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Now that the women’s division shooting powerhouse has said auf Wiedersehen to the Haus of Glock, the question is who will grab her up. She tops the list of women shooters currently unaffiliated with a gun company and, excluding Bob Vogel, the list of all shooters without direct gun company sponsorship. Here’s my read on who among the big handgun companies could, would and should grab her and why.
Smith & Wesson…This is the obvious #1 choice. If I were Paul Pluff, or hell, Mike Golden for that matter, I’d be hell bent for election to sign Jessie. The 158 year-old juggernaut has already assembled a very strong shooting team, the largest of any firearms company. They are still smarting from having lost out on Max Michel who went to Sig due to bad timing with S&W’s budget year. But they are just about to enter their new fiscal year so the timing for Jessie if perfect. With Jessie they immediately pick up national championships in Production and Limited-10 in USPSA and the Steel Challenge. Team her up with Julie G., who’s not yet fully back on her game due to rotten Montana weather and those full-time mommy duties, and they have a serious women’s one-two punch that extends well beyond the shooting range. Each is great on camera and can represent the company in public better than most sponsored shooters, and with a company like Smith which so closely manages their public image for their investors, this matters a lot. If Smith picks up Jessie then in doing so they’re firmly planting their flag on top of the hill, daring anybody to try and knock them off. Imagine the 2011 IPSC World Shoot with Jessie, Julie and Kay Miculek. Can you say Gold Medals?
Sig…This company finally got into the competition world with Max Michel who promptly won the USPSA Open Nationals and the Steel Challenge. He’s a lock for both titles in the future. They have quietly sponsored other shooters but so quietly you’d never know they were out there unless you saw them on the range at the match. If two of your shooters finish in the top 5 but you don’t mention them in any press release, did they shoot the match? With Jessie they’d have wins to talk about on a consistent basis. For Sig, Jessie would bring titles in Production, Limited-10, Steel Challenge, Single Stack (if she wants) and Open if they build a Sig Open gun for her on an STI body.
Springfield…The Illinois based company seems content to continue with Robbie Leatham as their standard bearer. Their lack of interest in other potential shooters, beyond Robbie’s wife Kippi of course, suggests they plan to stick with Robbie alone until the day when the battery on his electric wheelchair gives out. With Jessie they’d play in Production, Limited-10 with their XDs, which have yet to grab up market share in these divisions, as well as Single Stack and the Steel Challenge. Again, build out and Open gun and you pick up wins there as well.
FNH…The focus for FNH has been their 3-Gun effort. While Jessie isn’t seen as a 3-Gun shooter, she is an exceptional Cowboy Action Shooter where they run three guns. It’s an easy transition for her as she’ll be good no matter what she shoots. Get her shooting the FNP series in Production and Limited-10 and FNH might be taken more seriously in pistol competition where they are more scarce than Berettas.
Taurus…Now this one is a true wild card and would never happen but with their 1911 and 24-7 they have guns that could compete in Single Stack, Production and Limited-10. Grab an STI and rollmark the slide with the Taurus bull and you’d have an Open gun. This isn’t as far fetched as it would sound considering that it was rumored a couple were made for Doug Koenig’s use way back when he had some sponsorship connection to the company.
HK…Not gonna happen. Next.
Beretta…It is said that 85% of Beretta’s business is in shotguns which would explain their limited focus on handguns over the years. Very few competitors run the Italian-designed pistol in competition so it is unlikely this would happen. Jessie would probably be less interested in them than they are in her.
CZ…This is a wild card that should not be. CZ has some good shooters and a very good gun for competition. Unfortunately it has not invested more marketing effort into competition. It would be a bold move on CZ’s part to snatch up Jessie and outfit her with a model 75 tuned-to-win by Angus. CZs are strong in Europe so they are proven winners in competition. Put one in Jessie’s hands and they’d be proven winners here too.
Of course, I could be completely wrong on all this but that’s how I see the lay of the land. Let’s sit back and wait for the news.
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Ill take her.
For selfish reasons, I’d like to see SnW add her to the team, if Glock won’t. Selfish because I have and really like the MnP. I’ve never cared much about anybody else on the list there. Whoever signs her gets the dominant female professional shooter on the planet. Hard to believe that Glock let her get away.
Not known as a 3-gun shooter? She was the 2008 Ladies Multi-Gun National Champion! Watch what happens this year when she shoots the MG Nat’s in Open….
