Easy Company Veteran at SHOT Show

Transcription

shooting hunting outdoor trade show 1979–2010
NSSF
NEW PRODUCT
REPORTS
SHOT Daily goes to the floor and
profiles the hottest optics at this
year’s show p. 16. Also, check out
new ammunition p. 26, and outerwear p. 36
The Daily News of the 2010 Las Vegas SHOT Show Brought to You by The Bonnier Corporation and the NSSF
Easy Company Veteran
at SHOT Show
S
News
*SHOT Business
Presents awards
Industry leaders are honored for
their service and dedication to the
shooting sports. SEE PAGE 4
*BogS’ Boots Beat
Cold Feet
New boots allow moist air to
escape so your feet won’t freeze.
SEE PAGE 70
* Redfield Returns
After a decade away from the
shooting industry, the Redfield
brand returns, thanks to Leupold &
Stevens. See PAGE 72
* Rack ’Em Up
Gander Mountain has a new
strategy for putting guns into
customers’ hands. SEE PAGE 79
FEATURES
*“don’t Lie for
the other guy”
Famed firearms-education
program has been one of
the industry’s greatest
success stories and is still
going strong. SEE PAGE 40
*one-of-a-kind
Rifle in Africa
Randy Luth breaks new
ground. SEE PAGE 52
*Aimpoint’s new
Red dots
Optics company ups the
ante in red-dot technology.
SEE PAGE 58
*PUMA Ready
For a Comeback
The German knife company has doubled its business. SEE PAGE 62
DAY 2 , January 2 0, 2 010
HOT Show attendees will
have the privileged opportunity
of meeting Ed “Doc” Pepping,
a World War II medic and member
of Easy Company, one of the revered
Band of Brothers. “E” Company, the
506th PIR, 101st Airborne, was the
outcome of a two-year arduous training experiment by the U.S. Army to
create a highly skilled and cohesive
fighting force. In return, the Army
benefitted from a tenacious legion of
comrades who accomplished myriad
missions that commanders had previously thought impossible.
Made famous by the book Band
of Brothers, by Stephen E. Ambrose,
as well as the HBO miniseries,
Pepping was one of 146 men in Easy
Company who parachuted behind
enemy lines at Normandy and fought
their way through France and
Germany during the European
theater’s final year of the war.
The 84-year-old veteran from
Whittier, California, said that the
bonds formed through the brutal
training regimen with “E” Company
were actually an immeasurable gift.
“Of all of the officers, there was no
one tougher than Captain Sobel.
Although he may not have been a
great tactical commander, he made
Easy Company,” said Pepping.
Pepping remarked that a member
of Easy Company was once asked by
one of his grandsons, “Were you a
hero in the war?” The gentlemen
responded, “No, but I did serve in a
company of heroes.”
Pepping, who received the
Bronze Star for courage under fire,
NSSF Honors Clark
County Commission
A
t a reception Monday night hosted by the National
Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) in celebration of the
opening of the Clark County Shooting Park (CCSP),
members of the Clark County Commission were honored with a
handcrafted flintlock Pennsylvania rifle for their leadership in
developing the shooting park. Presenting the award to the commission was Robert Scott, chairman of the Board of Governors
of the NSSF, and Steve Sanetti, president of the NSSF.
“We are here to celebrate the
opening of the Clark County
Shooting Park and to express our
sincere appreciation to the Clark
County Commission for its leadership, vision and dedication to developing this world-class shooting facility, where sportsmen and women,
hunters, target shooters and firearms
enthusiasts can participate in the
shooting sports,” said Scott.
The NSSF also recognized the
important role Senator Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) and the rest of the state’s
congressional delegation played in
securing the federal assistance necessary to make the park a reality.
Clark County Commission members
receive a flintlock rifle as a token of
appreciation from the NSSF.
The CCSP, which opened last
month, includes a pistol and rifle
range, trap and skeet fields and a
4,400-square-foot education center.
Ed “Doc” Pepping,
a member of fabled
Easy Company,
is appearing at
SHOT Show.
will sign copies of Band of Brothers
and the recently released book of
profiles of the men in the company,
We Who Are Alive and Remain, from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Source One booth. Booth
#8203.—Peter B. Mathiesen
Smith &
Wesson’s
New Laser
Handguns
On Monday, Smith & Wesson
unveiled its new Bodyguard
handguns with integrated
Insight lasers. The line is the
first in the industry to have fully
integrated laser sights.
The Bodyguard 380 and
Bodyguard 38 tap into a consumer market, which has been
purchasing personal protection
guns in great numbers recently,
according to the company.
Both will be available in May.
In addition to the laser sight,
the Bodyguard 380 has a
stainless-steel barrel along
with a manual thumb safety.
The Bodyguard 38 revolver
has a stainless-steel cylinder
and a one-piece aluminumalloy upper frame.
day 2, January 20, 2010 ■ Shot Business Daily ■ 1
news
Field & Stream
Honors Industry’s
Best of the Best
Field & Stream presented its 12th annual Best of
the Best Awards yesterday at the SHOT Show.
“The F&S Best of the Best awards is one of the
most popular articles we publish all year,” said
Field & Stream editor Anthony Licata. “There are
so many terrific products out there, and readers
want to know about them. Every year, it seems,
true innovation in this industry reaches exciting
new heights.”
Companies interested in having their products
considered for 2010’s Best of the Best should log
on to fieldandstream.com/botbentry for details
and an entry form.
Taking honors this year were the following
products: Polaris Ranger HD 700 EFI;
Diamondblade P.D. 1 knife; E.R. Shaw Mark VII
rifle; Federal Vital-Shok Trophy Bonded Tip rifle
ammo; Federal 20-gauge Heavyweight shotgun
ammo; Benelli Vinci shotgun; CVA Apex muzzleloader; Summit Single Shot Magnum Ladder
Stand; Mathews Reezen; Mid-Atlantic Archery TriVan Arrow Rest; Wolverine Fortis ICS Hiker boots;
First Lite Llano Crewneck; Sitka Coldfront
Softshell Pants and Jacket; Dodge Ram Crew
Cab; Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires; Kowa
Genesis 33 binoculars; Leupold RX-1000 TBR
rangefinder; Weaver 40-44 Series 3–9x40MM
riflescope; and Springbar Traveler 5 tent.
“Polaris would like to thank Field & Stream
for naming the Ranger HD as the Best of the
Best,” said Jan Rintamaki, director of marketing
for Polaris Off-Road Vehicles. “It’s an honor to
have the world’s leading outdoor magazine recognize the Ranger HD as a premier product for
its readership.”
Donna Beadle, external relations specialist for
Polaris Off-Road Vehicles, at Field & Stream’s Best
of the Best Awards presentation.
SHOT Business
presented several
awards at the
Bonnier Outdoor
Group breakfast.
Plaques were
given for Retailer
of the Year,
Distributor of
the Year,
Manufacturer’s
Representative of
the Year, Range
of the Year,
Company of the
Year and Person
of the Year.
SHOT Business Honors
Industry Leaders
S
HOT Business magazine honored six industry leaders at the Bonnier
Outdoor Group breakfast yesterday morning. The honorees were Retailer
of the Year, Jeff Poet, Jay’s Sporting Goods; Distributor of the Year, Mike
Brown, Camfour; Manufacturer’s Representative of the Year, Mike Shovel, CorBon/Glaser; Range of the Year, Gunsite Academy; Company of the Year,
Brownell’s; and Person of the Year, John Frampton, director of the South
Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
“The SHOT Business Awards have always
acknowledged leadership both in the shootingsports industry and in the communities in
which our recipients reside,” said Slaton
White, editor of SHOT Business. White
noted that the winners are all staunch advocates for the shooting sports. “The winners are,
obviously, very good at what they do in their
respective fields. But more important, each
gives back to our industry and to their communities. They are also engaged politically, in one
way or another, in the all-important fight to
bequeath our shooting-sports heritage to
another generation of Americans.”
“I’m absolutely delighted to get this award
and want to thank the folks at SHOT Business
for working to recognize people and companies
in the industry. It is truly an honor to be chosen,” said Frank Brownell, CEO of Brownell’s.
Jeff Poet, owner of Jay’s Sporting Goods,
said, “I’m truly honored to receive the SHOT
Business Retailer of the Year Award, and I’d
like to accept it on behalf of my employees and
our loyal customers.”
Defender of Freedom Award
M
ark Keefe is the 2010
Taurus Defender of
Freedom Award recipient. Bob Morrison, president
and CEO of Taurus, said the
award is given to individuals
“who best demonstrate an
intense belief in our Second
Amendment freedoms
through actions and words.”
He added, “No one person
demonstrates this more than
Mark Keefe.”
4 ■ Shot Business Daily ■ day 2, January 20, 2010
Keefe, editor of American
Rifleman magazine and host of
American Rifleman Television, began
his career at the NRA as a volunteer
at the National Firearms Museum in
1988. He became the curatorial
assistant of the National Firearms
Museum in 1990. He went on
to work for American Rifleman,
becoming its assistant technical
editor in 1991, managing editor
in 1995, editor in 2000 and editorin-chief in 2003.
“Proving that the written word and
televised media are mightier than the
sword is a daily mantra for Keefe,
and we at Tauruas love and respect
him for his fearless stance,” said
Morrison during the presentation of
the award.
Past recipients of the Taurus
Defender of Freedom Award
include Dave Butz, Chris Cox,
Sandra Froman, Joe Graham,
Wayne LaPierre, Ted Nugent and
John Zent.
news
NSSF
Slaton L. White, Editor
Margaret M. Nussey, Managing Editor
David E. Petzal, Shooting Editor
John Burgman, Assistant Editor
Maribel Martin, Senior Administrative Assistant
James A. Walsh, Art Director
Shayna Marchese, Associate Art Director
Allan Castro, Assistant Art Director
Justin Appenzeller, Photo Editor
Paul L. Catalano, Production Manager
Contributing editors
Larry Ahlman, Michael Bane, Scott Bestul, Philip
Bourjaily, Chris Christian, Christopher Cogley, Jock
Elliott, William F. Kendy, Mark Kayser, Peter B.
Mathiesen, Brian McCombie, Tom Mohrhauser,
Robert Sadowski, Robert F. Staeger, Marilyn Stone
Eric Zinczenko, Group Publisher
ADVERTISING: 212-779-5316
John Graney, Associate Publisher
Gregory D. Gatto, National Endemic and Online
Director, National Sporting Goods Director/
Eastern Sales Manager
Paula Iwanski — Northeast
Brian Peterson — West
Stephen Mitchell — Southeast
Classified: (800-445-2714) Francis McCaffrey
Elizabeth A. Burnham,
Associate Publisher, Marketing & Online Services
Ingrid Reslmaier, Marketing Design Director
Business Operations
Tara Bisciello, Business Manager
CONSUMER MARKETING
Robert M. Cohn, Consumer Marketing Director
Richard Miller, Circulation Business Manager
Manufacturing
Stefanie LaBella, Associate Production Director
Laurel Kurnides, Group Production Director
Barbara Taffuri, Production Director
The Bonnier Corporation
Jonas Bonnier, Chairman
Terry Snow, Chief Executive Officer
Dan Altman, Chief Operating Officer
Randall Koubek, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Wildman, SVP, Consumer Marketing
Bruce Miller, Vice President, Consumer Marketing
Lisa Earlywine, Vice President, Production
Bill Allman, Vice President, E-Media
John Haskin, Vice President, Digital Sales &
Marketing
Shawn Larson, Vice President, Enterprise Systems
Cathy Hertz, Vice President, Human Resources
Dean Turcol, Vice President, Corporate
Communications
John Miller, Brand Director
Martin S. Walker, Publishing Consultant
Jeremy Thompson, Corporate Counsel
T H E
S O U R C E
F O R
H U N T I N G
A N D
F I S H I N G
A D V E N T U R E
SHOT Business (ISSN 1081-8618) is published January, February/March,
April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November and December
by Bonnier Corporation, 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5695, and is the
official publication of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Flintlock
Ridge Office Center, 11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470 (203-426-1320).
