Amid many new AR-type guns, hunting rifles abound at SHOT
Photos & Report
by Buck Pope
Contributing Editor

Once a year there is the gun show of all gun shows, and it is called The SHOT Show. This is the largest firearms and related products show—trade or consumer—to be had in the USA, and maybe the world.

Its full name is the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show. This year it was held in Las Vegas, NV, and was a four-day event, running from Jan. 19-22, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Unfortunately for me, I could only attend the first two days of the show, plus an extra day before the exhibits opened so I could attend the off-site shooting event hosted by Kevin Howard for his many industry clients on the day before the show kicked off.

The projection was that it would be a record show, or close to it, and that projection was right on. It was attended by 58,444 gun people, had a total of 1,800 booths and took up 700,000 square-feet of space at the Sands Convention Center.
The event is organized and owned by National Sporting, Shooting Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. During the show, Stephen Sanetti, president of NSSF, proudly announced that we are at our strongest and the attendance at this show was second to the largest ever in attendance. I went to the show knowing I was at a disadvantage. My schedule allowed me only three days total for the event, one day for the off-site and two days for the show. It would be impossible to see everything in two days, but I would give it my best shot. I made a priority list of “musts” to see and would go from there.

There was another problem with the show this year, and that was that Safari Club International’s (SCI) annual convention and exhibits was kicking off later in the week and resources were split for a number of companies. Plus a number of key personnel stayed for only one day, if that, then off to SCI’s event in Reno. It is very unfortunate that these organizations can’t work better together to avoid these overlaps.

I very much look forward to attending one or two of the off-site press-driven shooting events held by select sponsors and by invitation only each show.
I attended the event organized by Howard Communications at the Desert Sportsmen’s Range, just on the outer limits of the ever-growing city. A number of sponsors had their firearms all set up for the people of the gun press to try out. Browning and Winchester had a number of firearms to shoot including their new products for this year. Other sponsors at the Howard off-site were Bushnell, Winchester Ammunition, Taurus, Crimson Trace, LaCross, Mossy Oak, and Birchwood Casey.

The weather was not good; we were getting rain as a large storm was moving in. But in spite of the drizzle the buses for the event were full. Those in attendance numbered over 225 media people, plus 100 support staff and another 110 dealers. A huge tent was in place for us to gather plus to have a nice lunch before leaving.

I should warn you here that this is a preliminary report on some new guns I saw at the show without a lot of detail and specs. It’s really a news briefing that will be followed up in later issues with more specific detail. However, I have included a resource list with contact information in case you want to get more information direct from the companies mentioned.

The big items with Winchester were the return of the Winchester Model 70 in an Express model offered in three big game calibers and the return of the 1894 lever action Winchester rifle. The Model 70 Express will be offered in .375 H&H, .416 Rem. Mag and the .458 Win. Magnum. I shot all three calibers at the targets and steel gongs set at various distances on the range.

I have always been a big fan of the Winchester Model 70 and was very pleased to see the return of this rifle, now in three excellent very large African type game calibers. This is the rifle with the famous Model 70 action, which has the claw extractor, controlled round feed, three-position safety, blade-type ejector and other features. They have the new MOA Trigger Systems and are blued metal and walnut stocked. The Model 70’s will be made here in the USA for Winchester/Browning at the Fabique Nationale (FN) plant in Columbia, SC. All of the rifles at the event were topped with Bushnell Optics.

The new lever action 1894 will be available in two models for this year, namely the Model 1894 Custom Grade and the Model 1894 High Grade. Due to cost of tooling and manufacturing the 1894 will be made by Miroku in Japan. These are both 24-inch barrel rifles with rich bluing, scroll work and high quality walnut. Both are offered in .30-30 Winchester. These two Model 1894 rifles commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Oliver F. Winchester. There are limitations set on these rifles, so if interested, one should act fast. I am hoping, like many, that for next year they will bring back the Saddle 94 Model. Shooting the Model 1894 in .30-30 Winchester was like a cap gun when I went to the new Model 70 Safari Express rifles.

I also did a bit of trap shooting with a beautiful Browning Citori Grade III over and under shotgun in .410 gauge. It was a good day for me hitting the targets, which is not always the case. I also shot several Browning X-Bolts in expanding models. I also shot a favorite of mine, the Browning T-Bolt rifle, a great and accurate .22 rimfire rifle. Browning also had a Buck Mark Target Rifle which was rather impressive.

There was a lot of interest at the Taurus shooting booth with their Public Defender Revolver referred to as “The Judge.” This is a 5-shot pistol that shoots both .410 gauge shotshells and .45 Colt ammunition. The pistol firing the .410 gauge had a bit of bite to it, but still not bad. It was rather impressive to see just what it did to a close-in target. It is available in several models plus a stainless “Judge SSR” ported revolver.

I had a great time looking over and shooting a variety of models and this is something I very much enjoy. I might add excellent quality Winchester Ammunition was used at all the shooting sites. It seemed like in no time it was back on the buses after a great luncheon and back to the hotel on the strip.

