Rambling, Random SHOT Show 2012 Thoughts & Photographs

As I slowly winged my way home from Las Vegas, I had plenty of time to contemplate both the beauty of the world and what I had seen and experienced over the previous week. As an experience, SHOT Show is incredible; as a platform for the launch of new products, it was not so great.

To be sure, there were some mildly interesting things, like the new Springfield XDS45, and a few really impressive things, like the T/C Dimension rifle. But the overbearing presence of zombie-themed targets, ammo, optics, firearms, and knives was incredibly annoying. Whether or not it increases sales, it cheapens the brand involved and brings too much of a fantasy, toy-like feel to a market centered on the production and sale of deadly weapons. Zombies are not real, but bad people are - when will we see "ammo designed to kill bad people" marketed as such?

Back on the subject of the T/C Dimension, I was really impressed with it. It is affordable, it is available, it appears to be cleverly as well as practically engineered, and it has features not seen on rifles anywhere near its price. I'm perfectly happy with my Remington 700, but I really like the concept of the Dimension, and will probably end up with one.

HK had a lot of 417s on display. The lighting at their booth wasn't ideal, but I was able to work with it. I especially liked the "PSG417," as I called it.

I spent some time talking to some guys with German accents who really knew firearms. They were very interesting to talk to.

In an unsurprising move for a German company known for having everything in ordnung, even the stickers were well-organized.

Seeing how various companies market products was really interesting. Practically any firearm company with a Turkish connection, such as SAR Arms and ATI, used scantily clad women to attract attendees. One AR company (I forget the name, had never heard of them before) used super-tactical looking dudes in ATACS camo to push their rifles on media day, but when another media person asked what made their rifles different, they launched into an explanation about how tight their magwell was and how tight the BCG to receiver fit was. That, and the fact that they left Condition 3 rifles lying around well behind the firing line - then tried to pass the buck about it - led me to walk away without sampling their products.

Sig stuck all of their quality products on a wall that none of the Sig reps really wanted to talk about, mainly because none of them came in rainbow or diamond plate editions. That the Sig 553 was shown in pistol configuration is no coincidence.

I talked to Larry Vickers at the Daniel Defense booth. He's lost weight, but gained some gray hair. I told him so. He seemed to have mixed feelings about my comments.

On the subject of ignoring companies, Knight's Armament prohibited taking pictures of their products at the show, and so did a few tactical vehicle manufacturers. That's fine - their competitors weren't as mentally challenged, and saw their new products receive much more media coverage. Chances are that if I can take a picture of an HK417, a Colt 901 or an FN Ballista, I'm not in violation of ITAR by taking pictures of an SR15, which is old news anyway, but quite attractive with a light grey and black color scheme, or what was probably supposed to be foliage, but which looked more like an attractive seafoam green that I would see on the walls of a bathroom in an upscale art gallery.

Colt is manufacturing the Bulldog crank operated, five barrel weapon. You can buy one for the bargain price of $50,000. That is actually a bargain price. Seriously. They have been made in small numbers by tiny shops in recent years, for over $70-80,000.

Random thought: airsoft is big. Some of the guys who were representing airsoft websites and magazines had crews and equipment that rivaled all but the biggest firearm media organizations. Airsoft isn't my thing, but the airsoft people I encountered seemed very nice. I hope they had a good time.

Apparently, people who read my blog in the industry got the impression that I walk around in über-tactical attire. I don't. I don't like associating myself with that appearance and the impression that it gives. However, it was pointed out to me that I wore a huge, "overcompensating" watch and conspicuously carried a knife and flashlight. My only defense was that I wear these things for practical purposes. As an aside, my J frame/ankle holster combo was "made" (by a woman!) for the second time in the four years I've been carrying with that method.

Media Day at the Range was a circus. It was better from a user standpoint than the AAC shoot, which closed down two hours early, but there were a ton of people there who basically just wanted to play with toys, making it harder for those who wanted to sample and write about new products. I lost track of how many times I was asked if I was familiar with AR-15s before being handed one - it would seem that some people made fools of themselves.

One of the more bizarre incidents at Media Day was when I was on the long rifle range and came upon some Bushmasters with MOE furniture and what I think were Swarovski 1-6 scopes. There was one really fat guy who was standing nearby - he was wearing a Freedom Group polo shirt. I asked him if I could shoot one of the rifles, to which he responded in the affirmative. Another guy handed me a fully loaded 30rd mag, which was an oddity on a day when you were otherwise lucky to shoot 5 rounds.

I looked at the ammo, which appeared to be 52gr HPs, then looked up to ask someone what ammo it was. Both guys were gone. I was left alone. I had no idea what I was supposed to be reporting on - the rifle? The scope? The ammo? The optic was perfectly zeroed, and I hit steel at 550 yards more often than not, which I was pretty happy with, considering the wind, projectile, and MOE handguards. When I missed, it was by a few inches. But I'm still at a loss as to what I was supposed to be evaluating.

Very few manufacturers bothered to ensure that their firearms were shooting to point of aim. Barrett and HK did a great job of this, while, for example, Armalite did not. Even Aimpoint only used laser bore sighters, though I was still on target at 75 yards with the Micro-equipped Ruger Mark III. Some companies apparently didn't think members of the media would want to hit their targets, or, perhaps more accurately, thought they were incapable of doing so. The long rifle range didn't seem to have many of these problems. I was on steel 100% at 950 yards with the Sako TRG in .300 Win Mag.

My last day at the show was incredibly hectic. I was running around trying to see the people and things I had missed over the previous four or five days. I saw about half of the people and things I wanted to see, but I also unexpectedly met some people that were really cool. Overall, it was a good trip.

One of my last (planned) stops was to see my friend Mauro at Technoframes. They make replica ammunition and super-high-end display and carry cases. Beautifully crafted stuff.

On my way out the door, I encountered a USMC EOD tech who had lost both legs and part of at least one hand in Afghanistan, and was at the show in part to display some unique tools that he had a hand in designing. If you are reading this, please contact me.

After that discussion, I picked up my bags and paid $60 for a cab ride to the airport. I did this because time was of the essence (although my entire flight ended up being at night anyway - I spent too long at the show); in other times throughout the show, I literally went hungry because I refused to pay the exorbitant prices the hotel restaurants were charging for basic food that wasn't very good to begin with. Luckily, I had brought energy bars: Snickers and Hershey's.

At the airport on my way out of town, I ran into two guys who looked like they had just come from SHOT. We made small talk about the show and flying. When I found out that they were with Dillon Aero, I told them that I load with a 550B and love it, and when I needed some small parts a few years back, Dillon sent me what I needed right away, without any fuss. I didn't have time to tell them that I thought Dillon provided a level of customer service that every company should aspire to before they flew away in their totally sweet Pilatus PC-7 that you might have seen in some of the Dillon publications. It's cool to see that they actually use it, and that it's not just a (turbo)prop for attractive models to stand next to.