Posted: 1/14/2023 4:21:21 PM EDT
Wow, I guess it has been a few years since I have gone to ShotShow. There was that whole pandemic thing, another kid, and then I just plain didn’t feel like going last year. In hindsight, skipping it last year might have been a mistake. The pictures looked like a ghost town instead of the mob scene the show usually is. Much better for a person like myself who dislikes crowds of people. I think I’m going to feel like a noob again going back this year. Looks like lots of stuff has changed with the layout at the very least. I’m not ever sure how many buildings they have spread the show over. Bought some new walking shoes with custom insoles for the show this year as well. I don’t have great feet. Even when I was young, thin, and athletic they gave me issues. Now that I’m a middle age dad bod, I am hobbled by the second day from walking and standing on concrete all day. Here it to hoping that goes better this year. Might help with taking the kids to the zoo as well.  Anyhow, not sure how much posting I will do this year from the show as it’s nice to go out to dinner and shows in the evenings but I will be checking on this thread for your thoughts and suggestions of who to visit, what too look at and any questions you might want me to direct to the venders. I’ll also be catching up with Frank and Ilya. Ilya and I will be doing another ShotShow run down video on Friday. |
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Quoted: Awesome, looking forward to anything you deem worthy to share. I’d be interested how much 6ARC gets pushed. Nothing in particular with the cartridge but just if Hornady and others start pimping/supporting it more now that the supply chain is slowly comiing back. Same but with 6.5 Grendel. I'm curious if any manufacturers are still focusing on it. |
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Quoted: Awesome, looking forward to anything you deem worthy to share. I’d be interested how much 6ARC gets pushed. Nothing in particular with the cartridge but just if Hornady and others start pimping/supporting it more now that the supply chain is slowly coming back. I really didn't see a lot of pushing any cartridge compared to previous years. Certainly nothing like when the 6.5CM was gaining steam. I don't spend much time with handgun makers though and with AR's I only visit a few makers so I could have missed something prevalent in those booths. I did visit Hornady though and it wasn't something they mentioned. |
ShotShow range Day 2023: S&B, TT, 9mm roller AR upper, Cadex, and Aliens ShotShow range day 2023 If range day can predictably deliver one thing at ShotShow, it’s wind. Thing is, that wind is usually itself pretty predictable. Left to right on the range at almost 90 degrees, strong and relatively steady. Not so this year. This year a storm was blowing in from behind the long range shooting line most of the morning and it anything but consistent. Shot to shot with a 6.5CM @ 950 you might have two mills different an point horizontally and even a half mill or so vertically. Master of the wind I was not. I was all around that target like the bad guys shooting at the hero in an action flick. Then the rain came and gave everything and everyone a good dousing about lunch. When I re-emerged from the dining tent I was surprised to see that it had run off half the outdoor exhibitors or so. Kept the crowds down I guess. I’m starting to think I bring the rain with me from Ohio as there has been a good rain at least one day most of the years I have come to Vegas for the show and I guess that only happens five days or so a year for them. S&B 10-60x56, 6-36x56 PM II and a few changes to the existing line  Getting behind the S&B 10-60x56 Anyhow, as per usual I started range day at the long range shooting benches. S&B was near the far end where they have been in the past and this year I was able to shoot both the just released at Shot 10-60x56 and recently released 6-36x56 PM II. I think to some extent NF caught people off guard a few years ago with the runaway success of the 7-35x56 ATACR. I know that level of success sure surprised me given the price. Now, one development cycle later, were seeing the last few companies board that bus. S&B has done it one better adding both the 6-36x56 PM II and the mammoth magnification 10-60x56. Now, to be fair, they envision this monster as also an F-class and BR scope but they are clearly angling for precision rifle and ELR sales as well. I tried it out shooting, and observing at the full 60x as well as more traditional magnifications. My impressions were that, at 60x, the eyebox was better than I expected. I even managed a good through the scope picture at 60x. The FoV is, of course, truly tiny at this magnification. No way was I getting the target to land back in this tiny viewing port to see my own impact and, despite the 25lb rifle and light recoiling caliber, I don’t think a PRS shooter would either. It was pretty easy to loose the target and need to zoom out just shifting around trying to get a more natural shooting position. Using the 10-60x56 as a spotting glass, you can certainly see the marks on the plate better at 60x than with any 36x even though I could clearly observe distortions in the image. You magnify enough and any small distortion you are magnifying becomes rather obvious. Basically, I found the 10-60x56 better than I thought it would be at 60x but still didn’t find 60x use super compelling because of the tiny FoV at that power. It’s 25mils elevation (23.5 turret), 20meter close focus, 35oz weight, and 17.4” are also better than I expected. I’ll be interested to see if there proves to be a market for this much magnification. For what it is worth the S&B 10-60x56 was better than I would have expected a scope of such magnification to be. By comparison, the 6-36x56 PM II, a high magnification long range scope just a few years ago, felt rather conventional. It really didn’t leave me with much of an impression. It looked fine, but didn’t wow me like the 3-12x50 Exos did a couple years ago. In other S&B news, they have added a few new turret configuration knobs to older products such as low profiles on the 5-25x56. They have also added the throw lever compatible mag rings to this and the 5-20 ultra short. You can also get that ultra short with the parallax-mounted illum like the newest scopes instead of the traditional wart. Both the 10-60x56 and 6-36x56 have this new parallax integrated illumination. Lastly, S&B updated their turret feel a few years ago but I hadn’t been back to the show to test it out. It is indeed improved. Before you would easily skip 3-4 clicks every time you went over an MTC click no matter how careful you were. Now you can actually do just one if you are really careful. The non-MTC clicks are much more manageable. They’re not bad. Pretty good in fact.  