Volume 17, issue 6. Copyright © 2010 by the National Shooting Sports
Foundation. All rights reserved. Editorial, circulation, production and advertising offices are located at 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5695 (212-7795000). Free to qualified subscribers; available to non-qualified subscribers for
$25 per year. Single-copy issues are available for $5 each. Send check, payable
to NSSF, to: SHOT Business, c/o NSSF, 11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown, CT 064702359. SHOT Business accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and
photographs. All correspondence should be accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. Requests for media kits and advertising information
should be directed to McClain Robertson, Bonnier Corporation, 2 Park Avenue,
New York, NY 10016-5695. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY.
REPRINTS: Wrights Reprints, 877-652-5295. POSTMASTER: Please send
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Printed in the USA.
For editorial inquiries, visit Location tktktktk
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BN_014778_SHBD110.indd 1
12/17/09 12:22 PM
news
Swarovski Optik
North America
is introducing
the EL 42
Swarovision
binocular, an
upgrade to the
manufacturer’s
acclaimed EL.
The New EL 42
F
or big-game hunters, the choice of optics is, in many cases, more critical to
the success of the hunt than the rifle. That’s because you can’t hit what you
can’t see. And what works for hunters works for guides as well. Most biggame guides are poor as church mice, but look closely. Often enough, what hangs
from the strap around their neck costs them a small fortune. Why? Because a
guide knows that if he can’t spot game for his clients, his goose really is cooked.
Austrian optics manufacturer Swarovski has
long known the value of great glass to outdoorsmen. That’s why, in 1999, it introduced
the EL binocular.
“The EL really changed the face of binoculars at that time because it set new standards
for quality and precision,” says Dean Capuano,
communications manager for Swarovski Optik
North America. “It has won numerous industry-excellence awards and is considered by
many to be the best binocular in the industry.”
But Capuano doesn’t expect us to take his
word for it. He says, “Just listen to the voice of
the customer. We were back-ordered for the
first two years, and it has been our best-selling
binocular for the past ten years.”
For 2010, Swarovski intends to up the ante
with the all-new EL 42 Swarovision, which
makes its debut at the 2010 SHOT Show. The
new EL 42 binocular with Swarovision technology has been developed for greater viewing
comfort, especially for eyeglass wearers. Using
a field-flattener lens, which helps to create a
true image, it produces “diamond-bright image
resolution right up to the edge of the field of
view, ensuring the finest detail without any
edge distortion,” says Capuano.
Capuano also notes that HD lenses minimize
color fringing (chromatic aberration) and guar-
antee razor-sharp outlines. “The EL
Swarovision provides improved viewing comfort and enables users to enjoy the entire wideangle field of view and the new EL 42’s unique
edge sharpness. In addition, the sturdy, removable twist-in eyecups have been designed with
an intermediate stage that makes it easier to
adapt the individual distance between the ocular lens and eye.”
According to Capuano, the new EL makes
use of the line’s time-tested wraparound grip,
and its rubber-armor coating makes the binoculars easy to handle in even the coldest, wettest
weather. All EL 42s are supplied with a waterrepellent functional bag, an easily adjustablelift carrying strap and protective caps for eyepieces and objectives.
“The new binocular has created great
excitement for us here at Swarovski Optik,”
says Swarovski Optik North America CEO
Albert Wannenmacher. “We have seen over the
last ten years how our EL binocular has
changed the landscape of optics, and we are
very excited to bring this entirely new technology to our customers.”
But, as Capuano says, don’t take his word for
it. Go see for yourself. SRP: $2,598.89, 8.5x42;
$2,754, 10x42. Booth #12311. (800-426-3089;
Woolrich Doubles
Booth Size
No doubt about it—2009 was a tough year. And
though many manufacturers and retailers decided to batten down the hatches and put themselves in survival mode, the smart ones know a
down year is really the time to make a move on
your competition.
That line of thinking has led Woolrich Elite Series
Tactical to significantly increase its commitment
to SHOT Show and the tactical category as a
whole. “The SHOT Show presents our brand with
an excellent opportunity to raise awareness,” says
Jerry Rinder, vice president of sales and marketing.
“And since tactical is a strong category right now,
showing consistent momentum, attendance at
SHOT Show creates a tremendous growth opportunity for the brand.”
No kidding. The law enforcement and tactical
portion of the show is its fastest-growing segment.
According to Rinder, Woolrich Elite Series Tactical
intends to raise awareness (and sales) through a
multi-pronged SHOT Show effort. “No question,
SHOT Show is the place to be to connect with the
tactical community. Buyers, tactical experts and
media come to the show to see the latest trends
and developments. The show will also draw many
international experts, which is ideal for us because
we are expanding internationally.”
But Woolrich Elite Series Tactical intends to do
more than just have its personnel stand in a booth.
To create that all-important buzz, the manufacturer is hosting an increased range of booth activities,
including holding daily tactical training seminars,
giving away signed prints by famed artist Dick
Kramer and, on the first two days of the show, giving away knives from Benchmade and SOG.
But the most noticeable commitment to the
show and the industry was the decision to double
the size of its booth. That larger footprint represents a significant investment, but Rinder
believes it will pay off big time. “We’re doing this
to accommodate the growth of our line,” he says.
Booth #10560. (800-996-2229; woolrichelite
seriestactical.com) —Slaton L. White
swarovskioptik.com)
Team Safariland
member Rob
Leatham (right)
in the Safariland
booth with
fellow staffers.
Safariland Demos
T
eam Safariland competition shooters will be giving daily
SHOT Show demonstrations at the Safariland booth today
and tomorrow at 1 p.m. and Friday at 11 a.m. In addition
to shooting tips and new-product introductions, members will
be signing hats and posters and distributing them to those in the
audience. Team Safariland members—including Rob Leatham,
Michael Voigt, Doug Koenig and Scott Carnahan—will also be
participating in a competition for the quickest draw. Given that
speeds are routinely measured in fractions of a second, the competition should be fierce. Booth #12360.
news
Leatherman Finds the Sweet Spot
H
ow do you perfect the concept of the all-in-one tool?
Keep adding more “all” to the “one”? Keep changing the
design? It doesn’t take an MBA to figure out that these
tactics have gone stale on buyers and, more important, lost
relevance with consumers. Instead, to continue growing, multipurpose product companies must accurately identify the everchanging sweet spot in the market and design with the needs
of those people and the specific activities they pursue in mind.
In the case of Leatherman, this year’s SHOT Show will be
the launching pad for its newest tool, one that taps into a
30 million–plus sweet spot—users of AR-15/M16 guns.
After more than 18 months of
research and collaboration with competitive shooters and operational
snipers, Leatherman has completed
development of the MUT, an everyday-carry multi-tool with central features for AR-15/M16 maintenance.
According to Leatherman, the MUT
is the first tool to combine both
firearm-specific upkeep and general
utility tools in one platform, setting
it apart from all the maintenanceonly tools on the market.
“With so many ARs in civilian circulation, and a few of those in my
own gun safe, I’m really excited
about the MUT for both business
and personal reasons,” said vice president of sales Tommy Santrock. “And
the opportunity to support our
troops with a product designed specifically for their needs is definitely
an honor.”
Central to the MUT are a boltoverride tool to clear a jam without
disassembly, which also doubles as a
hammer; replaceable carbon scraper, to keep the firearm clean and
performing at its best; replaceable
firearms disassembly punch, the
threads of which accept cleaning
rods and brushes; replaceable ziptie cutters, for clothing, flex cuffs or
cord; and interchangeable screwdrivers in popular sizes for adjusting
sighting systems. Utility tools
include a knife, saw, pliers, wire
cutter, carabiner/bottle opener and
wrench/file accessory.
During the development process,
the hallmark of Leatherman construction—application-driven design
and material choice—was proven by
uniformed professionals deployed
around the world. Materials such as
non-scarring bronze for the carbon
scraper, 154CM premium steel for
wire cutters, one-hand-opening blade
and extra-long bits to reach into
tight places are all standard. In addition, quick-and-easy replacement
logic was built into the most commonly used parts.
The Leatherman MUT will begin
shipping in September and will be
available in a Utility and an EOD
Leatherman is using the 2010
SHOT Show as the launch pad for
its new MUT, a feature-laden
multi-tool specifically designed for
AR-15/M16 users.
version. The EOD model has a cap
crimper and C4 punch (instead of the
firearms disassembly punch),
designed for use by those in a
breacher capacity.
With the continued popularity of
the AR-15 platform among civilian
gun owners, and military/law
enforcement’s need for a true maintenance-based utility tool,
Leatherman seems to have found a
very sweet spot indeed. To check out
the new MUT and get a hands-on
demonstration, head over to Booth
#605. SRP: $180. (800-847-8665;
leatherman.com)
Weatherby’s “Head-Scratching” Pump
F
ounded in 1945 by a legendary wildcatter,
Weatherby built its reputation on rifles. But it also sells
shotguns—over/unders, semiautos and pumps. And the
pump it’s introducing in 2010
ought to be a “real headscratcher,” says Aaron Smith,
Weatherby’s marketing manager. As he says that, he’s holding
a black pistol-grip pump that
has home defense and law
enforcement written all over it.
Part of Weatherby’s new
Threat Response Line (which
also includes a pair of rifles),
the new 12-gauge PA-459 has
an ergonomic pistol grip–style
buttstock and short 13 ½-inch
length of pull to enhance its
effectiveness in close-range
threat response situations, such
as home defense.
“Our new pump shotgun is named
after Penal Code 459, which covers
‘burglary in progress,’” he said. “For
this reason, we’ve been careful to do
our homework in designing this firearm with features that deliver topflight performance in threat response
situations. For example, the PA-459’s
short length of pull and the comfortable, rubber-textured grip are a
direct result of our research with end
users in the home-defense market. In
addition, the PA-459 has gone
through our rigorous testing and
endurance trials to ensure its
dependability.”
Rigorous testing? You bet. Smith
says the PA-459 has cycled 6,000
consecutive rounds without a single
failure.
Other key features include a black,
lightweight injection-molded stock and
a matte black finish on all metalwork
to reduce glare. The rubber-textured
grip area and a low-density recoil pad
help minimize felt recoil. An extended
forend and slide release allows quick
and easy function of the action. The
forend has an integral Picatinny rail for
accessories such as lights.
Constructed of aircraft-grade
alloys to reduce overall weight with-
The PA-459 was designed with home
defense in mind, but with minor
alteration can be used effectively by
predator and turkey hunters.
out compromising strength, the
CNC-machined receiver is designed
to improve the balance of the shotgun for better handling. A mil-spec
Picatinny rail is installed on the
action for mounting sights and lights.
The rail has a rugged clamp-style
LPA ghost ring rear sight that is
adjustable for windage and elevation.
Magazine capacity is four 3-inch
rounds or five 2 ¾-inch rounds.
The shotgun’s 19-inch barrel is
chrome-lined to withstand years of
high-volume shooting. It is fitted
with an .810-inch 1mm extended
and ported cylinder choke tube for
application-specific patterning. The
barrel has a blade front sight with a
fiber-optic pin that allows for quick
target acquisition.
This is a shotgun that will also
appeal to turkey and predator hunters. In both cases, dealers should recommend removing the factory sights.
For turkey hunters, sell them a reddot sight, which can be easily
installed on the top Picatinny rail.
For predator hunters, sell them a
scope for the top rail and a light for
the bottom rail. Headscratcher?
