I'll leave this short, since I have to go to work in a few minutes.

Got there at a little after 10 am, waited in line for about 15 minutes, only got to spend about 2.5 hours looking around. I recommend you plan to spend AT LEAST 3 hours if you want to see everything. I recommend a lot more time if you have wider interests then me. I only stopped for the evil black rifles/pistols and related merchandise. If you're into hunting and other shooting hobbies, I'd expect to spend a lot more time there.

A couple highlights that come to mind.

FN had a nice booth. The rep I spoke with gave me no info on the civilian SCAR. The FN2000 (or whatever it's called) is lighter than I expected. I'd like to get some trigger time behind one although I'm weary of the wacky ejection port operation on them.

Sig had a nice booth. The 556 however is a POS based on my brief observations. The fit and finish is very poor. Come on Sig, at least hand pick a couple of your best rifles for display. The lower and upper receivers had a poor fit, as well as the handguards. LOTS of wobble there.

Steyr had a good booth with several AUGs. Rep said they are thinking of a civilian version. Nice guy.

HK only showed a couple handguns. The rep laughed when I asked about a civilian 416. He did say that individual LEO purchase was more likely (but still unlikely). In conclusion, my 'F*&k HK' stance is still effect.

Colt showed only a couple ARs, all in postban configurations. I really wanted to stop a rep and remind him that it's 2007 now, but didn't have time. Shame on you Colt.

Bushmaster, RRA had standard displays.

Aimpoint reps were helpful, although I'm not happy with the cost of their M4 and 3x magnifier.

EoTech didn't even bring their newests options. Not impressed by their magnifier.

Trijicon had a nice display with many selections of their product line.

Surefire had a decent display, nothing new though.

DSA/Lauer had a great display. I really want a Para FAL.

Some young guy was finger-f'ing the action of the Barrett m82 serial number 2. The rep told him nicely he could do that to the other display rifles, but to please leave serial #2 alone.

Blackhawk guys were helpful, although I'm not a big fan of their products. They had some quadruple retention holster on display that was down right retarded. I think you need three hands to operate it correctly.

BTW, the US Army had a marksman display right before you enter the exhibition hall. Really cool guns. An Mod0 SPR, a DSA FAL para shorty in ACU, an M24, a .308 precision AR (didn't ask who made it). Saw this on the way out, so I didn't have time to stop and examine. If anyone brings a camera, snap some shots of those rifles for me if you don't mind, I forgot to bring one (are cameras allowed inside?)

I'll add more when I get back from work.

HK only showed a couple handguns. The rep laughed when I asked about a civilian 416. He did say that individual LEO purchase was more likely (but still unlikely). In conclusion, my 'F*&k HK' stance is still effect.

Agreed:  

Colt showed only a couple ARs, all in postban configurations.  I really wanted to stop a rep and remind him that it's 2007 now, but didn't have time. Shame on you Colt.

Colt doesn't build guns that they actually want people to buy and shoot.  Why make changes when you can just cut production and trickle out a few guns that Colt collectors will blindly grab at inflated prices?  Its so much better to just build low production numbers of Single Action Army revolvers and retail them at $1300 each.




This is why the MagPul Masada is going to be so great.  

Quoted: This is why the MagPul Masada is going to be so great.   i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/npd233/npd233masada.jpg

Yea It's going to be great after all the Mil/LEO orders are filled, then the mull over if they want to do civilian sales.
Cuz the Mil/LEO's _need_ these weapons, apparently there are not enough rifles in the world for them to choose from, so they need taken care of first... and just to clarify,  my stance is anti-retarded restrictive sales schemes, not anti-Mil/LEO.


So is this portion of the NRACon a mini shotshow or what?
Whats the rest of it like?

Bano,

Know what's funny about that huge military/leo contract that means you're gonna be set for life? Lots of times, it doesn't happen, and now you've tooled up for a gun with no customer.  

MagPul will have a hard time breaking through the headlock that the Colt Cabal has on procurement.  FN only did it because Colt refused to build anything besides M16s and the Army needed new belt-feds like the 240 and 249.  HK failed to break it with the XM8 and now the 416.  If they can't get that fat contract even with a 50 year history of building some of the finest firearms ever used by any military, somehow I doubt new-kid-on-the-block "we make magazines and stocks" MagPul can do it.

I forsee civilian sales, right before the Dem president pushes through legislation banning them.  There is going to be a very small window of a "golden age" where you can get some really neat stuff, before it gets banned.  I hope to have thousands of dollars standing by to take advantage.

Yea I know,  but insisting you will only sell X product to the Mil/LEO first by saying they "need affordable rifles and their life depends on it"(I'm paraphrasing here) when there are already scores of different types and configurations of rifles on the market just as affordable, and may more even more affordable, and after that you might consider Civ sales.  Thats stupid.

