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Photos and storyby Dave Workman
Senior Editor
With an exhibit floor that stretched nearly one mile from end to end, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held in New Orleans Jan. 11-14 was the biggest ever, in terms of scope.
Turnout was down nearly 20% from the big event last year in Las Vegas, but rest assured, there was plenty for the savvy firearms retailer-or curious gun writer-from some dandy new handguns to an assortment of knife entries.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), this year's show covered 486,200 square feet, which was plenty of room for the 25,291 visitors to move around without bumping into one another.
Why the drop in attendance? Several industry insiders and dealers in attendance suggested that more than one factor was involved. Despite the personal invitation of Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster, this was still New Orleans, a city that is suing the firearms industry.
It's also an expensive city to visit, where the cost of hotel rooms and food are much pricier than Las Vegas. And getting there is not half the fun. Reports of other outdoor sports-related shows held in New Orleans in recent times have also indicated that New Orleans just may not be our kind of town.
But the Convention Center certainly proved it is large enough to house the SHOT Show.
There was one near-disaster, when the Glock banner, held aloft by a cable from the ceiling, plummeted to the show floor just minutes before the doors opened on the first day. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured, and the mess was quickly cleaned away, but it gave the Glock staff quite a start.
Not nearly a "disaster," but it might have become pretty interesting, was the night fellow gun writer and Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) board member Glen Voorhees and I took a cab to one of the many receptions. This cab driver sped down the street at 55 mph, "nudged" his way through crosswalk traffic twice, and during the second incident nearly struck my good friend Massad Ayoob-also an SAF board member-who was less than amused.
Next day, I spotted Ayoob on the show floor, and mentioned his "run-in."
"Oh, did you see that?" he asked.
"See it? Hell, Mas, I was in the cab!"
There was no single "Top Gun" introduced this year, but there were a couple of entries that truly got my attention:
New from Smith & Wesson (2100 Roosevelt Ave., Dept. GWK, Springfield, MA 01104; phone: 800-331-0852; on-line: www.smith-wesson.com) is the .357 Magnum Model 66, with a 3.2-inch barrel and fiber-optic front sight. Built on S&W's K-frame, it sports a comfortable textured rubber grip with finger grooves and enough of a recess to allow the use of speedloaders.
It also has an adjustable rear sight, shrouded cylinder pin/ejector rod and a typically smooth S&W double-action.
S&W is bringing back the Model 657, chambered in my favorite handgun hunting caliber, the .41 Magnum. With plans to test that gun later in the spring, it got a very close inspection.
Revived after being off the S&W production roster for a while, the Model 657 is a stainless steel wheel gun with un-fluted cylinder and full underlug barrel. The cartridge needs no introduction to serious handgunners, as it has been around for some 40 years, though it has a somewhat checkered history.
Initially developed as a law enforcement round, the .41 Mag. proved to pack too much recoil for some officers to handle. Emphasis shifted to making it a hunting round, but it could not catch fire like the .44 Magnum, despite its ability on paper to shoot flatter with about 20% less recoil.
So, it has languished, with only the stalwarts keeping it alive. But it's one superb cartridge (I've taken coastal blacktail and mule deer with it), and the Model 657 is one swell six-shooter. The action on S&W's display gun was glass smooth, and without trigger weights, I'd estimate the let-off was somewhere around four to five pounds.
That sample gun had an 8-inch barrel, with S&W's ramp front sight and a click-adjustable rear.
Kimber Mfg. Inc. (1 Lawton St., Dept. GWK, Yonkers, NY 10705; phone: 888-243-4522; on-line: www.kimberamerica.com) unveiled the latest in a growing line of single-action semi-auto pistols based on the Model 1911 design. Their new Ultra Ten is a tight little package with wide polymer frame, double-stack 10-round magazine, stainless slide and low-profile dovetailed sights, front and rear.
This could be the most concealable .45 auto on the map, and thanks to the polymer frame, it provides a comfortable hold, and that 3-inch barrel will tuck into any good concealment holster around.
Kimber is also back in the rifle business, with the revival of its Model 84 bolt-action, chambered in .243 Win. and .308 Win. in the "standard" model, and .22-250 Rem. in the varmint version. It's got a two-position safety, Mauser extractor and controlled-round feeding.
Benelli USA Corp. (17603 Indian Head Highway, Dept. GWK, Accokeek, MD 20607; phone: 301-283-2981; on-line: www.benelliusa.com) has new 20-gauge versions of the M-1 and NOVA. Benelli President Steve Otway said the M-1 is available with a magazine extension for dove hunters, and it hits the scale at just over 6 pounds.