Through the S&B 10-60x56 at max power Tangent Theta 7-35x56 and a new scope line Now about that Tangent Theta 7-35x56. I think the Armament Tech folks said they got 3 of these together in time for the show and they had one out at range day. My initial impression is that it looked great. It really popped. On another note related to the Tangent: Years ago, when the Tangents first came out, their turrets were just the best feel I had ever encountered and by a substantial margin. This year, I again tried them and compared them to the current field. The Tangent hasn’t changed, but the field sure has. ZCO now exists, and their turrets also feel great. The NF ATACR’s have great feeling turrets. S&B has tremendously altered their turret feel so that it is now quite good if not in MTC configuration. There are even some big surprises at lower cost such as the Sightron PLR that have remarkable turret feel. Bottom line, I don’t think a gulf in feel exists between the Tangent turret and a number of other scopes, some of which are it’s competitors. The Tangent may still be the best, but now they would need to be side by side at the same time with the others for me to make that judgment. Memory is no longer sufficient to judge. The Tangent folks did not have a price yet on the 7-35x56 at the time of the show. If it matters to you than this probably isn’t the right scope for you anyway. Before I leave Tangent Theta, they are starting a new line of lower (more like upper middle) cost scopes OEM’d for them in Japan. TT had a prototype 1-6x of these on display. It will be interesting to see where the go with this and if it develops into an interesting line. The OEM they are using makes very solid products so it could be compelling. It could also be meh as there are no shortage of brands selling products from that OEM. It all depends on the execution, features and cost.  Tangent Theta 7-35x56 Pristine Technologies action I saw a number of new actions this year at Shot and they all had a lot in common. The biggest thing I noticed is that its becoming the norm to ditch the EDM machined bolt lug raceways in the action body in favor of lugs that are narrower than the bolt body and a raceway in the bolt body for the bolt stop. This is basically a lot cheaper to machine. The EDM machining of the lug raceways is one of the most expensive parts of the action to make. This Pristine action has euro style 3x2 locking lugs in a removable bolt head. It also has a roller on the cocking cam and claims the lightest bolt lift available. Other than that, it has an unusual arrangement of 2x plunger ejectors, the machining and feel was very nice, and it has the pretty high price of $1,299.  Pristine Technologies 700 footprint action Mean arms 9mm AR type Bearing Delay Upper and mags for it So, we all know 9mm AR uppers are common, straight blow back, and have a reputation for beating the hell out of your trigger group until something breaks and occasionally firing out of battery. I’ve never bought one because who needs all of that. What MEAN arms has done is put a bearing delay system in an AR15 upper to fix that problem. It’s basically the same thing as the roller delay system in an MP5 except with three ball bearings instead of two roller bearings. Other interesting features are that the system uses an unusual center ejector, and has a bolt that retracts somewhat into the carrier when in battery just like a normal AR15 so the firing pin doesn’t reach and can’t fire out of battery. The system can also work on full auto if your one of those far richer than me folks with an auto lower. You can also tune the system for different power levels of ammo by changing out a cone piece in the bolt that changes the delay. You can go all the way from 9mm subs to hot as hell. Lastly, for magazines the MEAN system actually works with a conversion kit that slides into P-mags and converts them to double stack 9mm mags. I thought the whole system slicker than grease. Thinking about getting one. A pity the ATF went all kung fu on “braces” as I don’t love spending money on tax stamps for an SBR but SBR is the way to go on a 9mm upper.  MEAN 9mm bearing delay 9mm AR bolt carrier group Cadex Turns out there was a solution to the wind at ShotShow range day this year that was a bit easier than learning. Just shoot the CDX-40 SHDW loaded in 375 Enabler with copper solids that Cadex brought. Pretty effort free to hit the 1,250 target with that behemoth and with surprisingly little recoil. Visibly moved that giant plate too. Cadex also brought with them their new CDX-SS Seven S.T.A.R.S. Pro competition rifle, an aptly named product given the space gun styling. Other than the styling, it is what you expect in a competition-focused product these days. It has integrated Arca, a weight system, lots of M-LOK, an NVD bridge, a heavily adjustable butt stock that can go very short to square up, an adjustable mag catch, and an adjustable vertical grip. It also folds.  My dad on the massive Cadex 375 Enabler. I think it was the highlight of the trip for him. Accufire Omnis digital spotting scope Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Accufire before but this year they brought a digital spotting scope to range day. The whole thing is basically a telephoto video camera. No eyepiece, just an OLED screen on the back. It records as well as displaying the live feed and has an app allowing you to simulcast to your phone as well so you can see an immediate playback on your phone beside you on the shooting bench if desired. You can also slow down the footage when replaying and it’s good enough to show trace sometimes though I was having trouble seeing it in the cold windy conditions we had. It was much more apparent on previously recorded video feeds. You can put calibrated reticles on the Omis screen as well and they’re building a database of these. The omnis is 30x-120x and not super expensive at $1,300. I found it an interesting concept.  