SHOT Show Archives

Franchi, the mid-level priced shotguns of the Benelli/Franchi/Stoeger family, is completely rebranding itself for 2012 with an emphasis on “Franchi Feels Right.” If you are looking for a truly classy Old World Shotgun that fits you and helps you shoot better, the Franchi guns are known to be a great value in a sporting shotgun.

Redding Reloading is a stalwart of the American reloading tradition, and this new “green” case lube may sound a little flaky for them, but there is actually a point to it. Not using an oily petroleum based case lube will keep your vibratory tumbler media fresh, and it won’t leave a puddle of oil on the top of the water if you use an ultrasonic cleaner for your brass. If Redding makes it, it is because they saw a need and filled a need. They are a smart company committed to the needs of the dedicated handloader.

Fiocchi has been our sponsor of the GunsAmerica Blog throughout the entire SHOT Show week. We are going to help them get the word out this year about their new and available “canned heat” line of ammo. They are hermetically sealed in a real can, with a dessicant pack, so they are ideal for long term storage, hunting trips into wet and sandy places, and even desert warfare. We have already used their new cowboy loads on a Cimmaron GunsAmerica Blog post recently, and we hope to go over the whole caliber availability as well (they even come in .32S&W). This video wraps up with some calibers you may not have heard of, and that is just the point. Fiocchi is the only producer of several obsolete calibers, so you can shoot and hunt with those old drillings and oddball European guns, not just look at them. It will be an exciting year for Fiocchi, and we hope to bring you more from them soon.

Vortex Optics is one of the best buys in riflescopes, and they are bringing a new level of clarity and reliability to their well under $200 CrossFire line. They also have a new Razor Red Dot for 3-Gun and tactical applications, and coming in the fall, a first focal plane Viper LS HR with customizable turrets to your ballistics. We hope to get one of each this year for testing, because everything we have ever seen from Vortex is really fantastic. Check out this video from Vortex on the SHOT Show 2012 floor.

The MR762A1 from H&K is a 7.62×51 (.308 Winchester) descendent of the HK416/417 series, a semi-automatic rifle for civilian users. This system uses a solid “pusher” rod instead of the gas tube on a standard AR, and this makes the system very clean, because gas never gets into the receiver. It takes HK417 mags, and as you can see from the video, there are a number of features built into this rifle that make it more sure and stable than a standard “legacy rifle” AR-platform configuration.

You may already know about these two groundbreaking bullpups. The big thing for a long time on both the KSG and the RFB is getting one. Everyone wants one and they are extremely hard to get. Kel-Tec has added a whole new wing to their plant this year and are ramping up production on these in-demand guns. We hope to get one of each soon.

Eotech is a name we have all trusted for many years, and this addition of a shotgun forend is pretty exciting. It fits the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500/590 line of pump guns, and I can’t imagine a homeowner who wouldn’t want this ambidextrous wonder. Also a new version of their holo-sight in Zombie garb, nifty beans!

We saw the Sphinx line of pistols last year at Media Day at the Range, SHOT Show 2011. For 2012 the importers, KRISS, have a new model for us made specifically for “operators” and heavy duty competitors in the case of the pistol. The Sphinx pistols are novel because they are in three pieces, and all pieces can and usually are made of 3 different materials. The Defiance Suppressors are unique in that they are adjustable for point of impact, to match your gun with the can off or on. Truly an OPERATOR tool.

The new Hordady Zombie Max ammo gets a lot of attention, but the real story this year from America’s finest ammo maker is Critical Duty, a new handgun ammo for barrier penetration. Read the article and check out the video on what’s new from Hornady for 2012.

Even though there were little .380 pistols on the market before it, the introduction of Ruger’s LCP set off a .380 buying craze to such a degree that there were localized ammunition shortages. These guns are now so prevalent among the concealed carry crowd that shooting schools are, for the first time I can recall, teaching specialized little gun tactics and courses. There are a lot of benefits to such a compact defensive package, but as with many things in life, to get something you have to give up something.

If there is a must have product at SHOT 2012, it is the Akdal MKA 1919 semi-auto shotgun, exclusively imported in the US by RAAC. It looks like an AR-15, but it is a super-sized version made for 12 gauge shotgun shells in both the 2 3/4″ and 3″ size.

Many shooters will recognize Chiappa as the company offering the distinctive Rhino revolver. That innovative design fires from the bottom cylinder resulting in recoil dynamics that tame loads otherwise punishing to shoot in conventional snub-nose revolvers. But that’s not all Chiappa has. They also offer a line of dedicated rimfire guns that replicate the look, feel and function of popular defensive firearms including the 1911 pistol and M4 carbine. New this year is Chiappa’s rimfire version of the Beretta M9 pistol called the M9-22.