The BIG question about the MIL angle on the MASADA is what Niche will it fill?
The SCAR-L is locked in The SCAR-H will likely not be the MASADA... there is currently nothing wrong with the M4/M16 platform...
There are plenty of weapons available to the LEO market that fit the bill and are cheaper than the projected cost of the MASADA... I think Magpul should just make it civilian/Generally available off the bat... they could sell more than enough to the public to make their mint and still pursue the MIL angle... I would be willing to BET that if they did so they would sell more to the public than they could reliably make just like their other products!

I took a vacation day and went.

Had a great time.

Wish I would have brought a real camera.

My sony w810 cellphone was all I had,  but here's a few pics....




City cop smirked when I took this pic.....


US Army Marksmanship had some cool stuff...




Todd Jarret was there giving a demo....






I spent half a day there and it was not enough.

Thanks to all the folks down there working today,  factory reaps, vendors, NRA volunteers, etc.

Special thanks to OAKELY,  BROWNELLS, SPRINGFIELD ARMORY and BUSHMASTER !  

Derek, great pictures.  I have one question.  How much does it cost for non-NRA members?  Do I have to get tickets in advance?  Considering the America Center is a 10 minute drive from my front door, I probably should stop by.

Quoted: Derek, great pictures.  I have one question.  How much does it cost for non-NRA members?  Do I have to get tickets in advance?  Considering the America Center is a 10 minute drive from my front door, I probably should stop by.

I'm not sure what it costs non-members.

I think you can join at the entrance.

I'm  an NRA LIFE MEMBER,  free admission for me !


If you own a gun,  you should join the NRA.

From the NRA Annual Meetings Website: Exhibit hall admission is FREE to all current NRA members, uniformed military and law enforcement personnel, and youth groups in uniform or otherwise identified.

I think you will also be able to become a member at the door.  I think $10 will get you an associate annual membership with no benefits, and $35 will get you an full annual membership with all benefits.

Also, NRA members can bring immediate family members for no additional cost as far as I know.

Quoted: Quoted: Derek, great pictures.  I have one question.  How much does it cost for non-NRA members?  Do I have to get tickets in advance?  Considering the America Center is a 10 minute drive from my front door, I probably should stop by. I'm not sure what it costs non-members. I think you can join at the entrance. I'm  an NRA LIFE MEMBER,  free admission for me ! If you own a gun,  you should join the NRA.

I'm 17.  I own a rifle and getting my first AR in 2 months.  My dad is going with me but he doesn't want to join, and I'm not going to join yet.  

Ok well cost isn't that huge a deal, but do you think I have to get tickets in advance?

Quoted: I'm 17.  I own a rifle and getting my first AR in 2 months.  My dad is going with me but he doesn't want to join, and I'm not going to join yet.   Ok well cost isn't that huge a deal, but do you think I have to get tickets in advance?

See my post above.  You (or someone in your immediate family that will be going with you) has to be an NRA member to get into the convention.  As far as I know, there are no tickets that you can buy.  The $10 or $35 you pay at the door for admission buys you some form of an NRA membership.

HKocher,

Hope you don't mind if I post a few more pics,  not trying to hijack your thread.







I was also suprised not to see the new EOTECHS....




Were was the Masada ?  I didn't see it.

COLT booth was funny. Boring "post-bans" with employees too busy talking to each other to talk to customers.

Should be going tomorrow, will take a real camera too.  want some good picks and if you don't mind will throw some up here.

Also NRA Lifemember...

Another update, forgive any typos, I did this from the car.

Springfield Armory had a good display of their M1As and their handguns. They were particularly pushing the XD really hard, which I don't have any experience with. Nothing new though.

Barely stopped at the Glock display, but I was there long enough to make a joke about the elusive Glock carbine. The rep said not this year, but said he couldn't say anything regarding next year, so who knows.

Kimber had all their fine 1911s displayed. A couple new models, but I didn't get a good look because of time constraints.

S&W/Walter were displayed together. I wanted to check out the M&P. The full size .45 felt too big for my hand, too bad. The compact .40/9 on the other hand was a good size. The new Walther PPS is interesting. Very slim and small. Not my type of gun, but interesting still.
 
Elcan. Big disappointment here. I really wanted to check out their new new 1-4x Specter DR, but they only had some goofy hunting/NV scope displayed. I asked the rep, and he implied that the scope is intended for military only, and they were too busying filling those orders. He said they didn't even have a spare scope to display at this show . I guess they're off my shopping list.
 
