaller, faster to use, safer, and more efficient, it’s called a Taser.
Yawn Worthy Glock Clones
Shot Show was actually rather good this year. A lot of cool products are coming out, and there is a giant jump in NFA weapons, and suppressor ready goodies. It’s honestly hard to come up with a ton of bad things, but like always, there is a lot of yawn worthiness, including new Glock clones and useless gimmicks on guns. I won’t mention them all, but a few that stood out.
Girsan MC28
A Turkish brand Glock! Complete with passive Glock trigger safety, polymer frame, striker fired design, but you get forward cocking serrations! I’ve read one review of this pistol and while it did well, the phrase “like a Glock’ or some variation came up three times in 800 words. C’mon Turkey, at least when you make Walther Clones it’s a little different.
Gimmicks
TCP With Wings
While I have no experience with the Taurus TCP, I have experience with stupid gimmicks. I don’t deride the TCP on design, or any supposed reliability issues, but the wings are just ridiculous. They are designed to make racking the weapon easier, and I’m sure they do. However, they fold in and look rather weak. I don’t really get the purpose of these wings, are they just for the range? Designed to be used in a gunfight? They don’t seem useful to clear a jam in a defensive situation if I have to stop and unfold the wings. Or just a dumb gimmick? Me thinks the latter.
Honor Defense Standoff device
The Honor Defense pistol line is actually a nice looking design. I have no hands on time, but the shooting previews seem promising. This isn’t about the about the actual handgun so much as it is about one of the compact’s standoff devices. These devices remind me of when everyone all of a sudden needed breacher barreled shotguns. The Standoff device is basically an extended dust cover with some checkering, designed to prevent your weapon from going out of battery when pressed against something, that something being a human body presumably. It’s so mall ninja it hurts.