By Beth Cox
We attended the NRA Open House this past Saturday, which
wasn't as impressive as last year's but still enjoyable. The Open
House held last year was produced on a much larger scale than
this year's event...why? I'm not sure, could've been because the
National Training Week coincided with this year's event (would
think that would lead to an expanded Open House, not the reverse).
An NRA staffer commented (something to the effect) that because
this is an election year the event had been scaled down somewhat.
In any case, it was fun.
There weren't as many vendor displays as last year, which was
kind of disappointing, and 3 or 4 companies that were scheduled
to be there weren't--majorly disappointeding (or else they packed
up and left early, we didn't get there until about 2 p.m. [event
was scheduled from 11 - 4 p.m., with an auction and barbeque to
follow]). The companies that did have representation included:
Leupold; H&K; Swarovski Optik (schweeet!); SIGARMS; North
Safety Products; Cyclops; Ranger Optics; Hornady; SAF-T-LOK; Kahr;
Daisy (sure don't look like the BB/pellet guns of my youth); BEAMHIT;
and a few others that I can't recall right now. Some that were
scheduled to be there--BUT WEREN'T--were Colt; Savage Arms (although,
I think that they WERE there and we, simply, missed them because
there were brochures available on their designated table); AimPoint;
New England Arms (John was extremely upset that they weren't there);
and I believe that there were 2 other empty tables but I can't
recall the companies that they were slotted for, right now.
Many, many, many more companies had displays last year--oh well.
I was speaking with the North representative about the Silencio-II
ear plugs--you know the ones that filter out damaging noises,
yet allow normal conversation to be heard--naturally, he highly
recommended them. Currently, I use muffs and have been trying
to talk John into buying a pair of electronic ones for me--alas,
to no avail. Since I have very long hair I find the muffs to be
a real pain to deal with, taking them on and off for conversation,
cease fire, etc. I like the concept of plugs, but haven't been
able to find any that I find comfortable, plus (and maybe it's
just me), I find that they throw off my equilibrium. North manufactures
youth size plugs that fit my ears much better, and are now available
(although, not anywhere I've looked) in the Silencio-II model.
Of course the rep wouldn't allow me to try them on for size--hey,
I realize that they were for display purposes ONLY--but gawrsh,
he had more than a dozen of the same thing out for display (no
they didn't have any for retail; however, he was kind enough to
give me an order form), like they would've missed one pair--more
to the point--why are so many of the same product needed for display?
I seem to recall sometime back (perhaps a year, even) that the
Silencio-II plugs were being discussed online. To those that own/use
them, what is your opinion of them? They only cost $12.50, so
even if I found that I didn't care for them, my honey would be
spared listening to me whine.
The Hornady rep turned John onto 6 rounds of the Vector ammo (9
mm), which he hasn't gotten a chance to check out yet. Has anyone
used these much? I would think that they would be neat to (I hate
to use the term) "play" with...but...I don't think that
they would generate enough "extra" enjoyment to justify
the extra expense. Oh well, we'll (I'm sure that means, "he'll")
check out these 6 rounds and that will be the end of our Vector
experience(s).
There was a display--I cannot for the life of me remember the
name of the company*--of "self-sealing"
synthetic targets--COOL!!! They even gave free samples (towards
the end of the day, and the rep was pretty cool, so we got a few).
The targets come in various shapes, sizes, and colors as well
as different styles, i.e., hanging; stand alone; mounted, in either
a hinged or fixed model (hardware not included but available);
and `knock-down' (for lack of a better term), which is returned
to position via a string/cord. They had one on display (10"
round) that had been shot over 1,000 times with a .45 ACP and
was still usable (actually, in damn good shape). The only places
that you could see light through was where it had been shot using
hollow points (which is not recommended)--VERY, VERY COOL! Can't
wait to try them out (hopefully, next weekend). I wish that I
could remember the name of the company, but I can't (CRS gets
worse each day--I refuse to grow up, er, I mean old). Nevertheless,
does anyone know what I am talking about, and if so, what is your
opinion? They, too, are a bit costly for my raggedy ole wallet.
*(Webmaster's Note: The company with the
targets is Newbold Targets - 908-469-5654)
Of course the NRA had items for sale, got an excellent deal on
camo clothing. They had their own (NRA/Oak Moss) camo for unbelievable
prices...long sleeve shirts, pants, short sleeve shirts, and jackets
for $7.00 apiece, very nice quality clothing, too. John got one
of each for himself and we got our oldest son a set as well. The
sizes seemed to run a bit large and I wasn't sure about fit or
I would've gotten Michael some as well. As it is, we bought the
small thinking that it would fit either Scott or Michael, or perhaps
that they could share (right, like that's possible with teens)...poor
Michael, was swallowed whole! I was really surprised with the
sizing--extremely generous! Only wish that I could've afforded
to spend more, although, in retrospect, for $7 each I should've
gone ahead and gotten an x-small for Michael and if they were
too small, eventually, one of the other boys would've grown into
them. The camo hats (ball cap style) had sold out before we got
there, they had only been $5.00 each. They had the longarm shirts
(CRS again, you know the ones I mean, with the padded shoulder)
for only 12.95, got myself one of those so the next time I'm shooting
clays with "Thumper" I won't go home bruised! Lots of
other good bargains as well; too bad John and I constantly suffer
from that all too common disease--"Lacka-z-fundz!"
Several new (actually, old) items have been added to the museum
since my last visit. The museum is scheduled for completion in
1998--promises to be impressive.
Items available at the auction included: (2) Aimpoint 3000B scopes;
BEAMHIT 110 Laser Target System; (2) Daisy Mdl 853 Air Rifles;
(3) Gunsite Training gift certificates; (2) Kahr handguns (can't
remember models, they were different); and a collective set of
the synthetic targets that I mentioned (in detail) above...why
can't I remember the name? "New..." something, man,
this is really going to bother me until I can recall the company
name. ARRGH!
Oh, well, just thought I would share the Open House with all.