We attended the SHOT Show in Orlando from about 1 PM on Friday, 12
January 2007 to 1 PM Sunday, 14 January 2007. It was my second time
attending (having attended last time it was in Orlando in 2003) and my
travel partner's first. I had previously looked through the map that
the SHOT organizers had sent us, so I had circled the booths and
vendors that I wanted to be sure to hit. I only missed one, and managed
to find quite a few that I didn’t know were going to be there (or in
some cases, existed). Below is a list of vendors that we visited and
found to be of note. In some cases I took notes, and in others I’m just
going off of memory. They are listed in no particular order.
Kimber The trigger pull on the polymer gun they are pushing is pure crap. I don't know what they were thinking.
On
the plus side, they have a VERY cool new tactical bolt action rifle
that comes in two models, both wearing a McMillan stock; one with an
adjustable comb and one fixed. They come with a mount with, and I
forget how many, some number of minutes (I think 20?) as well as a hard
case, log book, and all the tools you'd need to work on it. MSRP of
$1836 for the non-adjustable and $2497 for the adjustable. At that
price difference though, there must be other differences. It looks like
master dealer is $500 less, so there will be some wiggle room as to
street price.
Rock River Arms Expect the 308 AR to be on shelves in 3-4
months. They expect an MSRP of $1100 to $1300. They have re-designed
the charging handle, but the guy I talked to denied that Bushmaster
ever had a problem with bolts failing. That concerns me as it leads me
to believe that they haven't done anything to change or correct the
design. Time, and the market, will tell I suppose.
Les Baer Baer has added "Recon" frames to their lineup,
with the first 100 or so being on Caspian frames and the subsequent
production being on their own frames.
They're
also doing a collaboration deal with Busse Knives which includes a
Busse knife and a pistol with design cues from the knife as well as
grips made by Busse from the same material as the handle of the knife.
The
guy that we talked with today at Baer was very cool and very helpful
and informative. I was generally pleasantly surprised with everyone at
this booth.
Les Baer "Busse" model with knife
Les Baer "Busse" model
Pentagon Lights They have a new
replacement for the goosneck military light that is smaller and
brighter and runs an LED off of a single AA. It's sized to fit inside
of MOLLE webbing and clips on to just about anything. It's also
available with both red and blue filters, and features a tiny compass
in the base. I think it will be invaluable at night shoots for admin
purposes.
They also now have a series of
lights with a nav light on the bottom. This may have been old news, but
it was new to me and very cool.
I also met Pat Ahern from 10-8 and another SWAT cop at this booth (who's name I forgot already) today that were both very cool.
Ceiner I had heard that this guy was a prick, and it was
nice to finally meet him face to face and find out that the rumors were
true. He's coming out with a .22 magnum upper for the AR, but was
pretty rude about sharing any information about it. When asked about
higher cap mags (it'll ship with 10), he said he would eventually come
out with 20s, and then 30s. When asked why he would phase them, he said
he'd do it "to make more money off of you". Then he went on to bitch
about why anyone would "need" a 30 round magazine anyway.
With
that attitude, he can keep the damn upper, and hopefully he'll have
every one of them shoved right up his ass when he rots in hell.
Kel Tec I have to say, their .308 rifle was the thing
that impressed me most, even more than the Masada, at SHOT. FAL mags,
very compact, well though out design/engineering, and alot of potential.
Kel Tec .308 Bullpup
Kel Tec .308 Bullpup takedown
Kel Tec .308 Bullpup broken down
DSA Besides their usual collection of FALs, they also had
a weird little pistol/subgun type "thing" on display. I'm not sure what
it's supposed to do exactly, but I'm sure it will appear in quite a few
movies in the near future.
DSA "Pistol"
DSA "Subgun"
Eotech The magnifier was obviously their big news. I'm
not a big fan of the Eotech, but it appears to me that they have moved
their buttons to the side on some mofels to facilitate use with the
magnifier. They have both a 3x and 4x available.
Aimpoint The big news at Aimpoint was
the new M4 model, which takes a standard AA battery (that’s right, just
one) and has a run time of 80,000 hours! That is over 9 years
continuous on. Unfortunately the longer battery necessitated a
different mount, as the battery compartment now runs the full length of
the optic and there is no way to get a ring around it. Presumably the
aftermarket, like Larue Tactical, will eventually come out with a
throw-lever mount for it.
The small news was their new mini Aimpoint (not sure of actual model name or number). This would make for a great shotgun or handgun optic and is somewhat of a competitor to the J-point or Docter Optic.
Retail
on the M4 is $700 and it is available now. The mini, my personal
favorite, is $650 retail and should be available in 90 days. They also
have a hunting model available in the mini that comes in a gloss black
or silver and is not NV compatible that is $580.