Accufire Omnis digital spotting scope / camera Peltor Tactical 500 and 300’s In addition to supplying the hearing protection at the range this year for ShotShow range day, some nice big 3m Optime 105’s if you were there early enough, 3M also had some fancier stuff your could burrow to demo. Best idea ever. I don’t think it is possible to envision a more perfect torture test for electronic hearing protection than ShotShow range day. Your trying to talk to exhibitors while hundreds of guns of varying size go off around you, everybody talks at once, and the wind whips by at 30mph+. I took advantage and tried out both the 3m and also present competing Howard Leight units at range day. The new “Smart” 3M Peltor tactical 500 and 300 units were the clear winners here. They had noticeably superior sound filtering and amplification technology to that of both the Howard Leight and the lower cost 3M Peltor units. I can’t say that plastic and foam is ever going to feel like it’s worth near $200, but they worked really well indeed and the slight cutaway at the bottom was sufficient to allow comfortable cheek weld on a rifle stock. This is something that the Optime 105’s do not. I expect the next few years will probably be quite productive when it comes to better and more sophisticated noise filtering and voice amplification technology and 3M is clearly getting it done. These absolutely picked out voices from non-voice noise for amplification and did a good job despite the cacophony. Hopefully, we will see some stiff competition in this regard leading to this type of unit closer to $75 than $175. It’s a pity I didn’t have any Axil trackr’s or MSA Sordin’s present. I would have liked to round out the field of contenders. Laugo Arms Alien pistol I love race guns and I love innovative new ways of solving old problems. The latter sometimes to perhaps a bit greater extent than I should as I often later find there was a pretty good reason for the old solution. Shouldered barrels torqued down tight aren’t new, or sexy, but it might just be the best solution for putting a rifle barrel on an action and it’s certainly far better than some of the newer ideas floating about. Anyhow, the Alien pistol has some new solutions for those age-old problems of barrel flip, ignition, barrel lock up, accuracy, and quick follow up shots. Many of these solutions are very much not new but combining them this way hasn’t even remotely been done before. The Alien is gas operated, has a fixed barrel, a fixed sight rail, and the lowest bore axis of any 9mm ever. It also has a hammer-fired ignition for that reliability but actually inverts the hammer so that it rotates down from above. You can also toolisly switch the top rail to swap from one with an optic to one with open sights. You can buy the Alien with either glock or 1911grip angle and in a variety of different kits. I’ve shot some slick race guns at ShotShow but this is probably the slickest. Excellent trigger, super soft recoil and low muzzle flip. My only complaint is that the checkering on the grip is far more aggressive than necessary. Am I supposed to shoot this thing with gloves? There is some good news Alien on availability for those who have seen they chaos on Gunbroker. Since their release in 2020, only small numbers of Aliens have been coming in and many have been being scalped for even higher prices (pun intended). Laugo is switching importers and larger amounts will be coming in soon so that you should be able to get them for retail. This is still a very high price of $4,500+ depending on the kit but it’s well under what they have been going for the last couple of years.  Me shooting the Laugo Arms Alien pistol |
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Zero Compromise Optics Over on the Hide someone asked about the ZCO 10mil / turn turrets so I’ll go ahead and do the ZCO rundown now.  ZCO’s new 10mil/turn turret on their 5-27x56 scope As I mentioned above, the first new release this year for ZCO is the 10mil per turn no-lock turrets. This is a configuration they have been being asked for by competition shooters. As you can see, it’s a 3+ turn turret labeled for each turn with the last half a turn up top as it is on the 15mil / turn. They have not yet decided if their going to do a locking version of this turret so for now it’s the no-lock only. I would say the wider clicks have made the feel of this turret is even a little better than the 15 mil/turn which was already quite good. In additon to the 10mil/turn, ZCO is also introducing a next generation of it’s mpct 2 reticle there calling the mpct 2x. The changes here are very incremental and I expect pretty much everybody will find them a plus. They have done away with the vertical post above 3 mils, opened the center near the dot just a smidge, and slightly changed the hashes to add a .5 mil mark and move all the .2 ones to the same side of the line. All wins in my book. I also like the incremental improvement methodology. With one foot in the competitive shooting world and one working on scope feature designs, Nick is getting it done for sure.  The new MPCT 2x reticle. It will be available first in the 5-27x56. |
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ShotShow 2023 some sub $1k scopes and the rest of the other new scopes: Sorry about the delay on this guys. My new computer took a dump on itself and it took me a week or so of worth of free time to find and replace the offending component. Many of you will remember back a couple of years ago in 2019 when I did a series of reviews on sub $1k long-range scopes. That was one of my favorite series of reviews to do. Lower priced scopes sell in truly mammoth numbers and so I feel like reviews in this range can help a lot of folks. This year at Shot, I saw a bunch of new stuff in this range and I’m going to start lining it up. This update will be a bit about those possibilities. Hi-Lux Hi-Lux is probably best known for it’s series of reproduction vintage scopes that look just like the originals but are fully multi-coated, sealed, and purged. You know, stuff like the Unertl 8x copy they call the Malcolm 8x. They make some other stuff to. One of which is a new scope they are calling the PR5 5-25x56 ffp. They’re looking to sell it in the $800 range and it featues 100moa of travel, can be had in mil/mil, and has a zero stop. The spec sheet doesn’t appear to be online yet so that’s what I’ve got so far on the specs. Primary Arms Primary Arms had a bunch of new stuff to show at Shot. They have even helpfully put it all on one webpage. First I’ll talk about the new GLx scopes. They have a 3-18x44 and 4.5-27x56. One of these will likely be in my sub $1k scope reviews this year, probably the 4.5-27x56 at around $899. Steel on steel adjustments, 120moa travel, and a sort of unusual zero stop / turret lock I’m still not sure I fully understand but I'm sure I’ll figure out pretty quick with one in my hands. Adjustments are 10mil/turn and translating. The scope also comes with an optional throw lever.  The zero stop system on the new Primary arms GLx 3-18x44 and 4.5-27x56 scopes Also new is a tiny little red dot for your pistol that features top accessible battery and a unique circle dot reticle wherein the circle is only visible when the sight is poorly aligned and serves to guide you to proper alignment wherein you will see the dot. I thought that was pretty clever. It fits delta point pro cuts. Another new optic I took a look at was the SLx 1-6x24 SFP LPVO scope. This is a fiber optic illuminated scope so it’s easily daytime bright and it looked pretty good optically. Very flat image at 1x which is really the number one thing in such an optic as it leads to good syncing between your eyes. This new 2FP version appears to be a different optical design than the previous FFP version and it is frankly better. Primary has a few other products on the web link I gave you but the last one to really catch my eye was the AutoLive battery cap. This is just what you think it is. It turns your illumination off when your not moving and wakes it back up when you do. It is an inline device that basically just replaces your battery cap with a cap that integrates this circuitry and the battery. They plan on making it for a couple different thread patterns. So simple.  