The NRA Annual Meeting is being held in Atlanta this year. The NRAAM shares some things in common with the SHOT Show but is oriented toward the individual gunowner instead of the industry. The Exhibit Hall Map proclaims “14 Acres of Guns & Gear.” “All the Firearms Industry’s Leading Brands Under One Roof!”

Day 1 – Friday

I visited some gear oriented booths, attended a seminar, had lunch with some industry folks, and went to a gun collector display.

The Virginia Gun Collectors Association had an interesting display regarding one of the earliest snub revolvers, the Webley Mk III Pocket. The Webleys were used by the Royal Irish Constabulary as far back as the late 19^th Century. The ‘Black and Tans,’ as they were called, were notorious for their ill treatment of the Irish people. After the partition of Ireland, some of them emigrated to Canada, which is where this particular example came from.

This shows the Black and Tans in action.

A piece of gear that could be useful was at the Lyman booth. Ammo Checkers™ Multiple Calibers has a Handgun Gauge – 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 38/357, 44 Mag/Spl, 45 Colt that allows a shooter to chamber czech ammo without disassembling your gun. An example of why this is useful is given in a recent Tactical Wire article. https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/3fe2ede6-09e3-4b32-8fec-b12737186e5f

https://www.lymanproducts.com/ammo-checkers

Walking around, I wasn’t really looking for guns Friday. However, the Charter Arms Undercoverette .32 H&R Magnum https://charterfirearms.com/collections/undercoverette/products/73220-undercoverette-ss-std caught my eye. The Undercoverette has been around for a long time, although originally in .32 S&W Long, not .32 H&R Magnum. All the Charters I’ve owned have beaten themselves to death within 600 rounds but maybe a .32 wouldn’t.

At lunch, I was introduced to an NRA publication I wasn’t familiar with, Concealed Carry for Women. I was told that NRA Women https://www.nrapublications.org/news/nra-women/ publishes one hard copy per year and this is the 2025 edition. It is available as a digital download also.  https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ccw_2025/

At the Smith & Wesson booth, I looked at the new Model 10 and new Model 36. Frankly, they leave me cold. Although lockless, they have the new style frame and old style half moon sights. I don’t get it. They have decent triggers though.

The class/seminar I attended was about Every Day Carry by Matt Mallory, a POlice officer in New York State and NY Concealed Carry License instructor. His style is very interactive and entertaining. One of the things he mentioned was the ability to communicate with potential attackers to determine their intent. Using the  STOP! Hand Signal and your voice can be very useful. I concur completely.

More about the Meeting tomorrow.