NRA Annual Meeting 2012 - First Thoughts

• For this not being a year with a big 'new' thing to push, there are a lot of new firearms to look at.  
• The Smith & Wesson Shield looks interesting.  It's slim, small, and fits pretty comfortably even in my meathooks.  The two drawbacks I found with it was that I couldn't get the slide release to let go with one hand and, of course, the trigger.
• Apex Trigger really ought to have gotten a booth next to the M&P booth.
• The S&W Bodyguard .380 automatic and the .38 revolver have about the same trigger pull, which is surprising to me.  
• Armalite rifles are very slick.  And by slick, I mean it looks like they dipped them in oil before putting them on the display rack. 
• Thompson Center has a very neat concept in their Dimension rifle.  Basically, it's designed to allow the home user to re-barrel their rifle in a few minutes without going to a gunsmith.  It comes with two tools, a driver and a wrench, that work to allow the changing out of the barrel and bolt in minutes.  The wrench breaks at the appropriate amount of torque for the bolts that hold the rifle together, so there's less worry of over-torquing the rifle.  The rep at their booth quoted the basic rifle at $600, with barrel and bolt kits going for $200.
• In the hunt for a new muzzleloader, I think I'm starting to settle on the Thompson Center Triumph.  In the configuration they have here, it feels about as heavy as my Omega, comes up to my shoulder just as comfortably, and the breech comes out very easily without tools.  I'll have to start pricing them when I get home.
• So far, St. Louis has been pretty easy to get around.  But whoever put up on the NRA website that my hotel was only a 5 minute walk away from the convention center should be drug out into the street and beaten.
• The people working the booths seem to be much more outgoing towards media in general and bloggers in particular, than I remember from last year.  Hopefully that continues to be the trend.