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Drawing more than 80,000 attendees, the NRA Annual Meetings (NRAAM) held in Indianapolis April 26-28 provided a wide-open forum for more than 880 exhibitors to show their wares to the gunbuying public. SHOT Show is obviously the premier showcase for new firearms and related products, but the NRAAM's profile has elevated in recent years - with some companies electing to debut additional new products during the spring show. Thus, it represents an excellent petri dish to examine current trends impacting the market.
Entry-Level Guns Make An Impact
At the 2019 NRAAM, we observed a strong movement toward less expensive guns.
The low-priced introduction to get the most publicity was Ruger's new Wrangler, an economygrade version of the Single-Six .22 revolver of 1953. An entry-level plinker, its MSRP of $249 represents an attractive option. Even in Ruger's Q1 2019 earnings call, President and CEO Chris Killoy highlighted its value: "In this market, we know just how effective that price point can be," he said.
Of course, single action gate-loading Frontierstyle .22s aren't exactly defense guns, so let's turn a page in the "new" section of the Ruger catalog to the Security-9. This simple, reliable 9mm auto was introduced in a new sub-compact variation at NRAAM, and like its larger predecessor, it will undersell most of its competition while still carrying a name associated with quality and robust reliability.
A program first unveiled Jan. 2019, Springfield Armory added to its new Defenders Series at NRAAM with the 1911 Mil-Spec in .45 ACP. The theme is: take a proven model whose R&D expenses have long since been amortized, package it in a plain box instead of a cool carrying case,...