Scheduled for availability in the spring, the new 20-gauge M-1 wears a synthetic stock, available either in black or high-definition Advantage Timber camo.
Franchi's over-under shotguns are certainly worth examination by any serious bird hunter or clays shooter. Imported by Benelli, there are several models available. Otway showed us the full line, and one model that particularly impressed this writer was the Alcione FX, a 12-gauge beauty with a unique feature. This shotgun has a selection of engraved, interchangeable sideplates that carry different hunting scenes. The engraving has gold fill, and the receiver, done in silver nitride, beautifully offsets the deep blue finish on the barrels.
The stock and forend on the sample Otway showed me were beautiful, with cut checkering, and a beautiful grain.
Savage Arms Inc.'s (100 Springdale Road, Dept. GWK, Westfield, MA 01085; phone: 413-568-7001; on-line: www.savagearms.com) Tom Mihalek showed me one of the most clever gun safety devices on the map, and it could soon be a feature on this outfit's full line of bolt-action rifles. Simply, it's a bolt lock that makes the action impossible to cycle when engaged, and is hidden right in the rear of the bolt. It is activated by a small round key.
One of the more intriguing guns I spotted was from Kel Tec (PO Box 236009, Dept. GWK Cocoa, FL 32926-6009; phone: 321-631-0068; on-line: kel-tec.com). It's a folding rifle that retains some features of the Sub 9, but creates the Sub Rifle 2000. This semi-auto has a 16.1-inch barrel and is chambered in either 9mm or .40 S&W. Thanks to an interchangeable magazine release system, this gun can be adapted to accept various magazines from S&W, Glock or Beretta pistols.
Weighing only 4 pounds, the Sub Rifle 2000 can fit inside a small case when folded, with the barrel pivoting up and back over the top of the receiver.
One other firearm that caught my eye was the Para-Ordnance (980 Tapscott Road, Dept. GWK, Scarborough, ON, Canada M1X 1C3; phone: 416-297-7855; on-line: paraord.com) LDA 7.45, a single-stack magazine version of its double-action Model 1911 variant that has caught the handgun world by storm. This pistol has a 5-inch barrel, steel receiver, seven-round magazine, black finish and it weighs 39 ounces.
There's a new variation of the much-copied "Workman" holster from Mitch Rosen Extraordinary Gunleather LLC (300 Bedford St., Dept. GWK, Manchester, NH 03101; phone: 603-647-2971; on-line: www.mitchrosen.com). This one is designed to be worn in front of the hip with a straight drop. The Workman is the original "tuckable" inside-the-waistband holster over which a shirt may be tucked. Mitch Rosen, the maestro of concealment gunleather, also showed us several models in his Express Line of holsters, which is gaining in popularity among serious gun-toters.
In the optics arena, Swarovski Optik (2 Slater Road, Dept. GWK Cranston, RI 02920; phone: 800-426-3089) hits a home run with its new 30X spotting scope. It's got a 75mm objective lens, roof prism system, and it compresses to just 12 inches for carrying in a backpack. Extendable to 19 inches, it weighs 42 ounces and can be mounted on a tripod.
Anyone who likes knives will love the new Chuck Buck Signature model from Buck Knives (1900 Weld Blvd. Dept. GWK, El Cajon, CA 92020; phone: 800-326-2925; on-line: www.buckknives.com). I happened by the Buck exhibit just as Chuck arrived, and he took a moment to show off this dandy fixed-blade hunter. It's got rugged hardwood grip panels on both sides of the full-length tang, and comes with a tough leather sheath. Chuck's signature is etched in the blade.
Another knife entry that got this writer's immediate attention is the new James A. Keating Chinook Clipit model from Spyderco Inc. (P.O. Box 800, Dept. GWK, Golden, CO 80402-0800; phone: 800-525-7770; on-line: www.spyderco.com). This is one rugged knife, with Spyderco's trademark thumbhole in the blade upper, and G-10 synthetic handle.
The Bowie-style blade measures slightly under 3.75 inches, and it has an upswept edge that makes it a great choice for hunters who could easily use it for skinning and field dressing. The blade comes either with Spyderco's PlainEdge or PlainEdge/SpyderEdge combination.
| Benelli | Buck Knives |
| Glock | Kimber |
| Mitch Rosen Extraordinary Gunleather | Para-Ordnance |
| Savage Arms | Smith & Wesson |
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