There are just five more days until the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits kicks off in Louisville, Kentucky. If you can make it to the big event, you should go. After SHOT Show, this is the biggest event of the year for firearms fans — thousands of products will be showcased by 750+ exhibitors in a 500,000 square-foot facility. You can meet celebrities, and have fun at an on-site airgun range. The Exhibit Hall opens at 9:00 am on May 20th (Friday Morning). The Meeting kicks off with the Nat’l NRA Foundation Banquet on Thursday evening, the 19th.
This year’s NRA convention will feature a variety of special events. The ever-popular NRA Country Jam kicks off at 6:00 pm on Friday, May 20th at Louisville’s Belvedere at Waterfront Park.
The official NRA Members Meeting will be held Saturday morning at 10:00 in Freedom Hall at the Exposition Center. NRA leaders Wayne LaPierre, Chris W. Cox, and Allan Cors with address the membership. Many other seminars will be hosted over the weekend. Purchase Event Tickets.
Admission Free for NRA Members
Entry to the exhibit hall is free for NRA members and their immediate family. Members of nationally recognized youth organizations (Scouts, 4-H, etc.) in uniform or otherwise properly identified will also be admitted free as well. Non-members may register by joining NRA on-site.
NOTE: Pre-registration has closed. You may register on-site by visiting the registration counters located in the Kentucky Exposition Center Lobby.
The latest digital edition of Shooting Industry Magazine offers a run-down of hot products at SHOT Show 2016. In this FREE April edition, you’ll find a SHOT Show in Review article, a “Show Stoppers” guide to Buyers’ favorites, a list of products you may have missed, as well as a 2016 New Product Showcase. For anyone interested in new shooting products, you really should read this special April issue cover to cover. This year’s SHOT Show, held January 19-22 in Las Vegas had more than 1600 exhibitors, with a record number of new products on display.
Show Stoppers from Las Vegas
One of the Show Stoppers highlights was a quad-barrel AR Kit. The new Multi-Caliber System (MCS) from Windham Weaponry offers plenty of bang for the buck. The kit comes with four different barrels: .223 Rem, 7.62x39mm, .300 Blackout, and 9mm Luger. The gun’s modular design makes it easy to change calibers by swapping barrels and magazine wells. (That’s right, you change the magwell to fit the caliber — a smart idea. That way you can run proper AK-style 7.62×39 magazines). One dealer stated: “You can get all four conversion kits in a hard-sided case at a decent prices. The fact you can change calibers so quickly is going to make this a big seller.”
New Product Showcase
Along with the Show Stoppers Guide, this April issue of Shooting Industry Magazine featured “Products You May Have Missed At SHOT Show” as well as a New Product Showcase. The Showcase highlights interesting new products from Benelli, Browning, Colt, Kimber, Nikon, McMillan, Nosler, Polycase, and many other leading brands.
Digital editions of all four issues of SHOT Daily, the magazine printed each day of the SHOT Show, are available free in convenient Web eZine formats. You’ll find many product features plus articles that can benefit shooting club directors and range managers. Definitely check out the Day One Issue’s extensive coverage of new-for-2016 rifles. SHOT Daily is produced for NSSF by Bonnier Corp., publishers of Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and many other magazines.
Highlights Day 1: New Rifles Lead Story, New Shotguns, New Handguns, Footwear, Winchester 150th Anniversary. Highlights Day 2: New Optics Lead Story, New Ammunition, Hunting Clothing, Suppressors, Savage, Hornady ELD Bullets.
Highlights Day 3: New Knives Lead Story, Lady Shooters, Shooting Accessories, Big Bore Airguns, Rimfire Challenge. Highlights Day 4 eZine: Timney Triggers, Synthetic Composite Bullets, Airguns, Millenial Hunters, Nikon, Beretta.
Savage Arms, now part of Vista Outdoor, will be offering many new guns for 2016. The big news is the A22, a .22 WMR version of Savage’s popular A17 semi-auto rifle (chambered in 17 HMR). Also debuting for 2016 are more variants of A17 and B.MAG rifle series, plus as all-new Model 42 Takedown shotgun-and-rifle combination gun. Along with the all-new models, Savage will add new chamberings to existing rifle types. For example, Savage AXIS and AXIS II rifles will soon be available chambered for the popular 6.5 Creedmoor.
Savage New Product Highlights for 2016
Savage A22 Magnum in .22 WMR (NEW)
The new A22 Magnum is chambered for .22 WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) and features the same, innovative delayed-blowback, semi-automatic action as the original A17 (which was chambered in 17 HMR). We expect the new A22 to be popular with varminters who prefer to shoot a bigger, heavier bullet, or who find .22-caliber barrels easier to clean.
Savage Model 42 Takedown (NEW) — .410ga and .22 LR
The Model 42 Takedown is a break-open combo gun that fires rimfire rounds from the top barrel and .410 bore shotgun shells from the bottom. It breaks down with the push of one button and includes an Uncle Mike’s Go Bag for transport.