Maybe. No-brainer? Absolutely. SRP:
$469. Booth #12927. (805-227-2600;
weatherby.com) —Slaton L. White
news
trip
advisor
top 20
1. Off the Strip—Just
Real Food
Cuisine: American
Price Range: $15–$20
10670 Southern Highlands Pky.
702-202-2448
2. Rosemary’s
Cuisine: Seafood, Steak,
Contemporary, Eclectic
Price Range: $80+
8125 W. Sahara Ave.
702-869-2251
rosemaryrestaurant.com
3. Casa di Amore
15. Le Cirque (Bellagio)
Restaurants
in Las Vegas
6. Mon Ami Gabi at Paris
Las Vegas
Cuisine: French, Steakhouse
3655 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
702-944-4224
7. Lindo Michoacan
Cuisine: Mexican, Spanish
Price Range: under $35
2655 E. Desert Inn Rd.
702-735-6828
lindomichoacan.com
8. Roy’s
Cuisine: Italian
2850 E. Tropicana Ave.
702-433-4967
Cuisine: Seafood
620 E. Flamingo Rd.
702-691-2053
4. Grand Lux Café
9. Tableau
Cuisine: American, Casual
#1580 (at the Palazzo)
702-733-7411
5. Del Frisco’s
Cuisine: American Steakhouse
3925 Paradise Rd.
702-796-0063
Cuisine: American, French
702-770-9966
wynnlasvegas.com
10. Jamm’s Restaurant
Cuisine: American, Coffee Shop,
Diner
1029 S. Rainbow Rd.
702-877-0768
jammsrestaurant.com
11. Vic & Anthony’s
Steakhouse
Cuisine: American, Seafood,
Steakhouse
129 E. Fremont St.
702-385-7111
12. Firefly Bistro
Cuisine: Spanish, Tapas
3900 Paradise Rd. Suite A
702-369-3971
fireflylv.com
13. Verandah
Cuisine: American, Italian, Eclectic
702-632-7777
14. Joe’s Seafood, Prime
Steak & Stone Crab
Cuisine: Seafood
702-792-9222
icon.com/joes/las_vegas_
home.html
Cuisine: Belgian, French
877-234-6358
16. Maggiano’s
Cuisine: Italian
702-732-2550
maggianos.com
17. Pasta Shop and
Ristorante
Cuisine: American, Italian, Pizza
2495 E. Tropicana Ave.
702-451-1893
pastashop.com
18. Eiffel Tower
Restaurant at Paris
Las Vegas
Cuisine: French
702-948-6937
eiffeltowerrestaurant.com
19. Panevino
Cuisine: Italian
246 Via Antonio
702-222-2400
20. Earl of Sandwich
Cuisine: Sandwiches
702-463-0259
earlofsandwichusa.com
news
shot
show
2010
Services
Facilities and services to help make
the most of SHOT Show
* Other Nssf
Locations
NSSF Seminars will be held in
Venetian, Level 4. Its Primary Office
is located in Room 305 of Sands,
Level 1, and its booth can be found
on Sands Level 2 (#L221)
* Coat Check
* Product Locators
Sands Level 1, inside taxi lane
Conveniently located at all 12
Command Post
Information Counters throughout
Sands Level 1, Room 301-302
* Exhibits
The Exhibits are located in the Sands
Expo on Levels 1 and 2, and in all
Ventian Ballrooms on Levels 1 and 2.
* New-Product
Center
Venetian Level 1, Lobby
* Overnight Storage
the Show
* Shot Show
University
Venetian Level 4 Lando
(January 18 only)
The Ship-A-Box program is once
again offering its services and
can be found at the SES Service
of 300 Aisle; Level 2 Hall A, end of
Desk Window.
Aisle, and Bassano 2801-2802
* First-Aid Station
Sands Level 1, near Room 401
* Sales Office
* Press Room
Venetian Level 2, Bassano 2701.
All members of the press must be
* Nssf Member
Business Office
Venetian Level 3, Murano Ballroom
* Nssf Program
Staff Meeting
* Shipping Services Room
Level 1 Sands, Rooms 301-302, end
10,000 Aisle, Hall D, front of 16,000
* Security
registered—registration takes place
outside the press room.
* Safety Advisors
Sands, Level 1, Room 404
* Show Office
Venetian Level 2, Bassano 2806
Sands, Level 1, Room 304
* Nssf Friends
* Shuttle Bus
Venetian Level 2, Bassano 2803
Level 1
Meeting Room
Pick-up and drop-off is at Venetian,
Venetian Level 1 Lobby (in the New-
* Show Hours
Product Center)
January 19–21, 8:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m.
January 22, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
products
Crimsom
Trace The
AR-15 Modular
Tactical Foregrip
Laser Sight MVF515 features a
grip that incorporates a white
light and green
laser in one unit.
Switches are
ambidextrous
and activate the
light or the laser
individually or
simultaneously.
using Weaver or Picatinny bases.
Additions to the SixX Series are a
2–12x40mm and the 2–12x50mm
(SRP: $800 to $900) with German
3P#4 Illuminated or Ballistic Plex
illuminated reticles. They feature
Fast Diopter Adjustment, which
focuses nearly five times faster than
earlier scopes. New to the Xtreme
Tactical line of scopes is a
4–16x50mm XTR riflescope (SRP:
$850 to $950) available with either a
Ballistic Mil-Dot or illuminated MilDot reticle. Windage and elevation
knobs offer ¼-MOA increments, and
the 30mm tube is 25 percent thicker
for more strength. Booth #12356.
(970-356-1670; burrisoptics.com)
C-More Systems
Focus on Clarity
The latest glass makes it crystal-clear that versatility,
precision, clarity and rugged durability are available
at all price levels By Robert Sadowski
T
he thing about optics is, you can’t see the quality until you see through it. Let your customers see the innovation, see why a design is classic, and see how some brands are redefining
the optics space. Seeing is believing, as the saying goes.
Alpen The affordable Apex riflescopes see a number of improvements for 2010, including a fast-focus
eyepiece, long eye relief, three
reticle choices, a black matte
finish and a spring saddle
erector tube.
Alpen
The affordable Apex riflescopes are improved with a
spring saddle erector-tube
design, fully multi-coated lenses,
a fast-focus eyepiece, long eye
relief, three reticle choices and a black
matte finish. Models include a 3–9x42 (SRP: $319), 3.5–
10x50 (SRP: $363), 4–16x44 (SRP: $385) and 6–24x50
(SRP: $418). To support the National Breast Cancer
Foundation, Alpen’s binoculars are going pink with the
Pink 8x25 263P (SRP: $80) compact and Pink 10x42
393P (SRP: $280) full-size binocular. (909-987-8370;
alpenoutdoor.com)
Burris
The 4–12x42mm Eliminator LaserScope (SRP: $280)
combines an 800-yard rangefinder with trajectory compensation in a variable-power riflescope. Push one button
and it estimates distance and holdover while the Duplex
reticle provides five ¹⁄³ MOA illuminated red aiming dots
for various distances. Shooters can choose from nearly
600 factory-loaded cartridges to custom tune the unit.
Battery life is up to 5,000 cycles, and the mounting system allows it to be mounted as low as possible to the rifle
Bushnell Outdoor Products
Michael Waddell’s Bone Collector series spawned
the Bone Collector muzzleloading scope (SRP:
$299.99) with a DOA 250 reticle that allows a
dead-on hold from 100 to 250 yards. The Elite
4200 line of scopes features two tactical models—a 6–24x50 (SRP: $999.99) and 3–12x44
(SRP: $849.99)—that offer multi-coated lenses,
a 30mm tube and a green illuminated Mil-Dot
reticle. The Trophy line of scopes (SRP: $139.99
to 199.99) has been upgraded with multi-coated
lenses that provide 91 percent light transmission
and come with Butler Creek flip-open caps. The
Zoom Dot (SRP: $299.99) electronic dot sight
comes with a picatinny mount and features an
adjustable dot from 1-10 MOA. The Digital Color
NightVision monocular (SRP: $299.99) features
3X magnification with a field of view of 700 feet
and a range of 300 feet. The Fusion 1600 ARC
10x42 (SRP: $799) rangefinding binoculars combine optics with a laser rangefinder. Booth
#10768. (913-752-3400; bushnell.com)
The STS (Small Tactic Sight) (SRP:
$349.99) features a HUD display
with a red 3.5 MOA or 7 MOA aiming point. Lenses are hard-coated for
scratch-resistance and the body is
finished in black matte or desert tan.
Booth #10574. (703-361-2663; cmore.
com)
Carson Optical
The 3D binoculars series are lightweight and feature ergonomic thumb
grooves. Models include an 8x32,
8x42, 10x42 and 10x50 (SRP: $200 to
$250). All come with a harness system.
A line of riflescopes will feature onepiece, 1-inch aluminum tube construction and ¼-MOA windage and elevation adjustments. Booth #1058. (800967-8427; carsonoptical.com)
Clearidge Optics
The Ultra XP5 riflescope line now
has a 2.5–12.5x42 (SRP: $589.99 to
$599.99, depending on reticle) and
4.5–22.5x50 (SRP: $649.99 to
$659.99, depending on reticle) that
feature 5X magnification, a 30mm
tube and push-pull windage and elevation dials. Both have a black matte
finish and either a Duplex, Mil-Dot,
or German #4 reticle. (231-389-2252;
clearidgeoptics.com)
Crimson Trace
The AR-15 Modular Tactical
Foregrip Laser Sight model MVF515 is going green with a green laser.
The grip incorporates a white light
and laser in one unit. Switches are
ambidextrous and activate the light
or the laser individually or both
simultaneously. Booth #12069. (800442-2406; crimsontrace.com)
EOTech
The XPS3 (SRP: $589) is EOTech’s
shortest holograph weapon sight
(HWS). It has a battery life of 500 to
600 hours and is night-vision-compatible with three reticle options. A nonnight-vision-compatible model, XPS2
(SRP: $509), is also available. The
products
Leupold The Mark 4 Extended Range/Tactical riflescopes
now include a 4.5–14x50mm M3 Front Focal model for longrange shooting. Features include a Tactical Milling Reticle in
the front focal plane so the reticle magnifies with the image,
as well as 1-MOA click elevation and
½-MOA click windage adjustments.
design in 8x30 (SRP: $86) and 10x30
(SRP: $94). Booth #3766. (888-5267779; krugeroptical.com)
Laser Genetics
Pair the ND3 Laser Designator
(SRP: $329.95) with a 40mm or larger objective lens scope and predator
hunters can illuminate targets up to
250 yards away with a green laser.
The mounting system works for
1-inch riflescope tubes, binoculars
and spotting scopes. Booth #11849.
(954-581-2144; lasergenetics.com)
Leatherwood /
Hi-Lux Optics
Carson The 3D binocular series is lightweight and features ergonomic thumb
grooves. Models include an 8x32, 8x42, 10x42 and 10x50. All come with a harness system. A line of riflescopes will feature one-piece, 1-inch aluminum tube
construction and ¼-inch MOA windage and elevation adjustments.
redesigned G23 (SRP: $559) 3X magnifier offers a flip-mounting platform
that quickly allows shooters to go
from close quarters to medium distance. The 512 (SRP: $469) sight is
now available in Mossy Oak Obsession
or Realtree APG HD. Booth #11456.
(734-741-8868; eotech-inc.com)
Kruger Optical
The U.S.-made Dual Tactical Sight
(SRP: $900 to $1,000) was created
for close combat and features a 60
MOA reflex sight with 1 MOA dot.
Flip a lever and it turns into a longrange 2–8x40 scope with Mil-Dot
reticle. The K-4 Riflescope series is
available in 2–8x32 (SRP: $113.90),
3–12x40 (SRP: $169.90), 3–12x50
(SRP: $179.90) and 4–16x40SF (SRP:
$199.90) and features varmint BDC
or Plex reticles. Caldera binoculars in
8x42 (SRP: $379.95) and 10x42
(SRP: $399.95) have a magnesium
body coated with rubber armor, a
one-hinge design and extra-wide
field of view. The affordable Kalahari
binoculars series offer
a compact Porro
The CMR scope in 1–4x30mm (SRP:
$299) is designed for close- to medium-range shooting with an illuminated dot reticle in both red and
green. It is suited for AR or dangerous-game rifle applications. The
LER 4X pistol scope (SRP: $179.95)
features long eye relief. Both the
CMR and LER come in a flat black
finish. Booth #1017. (888-445-8912;
leatherwoodoptics.com)
Leupold & Stevens
The Mark 4 Extended Range/Tactical
riflescopes now includes a 4.5–
14x50mm M3 Front Focal model for
long-range shooting. It features a
Tactical Milling Reticle in the front
focal plane so the reticle magnifies
with the image and 1-MOA click elevation and ½-MOA
click windage
adjustments.
