American
Western Arms imports a full line of handguns and long guns for Cowboy
Action Shooting. They also offer an extensive catalog of accessories and
clothing for the Cowboy shootist. Quality of their overall line appears to
be very good. We will be conducting a more extensive evaluation of their
product line soon!
Armalite is offering a new
fully-automatic airgun that is a very exciting new design. Pictured with
the gun is the man who designed the gun. He is an
impressively-intelligent, nice guy named Doc (I can't remember his
last name, I'm bad about that - my apologies) who came up with an
ingenious ground-breaking design while living an the wilderness of Alaska.
Armalite wisely hired this guy as soon as they learned of what he was
doing up there. Doc's design offers an extremely high cyclic
rate while offering muzzle energy exceeding that of the .22 Rimfire in a
rifle that is ATF legal (nyah, nyah!) because it is an AIRGUN. Equipped
with an ample pellet magazine, this has to be one FUN gun! One air
canister is shown affixed to the gun in the picture, but there are
fittings on the bottom of the frame (where an AR-15 magazine would go) for
2 more canisters, meaning you could shoot for hours without a refill!
Armalite says this gun will be available very soon at a price far lower
than I expected. Doc and Armalite are at the forefront of some exciting
things that are happening in the airgun industry, and I was honored to
make his acquaintance.
Big Oak Outdoors is offering
their new "Buck Hunt" stand, which compares favorably to
competing designs, at very competitive prices.
Browning
has introduced their new "Gold Fusion" 12-gauge semi-automatic
shotgun. Browning says the new guns offer improved handling qualities and
accuracy along with softer recoil. Greg was very impressed with the
handling of Browning's new gun.
Butler Creek's new
"Packer" system for Ruger's 10-22 semi-automatic .22 carbine
(and its many clones) allows the gun to be taken-down quickly without
tools for portability and barrel changes without sacrificing accuracy.
Freedom
Arms had no new guns for 2001, so we just drooled over the Premier
Grade .454 Casull like we always do. The Premier Grade is an incredibly
well-made SA revolver that is as strong as a bank vault. Fit and finish
are superb on these guns without exception, with barely-visible
barrel-cylinder gaps, recessed case heads, and grips that look as though
they grew on the gun.
Leupold's new products for
2001 include their LPS (Leupold Premiere Series) line of rifle scopes.
These scopes are Leupold's top of the line, and though they ain't cheap,
they offer some very clear optics. Multiple lens coatings on each surface,
precision adjustments, and a transferable lifetime warranty are just a few
of the reasons Leupold calls these scopes "Premiere". No
Intermediate Eye Relief ("Scout") or Long Eye Relief (handgun)
scopes are available at this time, but Leupold promises to expand the LPS
line steadily to include these. Leupold is also offering a new line of
binoculars designed to offer premium features at competitive prices.
Ever
find yourself in a tree stand on opening morning of deer season, trying to
suppress that nagging cough that crops up when the cold hits your lungs?
You fight and fight, finally letting fly with a muffled cough just before
you see that white flag bouncing away from you. Enter Mole Town
Products' "Cough Muffler", and ingenious little silencer
designed for you to cough into. The Cough Muffler does a great job of
silencing a cough, and the interior filter is washable so it doesn't breed
germs all season. Look for a more extensive GunBlast.com review of this
product soon.
New from Navy Arms for 2001 is a
nice-looking 1873 Carbine for the Cowboy Action Shooter. This imported
rifle exhibits good fit and finish and seems to lock-up pretty tightly.
Navy Arms says we'll be getting a test piece soon, so stay tuned!
Phil's Hunting Accessories' "Ryfle Rest"
is a nifty little rubber-type rest with a fitting underneath that allows
it to be mounted on a standard camera tripod for portability and ease of
use. The rests come in many different shapes to match different
barrel/fore-end configurations, and they are very reasonably priced. Phil
was nice enough to give Jeff a test piece at the SHOT Show, so look for a
complete evaluation soon at GunBlast.com.
Among
Ruger's new rifles for 2001 is a handy little Number One Carbine.
Lightweight, short, chambered in .45-70 Government and equipped with a
gray-laminated stock, this little stainless rifle would be a worthy
companion in the field.
Target Shooting Inc. is
offering an excellent precision rifle rest for the non-competitive
shooting market. This robust unit is so effective, it has been deemed
illegal for competitive shooting! Sturdy and stable, this rest is
adjustable in so many ways to accommodate such a wide variety of rifles
and shooting positions that Jeff bought one at the SHOT show just for
testing rifles for GunBlast.com!
New from Tasco is
their EXP Series scope line. Initially offered in a good variety of sizes
and magnifications, the EXP line is unique in that the oval-shaped
objective bell offers a wide field of vision with sharp optics and minimal
distortion. The competitively priced scopes are said to be stronger as
well; we'll see about that after Tasco sends us some units for testing!
Walther
introduced its new P-22 .22 Rimfire semi-automatic pistol. To be brought
out at an incredibly low price, Walther says this pistol will be at least
as accurate as anything on the market. While I don't like the current
trend of trying to make polymer-style firearms look like running shoes, I
have to admit that the Walther P-22 handles and points exceptionally well.
If the accuracy of this pistol is anything like Walther says it will be,
I'll be buying one of these for myself!
From Winchester
comes the Model 1886 Extra-Light
High Grade in .45-70 Government. This dandy little rifle handles very well, and
we like the extra-light option. While the High Grade option is beyond the
financial reach of many, this rifle is also available in standard grade,
and I cannot praise the .45-70 cartridge enough to do it justice.
Winchester's Model 1895 High Grade in .405
Winchester is an excellent gun in an excellent caliber. It was good to see the
1895 in .405 Winchester, long one of Jeff's favorites. One of my favorite
lever-action rifle designs for its reliability and its box magazine, the
High Grade is an exceptionally beautiful piece, with the large flats on
the receiver making wonderful engraving panels.
Well,
that's it for SHOT show 2001, folks! Next year the SHOT show will be back
in Las Vegas in early February, and we look forward to seeing what a full
year of a gun-friendly, freedom-loving administration in Washington will bring! Keep your
eye on GunBlast.com for reviews on many of the products you saw here, as
well as others of interest to us all.
Boge Quinn
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