Savage A17 — Wood Stock, Bull Barrel
New-for-2016 A17 target models feature heavy barrels for increased accuracy and gray wood laminate stocks improved feel and handling. We feel the new laminated stock really improves tha A17 as a general purpose varmint gun.
Savage B.MAG — New Stocks, Heavier Barrel Option
Savage’s B.MAG was built around the 3000 fps 17 Winchester Super Magnum rimfire cartridge. For 2016, three new models have been added to the B.MAG lineup: Target Beavertail, Heavy Barrel, and Sporter.
6.5 Creedmoor Chambered Rifles
Savage Arms has added nine new rifles chambered for the popular 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. They include the new model 16 Lightweight Hunter, AXIS, AXIS LH, AXIS XP, AXIS XP Camo, AXIS XP Stainless, AXIS II XP, AXIS II XP Stainless and AXIS II XP Hardwood.
See New Savage Guns at SHOT Show
Savage’s new-for-2016 products can be viewed during SHOT Show at the Vista Outdoor booth (#14551). Product photos and specs will appear on SavageArms.com after the show.
Headed to SHOT Show next week? Then you should download the FREE SHOT Show Mobile App. Available for all mobile devices, this App really makes it easier to plan your SHOT Show schedule, and navigate the floor of the Sands Convention Center. The 2016 SHOT Show Mobile App is now available for download on Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows smartphones and devices. Apple users will find the app in the App Store, Android users will find their version in the Google Play Store, and Blackberry and Windows users can CLICK HERE. Learn more about the App at SHOTmobile.com.
Handy Interactive Map
The App includes an interactive map that can direct you from your current location to your next destination. Arrange your meetings with a handy scheduling calendar. And you can search for any SHOT exhibitor by name or product category. In addition, the App lists major show events as well as important new products.
The Free SHOT Show App lets you do some very cool things with your smartphone. You can contact exhibitors directly through the App to request appointments or callbacks. You can take notes while visiting a vendor’s booth or attending a seminar. Of course you can schedule your agenda, and see an entire day’s events in a glance. But perhaps the best function of all is the “Smart Route”. This allows you to create the most efficient point to point route from one booth location to another.
With its polished brass receiver, the Model 1866 “Yellow Boy” lever-action rifle is the first gun to bear the Winchester name.
The Winchester Arms Company marks its 150th Anniversary this year. On May 22, 1866, Oliver Winchester established the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and introduced what would become a legendary rifle, the Winchester Model 1866, aka “Yellow Boy”. Seven years later Winchester would introduce another famed lever-action gun, the Model 1873, called the “Gun that won the West”. More than 700,000 Model 1873s have been produced.
Winchester Repeating Arms will celebrate its 150th Anniversary at this year’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas. A special exhibit curated by the Cody Firearms Museum will feature unique guns of great historical interest. On display will be the first-ever Winchester branded rifle, a Model 1866, Buffalo Bill’s Model 1873 Smoothbore that he used in his Wild West Show, President Eisenhower’s custom Model 1894, President Kennedy’s custom Model 70, and former Winchester Canada President R.F. Bucher’s custom Model 101. In addition, Buffalo Bill’s gauntlets and cowboy hat will be displayed.
Also, the Winchester Ammunition booth will have a large historical display of firearms as well. That display will include guns from the collections of John Olin, Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey, and notably, the “Forgotten Winchester” Model 1873 from the Great Basin National Park.
The Man Who Founded Winchester
Oliver Fisher Winchester was an innovative and driven man who saw the future of firearms and built an industrial empire around the lever-action rifle. Born in Boston in 1810, Winchester’s initial foray into business was as a maker of men’s shirts. Seeing the economic potential of the fast-growing firearms industry, Winchester found investors, and in 1857 bought a controlling interest in the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company from two inventive gentlemen named Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson. Winchester continued to refine firearm designs with inventors Benjamin Tyler Henry and Nelson King, and on May 22, 1866, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was born.
What covers an area greater than the Great Pyramid at Giza, attracts visitors from 100 countries, and has over 1600 exhibitor booths distributed along 12.5 MILES of Aisles? The SHOT Show in Vegas is the correct answer. The annual trade show for the $6 billion per year fireams/hunting industry, SHOT Show is the ultimate gathering for all things gun-related. It runs next week, January 19-22, in Las Vegas. Just how big is SHOT Show? This NSSF Infographic reveals some amazing facts:
SHOT Show in Las Vegas is just two weeks away. Here are some of the interesting new products that will debut at SHOT Show. You can find these items and hundreds more new-for-2016 products at the SHOW Show New Product Center.
The Newcon Optik Spotter LRF is a combined spotting scope and laser rangefinder — the first of its kind. This unique piece of equipment integrates a Newcon Optik Laser Rangefinder with a 15-45X Spotting Scope with etched mil-dot reticle. Newcon Optik claims a 5500m maximum range for the LRF. The integrated scope/LRF is housed in a rugged yet light-weight MIL-SPEC housing. We like the idea of a combined Spotter/LRF. Will other companies try to copy Newcon Optik’s innovative design?
