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February 2nd, 2008
The 30th Annual NSSF SHOT Show kicked off today. Nearly 2,000 exhibitors and 40,000-plus attendees are expected to pour into the Las Vegas Convention Center as the 2008 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show opens.
To preview new products to be featured at SHOT Show, 2008, download the SHOT Daily, Feb. 2 Edition. This 8.5 megabyte Adobe Acrobat File has a dozen pages dedicated to new products from rifles to optics. Download future editions of the SHOT Show Daily at www.SHOTShow.com.
Today’s SHOT Daily has an interesting interview with Mark DeYoung, the President/CEO of Federal/ATK Industries. ATK’s sporting brands include Federal Cartridge, CCI/Speer, RCBS, Outers, Ram-Line, Alliant Powder, and Redfield, Simmons and Weaver mounts, rings and bases.
DeYoung says ATK will be launching two new brands of Asian-manufactured optics, “Intensity” and “Nitrex”. DeYoung explains, “Nitrex is positioned for a more discriminating customer. Nitrex is going to be lined up head to head with a line like the Nikon Monarch. The price point for Nitrex will be right around $200 to $300 for the binoculars, and the scopes will be in the $300 to $400 range. The Intensity will be
positioned to compete against some of the less expensive Bushnell and Tasco products.”
ESPN Outdoors will also provide extensive SHOT Show coverage for the next four days. CLICK HERE for photos from the Media Preview events on Friday.
February 2nd, 2008
Here’s an early product story from SHOT Show. Glen Seekins of Seekins Precision announced that he is producing a new detachable magazine system for Remingtons. This combines new bottom metal with a fitted magazine. Five sizes are offered: short action .223 (2.5″), short action .308 (2.9″), WSM (3.05″), long/magnum action (3.65″), and .338 Lapua (3.9″). Glen cautions the system may require small alteration of factory BDL inlets. Pillars will be included in the kit.
Seekins hopes to start shipping the first run of magazine systems by mid-February. Retail price is $289.99 with one 5-round magazine. Extra mags will be $59-69 depending on caliber. For now, only 5-round mags are available. 10-round mags will be produced at a later date for most calibers.
February 1st, 2008
The new Bushnell 6500 series of riflescopes has been much anticipated. Today, Bushnell announced that its new 6500s, with 6.5x zoom range, will start shipping to vendors in March 2008. Bushnell claims the 6500 series delivers the highest resolution and widest field of view in its lineup of rifle scopes.
Three models are offered: 2.5-16x42mm, 2.5-16x50mm and 4.5-30x50mm. All three models feature side parallax adjustment, 30mm main tubes, and multi-coated optics with RainGuard®. The 2.5x models can be adjusted from 10 yards to infinity while the 4.5x model adjusts from 25 yards to infinity. Suggested retail prices are: 2.5-16x42mm – $699; 2.5-16x50mm – $779; and 4.5-30x50mm – $899. Expect “street prices” to be about $75 – $100 less for each model, once sufficent supplies reach the marketplace.
Our readers will probably be most interested in the 4.5-30X version. It has a 30mm main tube, 50mm objective, and weighs 21 ounces. The 4.5-30x offers 80-MOA of elevation and windage with 1/4-MOA clicks. Only two reticles are currently offered, a “Multi-X” fine-plex and a mil-dot.
The new 6500 Elite 4.5-30x50mm competes head to head with Sightron’s new 6-30x56mm SIII scope. At SHOT Show we’ll get a look at both new optics and then post our impressions. For target shooters, the Sightron appears to have the edge–as it offers a larger front objective, and target turrets standard.
CLICK HERE for more info on Bushnell 6500 Scopes.
February 1st, 2008
 Fifty-two competitors, many clad in historic military uniforms, shot period-correct rifles and pistols in the So. Michigan Gun Club’s 8th Annual CMP “Snow Shoot” Vintage Rifle Match. Cold, snowy weather on January 26th didn’t stop the diehard shooters from enjoying friendly competition and supporting the M1 for Vets Program, which provides M1 Garand Rifles to disabled American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Over $1000 dollars was raised for the M1 for Vets Program.
The overall match winner was Caleb Hughes. Hughes shot a 289-3X with a K-31 Swiss 7.5×55 and received the First Place Trophy, a plaque and a gold Military CMP pin. The second place winner was Phil Randall who shot a 283-6X and received the Second Place Trophy, a plaque and a gold M1903 CMP pin. Alexandra Verburg was the top female shooter of the match. Competing in her very first Snow Shoot, Verburg shot an impressive 214-1X with an M1 Carbine to win the First Place Women’s Trophy. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Michigan Snow Shoot.
January 31st, 2008
If you can’t make it to Las Vegas this weekend for the SHOT Show, tune in your radios for live audio programming from the show floor. Radio Talk Show host Tom Gresham will air his three-hour Gun Talk Radio program from the main hall of the show, featuring a lineup of major manufacturers.