The next day was kick-off day for the SHOT Show and the crowds were there in masses. Due to the number of booths it was necessary to use satellite rooms in addition to two levels of floor space. I, along with many other attendees, most likely never found some of these side rooms. It was rather confusing and many of us were lost for a while. I had my hot list and to be honest it was geared more toward hunting rifles and related products including reloading and the outdoors. In looking over the map and distribution of like products, it seemed that the amount of space given to Tactical & Law Enforcement was large, far more than I would have thought. ARs and related items were in with many new firearms on the market.

Black Hills Ammunition continues to expand their fine ammunition line adding to their .223 Rem. offerings and several new calibers. In addition to commercial they do a large amount of business with law Enforcement and our military.

I started off with Remington Arms and got with Linda Powell, an old friend and very busy lady handling all the press relations. Remington has greatly expanded with new companies under their belt, the most recent being Barnes Bullets. Remington had a large variety of new models of AR-type firearms in the R-15 and R-25 and new calibers to go with them.

I was very pleased to see that for this year they had one of my very favorite calibers, the .280 Remington, in their 700 CDL SF Limited rifle. This walnut stocked, stainless rifle will have a 24-inch fluted barrel. They are also offering a Model 700 XCR II, an almost indestructible rifle in their TriNyte Corrosion Control System stainless steel barrel and action. It will have a loden green, olive green synthetic stock and offers a variety of calibers to choose from.

Also new was a Model 700 “VTR” A-TACS varmint rifle chambered in either .223 Rem. or .308 Win. Calibers. Remington is also offering several new Model 887 shotguns which are like an armor-clad warrior for extreme condition hunting. I saw those conditions this past fall in Alaska bear hunting. Some of the fishermen in camp were avid duck hunters and they went out in the worst weather to be had. What a perfect application for this bad boy.

Nosler Ammunition, so well known for their bullets for several years, has a line of Big Game rifles. In talking with John R. Nosler, vice president of the company, he handed me their new stainless/synthetic big game rifle known as the Model 48 TGR (Trophy Grade Rifle). This is similar to their already established Model 48 except it has fewer custom features and is priced in the $1,800 range. It has the match barrel, custom action, two-position safety and other features. It has Bell & Carlson’s custom aluminum bedded stock. It is also finished with Cerakote and MicroSlick for foul weather protection. It will be available in nine calibers, including the .280 Ackley Improved. I used their Model 48 in this caliber this past fall on a huge old bull elk with excellent results. I used their 140-grain Nosler AccuBond bullet in their own Nosler Trophy Grade line of loaded ammunition.

Ruger had a large and impressive display of products. They are introducing several new firearms and adding calibers to others. What caught my eye was their new AR platform redefined SR-556 chambered for .223 Rem. or 5.56mm NATO semi- automatic rifle. It takes a 30-round magazine, has a 16-inch barrel and weighs 7.94 lbs.

Also Ruger now offers a SR-22 Rifle. This an AR-style semi-automatic rifle that shoots 22 LR, has a 10 round magazine, 16.12-inch barrel and weighs 6˚ lbs. As mentioned earlier, they have added several new calibers to their rifles. I used one of their Model 77 Hawkeye “Alaskan” rifles in .375 Ruger last fall on a brown bear hunt. This is a most impressive rifle and just an ideal foul weather type big game rifle.

I got to speak with Dwight Van Brunt, VP of sales & marketing at Kimber, and he had several new products to show me. Kimber is introducing a new Model 84L big game rifle which was designed to fit specifically three cartridges, .25-06 Rem, .270 Win. and .30-06 Sprfld. This rifle weighs only 6 lbs. 02 ozs. and will hold five rounds like the rifles of years ago. It will be available in the above mentioned calibers and offered in two models, the Classic and Classic Select Grade. Kimber, as most people know, have an extensive line of .45 cal. pistols. They have a new model from the Custom Shop called the “Super Carry Pro,” a most impressive concealment type pistol. Also there is a new Model 8400 Patrol, a tactical model with a 20-inch barrel chambered for the .308 Win.

Resources
web site/phone
Black Hills Ammunition
blackhills.com
605-348-5150		 Browning
browning.com
801-876-2711
Kimber
kimberamerica.com
800-880-2418		 McMillan Firearms Manufacturing
mcmillanusa.com
623-582-0536
Nosler, Inc.
nosler.com
800-285-3701		 Remington Arms, Inc.
remington.com
800-243-9700
Sturm, Ruger & Co.
ruger-firearms.com
928-541-8893
 Taurus International
taurrususa.com
800-327-3776
Winchester Ammo, Div. Olin
winchester.com
618-258-3242
 Winchester Repeating Arms
winchesterguns.com
801-876-3440
McMillan, the very well known synthetic stock maker, has recently gotten into custom big game rifles in addition to stock making. Presently their Custom Collection has the following: “The Legacy,” “The Dynasty,” “The Prodigy,” “The Heritage,” and “Tactical Hunter”. In addition they offer custom actions.

In addition to the individuals I visited, there were more people I talked with and saw their products. All in all it was a good show. I am sorry I failed to get with some, but with the crowds, meetings and everything else it was very difficult.

However, I did feel good about the show, the attitude of the people and our strong showing with products and continuing growth. If things continue as they are now in the gun and related products business, I would expect to see us set a new record come next year at the 2011 show. As the president of the NSSF said we are at our strongest right now and let us continue to grow and get even stronger. We can’t slack up for one moment.
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