Mark your calendars for May 3-5, 2013. Those are the dates for the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, to be held this year in Houston, Texas.

As ever, there will be plenty to see and do at the NRA National Meetings/Exhibits. There will be seminars, celebrity appearances, and priceless collections of firearms. Virtually all the major gunmakers in the country should have their latest products on display. In fact, there will be over 550 exhibitors whose displays will cover 400,000 square feet of exhibit hall space. In addition to fireams, you can see knives, wildlife art, shooting accessories, hunting gear, ATVs, and much more. You’ll even find an airgun range on site where you can shoot air rifles provided by Pyramyd Air.

Eric Uptagrafft praised Eley’s new facility: “To see this come to fruition is very exciting. It shows the level of support and dedication that Eley has as a partner of USA Shooting. I expect this will create a huge advantage for our team and our abilities to diligently do the testing that is required being an elite-level shooter.” Jamie Gray concurred: “It’s good to have a test range of this caliber in the United States because it makes it easier for [American shooters] to get out and test-fire more often. It’s easier for us to bring our guns to Texas than take them overseas, especially in England.”

Eley has invested heavily in the new two-lane test facility which allows pistol, rifle, and benchrest rimfire shooters to test their firearms with ELEY rimfire ammunition. Eley’s new Texas facility allows lot-by-lot batch testing to be done in the USA for the first time. Batch testing used to be limited to the UK, at ELEY’s Head Office. Earlier this year ELEY opened their second range in Stuttgart, Germany and now the third Winters, Texas. The facility will have the ability to test both .22 Rifles and Pistols with electronic target systems and advanced group-measuring software. All three Eley Test Centers have two 50-meter lanes for testing .22 Rifles and Free Pistols. The USA and Germany ranges also allow testing of Free Pistols and Rapid Fire Pistols at 25m.

Meanwhile, Out in Arizona….
We’re pleased that Eley has opened a two-lane facility in the USA. That’s great for shooters. But the new Eley facility is limited to 50m (fifty meters) maximum. By contrast, the new state-of-the-art Lapua Rimfire Service Center in Mesa, Arizona has the ability to record results at 50m AND 100m simultaneously. As your shots pass through special sensor grids positioned at both 50m and 100m, Lapua plots your group size at both distances during on the same string of fire. We think that’s a huge advantage for Lapua’s Arizona Test Center compared to Eley’s Texas facility. Another difference is that at Eley you can only test Tenex ammunition while at Mesa, you can test all types of Lapua rimfire ammo from the top of the line to the more economical products. That’s another significant advantage for the Lapua operation. But it’s great that American shooters now have a choice of two rimfire testing facilities within our national borders.

Shilen does request advanced notice from Swap meet attendees, especially folks selling shooting gear: “Please call (972) 875-5318 if you plan on attending so we can have a rough head count. If you want to put up a table please call, fax or email us and let us know. We will add you to the list of vendors.”

Big Discounts on Barrels
Shilen’s ‘Swap Meet Barrels’ will be BACK. These are first-quality barrels built for customers who requested a specific contour, twist rate, or caliber, but later changed their minds. Shilen let these customers modify their orders, but some of these custom-ordered barrels remain in inventory. These pre-ordered “orphan” barrels will be sold at deeply discounted prices at the Swap Meet. NOTE: All warranties still apply; these are NOT lower quality or factory seconds.

Factory tours will be given. During the morning tours, the drill, ream and rifle machine will be operating. Schedule so far is that factory tours (with RUNNING machines) will be offered at 8:00 am, 8:30 am, 9:00 am, 9:30 am, 10:00 am, 10:30 am, 11:00 am and 11:30 am. Tours will continue in the afternoon, but no machines will run then.