Aimpoint QRP mount for M4
Aimpoint "Micro"
Magpul At this point I doubt there’s anyone that hasn’t
heard of the Masada. This is Magpul’s own design for a gas piston
operated 5.56 carbine taking standard M16 magazines. It also uses
standard AR barrels (with additional pieces required to be pressed into
place) as well as standard AR trigger components housed in an aluminum
“trigger pack” inside the polymer lower receiver. The upper receiver is
aluminum with a steel insert that the bolt/carrier rides on inside. The
stock is adjustable for length of pull, folds to the side, and is
removable via a dovetail and secured in place with two pins.
Magpul
also came out with their own polymer magazine design which was a good
match to the Masada and will be available with or without a witness
window in the side.
Magpul Diagram
Troy rear sight on Masada
Masada takedown
MGM Targets These folks make some great products. My personal
favorite was a “sniper” target with a small eye/nose hole in the head
and a small hole in the chest. When the plate is shot, it pops out and
can be seen at the side of the target, and can be shot back into place.
Both 5.56 and 7.62 steel are available.
Detonics Yep, they’re back again. I’ve never been a real
big fan, but they are interesting pistols. The compact (3.5” barel)
model we looked at had a guide rod with 3 springs, and they were all
captive to make take-down super easy. Time will tell if this iteration
makes it or not.
Detonincs 3" broken down
Detonics Captured 3-spring guiderod
Detonics magwell bevel (or lack thereof)
Glock Their “big” news was the 21SF with a grip that is
slightly smaller, something like 3mm, front to back. It also has an
ambidextrous magazine release and can be had either with their standard
rail or an actual Picatiny rail.
Glock 21 SF
Taurus They have introduced a new .45 polymer pistol
akin to the S&W M&P and such. Having no real interest in this
market I couldn’t really tell you much about it. They did, however,
have a rather interesting 1911 prototype that was a collaboration with
Novak. Depending on final price, this could be a very interesting
option.
Taurus "Novak" 1911
Taurus "Novak" 1911 logo
Armalite As some of you may know, Armalite has been
saying they’re going to bring out a pistol for quite awhile. In fact,
they are just importing the pistol, but it’s something that I’ve never
seen before. It’s somewhat CZ or Magnum Research in its design. They
seem to be intending a lower price on it and it could be a good choice
if so.
Armalite Pistol
Armalite Pistol
Smith and Wesson Not being a big S&W fan, I didn’t
spend much time there, but for anyone who thinks that S&W isn’t
serious about the 1911 market, check out the picture below.
Smith and Wesson wall of 1911s
Colt Colt introduced a new compact CCO pistol. It’s
based on the series 80, features a 3” (or was it 3.5”?) barrel,
abbreviated grip and thumb safeties, and no sights. I was sorry to see
them go down this path as they obviously didn’t learn anything from
Kimber’s ridiculous model with no sights.
The
good news was the 1020, which is Colts gas piston M4 design. It
features an integrated continuous flattop upper and rail handguard and
a gas piston operation. The rest of the rifle remains the same, which
is a good thing. They will be bringing a standard direct-gas version,
with the integral rail, to market in the form of the 6940 in the next
year and follow up with the 1020 sometime after that. They promised a
2006 release for the 1020 at last year’s SHOT, so this year they are
being understandably tight lipped. All of these models will be no more
difficult to obtain than any of the other Colt LE line of rifles.
They
also showed a variation on the gas piston upper in the form of the M5.
The most obvious difference in this design is the removable, railed,
handguard. There are other design differences but it was obviously just
a prototype and kudos to Colt for bringing out such a rough specimen.
Colt CCO
Colt CCO "Sights"
Colt 1020 carbine and M5 upper
Colt M5 upper
Robinson Arms Interestingly Robinson did not have a
booth at SHOT this year, and the only way to see their new XCR was to
stop by the Ergo grips booth; so we did. I was not impressed. The rifle
was heavy, and it balanced oddly due to the skeletonized stockThe fact
that the folding stock folded in front of the ejection port was
somewhat troubling as well. . It did, however, appear to be very well
made.
Robinson Arms XCR
Robinson Arms XCR
Robinson Arms XCR
iShot iShot had a great new takedown discrete case
coming out for the AR. I was very impressed with the thought that went
into the design and will definitely be picking one up just as soon as
they offer it in a non-tactical color like blue.
iShot Takedown AR/M4 Case
Nighthawk Nighthawk had two new models to show, a
railed version of their Vickers gun as well as a Heinie signature gun.
The Vickers model is identical to their non-railed version with the
exception of the rail, and the model shown at SHOT had an interesting
forward mounted Bomar rear sight that seemed to offer a little
protection for the sometimes fragile sight. The Heinie model features
the Heinie magwell which does not protrude any further past the end of
the grips than a non-magwell version. This is an expensive part to fit,
however, as it requires cutting down the frame and relieving the back
side of the grips. Very nicely done pistols, both.