Primary Arms AutoLive battery cap Arken This year Arken came out with a new EPL-4 6-24x50mm for $439. This has and 8mil/turn turret and a plunger type zero stop. By adding the "combo pack" to your cart with the scope and using discount codes NSF$170 or Save$17 at your time of purchase, you get a level, caps, rings, a throw lever, a tee shirt, and some other stuff for just $41.99 instead of it's retail of $211.99. So yea, you’ll probably do that. I took a look at both this scope and the existing, and popular, EP5 5-25x56 which you can also get with that $42 extra kit. I’m leaning towards the 5-25x56 for review this year as it is 10mil / turn.  Arken EP5 5-25x56 Bushnell Yea, you knew this was coming. Bushy totally tore it up with the performance of their XRS3 6-36x56mm scope I reviewed last year. Will the new Match Pro 5-30x56 be a similar hit at a much lower price point? It certainly has the features packed into it’s $700 price point. Zero stop, locking, and a two-stage pop up rev indicator. It’s a lot of features the price and I look forward to reviewing it.  Bushnell Match Pro 5-30x56 rifle scope I have a couple other things to note with Bushy as well. They have some new Match Pro 15x56 binos. For those of you using the forge 15x56’s as spotting glass for matches, optically, these are an update of those but with an index able reticle in them. I expect that is what you were looking for. For those who saw the Bushy nitro 1800 rangefinders with Applied Ballistics before and wondered if that was something of a trial balloon, it must have been, because they have a couple new AB enabled rangefinders. They have a low cost 1800 Bone Collector edition which has AB ultralite and is not upgradeable to Elite and a higher cost Prime 4000 that comes with ultralite but can be user upgraded to Elite. Of further interest, Bushy showed me the Ultrasonic wind meter they are working on integrating with their AB application. This should handle direction and velocity in an automated way. Optisan A few of you will probably remember a few years back I designed a unique reticle, called the MSK3 for the Optisan CX6 1-6x24i rifle scope. It was a fun project even if the market was less enthused than I was with the result. People are missing out, that reticle is hella functional.  Optisan CX6 1-6x24i with the MSK3 reticle I designed a few years ago Anyhow, I always check in with the Optisan folks when I go to Shot to see what they have been up to and how life is treating them. One of the best parts of ShotShow is re-connecting with old acquaintances. This year they had a lightweight hunting scope with some long range features called the EVX G2 4-16x44. This model is very much in line with thoughts I have on the future of hunting scopes. Basically, I think they are moving to incorporate better long range performance buy way of adding features taken from precision rifle scopes. I think first focal plane, turrets you can dial, adjustments that match the reticle, and even zero stops are what the future looks like for hunting scopes. I’m not so sure about mil/mil as wetware is notoriously resistant to updating, but I think the others will become the norm. This scope is very much those features in a smaller, lighter, package with locking adjustments. At $650 I’m interested to see how it lines up against larger, heavier, precision rifle focused offerings.  Optisan EVX G2 4-16x44mm Leupold The big news at Leupold is the new extension to their tremendously successful Mark 5HD line, the new Mark 5HD 2-10x30mm riflescope. It’s exactly what you think it is. It’s a little smaller than the 3.6-18x44 and slightly lighter at 24oz. Just as with the larger Mark 5HD 5-25x56 I reviewed a couple years ago, this Mark 5 crosses over between hunting and precision rifle features without really giving up anything to single purpose scopes in either catagory. Unusual for a scope in this lower magnification range but fitting with that dual purpose mentality and bringing joy to my heart, the Mark 5HD 2-10x30mm has a side focus parallax. Right now, you can get it just in the TMR for mil and the PR1-MOA for MOA. My immediate thoughts are that it will make a nice choice for the many straight-walled cartridge hunting rifles proliferating in the eastern U.S. I expect some AR users will also find this mini Mark 5HD to their liking.  Leupold Mark 5HD 2-10x30mm Also new for this year is the BX-4 Range binoculars. These are laser rangefinding binoculars. From the standpoint of a precision rifle shooter, their ballistic software is rather limited, being based on “ballistic groups” instead of custom load profiles. Leupold claims that these binos are optically a good bit better than others in their price range and they expect the hunting market to value the better glass and simpler ballistic system. Sightron The big news at Sightron is the upcoming S6 line. Yes, your read that right, S6, not SVI. Sightron decided to drop the Roman numeration in favor of Arabic. Turns out, there are quite a lot of folks who don’t really understand Roman numerals any more despite the best attempts of the NFL to keep the system alive by numbering the Super Bowl with it and sportswriters yearly stories on that fact. I guess most fans simply watch the Superbowl without even knowing what number it is. BTW, this year is LVII, or 57. Anyhow, the S6 line will be Japan made, like the Sightron PLR 6-24x50 ffp rifle scope I reviewed last year but will feature new optical designs and glass more in line with the SVIII. Of greatest interest to the precision rifle crowd will probably be the S6 5-30x56 ffp. That design will have an MSRP of $1,699 and has the zero stops, 10mil/turn, and ffp you expect. I’ll be doing a review of this when it hits the market and am excited to see how the new optical system designed for precision rifle use and featuring stepped up ED glass works.  Sightron S6 5-30x56mm Also of note in the S6 line is a 1-6x with daytime bright 2fp fiber illumination for ~$1,299. |
| 2023 review / article thread is now up. The first product for review arrived yesterday so I took a little break from finishing up the Shot stuff to get that started. I'll have some more stuff here in a day or so though. |