Mason Target Systems — AR500 Steel Target With Shot Sensor
The MTS Target System “Pescadero” unit combines a rugged AR500 steel target with a durable electronics and sensor package that allows shooters to view their shots on a mobile App. With on-board power and wireless communication technology, the system will display shot location to the shooter positioned hundreds of yards away. So you can hear the “ding” of steel and then see your exact shot location on your smart phone or tablet. To aid aiming, the Pescadero target can mount self-healing polymer targets to the AR500 steel plate. Visit MasonTargetSystems.com for more information.
Schweitzer Optics — First-Ever Double FOV Scope
Here is a very innovative new hunting scope that actually displays a 3.5 X view AND and 1.0 X view simultaneously. Schweitzer claims this is the first and only double Field of View (FOV) sports optic in the world. This innovative optical technology doesn’t come cheap — Schweitzer’s Eagle Eye 3.5 dual POV scope retails for $2500.00.
Annealing Made Perfect — Induction Annealing Machine
No more flaming torches (and burned fingers). The AMP Annealing system anneals through electrical induction. This micro-processor controlled, precision-calibrated induction annealer provides exact and repeatable neck hardness. With the various AMP-made pilot inserts, the machine will handle popular cartridge types from .17 Caliber all the way up to 460 Weatherby. Anneal times are pre-programmed for optimal results.
Accu-Tac — SR-5 Tactical Bipod
The Accu-Tac SR-5 Bipod is crafted from high-quality billet aluminum. The SR-5 mounts quickly and securely to a 1913 Picatinny rail. The bipod’s wide stance provides good stability. Ratcheted leg extensions adjust to five different heights, and then retract quickly with a one-button retraction lever. Legs can be deployed in a conventional 90-degree orientation, or at a 45-degree angle either forwards or rearwards.
Lyman Products — Cyclone Rotary (Wet) Tumbler
Lyman is introducing a new Rotary Tumbler for 2016. Designed for use with stainless (pin-type media) and liquid, this Cyclone Tumbler gets brass thoroughly clean inside and out. The large capacity drum holds up to 1000 pieces of .223 Rem brass and features a rubber lining to protect brass and greatly reduce operating noise. The included two-piece sifter pans make separating cases and pins easy.
Swiss+Tech Products — Tac20 Firearms Multi-Tool
This new multi-function gun tool contains 4 driver bits, 2 Torx drivers, 2 Allen drivers, gun pin punch, sight wrench, castle nut wrench, flat screwdriver, bottle opener, knife, and LED flashlight. It even contains a fitting with a male thread connection for attaching cleaning rods. That’s clever. All totaled, the Tac20 multi-tool offers 20 features — that’s a lot of functionality in a small, compact package from Swiss+Tech Products.
Want a preview of SHOT Show 2016? Then check out the just-released December 2015 Digital Edition of Shooting Industry Magazine. This free, digital eZine contains a 22-page spread with dozens of new products — rifles, pistols, optics, reloading tools, hunting gear and more. The product showcase article reveals many new-for-2016 firearms. Savage is bringing out a laminated wood-stocked version of its A17 17HMR Rifle, and there are new rifles from FNH, Howa, Merkel, Weatherby and more.
Shooting Industry Buyer’s Guide Lists Thousands of Companies
The December Edition of Shooting Industry Magazine also contains a very comprehensive Shooting Industry Buyer’s Guide, starting on page 76. This 80-page resource lists 2500+ companies, complete with address, phone number(s), email, and website link. All the major precision shooting suppliers, such as Berger Bullets, Lapua, Hodgdon, McMillan, Nightforce, Redding, Sierra etc. are listed. In addition, you’ll find an easy-to-search, stream-lined version of the Buyers Guide at SIBuyersGuide.com.
The 2016 SHOT Show, slated for January 19-22, 2016, is less than two months away. If you’re curious, the “SHOT” acronym stands for “Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show”. SHOT Show is the largest trade show in the world for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting accessories industries. Held every January, this “start-of-year” event is where new guns, optics, reloading tools, and all manner of shooting gear are unveiled. To preview some of the new products that will be on display, visit the SHOT Show New Product Center. You’ll find photos and short descriptions.
SHOT Show is a huge event. For 2015, there will be more than 1,600 exhibitors, whose displays collectively cover 630,000 square feet of exhibition space. SHOT Show attracts more than 62,000 industry professionals from all 50 states and 100 countries.
If you plan to attend SHOT Show this year, you should get your reservation completed soon. Vegas hotels are filling up and tickets to SHOT Show Events are going fast. Register to attend the show, book your hotel rooms. and more at www.Shotshow.org.
This year’s NRA convention will feature a variety of special events. The ever-popular NRA Country Jam kicks off at 6:00 pm on Friday, May 20th at Louisville’s Belvedere at Waterfront Park. 
Savage A22 Magnum in .22 WMR (NEW)
The Man Who Founded Winchester