Insight tech had their reddot/laser combo displayed. There are many better red dots out there, this one isn't impressive, unless you're really into laser. Small FOV. The rep was helpful though. He showed me their thermal optics. Very cool. The handheld is about the size of a PVS14, and goes for $8K. The weapons site was a 2x and a little larger, but was much more expensive ($12K I think).

Someone had a .308 AR that took G3 mags. Maybe Cobb or Alexander Arms, can't remember which. Something I'll have to look into.

POF had their piston ARs and their new .308, but I didn't stay for details because they had a couple folks in line in front of me. I'm interested in their billet lowers with ambi features, but didn't get a good look at them.

Century was the only company displaying AKs (unfortunately), and there are much better AKs out there. They did had some chrome and gold plated AKs though.

Bushmaster/RRA had their usual wares.
 
Ruger/Remingto/Benelli/Beretta/Kahr had the expected stuff.
 
I completely missed Leitner-Wise, DPMS, Armalite, Nighthawk, Safariland and a couple others I wanted to visit.

Quoted: HKocher, Hope you don't mind if I post a few more pics,  not trying to hijack your thread.

Not at all, thanks for the Army pic like I asked.

Quoted: Elcan. Big disappointment here. I really wanted to check out their new new 1-4x Specter DR, but they only had some goofy hunting/NV scope displayed. I asked the rep, and he implied that the scope is intended for military only, and they were too busying filling those orders. He said they didn't even have a spare scope to display at this show . I guess they're off my shopping list.   Someone had a .308 AR that took G3 mags. Maybe Cobb or Alexander Arms, can't

+! on the ELCAN.  I REALLY wanted to see there 1-4


RRA had the .308 AR-10 type rifle that takes FAL mags, the Rep said it wll hit the market in  "3months"

LOL,  I nearly stopped by Glock and asked about the carbine too.....but I got sidetracked by something else.


When I walked up to Springfield Armory, everbody was handing out champagne.
I'm trying to get closer to Rob Leatham and the 1911's on display,  and Mr. Reese himself hands me a glass of champagne.

I never did figure out what they were celebrating,  but it was COOL.

I'm leaving in a few minutes.  Gonna become a member when I get there, then gonna take a bunch of pics.  I'll post them when I get back!

Camera battery was dead so no pictures.  But it was a really fun time.  Anyone within a decent driving distance of STL should go and check it out.

Why?!?! Dear God!

They could have waited until NEXT WEEKEND (4/21) when I would be in the area....

Just got back. EXCELLENT day!  I'm going again tomorrow, since i couldn't see everything today, was only there 3 hours.

Got to visit with the Gunney, (R. Lee Ermey), got  acouple of signed pics.  In fact I flew into St Louis with him last night from Los Angeles.

Picked up a few little freebies, got a couple knives.    

Lots and lots of guns to fondle.

It's well worth the trip!!

Quoted: Just got back. EXCELLENT day!  I'm going again tomorrow, since i couldn't see everything today, was only there 3 hours. Got to visit with the Gunney, (R. Lee Ermey), got  acouple of signed pics.  In fact I flew into St Louis with him last night from Los Angeles. Picked up a few little freebies, got a couple knives.     Lots and lots of guns to fondle. It's well worth the trip!!

That about sums it up.

Myself, the daughter and her boyfriend spent 8 hours there Saturday.  Great time!  Finally did my life membership while I was there.  They have a nice promotion if you do your life membership at the show.  You get a 1/10th ounce gold eagle and nice leather jacket or a $100 discount on a limited edition Leupold scope.  I got the jacket, as I don't have any rifles that a shiny scope would go well on.

Anyone that can go today should make the drive. It's well worth the trip! We're going to try to make the gun show in Columbia today to complete the all gun weekend.

I made it for a few hours saturday. I did enjoy the exhibits and even got saw R. Lee Ermey (didn't get in line for autographs, just snapped a quick pict and kept moving). I did check out a few guns. The FN2000 looked cool but damn, it was fat! far wider than I thought it would be and so I lost interest in it. I checked out the Steyr M9 (something I have been thinking about for a while). Even though thye had great ergonomics once holding one I again lost interest. The SIG 556 did get my attention but at that price I will stick with ARs. The one bit of news I did get that made me feel good was that Versapod will becoming out with a .50 friendly bipod within the year.
There was a bunch more and I really did enjoy the show. It was nice seeing in person the latest and greatest in firearms and I will go again if they have nearby. Two exhibitors I looked for and couldn't find were Keltec and.....


CMMG!!! why weren't you guys there?????
Anyway, had a great time and recommend it to everyone.

I was pissed that Magpul didn't have a booth!

HK had the new P30 on display, it was really nice I thought.

Sig's 556 just blows IMO.  I was really disappointed in it's ergonomics/fit/finish/looks.  They had a SIG 552 commando on display, to bad it was AIRSOFT.  That about made me vomit.