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ShotShow 2023 Lapua, Norma, Eley, SchleTek, Mack Bros, Gunwerks, Anschutz, TriggerTech, Vudoo, ARC Lapua, Berger, CPG I stopped by the Lapua / Berger / Capstone precision group booth early on in the show. Outside of a few new loaded ammo offerings under the Berger label, there is not a lot to report as most of their efforts are going to trying to catch production up with demand. A good problem for them to have but not so interesting for us as it does not exactly incentivize new products. It will still be a while before I get that .224 cal hybrid in the correct weight range for .223 rem. It’s on their list of things to do though. What is new is the Lapua super long range .22lr. As you may have guessed, this is lot selected long range which is slightly higher velocity stuff off the Center-X / Midas / X-act line. So, basically long range is somewhere in the range of Center-X / Midas+ when it comes to selection criterion and super long range is around Midas+ / X-act criterion. I spoke to Bryan Litz a bit about .22lr bullet shape, velocity, and twist rates as it pertains to long range use. This is a very important topic as, with a 1-16 twist .22lr is just on the limit of stability and as it progresses down range it can often transition from a Mahomes pass to a Tebow one mid flight. My Vudoo for instance will transition around about 175yds depending on conditions with it’s best lot of Center-X. After that point it starts dropping quite quickly and well off the ballistic model that served well before then. With a little faster ammo though it makes 375yds no problem. There are basically three potential solutions for this. Higher velocity helps as it spins the bullet faster but it is a limited solution as you need to avoid transonic instability so there is only so fast you can go. A faster twist rate has proven quite successful in tests but, of course, doesn’t help you much if you have a 1-16 twist and don't really want a new barrel or rifle. I had some hope for changing bullet shape but it turns out this is quite limited. .22lr bullets are quite soft lead and are designed to conform to the barrel and seal effectively. This is part and parcel of how they work. The base starts out smaller than the barrel as .22lr is a healed round and then expands under pressure to fill the barrel. You can’t do something like a boat tail. Even the front of the round deforms to some extent traveling down the barrel. All of this is basic to the way .22lr works and I’m not sure trying to change any of that would be a great idea as you would loose some of what makes .22lr great. Wax coated 40gr subsonic soft lead .22lr is the recipe for high accuracy, long life, low cost, and infrequent cleaning. So, you make it a little faster and perhaps buy a faster twist barrel. That is how you make it fly further while stable.  Bryan Litz and Emil Praslick - Bullet design and wind reading | SHOT Show 2023 Bryan Litz and Emil Praslick on bullet design and wind reading at Shot 2023 I should also mention that Bryan and Emil gave a little talk at the Lapua booth on bullet design and wind reading during the show. A number of us recorded this and Erik Cortina’s is so the best of those recordings so that is the one I have linked to. Norma The big news at Norma is that they were sold by RUAG to the Beretta group this year. This sale includes everything small-caliber ammunition that RUAG owned including the labels Ammotec, Norma, Geco, Rottweil, and RWS. The sale is also not just of the brands but also of the manufacturing facilities themselves. This encompasses some five locations with around 2,700 employees. Beretta seems quite pleased with the deal as I noticed they promoted the Norma brand above all their other brands in their ShotShow marketing materials this year. The motivation for the sale on RUAG’s part seems to have been their well-documented discomfort with their success in the civilian ammunition market. RUAG is now an aerospace company that doesn’t make small arms ammunition at all. So, whatever that was all, it’s solved now. From our standpoint, we can expect more ammo in the market. I think it will be a good marriage.  New Norma Xtreme LR-22 On the product side, probably the most interesting new offering from Norma will be the Xtreme LR-22. This is a new .22lr offering intended .22lr ELR that is unusual in a couple different ways. First off, it has a tail. This is a bit like a boat tail concept but not entirely as it still has the skirt around it necessary to provide the expanding gas seal .22lr involves. It is also a 43gr projectile instead of a 40gr. This will be interesting as more weight takes more spin to stabilize. Perhaps partially to address this, it is fast. Their literature states 1,312 fps. You will note is above the sound barrier. Lastly, Norma claims to be using a special powder in this round that will give it superior velocity and consistency of that velocity. This is a lot of departures from the typical formula for .22lr. It could be class leading or, like the Aguila 60gr SS round, a dumpster fire. Norma claims it will be the .22lr ammo for beyond 500yds and I’ll be interested to try it out. While I’m at it, I will probably also try out the Tac-22 and Match-22 rounds. For those interested, as is the usual pattern for .22lr ammo makers, Match-22 is lot selected Tac-22. Before I leave Norma I’ll mention one last new and very unusual product, the NSD Non-eXpanding defensive ammo. This round fires a very light solid cast polymer / copper projectile with some unusual flutes in the nose at rather high velocities with the idea to use hydrostatic shock instead of an expanding projectile to do damage. The 9mm version of this is just 65gr and fires at a remarkable 1,730 fps. Eley There is going to be an Eley long-range .22lr ammo coming out. It’s not done yet, so I don’t have details, but it is coming. Eley sees the market and they are going to throw in. Hmm, next year might make a good year for the great .22lr Long range ammo shootout that I planned back in 2015 but then failed to follow though on. Eley also has a camera based scoring device called the X-Shot they will be coming out with soon that will tremendously improve scoring for the traditional paper shooting disciplines and should even allow for matches to be easily managed with shooters in different locations around the world. Gone will be the days of super expensive electronic scoring systems or tedious plugging of holes. The price on this is much lower than you think. It’s going to be a huge win for shooting leagues. SchleTek SchleTek is a German maker of gun cleaning compounds. Previously, they were not available in the U.S. but they are going to be imported by B&T (the gunmaker not the bipod maker) in the near future though I don’t yet see an active U.S. web storefront. SchleTek caught my eye with their silencer cleaning solution. They claim it can get the job done even on silencers that do not disassemble. You plug the suppressor, fill it with the solution for 20min, shake it up, empty back into the bottle, fill the suppressor with water, empty and then repeat 6 times. One bottle of the cleaner supposed to be good for roughly 15,000 rounds worth of cleaning whether you clean frequently with lower round counts or let things get filthy with high round counts between cleanings.  