SHOT SHOW: DAY ONE

Today was the first day of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show. The main Show itself won’t actually open until tomorrow (at the Orlando, Florida Convention Center). This was Media Day, when writers for the gun magazines, the hunting and fishing publications, and the military and police journals show up at the range to test-fire the newest wares of the gunmakers. Kinda like a wine-tasting.

Beretta has something new under the sun: the UGB25 Xcel, the first “break-open semiautomatic shotgun.” You thumb down the lever on the left side of the receiver, to “break” it like a conventional single-barrel or double-barrel shotgun. Then you close the action…and slip one more 12-gauge shell onto a loading tray on the right. Two pulls of the trigger will fire each shell from the same chamber and barrel. The rationale: the handling of a fine single-barrel trap gun with the soft recoil of a gas-operated semiautomatic shotgun. A definite “one of a kind.”
Some high points: Colt was a welcome if unexpected presence. This brand has so long refrained from advertising in gun magazines that shooters frequently ask on Internet gun forums, “Does Colt still even manufacture handguns?” Yes, they do, and their long-awaited re-issue of the Delta Elite 10mm pistol, in stainless, is finally here. The one I testfired on the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy range grouped satisfyingly at 50 yards. They also have a “rail gun” model of their classic .45 auto pistol.
Ruger introductions include a gold-trimmed 60th anniversary version of their classic outdoorsman’s handgun, the Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum. However, the Pro-Arms Podcast (http://proarms.podbean.com) crew I was running with voted unanimously that the big Ruger hit was probably the most innovative gun we’ve seen at the show so far: the LCR (Light Compact Revolver). Designed in-house by Joe Zaik, this is the first “plastic revolver.” It’s a snub-nose .38 Special 5-shot with specially designed Hogue grips (or Crimson Trace LaserGrips, your choice) and totally new lockwork with a very smooth trigger pull, double action only with no exposed hammer. Weight is in the 13 ounce range and it is very comfortable to shoot. Suggested retail will be $525 with those sweet Hogue grips, and $792 with the Crimson Trace laser unit.
Marlin has their latest bolt-action sporting rifle engineered to where it’s only a little over $300 retail at dealers. It has earned high points from testers for its accuracy, and the price is certainly right. There’s a version of their .45/70 Guide Gun with enlarged lever loop and extended magazine, just the thing for when you’re in the thickets after grizzly bears. I saw as more useful their lever action stainless in .338 Marlin, which spits a fat 200 grain bullet at .30/06 energy, but handles almost like a .30/30 deer rifle.
Remington now owns famed AR15 manufacturers Bushmaster and DPMS, and all their wares were demonstrated side-by-side. Bushmaster’s .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) caliber bolt action rifle was as impressive as it sounds. DPMS has an AR15 style semiautomatic in .308 Winchester that resembles their low-priced .223 Sportical, and which in .308 will retail for under $1000. The big news from Remington, though, was the .30 Remington AR cartridge, which is designed expressly for the AR15 platform and spits a 123 or 125 grain bullet at a velocity that far exceeds that of the 7.62X39 Russian cartridge. It had more of a push into the shoulder than a .223 when I fired it, of course, but little more muzzle rise. (Would’ve liked to have tried it on full automatic, but no such setup was available.) Curiously, the magazines were the size of .223 20-rounders, but modified to hold only four cartridges, though we are told it will be available with high capacity magazines. It was no trick to keep four shots in an inch at a hundred yards my first two tries on the Central Florida Rifle & Pistol Club range. Lots of promise here.
Among accessories, Crimson Trace now has sights that attach directly under the barrel for Glock and Kahr pistols, resembling larger versions of the ones they make for the Ruger LCP and Kel-Tec P3AT. I shot a Kahr 9mm with one, and the shots hit directly above the red dot. EOTAC has a new line of tactical clothing designed by and for women. Sorry, couldn’t test it without cross-dressing.
More to come. Back at ya tomorrow, I hope.