PMCI - March - 2020

EDITORS COMMENT
EDITORS COMMENT
THINGS TO COME!
As we are now well into 2020 as I write the team and I are still
collating all the great information that came out of SHOT 2020,
and although Clint and Trampas have landed a super report again,
I am taking the opportunity here to give my own l overview!
First up, it is fabulous when the entire “PMCI Posse” gathers,
and due to my illness this hasn’t happened for way too long, but
to say that SHOT 2020 made up for this is an understatement!
No, you really can’t see everything at the show, but that is what
teamwork is all about, and teamwork is something we have in
abundance.
One of the continuing trends that caught my eye very quickly
at SHOT was the move even further towards ever lighter carbines
and rifles, with many manufacturers going for skeletonised rails
and stocks. With all the big names in play, firearm models that
stood out for me where from Knights Armament, Remington
Defense, Daniel Defense, LMT, Lantac USA (oh, that SPR!), and
Black Rain Ordnance… trust me, if I could have returned home
with a“T800” I’d have been a VERY happy camper as it looked
positively outrageous in a very cool way!
Now there were a couple of specific things that I wanted to
check out, and the first of those was the Laugo Arms “ALIEN”
pistol as this seems to be causing a lot of chatter; this is marketed
(with a hefty price tag!) as their flagship pistol which has now
gone from prototype to production and even been approved for
IPSC competition use. The 9mm “ALIEN” allegedly has the lowest
bore axis available on a handgun, with the positioning of its fixed
barrel some 1.7mm below the line of the grip axis. With an overall
length of 8.5-inches, the pistol is certainly unusual to look at, but it
does feel very comfortable in the hand; will it justify its pricetag?
Only time will tell…
The other stand I wanted to spend some time on was that of
SIG and I was not to be disappointed as the latest MG338 was on
display loud and proud! SIG confirmed recently that it has delivered
the new models to U.S. Special Operations Command, along with
sound suppressors and ammunition for them, and SIG says the
.338 calibre machine gun weighs around 20 pounds, making it
lighter than even the L variant of U.S. military’s standard 7.62mm
M240 machine gun, and lighter too than the MK 48, which SOCOM
previously led the development of as a lighter-weight alternative
to the M240-series.. I was also very taken by the NGSW-R
prototype which is called the ‘Spear’ in both 6.8x51mm Hybrid
and 7.62x51mm. This is the latest evolution of the MCX platform
but with some improvements including a newly designed forend
with a full-length top rail and a standard AR-style charging handle
with an additional folding charging handle on the left side of the
receiver!
Sadly after a stupendous SHOT we are all reeling a bit from the
postponement of the Enforcetac/IWA Show in Germany due to
the spread of Covid-19; will this affect our coverage of our brand
partners and their new developments? Not a bit, as I’m already in
touch with them and we’ll be showcasing more of those “things
to come” in future issues of PMCI as planned.
So for now, keep sharp, keep safe, and I hope to
see some of you in Nuremberg later in the year!
EDITORS COMMENT