SchleTek gun maintenance kit SchleTek had a full catalog of gun cleaning stuff to add to the silencer cleaner. These include a grease for muzzle devices and choke tubes, a gun cleaner, a carbon cleaner, thread lock, a grease specially formulated for plastic guns, an optic mount sealant, a PTFE based lubricant, and some other stuff. Some of these answer questions I never asked but others look interesting. Mack bros and Gunwerks switch barrel rifles: Both Mack bros and Gunwerks came out with lightweight switch barrel hunting rifles this year and I can’t help put them side by side because there are a lot of similarities. Lugs in extension, non AICS custom mags, euro-style 2x3 lug detachable bolt head. There are some differences as well. The Mack bros uses 700 triggers, Manners stocks made for them, and can be had with a unique quick detach pic rail whereas the Gunwerks has a custom trigger from TriggerTech, their own leather appointed stock and integral rail. Planned price on the Mack bros rifle is $6,600 and the Gunwerks Nexus will run $5,475. This is Gunwerks first rifle to have the action manufactured in house BTW.  Mack Bros new switch barrel rifle  Gunwerks Nexus switch barrel rifle Anschutz As many of you have seen in the thread on AI chassis for Anschutz, Anschutz is greatly expanding it’s line of 54.18 rifles in the U.S. These have a different footprint than the (also 54 action) 1710’s that have been the only 54’s repeaters in the U.S. for a while. They also take different triggers though, I believe, the same magazines. The triggers are the big motivation here. The 54.18’s have a lot better triggers than the 1710’s (more on that in a sec). Interestingly, the 54.18’s also share a footprint with the Fortner straight pull action.  Anschutz 54.18 in AI AT-X chassis So, Anschutz is going to offer is both 54.18’s and Fortner actions in an AI AT-X chassis with and without threaded muzzles and with what rimfire guys would call a heavy barrel but precision rifle guys might call mid-weight. All the barrels are 1-16.5 twist Anschutz factory barrels. Importantly, this Fortner action will have something you can mount a rail to at the top. These rifles will not be cheap and I think price will be their biggest challenge as they start around $1k higher than equivalently appointed Vudoo or Rim-X rifles and you can get those rifles starting even lower with lower cost chassis or going the barreled action rout with Vudoo or build your own with Rim-X. The Anschutz 54.18 in AI chassis will have an MSRP of $4,295 and you know they will charge more for the Fortner you and I have always drooled over. Now back to the 1710’s. There is a better trigger for these now called the 5119. These will be available for special order. They are two-stage and much lighter than the current 1710 trigger. For a little while now you have been able to get 1710’s in an MDT ACC chassis from Anschutz. You can also just buy that ACC chassis for your 1710 but you will need to do it though Anschutz and not directly from MDT (it costs $200 more than ACC’s usually cost). It may be time to upgrade my anniversary edition 1710. Or it may be time to transmogriphy it though the magic of economics into a Fortner. Before I leave the subject, I should note that German law restricts manufacturers to only selling fully tested rifles. This means you can’t just sell an action. You can only sell an action already attached to a barrel. Technically, you could do a barreled action though I don’t think there are any plans in this direction. You cannot sell an action though. TriggerTech The news for TriggerTech this year is that they are coming out with a Tika and Howa triggers. These new offerings will be single stage triggers. I have that they will be in the Diamond and Special weight ranges. TriggerTech also has a new drop in AR15 duty trigger at just $129 and a fixed 3.5lb weight. These strike me as very rational next step expansions to their existing line.  TriggerTech Tikka prototype trigger Vudoo and Ted’s new Coup De Grace Vudoo had several new things going at the show this year. Most obviously, they are doing 1911’s now. Personally, I find this a strange direction to go as the custom 1911 market does not appear to me to be lacking in saturation. That being said, the aerospace machine shop they are working with here, and on the Vudoo actions, certainly has the capability. These 1911’s are super tight. They actually manufacture the frames from the inside in halves and electron beam weld them together. They have also gone to the remarkable lengths of machining things like the entire trigger including the part extends around the magazine from single pieces of metal. These are very tight 1911’s. They had a custom made QC testing jig on display showing how little variation there is in alignment at lockup. I also played around a bit with the guns on hand. Yea, they are tight. They are marketing these under the Vudoo name as well as under the name Phoenix Kustomworx. Both have the same level of mechanical function but the Phoenix versions will have fancier finishes and start at $3,500 instead of $3,000.  Vudoo and Phoenix Kustomworx 1911 pistols Next up, the new .22lr aluminum magazines are soon to be arriving. As you can see from the pic, they have been lightened a bit, are just slightly smaller so they should fit in those chassis they previously didn’t, have slightly more angle to the column of rounds, and they have an adjustable magazine catch.  