Many of you out there are familiar with the company known as Leapers or UTG. They are well known for selling firearm accessories such as mounts, lights, and optics. This year they came to SHOT with more gear than ever, taking up quite an amount of space in the hall. I was looking through it, and there is something for everybody.

What you may not know about Leapers, is that they are all American owned, and continue to transfer ever growing amounts of manufacturing here to their Livonia Michigan address. Any work done outside the US is in Taiwan, and is completely owned by UTG / Leapers. Their people make it and inspect it. And above all else, I’ve found these products to be quality made, and at a substantial savings. (My police department even uses their gear on our issued rifles, and has been very pleased.)

I did a study not to long ago tracing the average group size of Remington Model 700 rifles over the past 50 years and found that, at least for Remington 700s, factory, centerfire, bolt-action rifles have become progressively more accurate. It’s no wonder, then, that everyone seems to want to shoot at longer and longer ranges. Scope manufacturers are doing everything they can to make long range shooting easier, and Swarovski is no exception. This year they showed a neat little replacement turret cap called a Custom Ballistic Turret that for $99 turns any Swarovski ballistic turret scopes into a long range marvel.

OK, if you’ve read some of my earlier articles, you’ll know I’m a pretty stout Glock fan. I’ve carried one or another Glock pistol almost consistently since 1991. So when Glock came to SHOT, I couldn’t wait to get to their booth and see what was up for this year…
I found Glock’s pretty huge chunk of real estate in SHOT and there took a look at their latest and greatest. For this year, the Gen 4 marches on in two new models, the Glock 21 in .45 ACP, and the Glock 32 in .357 Sig.

Many people have seen or heard of Rohrbaugh Firearms. They made the first mini 9mm I ever heard of, the R-9. It was a 6+1 shot aluminum frame semi-auto that shook the firearms world at SHOT show in 2002 when the prototype was introduced. The gun came into full production in 2004, and then was named by Shooting Illustrated as Handgun the Year in 2005. It is a truly tiny package that they say is very easy to shoot.

The news from holster giant Bianchi is their latest entry into the concealed carry market. Three new holsters blending old technology with new are their entries for SHOT show 2012.

The Allusion series of holsters, is aimed at the concealed carry market. Allusion holsters blend the advantages and looks of leather (old technology) with the advantages of synthetic materials (new technology). These new holsters have a polymer inner shell that goes around the gun itself, while there is an outside layer of leather.

Bianchi recognizes that there is a certain allure of leather, some like the smell or look. However, there is a certain usefulness of polymer that helps lock in the gun, and allow for easy re-holstering.

The Ruger firearms tradition is about to experience nothing short of a slam dunk. What else would you call a six and a half pound 22″ barrel Ruger deer rifle that has a modern design polymer stock, trigger safety, four round rotary magazine, aggressive recoil pad, shoots into about an inch at 100 yards consistently, and has an MRSP of $449? Ruger calls it the American Rifle, and I call that a slam dunk.

Over and over we are hearing from manufacturers in the American firearms industry that they are bringing to market a “completely new gun.” I think it is actually because of the internet. Because where it used to be that a product succeeded or failed, and the reason for the success or failure was largely a mystery. The ubiquitous voice of the internet now can and does let you know almost immediately what consumers like about your product and what they don’t like, and this gives you the power to change your product to better meet their needs.

Another new entry to the optics world is from well-respected optic manufacturer Nikon. At SHOT show I got to see their brand new Nikon P223 3×32 BDC Compact optic for the AR style rifle.

This is a compact 3-power scope made just for the AR-15 style rifle. The optic is a fixed power 3x magnification, with hash marks in the reticle for bullet drop programmed for 55 grain bullets built into the scope.

The first thing I realized at SHOT show this year, was how many firearms companies there are that were new to me. One of these was SAR Arms.

Funny thing is, this company shouldn’t be new to anyone. SAR Arms is the importer / distributor for the Sarslimaz firearms group, who is one of the largest manufacturers of small arms in the world. They are based out of Turkey, and have a 125-year history of making guns of all kinds. They have an extensive line of shotguns, as well as pistols. Some of these pistols are based on the well-respected CZ-75 system. Today, they use state of the art CNC and CAD/CAM systems to make these modern weapons for the world market. Many of these weapons are chosen by Turkey’s military and see time on the battlefield.

When I first reviewed a gun from Kahr Arms in 1995, I was impressed enough with the design, workmanship, and function that I surprised my mother with a Kahr K9 as a carry gun. Ordinarily, getting my mother the right gun is like trying to get her the right pair of shoes, but in this case the K9 went over with great success. At the time, it was one of the smallest 9mm handguns on the market. Its “slick” slide is ideal for concealed carry, and the silky smooth factory trigger pull has to be tried to be appreciated. If there are any qualms, it’s that the K9 is a bit heavy (compact polymer-framed guns were not readily on the market then) and its $600+ price tag (in 1995 dollars) was as much as one month’s mortgage payment. Since then, more states have passed “shall issue” laws. The results are increased demand for carry guns, more carry gun options, and more competitive pricing.