The RX-600
and RX-750 TBR
digital laser
rangefinders are
enhanced with a faster
processing system for quicker ranging. The RX-600 is available in black
rubber armor and provides straightline ranging up to 600 yards. The
RX-750 TBR offers True Ballistic
Range (TBR) technology out to 750
yards. TBR calculates the shot angle
and provides the true ballistic range
rather than the straight-line
distance to the target. It
is available in Mossy
Oak Break-Up camouflage. Booth
#10964. (800-5387653; leupold.com)
Burris The SixX
Series sees a
new 2–12x40mm
and 2–12x50mm,
both featuring
fast diopter
adjustment,
which focuses
nearly five times
faster than previous models. The
new 4–16x50mm
XTR scope joins
the Xtreme
Tactical line.
Features include
a thicker 30mm
tube for
enhanced
strength.
products
Minox Crafted from aircraftgrade aluminum, the ZA3 and ZA5
(three versions) riflescopes feature
1-inch mono-tube construction.
Top-of-the-line ZA 5 (shown) also
features objective parallax sidefocus adjustment for accurate
long-range shooting, as well as 4
inches of eye relief and a rubbercushioned fast-focus eyepiece.
Minox
Minox enters the riflescope field for
the first time with four new models:
the ZA3 (3-9x40) and three versions
of the ZA5 (2–10x40, 3–15x42 and
4–20x50 SF). Crafted from lightweight but tough aircraft-grade anod-
ized aluminum and multi-coated lenses, these new scopes feature 1-inch
mono-tube construction for easy, lowprofile mounting. Windage and elevation knobs are finger-adjustable, with
precise reticle movements of ¼ MOA
(or ¹⁄8 MOA in Model ZA5 4–20x50
only) and are zero-resettable. This
Nikon
Features of EDG binoculars can be had in the 20–60x85mm (SRP:
$3,299.95) and 16–48x65mm (SRP: $2,699.95) EDG Fieldscope.
They offer extra-low dispersion multi-coated glass with either
angled or straight eyepieces. In partnership with SHE Safari, the
mid-size SHE Adventure 8x36 (SRP: $299.95) All Terrain
Binocular (ATB) in plum and SHE Safari 10x36 (SRP:
$319.95) ATB in chocolate offer women Nikon optics and
SHE styling. These roof prism binocs weigh 20 ounces
each and measure 5 inches in length. The SHE Adventure
comes with a shoulder bag in green with plum
accents; SHE Safari has a canvas shoulder bag in
khaki with brown leather accents. Both
have an embossed leather binocular
strap. Booth #12521. (800-2486846; nikonsportoptics.
com)
top-of-the-line scope also features
objective parallax side-focus adjustment for accurate long-range shooting. Other features include 4-plusinch eye relief, rubber-cushioned fastfocus eyepiece and smooth-operating
variable power ring enhanced with
Sure-Grip soft-touch rubber. Each
scope comes complete with a
Scopecoat protective field cover.
Minox will also provide total coverage
protection with every riflescope, covering repair or replacement with no
questions asked. SRP: $539 to $869.
The Comfort Bridge binoculars line now offers a BL 8x44
(SRP: $559) and BL10x44
(SRP: $599) that feature
an open bridge design and
a rubber-armored, lightweight polycarbonate body.
Booth #16138. (866-4693080; minox.com)
NcSTAR
The Mark III Tactical Series has a
3–9x42 (SRP: $164) and a fixed
power 4x32 (SRP: $131) scope with
a blue illuminated reticle adjustable
to five brightness settings. Like other
Mark III models, they include a red
laser for close-quarter aiming, rubber
armoring, built-in sunshade, ½- MOA
adjustments and three reticle options.
The APRLSRG Dual Green and Red
Laser (SRP: $91) projects a laser in
both green and red. The DLB140
Quick Release Red Dot Sight with
Integrated Laser (SRP: $65) features a
lever-locking quick-release Weaverstyle mount. The unit offers a 1x40, 3
MOA red dot sight combined with a
laser. Booth #231. (866-627-8278;
ncstar.com)
Redfield
The Rebel roof prism binoculars in
8x32 (SRP: $129.99) and 10x42 (SRP:
$149.99) feature armor-coated aluminum bodies, center-focus knob, BaK4
prisms and fully multi-coated lens.
Both come with a soft case, neoprene
strap and tripod-adaptable mount.
The affordable Renegade line has two
Porro prism models—a 7x50 (SRP:
$109.99) and 10x50 (SRP: $129.99).
The Rampage 20–60x60mm spotting
scope (SRP: $219.99) features a polycarbonate body for light weight and
comes with a compact tripod, soft
case and neoprene neck strap. The
Revolution line of rifle scopes, all in
the $130 price range, come in
2–7x33mm, 3–9x40mm, 3–9x50mm
and 4–12x40mm models, each with
1-inch tubes, a black matte finish, and
either a 4-Plex or Accu-Plex reticle.
Booth #12515. (800-538-7653;
redfield.com)
Simmons
The affordable LRF400 (SRP: $99)
laser rangefinder reads distances from
5 to 800 yards and is accurate to 1
yard. It features 4X magnification and
uses one 9-volt battery. Booth #13411.
(800-423-3537; simmonsoptics.com)
products
Sightmark
The 1.5–5x30 (SRP: $159.99) Tactical riflescope features multi-coated lenses, a 30mm tube, Mil-Dot reticle and oversize windage and
elevation knobs with audible clicks. The Ultra Shot (SRP: $119.99)
reflex sight has a built-in Weaver mount and four reticle patterns.
The AACT5R (SRP: $49.99) Red Laser Designator sight projects a
laser up to 20 yards in daylight
and 300 yards at night. The
AAT5G (SRP: $119.99)
Green Laser Designator
projects a green laser up
to 50 yards in daylight
and 2,640 yards at night.
The Triple Duty Universal
Laser Boresight (SRP:
$99.99) uses a retractable
arbor and magnetic base to
center and project a red laser dot
to sight in all types of firearms. Booth
#1549. (817-225-0310; sightmark.com)
Steiner
The Predator C5 roof prism binocular line now includes an 8x56
(SRP: $949) and 10x56 (SRP: $999)
that offer larger objective lenses.
The lens coating blocks the colors
of haze and foliage while enhancing
the visibility of browns, reds and
other wildlife colors. The polycarbonate body is rubberized. It comes
with a padded case and padded neck
strap. Booth #14863. (800-257-7742;
steiner-binoculars.com)
Swarovski
The EL 42 series of binoculars has
been enhanced with Swarovision technology, which incorporates a field-flattener lens that produces sharp image
resolution right up to the edge of the
field of view without any distortion.
Available in 8.4x42 (SRP: $2,443.33)
and 10x42 (SRP: $2,610.00) with a
green rubber-coat armoring, ergonomic thumb rests and redesigned
focusing wheel. Booth #12311. (800426-3089; swarovskioptik.com)
Swift
The Premier line of rifle scopes
offers a 4–12x40 (SRP: $350) featuring a Mil-Dot reticle in a 30mm
matte-finish tube. The model 7910
(SRP: $89) dot sight features four
HUD-style reticle options in either
red or green. The model 7912 (SRP:
$129) red dot features flip-up covers,
11 brightness settings and a 1.5X
magnification booster for longerrange targets. (877-697-9438;
swift-sportoptics.com)
Tasco
The 8x32 Off Trail (SRP: $49.99)
mid-size, open-bridge binoculars are
lightweight and affordable. Booth
#13411. (800-221-9035; tasco.com)
TruGlo
The TruBrite Xtreme 4X32 Tactical
Compact Rifle Scope (SRP: $79.99)
features a non-illuminated mil-dot
reticle, fully-coated lens, and 4-inch
eye relief. Mounting rings are included. Booth #1444. (972-774-0300;
truglo.com)
Vanguard
The inexpensive Signature Plus spotting scope series includes a 15–45x60
(SRP: $249.99) and a 20–60x80
(SRP: $299.99) in both straight and
angled eyepieces. The scopes are
constructed of a lightweight, magnesium alloy. The High Plains 500
Series spotting scopes are available in
15–45x60 (SRP: $129.99), 20–60x80
(SRP: $249.99) and 12–50x50 (SRP:
$129.99) with straight or angled eyepieces. They feature fully multi-coated lenses and BaK4 prisms and come
with a hard and soft case, cleaning kit
and tripod. The High Plains 400
Series is a compact version of the
500 Series and comes in 12–50x50
(SRP: $129.99) and 15–60x60 (SRP:
$99.99) with straight or angled eyepieces. Both come with a hard case
and tripod. Booth #3251. (800-8753322; vanguardusa.com)
Vixen
A recent entry into the U.S. riflescope market, Vixen’s scopes are rugged, waterproof and nitrogen purged.
Models include 1.5–4.5x24 (SRP:
$799), 1.5–6x42 (SRP: $799), 2–8x32
(SRP: $329), 2.5–10x56 (SRP: $899),
3–12x40 (SRP: $349), 4–16x44 (SRP:
$399) and 8x56 (SRP: $759). The
Alpina series of roof-prism binoculars
comes in 8x42 (SRP: $259) and 10x42
(SRP: $279). The binos feature fully
multi-coated optics and phase-coated
prisms to improve resolution. The
Geoma II ED Series spotting scopes
in 16–48x67mm (SRP: $899, straight;
Steiner The Predator C5 roof prism binocular line
now includes 8x56 (shown) and 10x56 versions. Each
boasts a polycarbonate, rubberized body. A padded
case and padded neck strap are also included.
products
Vortex The Razor HD 5–20x500mm has
been designed to meet the needs of longrange precision shooters. The scope features a
35mm one-piece tube, a 125 MOA adjustment
range for both windage and elevation, and a
rapid zero-return mechanism that stops the
elevation turret from dialing below sight-in.
$929, angled) and 21–63x82mm (SRP: $1,199,
straight; $1,259, angled) offer extra-low-dispersion
objective lens and come with a tripod adapter and
built-in aiming sight. Booth #4033. (949-429-6363;
vixensportsoptics.com)
Vortex
Designed to meet the needs of long-range precision shooters, the Razor HD 5–20x50mm (SRP:
$2,499) riflescope features a 35mm one-piece tube,
a 125 MOA adjustment range for both windage
and elevation and EBR-2 mrad reticle laser etched
on the glass. It also features a rapid zero return
mechanism that stops the elevation turret from
dialing below sight-in. Booth #4151. (800-4260048; vortexoptics.com)
Weaver
The 1X Red/Green Dot Sight was designed for
hunting and tactical shooters. It has five red or
green brightness settings, four different reticle
styles and comes with a removable sunshade and
integral Weaver mount. The 80th Anniversary Steel
Tube K4 (SRP: $486.49) riflescope returns with all
the styling of the original K-Series and all the benefits of modern technology. Featuring steel tube construction and ¼-MOA turrets, it comes in a collectable tin. The Super Slam 1–5x42mm Dangerous
Game Scope (SRP: $771.49) is designed for fast target acquisition and features a 30mm one-tube construction, three-point erector system with improved
spring design and glass-etched heavy Dual-X reticle. The Classic K-Series 8x56mm K8 (SRP:
Yukon Advanced Optics
The compact Firefall 20x50 (SRP: $59.99)
spotting scope features fully multi-coated
lenses, a durable body with rubber eyepiece and quick focus and zoom knobs. It
comes with a tripod and carrying case with
shoulder strap. The Frontier series of compact roof-prism binoculars in 8x42 (SRP:
$219.99) and 10x42 (SRP: $263.99) feature BaK-4 prisms and Yukon’s True Color
lens coatings. Both models have a lightweight, rubber-armored
body. Booth #1649.
(817-453-9966;
yukonopticsusa.
com)
$379.95) riflescope features a large objective for use
in low light. The affordable Classic series binoculars come in four models: 8x32 (SRP: $249.49),
8x36 (SRP: $261.95), 8x42 (SRP: $301.49) and
10x42 (SRP: $326.95). They feature a roof-prism
design. The Grand Slam binocular in 8–16x42
zooms from 8X to 16X. Booth #14038. (800-6357656; weaveroptics.com)
Zeiss
The Victory PhotoScope 85 T* FL (SRP:
$6,499.99) integrates a 7 megapixal digital camera
into a spotting scope. The 3X objective zoom and
the panoramic eyepiece provide a field of view up
to 40 percent wider than a conventional spotting
scope. The digital camera has a fold-out monitor
screen to view images and adjust menu settings.