“This year looks to be huge,” said Gresham. “Every company has new guns and products, and we’ll have them on the air, live, to talk about them. For millions of listeners, this is an on-the-spot report on what turns them on — new guns!”
Gun Talk Radio will broadcast from the Beretta booth on the show floor, and Gresham says he has commitments from a number of companies, including Springfield Armory, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Brownells, Taurus, Ruger, and Trijicon.” Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk is carried on radio stations across the country and is featured on XM Satellite radio.
Starting Saturday, your editor will also be a SHOT show. On this Daily Bulletin, I’ll be posting reports, complete with photos and video. There are new products from Lapua, Nikon, Schmidt & Bender, and Sightron we plan to feature — along with some surprises. Stay tuned.
January 29th, 2008
The USA Shooting Safety Coalition has completed a “Basics of Firearm Safety” video that showcases the safety practices of elite Olympic shooters. The video includes USA Shooting athletes and leading industry professionals and “is intended to be part of a comprehensive program for use by instructors while raising the awareness of shooting sports as a competitive, fun, family-oriented, life-long activity,” notes Buddy DuVall, USA Shooting Marketing Director.
CLICK HERE for SAFETY VIDEO
The professionally-produced video features a variety of disciplines from Olympic free pistol to skeet shooting, and includes some nice action footage. Even if you’re a seasoned shooter, the video can teach you a few things. USA Shooting is the national governing body for Olympic shooting sports. Other Safety Coalition members are the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National 4-H Shooting Sports and the International Hunter Education Association. To learn more about USA Olympic Shooting, visit www.USAShooting.org.
January 25th, 2008
 Folks have asked about recommended handgun storage in gunsafes. There are many options, including hanging your handguns on the inside door panel with straps or hooks. The problem with placing handguns on the safe door is that it’s just too easy for Velcro to work loose, or a peg to come out. End result is a dropped pistol. Also, placing your handguns on a door makes them highly visible. That’s a bad idea if your safe is placed in an open area such as a garage or game room.
 Our first choice is to place handguns in lockable, sliding drawers inside the safe. Tucked inside silicon-treated Bore-Store bags, and then laid flat inside a drawer, handguns are safe, secure and out of sight. Unfortunately, few safe-makers offer sliding drawer options. If you have a large-enough safe, you can fit your own lockable drawer unit or small file cabinet with locks. These can be purchased at office supply stores or Home Depot type outlets.
If you have limited space in your safe, we recommended the vinyl-covered metal handgun racks from Versatile Rack Company. The 4-Gun rack has approximately the same footprint as a single handgun laying flat. These racks have a strong, welded-steel frame, vinyl-coated to protect the finish of your pistols. We’ve found these work for virtually all size handguns, both semi-autos and revolvers, even when the guns are placed in Bore-Store bags. In fact the fit is just about perfect if you first place a handgun in a Bore-Store bag, which provides about 1/4″ of padding all around the gun.
Versatile offers two models, for either 4 guns or 6 guns. These can be purchased directly from Versatile starting at $29.99. But other vendors such as Midway USA, sell them for less. MidwayUSA currently charges $19.99 for the 4-gun version (item 953075), and $24.99 for the 6-gun rack (item 275638). Click HERE for a 360-degree view of the 4-gun unit. There is also an optional stacking unit, shown below.
One other interesting design is the rotary handgun rack. Cabela’s sells a 9-Gun Rotary Pistol Rack (item IJ-229069) that looks well-built, and is fairly compact. Priced at $49.99, it spins to allow easy access to your handguns. It features foam-padded cradles, and an oak-verneer finish. Unfortunately, with a compact 11.5″-diameter base, there is not enough clearance for scoped revolvers or pistols with red-dot sights. And, from a safety standpoint, we’d rather see the pistols stored muzzle-down than muzzle-up. Still it looks like a clever, compact design that will work with most handguns.
If you like the look of wood, Sportman’s Guide offers a two-tier 12-gun rack for just $39.99. This will hold a large collection of pistols in a relatively compact space, 15.5″ wide x 13″ x 11″ high. There is green felt lining the slots for the barrel/slide and grip base. However, you can see from the photo that the barrel slots are cut pretty low and pretty narrow. This unit gives you a very compact footprint, but the trade-off is a tight fit on larger handguns.
If you have large hunting handguns with top-mounted scopes, or bullseye pistols with fat target grips, consider the Hyskore Modular Rack which holds guns with the barrel on top and level, so there is plenty of clearance for scopes. Hyskore racks are made of soft, closed-cell foam that won’t scratch metal and won’t absorb moisture. Guns are stored in individual foam bins that can be connected together horizontally.The width of each individual bin can be adjusted to fit even very wide target grips. Hyskore racks come in sets of three foam bins. Using 3/16″ threaded crosspins, you can combine the bins into one, long secure unit running the full width of a shelf.