MTM never fails to come up with some clever plastic product I probably would not have thought of and now can’t live without. This year it’s the Cast Bullet Box and Gun Cleaning Patch Catcher. I’m an avid bullet caster and have always kept my supplies of sized and lubed bullets in cardboard boxes. The problem with that is dust always seems to find its way into the boxes and onto the bullets. Granted, the dust is only a minor annoyance, but it’s still an annoyance. Al Minneman who heads MTM, is also a cast bullet shooter. Every year I try to visit him and his fellow competitors at the N-SSA National Skirmishes. They’re good folks, I get to hear about what new things they’re working on at MTM, and we talk shooting.

Stag Arms had two new products at SHOT that are going to take a lot of the guesswork out of self-defense and 3-Gun competition for shooters who want “turn-key” solutions. The 2012 Executive Survivor’s Kit (ESK) is a special project done in partnership with Stag distributor LAN World and specifically marketed toward affluent people who have themselves, their family, and assets to protect during a “survival” situation. The kit is not set up for surviving a zombie apocalypse or an end of the world scenario, but instead for the more plausible scenario of being displaced for a few days by some disaster. I’ll be the first to admit that the whole “Katrina” thing has been done to death, but there never fails to be some new natural or domestic threat to make you realize that you need a gun. With social movements such as “occupiers” who think they’re somehow entitled to “their fair share” of what YOU own, I don’t blame people for being concerned about their safety.

Ballistic armor has become a subculture in the tactical community that most of us know nothing about. But it is one of those things that once you get used to the protection it affords, you don’t want to be without it. For this reason, innovations in ballistic armor have been making it lighter and lighter, and I was very surprised to discover that one of the latest innovations is ballistic armor made of not ceramic, not titanium, and not even kevlar, but, drum roll please, compressed poly, otherwise known as, FANCY PLASTIC, made by Armored Mobility Inc., or AMI

CZ-USA has an extensive line and this year a whole bunch of new guns makes for a good looking year for this smart and affordable line of guns from CZ. The 712 shotgun is adjustable for length of pull. There is a new 1911 for concealed carry, the P07 comes with a threaded barrel, and in forest green. The 455 line of rimfires and a whole bunch of competition designs.

SHOT Show is always an exciting time for us gun enthusiasts, as we wait with baited breath for new models. This year is no different, but Colt did one better, they re-introduced a longtime favorite, while continuing to build on their winning line of 1911-style pistols.

One of the most common questions I get is “What’s a good value-priced riflescope?” Well, that depends on your budget. If your budget is a few hundred dollars, then I don’t see anything wrong with one of Leupold’s VX-I scopes. Add a couple hundred bucks more to your budget, and the VX-II line is a step up without breaking the bank. This year though, Leupold is replacing those lines with improved VX-1 and VX-2 lines, respectively. Typically a manufacturer uses a change like this to implement a price increase, but Leupold’s Pat Mundy says the company was able to “hold the line on price,” and that’s good news for the consumer.

My first experience with any sort of red dot or reflex sight was many SHOT Shows ago when C-More sight owner, Ira Kay, explained how to use one properly. He demonstrated how keeping both eyes open when using the “heads up” screen on the C-More eliminated the perception of looking through a tube, which is exactly what you got with some of the cylindrical sights of that time. He also showed how with both eyes open, you could get the lens front covered with mud, blood or even broken, and still see the dot to aim. I was very impressed, and have owned several dot sights since. For close- to medium-range shooting where hitting the target quickly is the goal, you simply can’t beat a dot.

For 2012, Nosler added a new line of lower priced bullets and ammunition for high-volume varmint shooters called “Varmageddon.” They’re available as component bullets in .172″, .204″, .224″ and .243″ diameters, and loaded in .17 Rem., .204 Ruger, .221 Fireball, .222 Rem., .223 Rem., .22-250 and .243 Win. ammunition. The new bullets are quite a step up in quality from cheap bulk and rather different from Ballistic Tip Varmint bullets. For one thing, a quick scan through Internet suppliers shows that Varmageddon bullets cost about 65 percent that of Ballistic Tips for the same count, diameter and weight. I’ve been fortunate enough to get into some prairie dog and ground squirrel towns where the number of shots I took was only limited by how much ammunition I brought. In towns like those, the cost of ammunition can really add up. It’s tempting to try and shoot a town like that with cheap bulk bullets or “seconds,” but in my experience, doing so simply results in more misses and thus firing more shots, so it’s really a false economy. It’s a good thing that a manufacturer known for excellent bullets to begin with, can also make excellent affordable bullets.