Images can be saved as still images or video. For
observation at night, the
Victory NV 5.6x62 T*
Night Vision Scope
(SRP: $5,556) features
a second-generation
image amplifier tube
with 20,000X light
amplification, plus a
range-estimating reticle. Joining the Victory
line of laser rangefinder
binoculars are the
Victory 8x56 T* RF
(SRP: $3,667) and 10x56
T* RF (SRP: $3,778)
These binoculars bundle
optics with rangefinding
capability plus an integrated BIS (Ballistic
Information System) ballistic calculator that provides holdover information for up to six different calibers. Booth
#13704. (800-441-3005;
zeiss.com)
Zeiss The Victory
PhotoScope 85 T* FL
integrates a digital
camera into a spotting
scope. The 3X objective
zoom and the panoramic eyepiece provide a field of view
up to 40 percent
wider than that
achieved by a
conventional
spotting scope.
products
Barnes
Bullets
The lead-free
Multi-Purpose
Green uses a
powdered-metal
tin core encased
in a gilded jacket;
the result is
explosive fragmentation. The
100 percent copper, lead-free
Triple-Shock X
(TSX) line
expands to
include a
50-grain flatbase .224, a
285-grain
.338 boattail
and a 350-grain
.375 flat-base.
No Ammo? No More!
Unleashing a tidal wave of innovation, ammunition
manufacturers are poised to flood the market with
eagerly awaited new products By Chris Christian
M
any shooters will remember 2009 as the Year of No Ammo. That wasn’t by design.
Military requirements certainly ate up some production capacity, but most of the year-long ammo shortage was caused by what one might charitably call “panic buying,” as shooters stockpiled because of political
considerations. The situation seems to be easing a bit, and the hope is that things will return to a semblance of normalcy in 2010. If that’s truly the case, have your notebook ready. New loads have (no pun intended) exploded this
year. Whether it’s rifle, pistol, shotgun, rimfire, premium fodder, practice loads or just components to roll your own,
2010 could be a huge year for new products.
Barnes Bullets
This year, Barnes expands its component bullet line with new additions to
the Triple-Shock X (TSX), Tipped
TSX and the Multi-Purpose Green
(MPG) frangible lines. The 100 percent copper, lead-free TSX will now
be available in a 50-grain flat base
.224, 285-grain .338 boattail and a
350-grain .375 flat base. The Tipped
TSX adds a polymer nose for
increased long-range ballistics, and
will now be offered in 100-grain .264
boattail, 110-grain .284 flat base,
160-grain .323 boattail, 110-grain
flat base; in 200-grain boattail in
.308, 185-grain .338 boattail; and a
300-grain .458 boattail (designed for
the .458 SOCOM). Composed of a
powdered-metal tin core encased in a
gilding metal jacket, the MPG produces explosive fragmentation.
Designed for AR-type rifles, the bullets feature a crimping cannelure. An
85-grain 6.8 SPC version joins the
lineup for 2010. Booth #11760. (801756-4222; barnesbullets.com)
Federal Premium
The ammo engineers at Federal
have been busy, and that’s reflected
in the incredibly diverse array of new
loads offered this year. Whether you
shoot rifle, handgun, shotgun or
rimfire, there are some interesting
(and very useful) new loads being
unveiled in 2010.
In the popularly priced American
Eagle line, riflemen will see a new
185-grain softpoint in the .338
Federal with a velocity of 2,750 fps.
Handgunners will see a 115-grain .38
Super (1,130 fps), a .327 Federal
85-grain at 1,400 fps (which dupli-
CCI
cates the Federal Personal Defense
load for effective, lower-cost practice), a 9x21mm 124-grain softpoint
at 1,150 fps and a 225-grain .45
Long Colt JSP at 860 fps.
In the shotgun arena, there are a
wealth of new loads, and the Prairie
Storm heads the list. Specifically
designed for open-prairie pheasant
hunters, the Prairie Storm combines
the FliteControl wad system with
70 percent copper-plated lead shot,
and 30 percent nickel-plated
FliteStopper lead shot to produce
dense, hard-hitting patterns for long
upland shots on tough pheasants.
The new load will be available in
12-gauge 2 ¾-inch, 1 ¼-ounce (in No.
4, 5 and 6 shot sizes at 1,500 fps),
12-gauge 3-inch magnum, 1 5⁄8-ounce
(No. 4, 5 and 6 shot sizes at 1,350
fps) and in a 3-inch 20-gauge load
with 1 ¼ ounces of shot in the same
The non-lead CCI TNT Green bullet has proved popular among varmint hunters, and this year CCI adds a .17
HMR to the line. The .17 HMR TNT Green features a 16-grain hollowpoint at 2,500 fps.
Those who have to deal with pesky varmints in a more short-range setting will want to look at the new
.22LR Short Range Green load. This is specifically loaded for use in those areas where bullet travel/ricochet is
a significant concern when dealing with varmints at ranges under 50 yards. The 21-grain .22LR load features a
bullet constructed of a copper particle/polymer mix that reduces ricochet hazards while providing good accuracy to 50 yards. Booth #11168. (800-256-8685; cci-ammunition.com)
three sizes at 1,300 fps.
The copper-plated TruBall Deep
Penetrator Slug gets an upgrade this
year with a harder lead body (more
antimony), a sharper shoulder and a
larger hollowpoint cavity. It will be
available in a 12-gauge, 23⁄4-inch,
1-ounce load at 1,600 fps. Like the
previous TruBall loads, it uses a plastic ball between the powder wad and
slug to increase the accuracy from
smoothbore barrels.
In the Personal Defense Shotgun
line, Federal has added three loads.
They consist of a 12-gauge 2 3⁄4-inch
nine-pellet 00 buckshot load with the
FliteControl wad at 1,145 fps, a standard-wad 2 3⁄4-inch 12-gauge carrying
34 No. 4 buckshot pellets at 1,150
fps and a 2 3⁄4-inch 20-gauge load
with 24 No. 4 buckshot pellets at
1,100 fps.
A new 3-inch .410 Personal
Defense Handgun load (designed for
the popular Taurus Judge, but equally effective from a compact .410
shotgun) will be available with either
a five-pellet 000 payload at 960 fps
(from the Judge) or a nine-pellet No.
4 buck payload at 1,100 fps.
Federal’s Power-Shok slug line
incorporates a plastic sabot-encased
slug to provide increased accuracy
and decreased leading in rifled slug
barrels (also appropriate for smoothbore shooters who use an interchangeable rifled choke tube). Two
new loads will enter that line this
year: a 12-gauge 2 ¾-inch, 1-ounce
lead sabot slug at 1,500 fops and a
20-gauge 2 ¾-inch 7⁄8-ounce lead
sabot slug at 1,450 fps.
The affordable Field and Range
steel shot line is designed for clays or
upland birds in areas where non-toxic shot is required. For 2010, Federal
products
expands that line with four sub-gauge
loads. It will now be available in .410
(3-inch,3⁄8-ounce, No. 6 or 7 shot, at
1,400 fps) and 28-gauge (2 ¾-inch,
5
⁄8-ounce, No. 6 or 7 shot, at 1,300
fps).
Federal’s Black Cloud FS Steel line
has proven highly popular among
waterfowlers, and 2010 sees a load
specifically designed for the demanding task of long-range snow-goose
hunting—the aptly named Black
Cloud Snow Goose load. It is available in BB or No. 2 shot and combines the FliteControl wad system
with FliteStopper steel pellets at a
velocity of 1,635 fps. Both loads are
12-gauge, 3-inch Magnum, tossing 1
1
⁄8-ounce of shot.
Fans of the various 7mm calibers
will want to look at Federal’s new
Vital-Shok Trophy Bonded Tip offerings. Featuring a bonded core, and
based upon the Trophy Bonded Bear
Claw platform, the bullet features a
boat-tail design, skived jacket and
polymer tip, and the bullet and cartridge case is nickel-plated. This year
will see it available in 7mm Rem.
Mag. (140-grain, 3,150 fps), 7mm
WSM (140-grain, 3,150 fps) and
7mm STW (160-grain, 3,100 fps).
The lead-free, all-copper, Delrintipped, Vital-Shok Barnes TripleShock X-Bullet will now be available
in a .22-50 Rem., with a 50-grain
bullet at 3,750 fps.
In the Hyper-Velocity line, the
Triple-Shock bullet will become available in a 110-grain .30/06 Springfield
(at a blistering velocity of 3,400 fps)
that should appeal to plains-game
hunters who need a light load.
The V-Shok TNT Green product
line features a compressed, non-lead
metal core bullet that delivers explo-
Fusion
The popularly priced Fusion line is based upon projectiles that feature a copper jacket electro-chemically applied to the lead core to
provide consistent expansion and maximum weight retention. For
2010, new loads enter the line in shotgun, slug, rifle and handgun
versions. Fusion will also offer rifle and handgun bullets as component products.
The new Fusion Shotgun Slugs feature a 7⁄8-ounce slug in a plastic
sabot and are designed for rifled slug barrels. They will be available
in 12-gauge (3-inch/1700 fps and 2 ¾-inch/1650 fps) and 20-gauge
(2 ¾-inch at 1,450 fps and 3-inch at 1,500 fps).
The Fusion centerfire rifle line expands with the addition of .22250 Rem. (55-grain SP at 3,650 fps), 7mm-08 Rem (120-grain SP at
3,000 fps), 7.62x39mm (123-grain SP at 2,350 fps) and the .35
Whelen with a 180-grain SP at 2,700 fps. Handgunners will find a
new S&W .500 Magnum load with a 325-grain bullet at 1,450 fps.
In the component bullet line, rifle calibers will be offered as softpoint designs in .243/95-grain; .257/125-grain; .277 in 120, 130, 145
and 150 grains; .284 in 140, 150, 160 and 175 grains; .308 in 150, 170,
165, 170 and 180 grains; and .338 in 225 grain. The handgun component line will also feature softpoint bullets in .357/158-grain,
.410/210-grain, .429/240-grain, .452/260-grain and .500/325-grain.
Booth #14038. (800-322-2342; fusionammo.com)
sive expansion on varmint-size critters. For 2010, that line expands with
the introduction of a .204 Ruger (32grain slug at 4,030 fps) and a .22
Hornet 30-grain load at 3,150 fps.
The premium components and
Sierra Match King bullets have made
the Gold Medal target line a favorite
of serious high-power rifle competitors. Three new loads enter that line
this year: 6.5x55mm 123-grain
Match King at 2,750 fps, 6.5x55mm
93-grain Match King at 2,652 fps
and a 250-grain Match King for the
.338 Lapua at 2,950 fps.
In mid-2009, Federal expanded its
Cape-Shok line with the new
Premium Safari package and
improved Trophy Bonded Bear Claw
bullet. This year, Federal expands
that line with the additions of the
Barnes Triple-Shock (TSX) and
Barnes Banded Solid, both of which
feature a new package designed to
improve transport safety in checked
airline luggage. The new additions
consist of 9.3x74mm with 286-grain
Barnes TSX and 286-grain Barnes
Banded Solid at 2,360 fps, 9.3x62mm
with 286-grain TSX and Barnes
Banded Solid at 2,360 fps, .375
H&H Magnum with 300-grain
Barnes Banded Solid at 2,500 fps,
.416 Rem. Mag. and .416 Rigby
(both with a 400-grain Barnes
Banded Solid at 2,400 fps), .458 Win.
Mag. with 500-grain Barnes Solid at
2,050 fps, .458 Lott with 500-grain
Barnes Solid at 2,300 fps, .470 Nitro
Express with both the TSX and
Barnes Banded Solid in 500-grain at
2,150 fps and the .500 Nitro Express
with 570-grain TSX and Barnes
Banded Solid at 2,100 fps.