New .22lr billet vudoo mags with adjustable catch. There will be a 15rd Lastly, Vudoo is doing a bolt action centerfire rifle in conjunction with Ted and his new Coup De Grace action. Since Ted did not have a booth this year, this was where most folks were getting a look at the action. Some things about it are very much in line with trends I have seen in the industry a whole. It features a bolt that is wider than the lugs and rides on a groove for the bolt stop instead of needing an EDM machined raceway. This is a huge manufacturing cost savings I see in almost all new action designs and I don’t really see a downside. The CDG also has a detachable bolt head and the bolt fully field disassembles without tools. Design is certainly going this direction in general and Ted’s CDG seems particularly well done in this regard. No crappy roll pins here. Very clean design. Like Ted’s other actions, the CDG is control round feed though this time it uses an extractor closer to a Sako than a Mauser. It is not a Sako though as it is in line with a lug instead of between them and has some different elements. It is a new design, just more similar to the Sako type than other types. Ejection continues to be mechanical as with previous Ted designs. Ted has included his lever extraction assist as with the Archimedes in the CDG though you can install a different bolt handle to go without and be limited to the normal cam type extraction. I have a theory on Ted and his pre-occupation with extraction. I think it is possible that the lack of support for the side of the case head in both Mauser type control round feed bolts and cone breaches, coupled with perhaps the Barloc not putting enough strain on barrel and action threads may have lead to Ted having more history with stuck cases than most shooters. Extraction of stuck cases seems to have become a design priority in his actions when it is something I think a lot of shooters have never had an issue with and don’t think much about. Maybe, I have just been lucky or maybe the fact I am less than diligent removing one shot lube from the outside of my cases has spared me any stuck cases. I could be way off base in my lack of faith in the strength of the brass case head but many of us push a little beyond SAAMI pressures and brass demonstrably flows, springs, and deforms to the point you need to trim and can get loose primer pockets. In any case, the CDG has the super extractor. One odd thing I noticed on the bolt is that it has a 90degree cocking piece even though it interfaces with 700 triggers which use an angled topsear. I’m not sure what the thinking on this is but it seems strange.  American Rifle company Coup De Grace bolt. Probably the most interesting thing I noted on the CDG is the trigger hanger. I love trigger hangers and despise the standard Remington pin system. Ted took it one step further with his system essentially making the hanger system user hand adjustable for fit between the trigger and action. It’s a very clever system and should also net a bit more firing pin fall that should alleviate past difficulties some ARC actions had with some triggers. Anyhow, those are my thoughts on the CDG conceptually. |
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ShotShow 2023 MDT, KRG, Cadex, PSE, Hawkins, FX Radar Chrono, Micrometer resizer, and Audere MDT: Unsurprisingly, MDT has some new stuff this year. These guys never let any grass grow under their feet. We might as well start out with the biggest news, the Zero Stage electronic trigger. MDT announced this a while ago and there has been a thread on it on the Hide, but I think this is its first public showing. Unlike previous electronic triggers such as the ones in Walther Olympic smallbore rifles, there is no travel at all. This is a quite different feel and the shooters trying it out at the booth were liking it. They sure put the rounds through it as well. The battery on this test unit was expected to last about 1,000 pulls (it did more) and recharging it was necessary on at least one occasion during the day. Production units are expected to be around 3,000 pulls per charge. The electronic nature of the trigger has enabled some unusual features as well. First off, the trigger has an accelerometer in it and this is tied into the safety circuit such that the trigger disables firing if it detects a high acceleration state such as the rifle being dropped. The trigger also has the capacity to disable firing in the event the rifle is tilted more than a specified number of degrees. In principle this could allow ranges to prevent over the berm shots by disabling the shooters ability to fire the rifle angled up that steeply. How exactly to utilize this feature is a bit in flux as the Beta testing phase is next. You may remember the sign up for this a while back and soon those chosen will be doing that testing. I expect you will be seeing these at some matches in the not too distant future. Match shooters are certainly the expected audience and they may find the Zero Stage to have some unique training features. The Zero Stage has the capacity to capture data on trigger finger behavior such as the amount of force the user applied when pulling the trigger and how much side pressure was applied. The USB-C charging port accessible inside the trigger guard is capable of updating the triggers software, and downloading data as well. It is also how you charge the trigger. Exactly what features will be accessible to the user and what the default settings on the trigger will be have yet to be decided. At this time, pull weight is the only user adjustable feature and that does not require the USB interface to do. You pull and hold on safety to access the pull weight settings and click through by the ounce to what you want starting with the max 64oz and then going to the min 4oz setting before proceeding upwards in one oz increments. I should note that, like the TriggerTech units, the Zero Stage is physically fatter than standard 700 triggers so you will need to make sure your stock inlet is accommodating or make it so. These are also projected to run $499, so they won’t be cheap.  MDT Zero Stage E-trigger Also brand new at the show was the MDT training shot timer. This was one of a couple new shot timers I saw this year and I’ll admit that I’m not going to be the most helpful in analyzing them. I don’t shoot timed competitions and so I don't practically understand these products, only conceptually. My understanding of the shiny feature on this particular shot timer is that it can sync with your phone in a way that allows you to analyze a recording on the phone in concert with the devices record of your shots in live or dry fire. ShotShow was my first look at the new ACC elite chassis system and it’s pretty new so I think worth mentioning. I feel like were entering the 3rd or so generation of competition chassis systems this year. There has been a clear trend in each of these generations towards more direct competitor input on the design, more competition specific features, and better fit to the shooter (more adjustability). There has also been a clear focus this generation on better .22lr accommodation through some magazine well adjustability. MDT is, of course, on point with all these industry trends and here is the rundown of the ACC elite chassis enhancements vs. it’s progenitor, the still available, and $300 cheaper, ACC premier. The new elite has a little longer stiffer, thicker forearm than the premier with both little slot for grip tape under it as well an R-LOK interface. This forearm also has mounting positions on top for a mirage shield or attachment point for a prism or thermal. The elite has a new buttstock that can go shorter for a squarer stance and is also stiffer having a second attachment point between the stock section and action block section. This buttstock has quick detach adjustable parts and has it’s toools stowed under the cheek piece. The magwell is substantially more adjustable having both an adjustable mag catch and grooves inside the mag well that can accommodate different size dowels for a no-slop mag fit. Finally, the elite has the adjustable thumb rest now becoming common on latest generation competition chassis. All in all, it’s an iterative set of changes from the premier to the elite that each clearly address a specific issue that came up in competitive use instead of a radical departure in design.  