2014!

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One of the highlights of the show for me was meeting CoH Craig Harrison at Accuracy International's booth. He still suffers from the injuries he sustained in Afghanistan and appears to be in some pain but he talked for more than 15 minutes about his experiences in Afghanistan and life in general. He has a book coming out soon.

Shooting the Tavor at media day, as well as rifles from Blaser and Mauser was eye opening.
 
Saw a new gun from BondHus Arms. It is a laser equipped folding two shot .380. About 3/8-1" thick, reminded me of the German belt buckle gun of WW II.

Went by SWAT Magazine to say hello to Editor Denny Hansen. Publisher Rich L. wasn't present at that time I dropped by.

Tried to buy The Paper Jacket Bullet (or similar title) from Wolfe Publishing, but they sold out. I gave them the money and they'll send it to me instead.

For me the most fascinating pistol at the show was a re-engineered 1911 by Korth (Germany). It has a fixed barrel and the delayed blowback system of the HK. It was very easy to cock which is great for arthritic sufferers or older women who have difficulty pulling the slide back on any semi-automatic.

Runner up is the new pistol is the Remington. Third place is the Boberg XR9-S. The bullets are loaded bullet forward into the back of the magazine. For the gun to feed, two fingers grip (like an extractor a cartridge and pull it out from the back of the magazine). A cartridge lifter raises the cartridge to the barrel. As the slide goes forward, the cartridge goes straight into the chamber. There is no feed ramp and the bore has the lowest center of axis to any gun I've seen.

Yesterday I checked out Bersa Arms revolvers. Hated them. I didn't expect much, but when I raised the gun, the front sight disappeared. It's not blackened and is the same color as the barrel. It's hard for me to see it. ETA: while pulling one Bersa out for a look see, the security cable snapped and the gun was free in my hand. I turned it over to the Attendant with my apology.

Favorite rifle is the Mauser Blaser. Fantastic piece of German engineering. Quick change barrel, on/off scope rings with 0 change. Easy to disassemble bolt. All possible calibers are stamped onto its detachable magazine.
 
4v50 Gary said:
Favorite rifle is the Mauser Blaser. Fantastic piece of German engineering. Quick change barrel, on/off scope rings with 0 change. Easy to disassemble bolt. All possible calibers are stamped onto its detachable magazine.

I would agree that the Blaser with it's straight pull bolt and innovative locking system, quick change bolt/trigger group/magazine/barrel is an impressive piece of engineering. The $4,000 asking price for their rifles is a bit steep but so is $1,200 for a different barrel. As ugly as it is, their syntethic thumb hole stock (available with leather inserts) is one of the most ergonomic stocks I've ever handled.

I'd like to give a shout out to Eberlestock as well. Their minimalist approach to stock design is very interesting. They have some neat packs too.
 
I got very tired of everything AR/AK and Glock/1911. Here are my top picks:

ARs: Adcore, they have a super simple free float gas piston with an ambi non-reciprocating charging handle, anti-tilt bolt and a cool free float replacement for the M4 handgaurd.

Glock stuff: Hoplite Systems, they are a surgical tool company that makes a bunch of titanium AR parts but the coolest was Ti Glock slides.

1911: Korth, It ain't really a 1911 but by far the best/coolest pistol in the show. It uses a 1911 lower and the upper assembly is very much like an HK PS9. If you aren't familiar with Korth, they also make the worlds best double action revolver, the make the most high end, custom shop, Smith look like a used Rossi. Oh, the pistol costs less than an Les Baer.

Shotguns: I didn't see too much cool but; There was a company making a Mossberg receiver that takes box mags. Not a modified tube thing but an into the bottom of the receiver, box magazine.

Bolt action rifles: For the price, quality, and design, the Mauser M12 was the best and coolest, I believe it is the one 4v50Gary was talking about.

Other semi auto pistols: Precision Small Arms will refurb your Baby Browning 25acp for $50 and they have a backbored and threaded suppressor barrel, suppressed pistol that will fit in your shirt pocket.

Boberg also had a 45acp prototype out, very high quality guns.

If you are looking for a 300win mag AR, look no further than Miller Precision Arms. Nemo had a cool truck but MPA's 300 was the best, hands down. The machining was spot on and they use extremely high quality parts including Krieger Barrels.

Taurus has a 38spl that weighs 9oz.

Laserlite has these little cans you shoot with a laser and they fall over, after a few drinks, they are a hoot.
 
I didn't spend a lot of time browsing for new products beyond what I carry, but I did take some time to swing by and check out the Remington R51, since it seems to be all the rage on the internet.

The good: It had a good weight and distribution. I think with a full mag it will balance well. The controls were well placed (at least for me), and seemed to be easy enough to operate, considering the sleek sides. There's not much on this gun to hang on holsters or clothing, in either direction, really. It's a show model, so it's hard to tell if the production gun will be this way, but the trigger felt smooth and crisp, especially for a pocket gun. It's not a 1911, but people used to that trigger won't need much adjustment time with this one.

The bad: The grip safety takes a decent amount of force to engage. It reminded me of the squeeze-cock pistols. This should eliminate any hanging issues like what the pre-recall XD-Ss were seeing, but my fear would be that a rushed grip from a draw might keep you from engaging the safety. This is the only negative I saw in my short time with it.
 
Being my first SHOT Show, I gotta say it was a lot to take in, with little time to do so.
Being an M14/M1a guy personally, and a roller lock manufacturer, I didn't pay much attention to the AR booths.
Stopped by PTR and chatted it up with Jimmy, one of their sponsored shooters. Working on some prototype stuff for him.
Hit Vortex Optics, HK, SIG and some others.

Can't wait till next year. We will have a media day to demonstrate our guns.
 
Speaking of M14s, besides Smith there were two others. Rock Island milled theirs from a forging. Someone else did the same but theirs was lugged (and $500 more than Rock Islan's $699).
 
Shotguns: I didn't see too much cool but; There was a company making a Mossberg receiver that takes box mags. Not a modified tube thing but an into the bottom of the receiver, box magazine.

Its made by Black Aces tactical out of Winter Park FL.

They are working on making a few variations of it apparently. Rem 870 and some of the imports as well. The pump action is legal in many states that a similarly configured semi auto would not be.

It uses Saiga-12 magazines, I just sent them some stamped steel mags to check compatibility.
 
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