The Cape-Shok Safari line expands
further with the addition of the Swift
A-Frame bullet, in the same transportable packaging. These new loads
consist of: .370 Sako 286-grain
A-Frame at 2,550 fps, 9.3x74mm and
9.3x62mm 286-grain at 2,360 fps,
.375 H&H Magnum 300-grain at
2,450 fps, .416 Rem. Mag. 400-grain
at 2,400 fps, .416 Rigby 400-grain at
2,350 fps, .458 Win. Mag. 500-grain
at 2,090 fps, .470 Nitro Express 500grain at 2,150 fps and .500 Nitro
Express 570-grain at 2,100 fps.
The Swift A-Frame also comes to
handgun hunters this year in the
Vital-Shok Swift A-Frame line,
which brings this proven bullet to
revolver shooters with .357 Magnum
180-grain at 1,130 fps, .41 Rem.
Mag. 210-grain at 1,270 fps, .44
Rem. Mag. 280-grain at 1,170 fps,
.454 Casull 300-grain at 1,520 fps,
.460 S&W Mag. 300-grain at 1,750
fps and the .500 S&W Mag with a
325-grain A-Frame at 1,800 fps.
Although factory-loaded ammo
grabs the lion’s share of news, handloaders remain an important part of
the market. Most endured a serious
shortage of reloading components
last year, an issue Federal will address
in 2010 by adding both bullets and
unprimed brass to its product line. In
the rifle bullet arena, Federal will
distribute the Trophy Bonded line of
bullets, which includes the same Bear
Claw, Trophy Bonded Tip and
Sledgehammer Solid that it loads
into its own ammo. These bullets
will be available in popular calibers,
from .277 to .474. Bullet type will
depend upon caliber.
As for brass, Federal will now provide first-run, virgin, unprimed brass
in the following handgun calibers:
.327 Federal, 9mm, .40 S&W and
.45 ACP. In rifle calibers, this brass
will be available in .243 Win., .270
Win., 7mm Rem. Mag., .30-30, .308
Win., .30/06 Springfield, .300 WSM,
.270 WSM, .300 Win. Mag., .338
Federal and .300 RUM. Booth
#14038. (800-322-2342; federal
premium.com)
Hornady
Few ammo makers, in recent years,
have been as active in producing new
Fusion New Fusion slugs, which have been
designed for rifled slug barrels, will be available in
12-gauge and 20-gauge versions, in both 2 ¾- and
3-inch configurations.
products
Federal Premium The Cape-Shok Safari line expands further with the addition of the Swift
A-Frame bullet, in the same transportable packaging. Federal will address the shortage of reloading
components by adding both bullets and unprimed brass to its product line. Vital-Shok Trophy Bonded
Tip line will now come in a new 7mm series.
loads as has Hornady. Whether it’s
working with firearms manufacturers
to produce proprietary loads or
introducing its own new lines, the
Hornady engineers have been busy.
This year is no exception as they
introduce an entirely new line of rifle
loads while adding new loads to
existing product lines.
The new Performance
Ammunition line is based on a powder technology that is a further evolution of the RCM and
LEVERevolution powder technology. The new propellants are very
progressive, and extremely efficient
and offer stable performance from
minus 15 to 140 degrees F. The
resulting velocities, which feature
Hornady’s proven bullet lineup,
exceed SAAMI specifications by
100 to 200 fps while producing
recoil levels on par with conventional
loadings.
For 2010, the Performance
Ammunition line will consist of the
following calibers and bullet types:
.243 Win. (80-grain GMX and
95-grain SST), .257 Roberts +P (117/
SST), .25/06 Rem. (100/GMX and
117/SST), .270 Win. (130/SST, 130/
GMX, 140/SST), 7x57 (139/SST and
GMX), 7mm-08 Rem. (139/SST and
GMX), .280 Rem. (139/SST and
GMX) 7mm Rem. Mag. (139/SST
and GMX, 154/SST, 162/SST), .308
Win. (150/SST and GMX, 165/SST
and GMX), .30/06 (150/SST and
GMX, 165/SST and GMX, 180/
SST), .300 RCM (150/SST and
GMX, 165/SST and GMX, 180/
SST), .300 Win. Mag. (150/GMX,
165/IB and GMX, 180/SST),
.338 RCM (185/GMX, 200/SST,
225/SST), .338 Win. Mag. (185/
GMX, 200/GMX and SST, 225/
SST), .35 Whelen (200/SP and FTX,
250/SP and RP), .375 H&H Mag.
(270/SP and RP. 300/DGS and
DGX) and .458 Win. Mag. (500/
DGS and DGX).
The 6.5mm Creedmoor will also
be available as a new Hornady load
in the Performance Line, with either
a 120-grain GMX or a 129-grain
SST, offering shooters a new source
for this high-performance cartridge.
The standard rifle line will see the
addition of the 6.5 Grendel with a
120-grain A-Max bullet, and the
Dangerous Game series will expand
with the addition of the 9.3x62mm
featuring a 286-grain SP-RP bullet.
The Varmint Express line will now
include the .17 HMR with a 15.5grain NTX slug, a .204 Ruger with a
30-grain NTX and a .223 Rem. with
a 45-grain NTX.
Those who favor a smoothbore for
predator hunting will want to check
out the new 12-gauge Varmint
Express No. 4 buckshot load. The
2 ¾-inch shell features a 24-pellet
load of No. 4 buck weighing 1 ¼
ounces, with a muzzle velocity of
1,350 fps. Using the same wad technology as the Law Enforcement TAP
buckshot loads, patterns are tight
from even an open-choked gun.
While rifle loads are the big news
this year, Hornady also is making
additions to its Critical Defense
handgun ammunition line.
Introduced in 2009, and designed for
compact concealedcarry handguns, the
Critical Defense
line utilizes FTX
tip technology to
protect the hollowpoint cavity from
plugging up when
fired through intervening objects to
assure both penetration and expansion. Three new loads will be added
this year: a 125-grain .357 Magnum
(1,220 fps from a 2-inch barrel), a
165-grain .40 S&W (1,065 fps from
a 3-inch barrel) and a 185-grain .45
ACP (900 fps from a 3-inch barrel).
Reloaders weren’t ignored this year
as Hornady also expands its component product lines. The GMX bullet
in 80-grain 6mm, 110-grain in .25
caliber, 120-grain in 6.5mm and 185grain in .338 will now be available. In
the non-toxic NTX line, look for a
30-grain .204 caliber, a 45-grain
.224-caliber and a new .243 caliber
bullet, the weight of which is yet to
be determined.
Those favoring the FTX bullet will
now be able to order a 160-grain
.308 Marlin, 200-grain .338 Marlin
Express, 140-grain .357, 225-grain
.44 and a 225-grain .45 Colt. Lastly,
Hornady will now make available
component cartridge cases for the
6.5 Grendel, 9.3x62mm and the .338
Marlin Express. Booth #12332. (308382-1390; hornady.com)
Remington Arms
New loads in handguns and centerfire hunting rifles, as well as a high-
speed steel waterfowl load, highlight
Remington’s new ammunition products this year. The new HD Ultimate
Home Defense line of pistol and
revolver ammunition uses the
unbonded version of the proven
Golden Saber bullet in a nickel-plated case. Packaged 25 rounds per box,
it will be available in .380 ACP (102grain at 940 fps), 9mm (124-grain at
1,125 fps), .38 Special (125-grain at
975 fps), .40 S&W (165-grain at
1,015 fps) and .45 ACP with a 230grain Golden Saber at 875 fps.
Designed for indoor ranges and
training, the new Disintegrator CTF
handgun line features a non-toxic
primer, with a jacketless, lead-free
bullet composed of sintered copper
and tin. Instantaneous break-up with
no jacket fragments to ricochet make
it ideal for many training, and some
competition, applications. Packaged
50 rounds per box, it will be available
in 9mm, .38 Special, .40 S&W and
.45 ACP. Each load is optimized to
produce the same accuracy, recoil
levels and point of impact as similar
standard ammunition.
In the rifle line, Remington’s
Premier Copper Solid hunting load
features a lead-free, solid copper projectile incorporating a polymer tip
products
Speer
riding atop an inner expansion cavity.
Annular grooves on the bullet shank
reduce pressures and copper fouling,
while the streamlined shape provides
a high ballistic-coefficient for
improved downrange performance.
Well-suited for those zones that
require lead-free hunting ammunition, it will be introduced in four
new loads this year: .30-30 Win.
(150-grain), .30-06 Sprg. (165-grain),
.300 Win. Mag. (165-grain) and the
.300 Rem. Ultra Mag. with a 165grain projectile.
Introduced in 2009 with three different 125-grain bullet offerings, the
30 Remington AR was a significant
enough ballistic achievement that the
editors at Outdoor Life magazine
voted it “Cartridge of the Year.”
For 2010, Remington expands the
load selection with a 150-grain
Core-Lokt PSP projectile at a velocity of 2,575 fps.
Additional new loads in the centerfire rifle line include a 260-grain
Premier AccuTip load for the .450
Bushmaster featuring bonded construction with a cartridge brass jacket
and a 250-grain softpoint load for
the .338 Marlin Express.
For waterfowlers who favor steel
shot, the new Remington
HyperSonic steel shot line is worth a
look. Steel shot is 30 percent lighter
than lead, and the only way to
increase its performance on game is
to drive it faster. SAAMI pressure
limits play a major role in how much
velocity can be achieved with conventional shotshell systems. The new
HyperSonic Steel loads use a new
wad system that allows higher velocities within established pressure limits; Remington claims 1,700 fps for
each load in the new HyperSonic
Steel line. The loads will be available
in 12-gauge 3-inch 1⁄8-ounce (BB, 2
and 4 shot sizes), 12-gauge 3-inch
1 ¼-ounce loads (BB, 1, 2 and 4 shot)
and in 3.5-inch 12-gauge 1 3⁄8-ounce
loads in BB, 2 and 4 shot.
Self-defense shotgun loads have
generated a lot of interest in recent
years, and Remington joins that mar-
The bonded-core
Gold Dot will
feature two new
loads in the
Personal
Protection line.
Deep Curl technology delivers
chemically bonded softpoints
with excellent
penetration and
weight reduction.
New handgun
hunting loads in
.357 offer a 140grain hollowpoint
and a 158-grain
softpoint.
ket with two new products in its HD
Ultimate Home Defense line. A 2 3⁄4inch 12-gauge load will be available
in either BB or a duplex load (No. 2
and 4 shot), and a .410 bore 2.5-inch
load with four 00s has been developed with the popular Taurus Judge
in mind.
Clay target shooters faced with
tough long-range shots will welcome
Remington’s new Premier Nitro
Sporting Clays load. Using the highly reloadable STS hull, the new
12-gauge 2 3⁄4-inch shells launch
1 ounce of hard shot at 1,350 fps,
and will be available in sizes 7 ½ and
8. Booth #13827. (800-243-9700;
remington.com)
Speer
The bonded-core Speer Gold Dot
bullet is in use (and has earned an
excellent reputation) with numerous
law enforcement agencies across the
country. This year Speer brings out
two new loads in the Gold Dot
Personal Protection line. For the
recently introduced Federal .327
Magnum, a 100-grain Gold Dot JHP
will be offered. For fans of the M-1
.30-caliber carbine (a popular home
defense arm), Speer will introduce a
110-grain Gold Dot softpoint load.
In the component lines, Speer will
offer the lead-free TNT Green bullet in a 32-grain version for the .204
Ruger as well as a 39-grain option
for the same Ruger .204 in the lead/
jacketed TNT line. Those who prefer to load their own self-defense
handgun ammo will now find a 100grain .312-caliber bullet (.32 H&R
and .327 Federal) and a 90-grain
.355 Short Barrel version intended
for the .380 ACP.
Handgun hunters will want to look
at the new DeepCurl component line
of handgun bullets. Replacing the
Gold Dot handgun hunting component line, the newly designed
DeepCurl features the same bonded
jacket/lead core, but adds preformed
petal expansion and a dimpled base
for a uniform bullet heel. These con-
trolled expansion bullets offer more
than 90 percent weight retention and
will be available in .357 caliber in a
140-grain hollowpoint and a 158grain softpoint.
High-volume handgun target
shooters and plinkers will find a new,
popularly priced line of jacketed
handgun bullets in the new Speer
Plinker Handgun line. New offerings
this year consist of a .312 (.32-caliber) 100-grain JHP, .410 (.41 Mag.)