I think the most likely to pick her up is S&W. SIG would be a little surprising, but a smart move for them. The rest I doubt will even try.
I heard a rumor that Hi-Point was going to pick her up for the Production class.
President of MKS Supply, Charles Brown, was overheard saying that signing up Abbate for their company would bring a legitamacy to Hi-Point among certain fire-arm groups that seems to be lacking in an otherwise outstanding product line and company.
Ok. Maybe not.
[...] DownRange.TV, Paul Erhardt notes: “Now that the women’s division shooting powerhouse has said Auf [...]
Your statement regarding Julie G. – “not yet fully back on her game due to rotten Montana weather and those full-time mommy duties”…
I think you owe Julie G. a quick apology for implying that motherhood somehow diminishes her abilities compete.
Robert – How on earth do you interpret what I wrote to be some kind of indictment of motherhood? I think maybe you need to re-read what I wrote. You might also want to read some of my other posts, particularly this one (http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=2772) and the section entitled Julie G. Goes Single.
Being a mother does not make one a better or lesser shooter. Having a baby, and the associated “mommy duties”, does take up a great deal of time which then cannot be devoted to practice. You are familiar, I take it, with the concept of practice. Well, she’d be the first to tell you that 200 rounds through the gun before arriving at Area 6 would not be considered a strong practice session. In fact, Julie shot Area 6 in Single Stack to use that as practice for this weekend’s Single Stack Nationals.
So while you think I offended her, you might want to consider that I’m the one that pointed out that even when she’s practicing, Julie wins titles…and with a brand new gun at that.
@Erhardt
Despite legislation designed to promote equality for women and mothers in the workplace, (aka Competitive Shooting), including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (the “PDA”), and the Family and Medical Leave Act (the “FMLA”), discrimination persists. And when considering discrimination, a persons intent in not required. You obvioulsy have full respect for Julies skills and accomplishments, but your choice of words perpetuates the issue of discrimination against woman and mothers. Stated in another way, do you think you’d every attribute a male shooters poor performance to his role as a father? If Julie’s performance was impacted, it was not because of her being a mother, but instead of the choices she made in allocating her time and energy. The difference is subtle, but very important.
[...] Read more at Down Range TV Bob Vogel, Doug Koenig, Europe, Glock, Illinois, Jessie, Julie Miculek, Kay Miculek, Kippi, Max Michel, Mike Golden, model, Montana, Paul Pluff, Robbie Leatham blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = 'http://www.gunclub.com/2010/04/the-jessie-abbate-sweepstakes-are-on-4/ '; var disqus_container_id = 'disqus_thread'; var facebookXdReceiverPath = 'http://www.gunclub.com/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm'; var DsqLocal = { 'trackbacks': [ ], 'trackback_url': 'http://www.gunclub.com/2010/04/the-jessie-abbate-sweepstakes-are-on-4/trackback/' }; (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = "http://gunclub.disqus.com/disqus.js?v=2.0&slug=the_jessie_abbate_sweepstakes_are_on_73&pname=wordpress&pver=2.33"; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); « Previous Entries Next Entries » Categories [...]
Mr. Erhardt, Robert still does not have a clue. You comment doesn’t suggest nor imply anything with regards to Julie Golob role as a mother. Your comment only suggests that her time for practice is less because now her first priority is to take care of her new baby, along with the father. I don’t believe she would argue that fact. Robert is just creating controversy where there isn’t any and his last comment only expounds upon his ignorance.
Besides, your article is about Jessie Abbate not Julie Golob.
John – Thanks for chiming in. I was at a loss for words, unless those words started with “F”, if you know what I mean. You’re comments are dead on. Who knew that to state the obvious like you and I have would trigger such feigned outrage.
Julie went from the Area 6 match to the nationals two weeks later and walked out out of PASA Park with the “I Came. I Saw. I Conquered.” t-shirt. She won her 10th USPSA national title putting her in rare company. Which isn’t a surprise since she’s a “rock star.”
Right now there’s a lot going on in competitive shooting with USPSA out in front, and for those who don’t know the inside baseball of USPSA, Julie has a lot to due with it. Keep an eye on the women in general because they are having a significant impact on the sport right now.
Thanks again, John…and thanks for reading the blog.
My dark horse is Ruger. They have cowboy guns, three gun rifles, and some potential USPSA guns.