EX COUGAR SALVO 2012 SLIDESHOW

This video is of the biggest exercise done recently by the 39th brigade, which is made up of all of the Reserve units in British Columbia. the artillery guns are C3's which I used to command one when I was in the 15th FD Regiment  RCA. The exercise took place in Idaho and the Canadians were working with US National Guard.

There are times when I miss this stuff, but with a busy job, 2 young kids and a couple of hobbies. I know I don't have the time to devote to it. so of the guys I trained are now the Warrant Officers and Sergeants. they bugged me to come back, but I suspect it's so they extract their revenge on me because I would have to restart as a gunner. I can see it now; "Gunner! remember how you made me run with my rifle over my head 50 times around the parade square? Get you butt moving and get that rifle up high!!!!" 

I think I will just stick to have a beer with them and recall the good old days!

SHOT show 2012

picture from armsbook.ca

Went to the Shot show this year with some friends, this is my third time, so somewhat used to it, the first time going for a shooter is like being a kid in a candy shop! I really enjoy going as it is so totally different than working in a government office, listening to small business owners talk about idea's, buying, selling, importing, exporting, regulations and what will happen next in the economy is refreshing and quite educational.

The show is divided into a few large groupings, the main floor is the big names like Ruger, Smith and Wesson, Remington and Winchester to name a few. Downstairs is the small businesses, this is where the real gems are, everyone down there has a better mousetrap or at least a better price on the widgets than someone else. Off to the side our the special sections for military and law enforcement.

The show was held at the Sands expo in Las Vegas and will likely be near for the next few years.
One thing I have noticed over the last 3 shows I have gone through (2008,2010 and 2012) is that women are becoming a force to be reckoned with.

picture from womanofuspsa.com

 The women I see see there are increasingly more involved with both shooting and the business side, this is reflected in the marketing that is going on. While a large group of retailers think all they have to do is put some of their products in pink, others are going far greater lengths to redesign their products to match the physique of the average woman. This explains the rocketing popularity of pocket pistols which are light, easy to concel and easier for most women to grasp and operate.

Around 61,000 people came to the show and there was over 1600 exhibitors. What I found to my surprise is that despite the economy and growing concerns for another hard recession, the firearm industry is booming (pun intended).
Some of the interesting highlights I saw are:

Turkish bling guns

Lots of air rifles

The "Rhino" revolver, unique as it fires from the bottom of the cylinder rather than the top, this reduces "muzzle flip".

How about some $257,000 shotguns, made by Perazzi The scary part is this is their "mid-range priced guns"  . they also have a set for over $400,000!!  They asked me if I wanted to hold one and I said no, if I dropped it I would have to sell the house to pay for it!!!!

Now this is the latest in Scottish high fashion, Bullet proof vests in the tartan of your choice!

Some interesting and novel shotgun slugs.

Zombies are all the rage right now, zombie ammo, zombie knives, zombie targets, zombie grips, everyone and anyone who could work the zombie angle did.

The show is wheelchair friendly, this one costs over $20,000 and uses 6 gyroscopes to stay stable.

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