210-grain JHP, .429 slugs (.44 Mag.)
in a 200-grain JHP and 240-grain
JHP and JSP and a .451 (.45 ACP) in
a 225-grain JHP.
DeepCurl technology also comes
to a line of component rifle bullets.
The chemically bonded softpoint
slugs feature a flat base and excellent
weight retention with assured penetration and expansion. They will be
available to reloaders in .243 (80grain and 90-grain), .257 (120-grain),
.264 (140-grain), .277 (150-grain),
.284 (160- and 175-grain), .308 (110,
150, 170 and 180 grains), and the
.338 (225-grain).
An inexpensive Plinker line of jacketed bullets in a Total Metal Jacket
(TMJ) format will be available in
.224 (55- and 62-grain), .243 (80grain), .277 (130-grain;), .284 (145grain) and .308 (150-grain). Booth
#14038. (800-256-8685; speerbullets.com)
Weatherby
The recent sharp increases in metals
prices have resulted in equally sharp
spikes in ammunition prices.
Weatherby’s response was to rethink
the manufacturing process to introduce two popular Weatherby rifle
loads at a price that hasn’t been seen
since 1982.
The brass, primers, powder and
spitzer bullets are all made by
Norma of Sweden. The Norma
Precision brass features CNCmachined primer pockets made to
match specifications, for specially
designed primers, matched to the
large charges of Norma HighGrade powder. The cases feature a
double-radius Venturi shoulder
design that increases powder gas
velocity without increasing internal
cartridge pressure.
For 2010, the new Premium
rounds will be available in the
.257 Weatherby Magnum with a
100-grain spitzer bullet and the
.300 Weatherby Magnum with a
180-grain spitzer. The new bullet
designs feature controlled expansion
with a 60 percent weight retention,
making them suitable for a wide
range of hunting applications.
SRP: $39 per box of 20. Booth
#12927. (805-227-2600; weatherby
.com)
products
Winchester
For 2010, Winchester expands its personal
defense ammo line, while not ignoring hunters and plinkers. Introduced in 2009, the
company’s Supreme Elite PDX1 handgun line
provided a quality bonded core bullet, combined with controllable recoil, designed for
civilian self defense use. This year, the company is adding a 95-grain loading in the popular .380 ACP and a 225-grain load for the
venerable .45 Colt (which, Winchester notes,
is eminently suitable for use in the popular
Taurus Judge .45/.410).
The popularity of the Judge (as well as a
number of compact .410 shotguns designed
for home defense) has prompted a number of
ammo makers to design .410-specific homedefense loads. Winchester’s answer is the
Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 410. The 2.5-inch
shell combines three Defense Discs with 12
BB-size shot pellets in a low-recoil package.
The new Supreme Elite Bonded 12 ups the
power ante. This 2.75-inch 12-gauge load combines a 1-ounce rifled slug with three 000
buckshot pellets (in a buffered load) to provide penetration at both short and longer
ranges, with the added hit factor of the .36inch 000 pellets.
The recently introduced Power Max Bonded
bullet proved popular with many hunters, and
this year Winchester expands the Power Max
Bonded line to include .243 Win. (100-grain
bullet), .30/06 Sprg., .300 Win. Mag., .300
WSM (180-grain) and the 7mm Rem Mag and
7mm WSM with a 150-grain bullet. Big-game
hunters in those states that require lead-free
ammunition will now find the .338 Win. Mag.
loaded with a 200-grain lead-free E-Tip bullet.
Winchester’s Supreme Elite Dual Bond bullet features a 12-segment design that allows it
to penetrate heavy tissue and bone while producing consistent expansion, with a bonded
inner jacketed/core that maintains high weight
retention. This year Winchester adds a 240grain .44 Magnum and a 405-grain .45-70
Gov’t. load to the line.
Lead-free is becoming a strong force in varmint rounds. Here, Winchester adds a 35-grain
.223 Rem. and .25-250 Rem. to its Ballistic
Silvertip Lead Free product line.
Fans of the .45-70 Gov’t. get an upgrade in
performance with the introduction of a 300grain Ballistic Silvertip. The bullet incorporates
a plastic tip to improve downrange performance and a black oxide bullet coating to
reduce barrel fouling.
Rimfire shooters will want to take note of
the new Hyper Speed .22LR. Featuring a
40-grain plated hollowpoint bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,435 fps, it will be packaged in
100-round boxes. In addition, Winchester is
now offering a 36-grain copper-plated hollowpoint at a velocity of 1,280 fps (for
improved cycling in semi-autos) in a 555round bulk box.
Lastly, to pay tribute to the 200th birthday
of Oliver Winchester, a commemorative line
will be offered in .45 Colt (250-grain lead
round nose, 50 rounds per box) and .30-30
Win. (150-grain Power Point, 20 rounds per
box). Booth #11627. (618-258-2000; winchester.
com)
Winchester Developed for the Taurus Judge, the
PDX1 (top left) combines three Defense Discs with 12
BB-size shot pellets. Big-game hunters who need leadfree bullets will now find the .338 Win. Mag. loaded
with a 200-grain lead-free E-Tip bullet (above). The
Bonded PDX (below) adds a 225-grain load for .45
ACP. Power Max Bonded (left) adds six new offerings.
products
Atsko At first glance, the blazeorange vest appears to be a solid
pattern. It isn’t. It actually has a
slight shading that helps break up a
hunter’s form.
uses Velcro fasteners to adjust to a
“one size fits all.” The vest is
machine-washable and is constructed
with no U-V brighteners. SRP:
$29.95. Booth #10857. (800-8452728; atsko.com)
Blackhawk
Designed for comfort, mobility and
performance in cool weather, the
Thermo-Fur Jacket is a versatile
piece of outerwear for law enforcement, military personnel and hunters. Made with high-loft fleece insulation, this full-zip jacket uses a
breathable outer layer to provide an
efficient warmth-to-weight ratio.
Sewn using flat-seam construction
for a smooth fit, the Thermo-Fur has
raglan sleeves and gusseted underarms to facilitate a full range of
movement.
The high-quality YKK zippers are
weather-tough, and the hand and
chest pockets are cut full to allow
for storage of personal items.
Available in black or Coyote Brown
in men’s sizes S to 3X. SRP: $84.99.
Booth #13769. (800-694-5263;
blackhawk.com)
Browning
The Clothing Curve
Performance goes up; prices
come down By Peter B. Mathiesen
A
s the 2010 season moves forward, reduced fall inventories at the retail level are creating
better than expected sell-through numbers, which clears space for new inventory. Above all,
price-point high-tech fabrics should lead the charge this year. On the licensing front, expect
to see fewer licensing agreements as manufacturers look to their Asian-rim factories to supply inhouse specialty performance materials. In design, you’ll see continued product migration from the
ski segment to the hunting arena because hunters are now demanding lighter waterproof clothing
that more effectively handles moisture management. Finally, tactical clothing manufacturers
should experience the most significant market growth, though the hunting-clothing companies
should hold their own. Here’s a short list of what’s new in outerwear for 2010.
Atsko
The blaze-orange fabric of the U-VKiller Camo vest looks unbroken to
the human eye, yet it is effective
camouflage to a whitetail. Under
closer inspection, a consumer will
detect slight shading in the orange
color that creates the camo pattern.
To a deer or other ruminants, it
appears as a dull yellow/brown and
gray camouflage that blends perfectly
into their natural environment. Legal
in all 50 states and Canada, the vest
is made from 100 percent acrylic and
The Full Curl Wool line from
Browning includes a three-in-one
parka and insulated pant, as well as a
base-layer shirt and pant. The line
uses a durable 7-ounce wool blend
as an outer layer, along with proprietary fabrics such as Browning’s
Windcutter windproof and waterresistant lamination. The parka and
outerwear pant also use a soft tricot
liner for a comfortable feel, and
fleece side panels are added in key
areas to increase breathability. The
three-in-one parka features a
removable down-insulated liner for
extra warmth in severe conditions.
Base layers are constructed from a
soft, no-itch Merino wool blend,
with breathable polyester side panels. SRP: $216, parka $127, pant.
Booth #15245. (800-333-3288;
browning.com)
Buck Wear
The new Buck Wear “American
Hunter” zippered hoodie uses a blend
of 80/20 cotton/poly fleece to keep
heat in and cold air out. Its drawstring
hood interior is lined with Realtree
camouflage, while its convenient
pouch pocket is ideal for warming
cold fingers or keeping a cell phone
handy. To resonate with outdoor
enthusiasts, the front is printed with a
realistic silhouette of a hunting scene.
The words “American Hunter” across
the front of the zippered sweatshirt
products
are in dark lettering outlined in
orange, current with today’s casual
wear styles. Sizes range from M to
XXL. SRP: $69.99. Booth #11249.
(800-813-7708; buckwear.com)
Irish Setter
Ideal for windy and rainy conditions,
the Ramsey Wax jacket has a classic
look that captures the rich heritage
of upland hunting. The jacket is a
first from Irish Setter and offers
such conveniences as an inside
zippered cell phone safety pocket, a
rubberized game pouch and flapped
bellows pockets with shotshell casings. The Ramsey’s rugged looks
help it extend beyond field wear to
Filson
Built for the rainiest days
afield, the Filson
Wingshooting Jacket is constructed from 100 percent
nylon twill with a three-layer
6-ounce fabric. This jacket is
completely waterproof (all
seams are fully sealed) and
boasts waterproof front zippers as well as armpit ventilation zips. The Starburst webbing design shooting patches
will keep a gunstock firmly in
place, and both shoulders
have interior cavities that
accept recoil pads. In addition,
two chest pockets use a
brushed interior to warm
hands, and a pair of classic
double-front bellows pockets,
which can be conveniently
closed with one-hand, will
hold heavy dog and gun
accessories. The cuffs have
adjustable brass snaps, the
hood zips off when not in use
and a beard guard keeps
facial hair from being painfully
pulled when the jacket is fully
closed. Sold in brown and
Otter Green. SRP: $295.
Booth #1214. (800-624-0201;
filson.com)
Rocky
Possibly the quietest, most stretchable bibs on
the market, these waterproof, breathable outerwear shell bibs are as soft as pajamas. Using
200 grams of Thinsulate insulation, the
MtnStalker has a SilentHunter suede fabric shell
for extreme quiet, a comfort curve zipper for
one-hand-opening and Rocky’s proprietary SiQ
Atomic Scent Control System.
Available in sizes M to XXL. SRP: $140. Booth
#10318. (877-795-2410; rockyboots.com)
MtnStalker
SilentHunter
Suede construction ensures
silence in the
woods; 200
grams of
Thinsulate helps
keep a hunter
warm.
appeal to many hunters who also
wear it on the street. Sold in brown
in sizes M to 3XL. SRP: $199.99.
Booth #11449. (888-738-8370;
irishsetterboots.com)
Mossy Oak Apparel
The new generation APX G2 line
from Mossy Oak Apparel offers a
high-waist pant that’s nearly as tall as
a pair of bib overalls, and yet the
design allows a hunter to wear a belt
while using suspenders. The high
back helps warm the kidney area and
keeps shirts in place when the wearer
is on the move.
Breathable, windproof and waterproof, the pants offer articulated
knees and have adjustable leg snaps at
the ankle, with long above-the-knee
zippers. The zippers make putting the
pant on or off easier and faster, and
allow a hunter to ventilate himself
while walking to his stand. Four front
bonded zipper pockets are easy to
access and have a fleece lining for
additional warmth. The APX Gale L4
comes in Mossy Oak Treestand Camo
in sizes M to XXL. SRP: $149. Booth
#10122. (800-331-5624; russell
Irish Setter
The Ramsey Wax
jacket has a classic
look with a modern
application—an
inside zippered
pocket for a cell
phone.
outdoorsfieldguide.com)
Sitka Gear
Designed specifically for hunters
who sit in late-season stands in cold
weather, Sitka’s Incinerator series
includes the Stormfront, a waterproof, down-filled Gore-Tex jacket.
The three-layer shell protects a 700fill down interior from rain, snow
and wind, and the lightly brushed
face stays quiet and is treated with a
DWR (durable water repellent) finish that keeps water rolling off all
day. Heavy articulation through the
arms allows for a full range of
motion to minimally restrict climbing, glassing and shooting.