CLICK HERE for Hyskore Rack DEMO VIDEO
January 25th, 2008
 Remington Arms has made a smart marketing move we think — it just signed legendary NFL Quarterback Brett Favre as a spokesman for the company. Under the terms of a multi-year deal, Favre has agreed to represent Remington Arms Company in national advertising campaigns, retail promotions and special events such as industry trade shows and consumer sweepstakes hunts. Favre’s main focus will be on hunter safety, wildlife conservation and youth programs. We think Favre’s affiliation with Remington is good for the firearms industry because it showcases a nationally respected “hero celebrity” who is proud of his involvement in shooting and hunting.
Brett was recently named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. Favre’s appeal to America is as much about his personal toughness and character as his ability on the gridiron. An avid outdoorsman, Favre is a dedicated hunter. When asked about his idea of the perfect day, Favre said, “If I could squeeze in throwing touchdown passes at a morning practice, lunch with my family and pulling the trigger on a trophy buck at sunset, that would be about as perfect as life can get. And it seems the older I get, the more I treasure the days spent in solitude in the woods. I’ve already hunted about 20 days this season, so this recent agreement with Remington is pretty special to me.”
“Learning that Brett was interested in teaming up with us provided one of those special moments in our company’s long history when you know you’ve got the perfect person on your side”, said E. Scott Blackwell, President of Global Sales and Marketing for Remington. “When you look for sources of pride in today’s American culture, Brett is one of them, regardless of your favorite team.”
Photo Copyright © 2007 Remingon Arms Co., Inc, All Rights Reserved.
January 23rd, 2008
 Sgt. 1st Class Grant L. Singley, a service rifle shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), has been selected as the Military Marksmanship Association (MMA) Soldier of the Year for 2007. This is the second such award for SFC Singley. He was also named MMA Soldier of the Year in 1996. In recognition of his 2007 achievement, Singley received a Smith & Wesson .45 acp pistol from retired MMA president Col. Robert I. Hoidahl.
Singley expressed gratitude to the MMA for the award and thanked his teammates and coaches from the USAMU Service Rifle Team and the gunsmiths of the USAMU Custom Firearms Shop. Singley has been with the USAMU Team for nearly two decades. After completing Basic Training and Infantry Training at Fort Benning, he was assigned to the Army Marksmanship Unit in December 1989.
In 2007, SFC Singley was a member of the Winning Interservice Championship 10-Man Team, the winning National Infantry Trophy Team, and the winning National Trophy Team. At the National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, in August, he was the individual winner of the Mountain Man, Forces Command, Association of the U.S. Army, 25th Infantry Division, Rattlesnake and Porter Trophies. In previous years he has won numerous major matches, including the 2000 National Trophy Individual Rifle Match, where his 497-21x score broke the existing record.
You can learn about the Military Marksmanship Association at MilitaryMarksmanship.org. Visit USAMU.com for more info on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
January 22nd, 2008
The world’s largest international hunting show, SCI’s Annual Hunter’s Convention, will be held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center (RSCC) in Reno, Nevada from Jan. 23-26, 2008. Most of the major bullet, rifle, and optics manufacturers will be exhibiting at the show. If you can’t make it to the SHOT Show in Las Vegas (Feb. 2-5), the SCI convention gives you the opportunity to view many of the new shooting products and hunting accessories to be marketed in 2008.
The SCI show has long been known for its elite gun and trip auctions. This year more high-end rifles and safaris are up for auction. 2008 Convention attendees can bid on fine firearms, hunting trips, and hunting-related artwork throughout the show. Auctions will be held on the show floor and North Fork Pavillion during the day, while evening auctions will be conducted at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in the Tuscany Ballroom. CLICK HERE for a schedule of all auctions.
If you want to view some spectacular rifles, some valued at over $100,000, download the Firearms Auction Guide. It contains glossy photos of dozens of custom rifles including classic big-bore dangerous game rifles as well as modern ultra-light hunting arms. Here are three examples from the auction catalog.
Piotti Savanah 3 Double-Gun in .470 Nitro Express
Engraving by G.S. Pedretti
Donor Valuation: $112,000
John Rigby & Co. African Express in .416 Rigby
Donor Valuation: $43,5000
Blaser R93 Selous Ltd. Edition
Two-Barrel Set in .416 Rem and .300 WinMag, each with a Swarovski Z6 scope
Donor Valuation: $29,250
We wish we had the big bucks to bid on these one-of-a-kind special edition rifles. On the other hand, there are two dozen gunsmiths listed on this website who can build you a superb hunting rifle that performs as well (or better) than these glamour queens, at a fraction of the cost. But like Rolex watches and fine wines, these rifles are more about conspicuous consumption than bang for the buck.
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