Last week, it was Gunsite Academy in Arizona. Gunsite's the former home and haunt of Col. Jeff Cooper, an advocate of the 1911 as the "greatest fighting handgun ever made". Gunsite and its acolytes adhere pretty strongly to that belief even today. You can train on virtually any firearm known to man there, but at the sides of everyone from the instructors and rangemasters to the office staff, one piece of gear is ubiquitous- the 1911 in one form or another. Despite that predilection, Gunsite remains one of the favorite locations for manufacturers to offer test and evaluation programs for their firearms due to the wide variety of ranges and scenarios that can be run across their facilities.
It wasn't Gunsite's training that brought me out last week, it was the opportunity to see a pair of new guns from Smith & Wesson. The first, their "E" Series of 1911s. Not quite Performance Center firearms (the S&W equivalent of the custom shop), they're certainly more than a line of stock 1911s.
Smith & Wesson's latest variant on the classic 1911-their "E" series. Shown here, the Commander-sized version. Jim Shepherd photo. |
Running my 4.25-inch (Commander style) 1911 SC test version through a variety of tests, from paper targets to night drills in a shoot house, my test unit ran great- as long as I kept my part of the bargain. I encountered a couple of cycling failures; one traced to my not giving the gun the resistance necessary to cycle the action in a one-hand shooting exercise; the second, a problem with a non S&W mag. Otherwise, it ran fine, clean or dirty, oily or dry -the way most of us expect the 1911 to behave. It is a proven design.
WIth the bobbed frame, aggressive checkering and an especially good trigger, the unit performed well beyond my skills. (A personal note to Head Rangemaster Ed Stock at Gunsite: in the future I will "always, always, always" keep my left thumb riding on the safety, not below it - maybe.)
Available in either a 4.25 inch, 7+1 round SC version or the full-sized 5-inch, 8+1 round model, either variant of the new "E" Series can be had with a black or two-tone finish and feature tritium night sights front and rear, "fish scale" scallops front and rear on the slide, aggressive grip checkering and a chamfered and recessed muzzle.
The second offering from S&W was one that I think has the potential to broaden the consumer base of the "modern sporting rifle" (OK, the AR-style platform) even further.
It's the M&P line's M&P 15 Sport rifle. And my feeling is that it fills two needs in the AR-platform offerings industry-wide: it's simple and affordable. The MSRP on this rifle is $709. That means street pricing will likely run in the $670-690 range.
And it is simple, meaning devoid of the plethora of rails and attachment points found on many other models. Its a flat-top that comes with an an adjustable/removable rear-sight, adjustable A2 style front sight, and a 6-position adjustable stock with a simple handguard assembly up front. The 5R rifling barrel has 5R rifling is capped with a threaded flash suppressor/compensator.
There is neither a forward-assist mechanism or dust cover. Smith & Wesson's Paul Pluff explained that the reasoning behind those omissions were simple "the average shooter doesn't run their rifles in the same conditions as the military, and not having the forward assist or dust-cover simplifies manufacturing and cuts costs to the consumer." Ditto an integral triggerguard- it eliminates a step in the manufacturing- and fitting process.
Every internal part, Pluff says, is interchangeable with any other rifle part across the M&P line. It's a variant of the M&P line, not an off-price derivative.
Putting the new M&P 15 Sport through its paces, I had a total of zero mechanical problems. The only recurring problem was my inherent inability to figure sight-tower offsets when shooting inside 25 yards. I compensate with optics by setting my personal zero at point-blank distances. Since we didn't do that with the EOTech optics provided (more on them in a separate column), I had to remember to offset, or pay the price.
Paul Markel puts the M&P 15 Sport through its paces on Gunsite's Scrambler rifle course. Jim Shepherd photo. |
With a mix of P-mags (standard with the rifle) and generic stamped metal magazines, I put hundreds of rounds through my rifle over three days of outdoor shooting conditions. It received a light coating of oil - once- and never failed to fire, despite dry and dusty desert-conditions and rests that included both dusty range bags and decaying logs.
It's a no-frills rifle that might be just the ticket to get new shooters into the platform.
Finally today, a very sad note at the loss of two names in the gun writing world.
George W. Martin, 81, longtime Guns and Ammo magazine editor and former Executive Director of Publications for the National Rifle Association, died June 8 in St. George, Utah. Martin's name and byline appeared on a host of editorial features, editorial evaluations and hard back introductions and forwards.
News of the loss of longtime gun writer Charles (Charlie) Cutshaw, hits much closer to home for me.
Over this past weekend, Charlie suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of an accidental fall at home and, despite the efforts of neurosurgeons, the damage was too-severe for him to survive. Charlie died shortly after 4p.m. yesterday afternoon.
A friend and occasional roommate on gun-related trips, "Cutshaw" exemplified the combination of knowledgable gun writer -and stand-tall American- to me.
A group of writers were sharing "Cutshaw" stories just this past week during the event at Gunsite. At that time, none of us imagined there would be no other opportunities to have fun with him.
I'll never forget his parting words usually ending with an admonition to "Check six".I know Charlie's "six" is finally - and forever - safe, but I'm going to find myself looking in my e-mail for my daily note from CQCutshaw@aol.com. It could contain anything from a mildly ribald joke to a serious message, but it was always uniquely Charlie.
We'll keep you posted.
--Jim Shepherd