MDT ACC Elite chassis, look carefully, can you spot the Send IT level? Before I leave MDT, I’ll mention the LRA send it MV3 level. As I mentioned in my 2023 review and article thread, one of the articles I am planning this year is on bubble level use in long range shooting. This level will very likely be part of that as its electronic nature gives it substantial advantages over traditional spirit levels in a number of key ways both from mounting to use. KRG: While were on the subject of competition chassis, we might as well keep going. This year KRG is offering a new competition chassis they are calling the C4. As you might expect it offers a good bit of magazine well adjustability including an adjustable catch and some optional spring steel guides. Even the length of the magwell is adjustable. The rest of the chassis is likewise quite adjustable, weightable, and very much what you would expect from a competition chassis.  KRG C4 competition chassis system mag well showing all it’s adjustability Cadex Strike Pro: Back in the range day report I mentioned the CDX-SS Seven S.T.A.R.S. competition rifle. The chassis on that rifle is also available as a stand alone product for 700 footprint actions. It’s called the Strike Pro. Features include 17” Arca forearm with M-LOK, available NV bridge, a weight system, adjustable mag catch, new shorter minimum LoP, adjustable vertical grip, tool free buttstock adjustability, thumb rest, and foldability.  Cadex CDX-SS Seven S.T.A.R.S. rifle, chassis available for 700 clones as the Strike Pro. PSE composites: PSE is a European composite stock maker started in 2008. This year, officially at IWA but I saw them early at Shot, they are introducing some very light weight stocks with visible carbon. These are manufactured with a high degree of manufacturing sophistication. They have full monocoque construction with reinforcing plates for their attachment points and bedding molded in. Particularly unique is that the cheek pieces are also monocoque and there is no aluminum block in the stock or aluminum rods in the cheek piece to anchor it. Instead, the clamp interfaces with the carbon skin of the cheek piece itself. Very light and I expect quite strong. So far, they have a Tikka version and a Remington 700 version. The Tikka has an aluminum bedding block and you just bolt it in. For the Remington it is recommended you skim bed. These stocks run ~1,100 and weigh 23-24oz with adjustable cheek. They also have a high or low profile cheek piece depending on where you want your adjustment range center.  PSE composite monocoque ultralight stocks Hawkins precision: Hawkins precision is a machine shop manufacturing rings, mounts, brakes, bottom metal and magazines. You likely know them from their popular line of rings and mounts with integrated bubble levels. They may have actually been the first to do this as I can remember these products from a while back and they have done the integration quite well. In fact I stopped by their booth for that reason. I wanted to discuss the article I’m planning for later this year on levels in precision rifle. While I was there I saw their very nice flush mount AICS machined aluminum magazines. These are designed to work with their Hunter DBM M5 inlet AICS bottom metal. This bottom metal is flush with the stock. It does not extend below. These magazines are AICS in pattern but require a bottom metal such as the Hawkins Hunter DBM that is flush. They are quite nicely machined and to not limit COAL beyond the normal AICS limitations. It’s a very nice setup for those looking to have detachable mag capability and ease of use but with a sleek, snag free, hunting look.  Hawkins Ultra-Light rings and Hunter flush mount AICS magazine in .223rem Bullet Central: FX Outdoors True Ballistic Radar Chronograph and micrometer resizing adapter More competition in radar chronos is all-good if you ask me. Ultimately, I just don’t think next gen, non-light gate chronos should be as expensive as they are running these days. Chronos are ultimately a tech product and the prices should scale down, not up, with time. These are not products full of machined metal and ground glass. They are full of circuits and plastic. Anyhow, there will soon be another player in the market. FX Outdoors will be coming out with the Ballistic Radar Chrono soon. It looks a lot like the LabRadar unit and frankly addresses a few of the sub-optimal aspects of it. It has a built in 16hr operating time rechargeable Li-ion battery, the unit constantly monitors instead of triggering each shot, it has a little sight tube that is a bit better than the notch, and the unit snaps into it’s base to protect itself in travel. It also has a built in function to calculate G1 or G7 BC based on the change in velocity of the bullet over the distance the TBRC can measure. Price on the FX True Ballistic Radar Chrono is not yet set but will be sub $1k. BulletCentral will be carrying it and was displaying it at their booth along with the Bix’n Andy triggers, Bat actions, and other nice stuff they carry.  FX Outdoors True Ballistic Radar Chronograph BulletCentral also had a micrometer resizing adapter that fits between the ram and the shell holder and allows you to more precisely adjust your case resizing. I’ll admit that the need for this went over my head a bit but Chris was quite excited it so I expect there are some reloaders a few steps beyond my ability or with a different workflow on here that will understand exactly why.  Micrometer adapter for case re-sizing Audere: These guys are a machine shop in San Marino. They are selling their stuff in the U.S. through MK machining. The machining looked good and they do rings for Anschutz rails. Now that Kelbly’s dropped their ring line, these guys are looking to fill the hole for directly mounting scopes with decent size tubes to rimfire receivers.  Audere, machines rings, bases, etc. Has some rings for Anschutz rails. That’s it for now. I may type something on tripods later. I looked at a number of things at the show. I don’t have a lot of conclusions or insights though so I may skip it as well. |