I liked the FS2000 except for its incredibly chunky front end/grip area.  The rest of the gun was great.

Kimber suprised me, they had a really sweet black tactical rifle on display.  I was impressed.

Steyr had some AUG A3's on display that they didn't mind people fondling.  Now those babies were sweet!

here are 71 photos i took at the event on sunday

picasaweb.google.com/bh5505/NRAConventionStLouis0702

i tried to get most of the black rifle stuff, excuse the crappy camera- i also missed the nuge but i got a good pic of r. lee ermy

I went Saturday.  Got in line for Matt Hughes, saw R. Lee Ermey, and saw Ted Nugent on the way out.  Got 2 knives engraved at the Benchmade booth and took home the usual "freebies" from the vendors.  

scottMO

Lots of great stuff there.  I looked for the CMMG guys but hopefully next year.

Kel-tec didn't show up.  I wanted to see their new 308.

The Dinner Banquet left much to be desired IMO.  Not how they have done things in the past.  I arrived to find my salad already on my plate and wilting.

Bolton was great however.

The best thing I saw this weekend. www.lwrifles.com/

Th worst thing I saw this weekend was a guy playing with a knife and cut his finger on it and bled all over the counter. DOH!!

I took a vacation day and went down Friday - I don't know how the heck anyone could blow through there in 3 hours, I wanted to go back for a half day but had business elsewhere on the weekend.

I pretty well did the usual - fondled a few guns, shot hundreds of cubic yards of breeze, and tried out the air powered graver at the GRS booth.  I didn't get to handle a TC Icon rifle.  I was completely underwhelmed by the Merkel shotguns I picked up - the engraving, checkering, and finish was poor, and I would not buy one.  

I also talked to a jackass at the 50BMG booth that didn't want to give an opinion about the safety of the type action I have, but wanted me buy a membership.  If he didn't know or have an opinion, he should have said so, and he should shut up long enough for someone else to get a word in edgewise.

There was a booth on the west end with an expensive, but very nice, auto pistol from either Switzerland or Sweden - I can't remember the make or country of origin.  

The Detonics guys were friendly and loved to show the simplicity of the pistols takedown - I probably need one.

The man at the Rock River handguns booth was excellent - I've been wanting a new 1911 and I think I've decided to order one of theirs.

If a sore back and legs are a sign of a good time, then I had truckload of good times.

Quoted: I took a vacation day and went down Friday - I don't know how the heck anyone could blow through there in 3 hours, I wanted to go back for a half day but had business elsewhere on the weekend.

I pretty much speed walked my way through the place, only stopping to linger at the most interesting booths for a few minutes each.

I would have liked to have spent more time, but I had to go to work, thus my brief stay.

Here's a few pics i took.
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=75&t=567913&page=1

Quoted: Here's a few pics i took. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=75&t=567913&page=1

link doesn't work

I'll repost here.  Unfortunately i will have to remove the BOTD.  The link shows it for team members though.

BTW, i'm from MO.  I was up there visiting the family for the week before the meeting.

Didn't take a whole lot of pics as i was busy looking at all the toys.  There was so much to look at that we had to rush the last 1/4 or so of the displays before we got kicked out.  

Would be easy to make it a 2 day visit out of it, especially if attending any of the seminars.



Cobb Mfg.


Cobb Mfg.










Anyone know anything about these?




I was liking the Doug Koenig model 1911


(don't know these guys)


Bling!


Duracoat had some interesting paint jobs






My vote for best of show









Wasn't all that impressed with the build quality

Quoted: Lots of great stuff there.  I looked for the CMMG guys but hopefully next year. Kel-tec didn't show up.  I wanted to see their new 308. The Dinner Banquet left much to be desired IMO.  Not how they have done things in the past.  I arrived to find my salad already on my plate and wilting. Bolton was great however. The best thing I saw this weekend. www.lwrifles.com/ Th worst thing I saw this weekend was a guy playing with a knife and cut his finger on it and bled all over the counter. DOH!!

Where was the Leitner-Wise booth? I was looking for it and never saw it. I saw the guy that cut himself and was bleeding all over the place.

I attended the opening ceremony and a few seminars. I spent about 8 yours there on Friday and about 6 on Saturday. It wasn't enough time.

I was particularly interested in Timney's drop in trigger for AR's. I may just have to buy one of them.

I really liked the fact that you could fondle and dry fire all of the weapons.

Most fun I've had with my cloths on in a LONG time.  walked for 8 hours taking my time. Saw Uncle Ted, Gunny, Wayne LaPerrier, Tom Selleck, Larry Wershue (sp) "Mr. Whitetail", AND the chicjk at the Aim Point booth was smoking hot and new it.