SHOT Show 2016 (21)
SHOT Show 2016: CZ-USA (and Dan Wesson Bruin)
Written by reg mathuszAnother one of my favorite booths. This year CZ has some great new variations that I like including a whole new line of suppressor models. I even like the "urban gray" color.
One thing that I am excited about is the new P-01 Omega. I have been asking CZ to bring back the P-02 (basically a P-01 with a locking safety) and this is VERY close. Aluminum framed CZ75 compact with a locking safety--What's not to like?
The Dan Wesson Bruin 10mm also looked great and was very popular. I am curious to see how sales go.
The CZ booth was also interesting because they were one of the few booths to actually question what media I was with. Apparently, there had been some anti-gun media through the booth earlier. I wonder if it was the folks that were kicked out for not following the rules that has been widely reported.
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Big Badda Boom!
Check out the supressor-ready tall sights!
P-01 Omega Urban Gray suppressor ready!
SP01!
I stopped at this booth by request.
They make some cool inexpensive single-action revolvers. They are known for their "Rough Rider" convertible 22LR/22MAG rimfire revolvers. They are a blast to shoot and quite a bit less than their competitors (that I am aware of). I didn't realize that they offered full size centerfire models also.
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DSArms had a cool booth, possibly related it was also a booth with beer on tap. Their new release was a titanium frame FAL. I am not sure how I feel about that. The initial release of the Voyager with the aluminum frame was met with skepticism and took a while to hammer out the problems (mostly their all US made mags).
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Great ad campaign. I had no idea that they used DSArms FAL's. I neglected to ask which model.
The rep said that they had several angry people come by thinking that the ad condoned the killing of the rhinos. Apparently, some folks didn't take the time to read the ad. Or perhaps they were part of the anti-gun media that was there.
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SHOT Show 2016: Ruger (American Pistol and SR-Silent 22 Suppressor)
Written by reg mathuszWow, Ruger is proud of their All-American pistol. They had a whole rack of the on display and a team of reps dedicated to them. None of them paid any attention to me as I scooted past them to look at the RAP.
Well, I personally was not impressed. I will let readers decide if they think that it is an improvement over the SR-series but I did not like the feel or fit/finish. The trigger was ..ummm..not good. I do like the looks of the pistol, but that was about it. It was hard to get a good pic of it even after messing with the camera settings.
The new Ruger Silent-SR 22 suppressor looks great. It was small and VERY light. MSRP is $450, so pricing is affordable. The rep at the booth was very friendly and helpful.
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That's all for tonight, more to come tomorrow.
These are very cool. They appear to be well-made and I took pics of this display (instead of the hands on one) because they had the cut away of their interesting baffle construction. Also, as it happens a person who works for the company that builds the baffles for SIG was there. In short, the message from him was that the baffles are extraordinarily high quality.
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The Hornady Iron Press is an impressive piece of equipment. I really like the accessory mount, however, I have to admit I was drawn in and then disappointed that it is not a turret press. They had their line of mini-safes on display too. I have reviewed the entry level model very favorably against the GunVault.
Ok,
Colt fans don't think that I am being negative towards Colt, because I am a fan -- but I didn't see anything exciting or new at their booth. I can confirm for 10mm fans that the Delta Elite (the current O-frame model) was there again this year. Missing again, was the Enhanced O-frame/XSE displayed previously. I didn't think to ask about it.
Here are a few pics that I snapped while I was there (yes, all from the Colt booth):
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Sarsilmaz (or commonly SARARMS) may not be a name that you are heard of. However, they are a renown firearms maker from Turkey. Their claim to fame are CZ-style pistols. I had the opportunity to shoot several at SHOT in 2014. I was genuinely impressed. I liked them better than the standard line (not the Match series) of EAA Witness Tanfoglios. SARARMS had a very good presence this year also - two separate booths with a lot of items on display.
However, that changed this year. They have introduced several new higher end models which may give pistols like the Witness Elite Match and Witness Elite competition pistols. For those that are not familiar with the higher end Witness line, they really shouldn't even called Witness. They should be re-branded their own line. Anyway, here is one of the new pistols:
It was VERY nice. I asked the rep who the importer is and they responded EAA. Hmm...EAA, who I just compared the pistol to as the primary competition. EAA who already offers several different lines of imported CZ-style pistols? Well, that doesn't seem ideal.
You may have noticed that there are a couple of SARARMS pistols available from companies like CDNN for reasonable prices (sub-$300). They are an extraordinary good by IMO. My only complaint is that they appear to take their own mags, at least without going online and possibly modifying them. I asked the rep about this and he said that he was confident that the new pistols would work with Tanfoglio mags, although of course, recommended theirs.
This year they demo'd something new, that I unfortunately didn't get to try, but the rep said was by far the most popular item at Industry Range Day. I'll leave the pic here and let folks Google as I don't know too much detail. Unfortunately, at this time there is no importer:
More...
This year I decided to end my embargo of going to the "Smith & Wesson" (tm) booth.
I figure that since they are a presenter at the SHOT Show and that I am media that I should be ok going to their booth and showing pictures of their trademarked products without fear of additional threats of litigation. I should point out (per their cease and desist letter) that I am not affiliated with the company or products and that any logos or products shown are registered trademarks of the company.
Anyway, I wanted to go to the booth to meet some really great shooters. I did actually ask the reps a question, which I did not really get an answer to, but I will cover that in a later post. Onto the shooters!
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Julie Goleb and Jim Scoutten!
Julie Goleb!
Jerry Miculek!
I am a fan of STI and also a big fan of the 10mm which they now offer a couple. It is always nice to take a look at their pistols.
Every STI on display had an exceptional fit and finish. Everything on each pistol has tight tolerances but yet remains smooth functioning. This includes the Trojan.
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