Strategically placed pockets on the
chest and bicep handle accessories,
while two hand-warmer pockets surround the hands in down for
warmth. A fully adjustable hood
keeps your head toasty without
restricting your view.
The Incinerator series also highlights Gore’s newest addition to
Optifade concealment—the new
Forest pattern designed specifically
for wooded environments. SRP:
$599. Booth #10238. (707-253-1122;
sitkagear.com)
Sitka Gear
The Incinerator
Series is specially
designed for
late-season treestand hunters,
who endure long
waits in the cold.
f e at u r e
Don’t Lie The
them when we can, and we’re doing
what we can, together with ATF, to
stop these straw purchases.’”
With the media and political focus
on Mexican drug crimes, NSSF, ATF
and FFLs wanted a strong “Don’t Lie”
presence along our southern borders.
One small problem: The Department
of Justice grant, which underwrote the
program, had nearly run out.
NSSF Public
Affairs team
helped get out
the “Don’t Lie”
message (“Buy a
gun for someone
who can’t, and
buy yourself 10
years in jail”) by
negotiating
contracts with
outdoor media
vendors to place
the message on
billboards and
transit signs.
Get Out the Word
“Don’t Lie for the Other Guy”:
A Decade of
Unparalleled Success
NSSF and ATF work together to help eliminate the
problem of straw purchases By Brian McCombie
T
his year marks the 10th anniversary of “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy,” a public awareness
and firearms retailer education program developed by the National Shooting Sports
Foundation in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. “Don’t Lie” was created to
address the challenges of detecting and deterring potential illegal straw purchases. An illegal
“straw purchase” of a firearm occurs when the actual buyer of a firearm uses another person, the
“straw purchaser,” to execute the paperwork necessary to buy a firearm from a federal firearms
licensee (FFL), because the actual purchaser is either prohibited from acquiring firearms or does
not want his or her name associated with the transaction.
“We’ve been in twenty-six major
American cities with the ‘Don’t Lie’
program,” says Steve Sanetti, NSSF
president. “By our calculations, we’ve
surpassed one billion ‘impressions.’ In
other words, people have seen the
‘Don’t Lie’ message more than a billion times, which includes billboards,
posters, signs on public transportation, public service announcements on
television, dealer cards, leaflets and
stickers. We’re very proud of the
program. It’s one of the great success
stories of the industry.”
Detect and Deter
Most of those “impressions” come
via the “Don’t Lie” public awareness
campaigns, which alert the general
public to the illegality of straw purchases, as well as the very significant
penalties for committing this crime:
up to 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.
In addition, “Don’t Lie” program
materials are provided to firearms
retailers to assist ATF in educating
sales staff to be better able to detect
and deter illegal straw purchases.
With the launch of a “Don’t Lie”
program into a new city or area, the
NSSF and ATF will also frequently
hold retailer education seminars for
local FFLs and their employees in
which they learn about the “Don’t
Lie” program as well as other recordkeeping and regulatory issues.
“The firearms industry is proud of
its longstanding cooperative relationship with the ATF, the Department
of Justice and, indeed, the entire law
enforcement community, in assisting
them in their efforts to combat the
criminal misuse of firearms,” says
Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice
president and general counsel. “This
is a goal shared by all Americans,
and, certainly, it is a goal shared by
members of the firearms industry.”
Chuck Canterbury, president of the
National Fraternal Order of Police,
said, “I believe campaigns like this are
important to deter illegal purchases
and to help dealers prevent these purchases from happening in the first
place. This is certainly a worthwhile
endeavor, and I hope that the
Department of Justice will continue
to support the ATF and the ‘Don’t
Lie for the Other Guy’ campaign.”
The Shield
One big news story of 2009 concerned Mexican drug cartels and
their criminal misuse of firearms.
Again and again, American FFLs
were erroneously implicated in those
news stories as the main supplier of
cartel weapons.
“There was a lot of inaccurate,
sensationalized reporting in the
mainstream media about how guns
are getting to Mexico,” says Sanetti.
“Unfortunately, no big surprise
there. But the ‘Don’t Lie’ program
has been a terrific shield that we can
point to in the industry and say,
‘Look, straw purchases are rare
instances. But we do want to prevent
“Contributing $500,000, the firearms
industry, through NSSF, agreed to
fully fund the ‘Don’t Lie’ campaign
across the Southwest border,” says
Ted Novin, director of public affairs
for NSSF. “The campaign was
launched in the Rio Grande Valley,
as well as in Houston, Tucson and
San Diego, and we expect to be in El
Paso by early this year.”
A few years ago, after distributing
almost 35,000 “Don’t Lie” retailer
education kits, the NSSF recognized
that the campaign message to the
FFL community had been well
received and implemented. So, the
NSSF, while continuing the retailer
education component of the program, shifted resources to place a
greater emphasis on raising public
awareness that it is a serious crime to
illegally straw purchase a firearm.
The goal is to stop a straw purchaser
long before he enters a firearms store.
The NSSF Public Affairs team
began negotiating contracts with
outdoor media vendors. Soon after,
campaign launches began featuring
billboards, posters and transit signs
displaying the “Don’t Lie” message
to the general public (“Buy a gun for
someone who can’t, and buy yourself
10 years in jail”). The outdoor media
campaign was complemented by a
strong public service announcement
that played on radio stations
throughout the launch city.
“We are going to continue the
cooperative program with ATF for as
long as our partners in law enforcement see it as valuable in assisting
them in fighting crime,” Sanetti
notes. “We were concerned about
whether the new administration
would continue supporting ‘Don’t
Lie.’ To its credit, it is. In fact, the
new acting ATF director has praised
the program.”
ATF Acting Director Kenneth
Melson penned a letter to Sanetti
expressing the bureau’s sincere gratitude to the NSSF for its “noteworthy
contributions and key involvement in
the ‘Don’t Lie for the Other Guy’
program.” Melson went on to state,
“The recent expansion of the
program to focus on educating prospective straw purchasers through a
variety of public media, such as
billboards, is crucial to the success of
this program,” and that the campaign
“is an important tool for ATF as we
pursue our mission of preventing
terrorism, reducing violent crime and
protecting the public.”
f e at u r e
Ongoing dealer education is a key to success, and the
NSSF has developed a number of programs designed
to do just that. The programs include free SHOT Show,
SHOT Show U. and ATF/NICS informational seminars.
Educating the Industry
NSSF dealer education efforts can help retailers run
a more profitable business By Cathy Glazer
F
rom learning opportunities at the SHOT Show to retailer seminars around the country
throughout the year, the NSSF strives to help retailers develop the strategies they need to be
successful in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Given the additional challenges retailers
are facing in these tough times, opportunities like SHOT Show University, free retailer seminars
during the show and the traveling retailer seminar series “road show” can have a significant impact
on retailers’ success, says Randy Clark, NSSF managing director of program development. “For this
year, the theme we had in mind was, ‘Keeping your competitive edge’ and staying on the edge with
the best strategies for marketing and operating your store in a tough economic climate,” Clark says.
Free Seminars
at SHOT
During the SHOT Show business
hours on Wednesday, January 20,
and Thursday, January 21, at the
Sands Expo & Convention Center,
the NSSF is offering free seminars
for retailers covering a number of
highly relevant topics.
“Security Systems and Security
Measures for Retail Stores” will be
presented by Carl Roy III of Maryland
Small Arms Range, Inc. Larry Ahlman,
of Ahlman’s Inc., in Morristown,
Minnesota, will present “How to Buy
and Market Used Guns.”
If you’ve ever wondered about adding a restaurant or other customer
“draw” to your operation, you’ll want
to check out Cabela’s presentation on
“Incremental Business Opportunities.”
To help retailers know what to do
and say when the media come calling, a media training seminar presented by Rick Story, former executive of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance,
is also included in the lineup, as is a
session on how to manage gift cards
for maximum benefit.
The ATF sessions begin at 1 p.m.
today in Rooms 4402–4404.
Tomorrow’s retailer seminars run
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other ATFrelated sessions will also be held on
Thursday and Friday. For specific
times and locations, check the
SHOT Show directory or website, or
check at the NSSF booth. SHOT Show U.
The day before the SHOT Show’s
opening day, retailers had an extraordinary opportunity to learn from several of the most sought-after marketing and retail-business-building
experts at NSSF’s SHOT Show
University, an intense, day-long
series of seminars that has become a
must-attend event.
This year’s SHOT Show U., held
Monday, January 18, at the Sands
Expo & Convention Center from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., included eight sessions and a working lunch. If you
didn’t make it, here’s what you missed:
Retail expert George Whalin set
the tone with a keynote address,
“Strategies for a Changing Retail
World,” challenging retailer reactions
to changes in the marketplace.
New to SHOT Show U.’s faculty
this year was Curt Jazwiecki, president and founder of Outdoor
Business Network Inc., which pro-
vides managed e-commerce services
to retailers and distributors. He presented a much-requested topic,
“E-Commerce Solutions for the
Firearms Retailer.”
Retired ATF senior executive
Wally Nelson returned to address a
critical subject, “ATF Compliance
Training.” Also returning was the
popular Tom Shay, who presented
“How to Go Forward When the
Going Gets Tough.”
Christopher DiCenzo, managing
partner and founder of Growth
Strategy Partners LLC, a strategy
consulting firm, spoke on the
“7 Keys to Growth” and how to
build a successful business.
During a working lunch, Rob
Southwick, president of Southwick
Associates, presented “Identifying the
Challenges Ahead,” including interpreting the results of the 2009 firearms retailer survey.
Tuition for SHOT Show U. was a
mere $50 for NSSF members and
$100 for non-members, still a bargain.
On the Road Again
To help firearms dealers navigate the
rough sea of rules, regulations and
paperwork involved in the sale and
transfer of firearms and to provide
them with a forum to get answers to
their questions, the NSSF will hit the
road again this year with its popular
Retailer Education Seminars.
The free, one-day seminars are
offered in partnership with the ATF,
the FBI and the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System
(NICS). They cover issues such as
proper record-keeping, firearms tracing, inventory security, gun-crime
reduction strategies and steps to
renew FFLs. A question-and-answer
session follows the presentations.
Included is a component of the
NSSF’s award-winning “Don’t Lie
for the Other Guy” campaign to help
retailers and their employees recognize potential illegal firearms purchases and how to deter them.
“Our goal this year is to hold eight
seminars,” says Randy Clark. “We
may re-visit the Southwest as well as
prime markets in other states, including Florida and New York. We want
to help retailers learn what they need
to do on a daily basis that will help
them pass ATF inspections.”
The seminars are open to Type I
and Type II FFLs and their employees. As soon as dates and locations
are confirmed, they will be posted to
nafr.com and seminar invitations will
be sent to all FFL holders in the
selected cities. Dealers may register
online at nafr.org or by contacting
Randy Clark at [email protected].
“The NSSF provides a lot of good
tools for retailers, but it is still up to
them to take advantage of these learning opportunities and implement
those tools,” Clark observes.
Says NSSF Senior Vice President
Chris Dolnack, “Those retailers
who are regularly cited in trade
publications as success stories, and
who are used as sources by SHOT
Business and others, are—not
coincidentally—among the regulars
who attend NSSF’s professional
development seminars.”
f e at u r e
CSSI Collegiate Shooting Sports
Initiative was founded as a way to
make it easier to establish shooting
programs at the college level.
Increasing Collegiate
Shooting Participation
Keeping young shooters involved in the sport guarantees future shooting participants By Christopher Cogley
T
en years ago, the National Shooting Sports Foundation established the Scholastic Clay
Target Program as a way to introduce high school students across the country to the
shooting sports. The program was, and continues to be, successful beyond anyone’s
expectations. It, along with other youth shooting programs, continues to get a growing number of
kids involved in, and passionate about, shooting. Far too often, however, that involvement ends
when the students graduate from high school.
“We recognized that there is a
great deal of interest from these
young students to continue on in the
shooting sports when heading to college,” says Zach Snow, senior shooting promotions coordinator for the
NSSF. “Unfortunately, because
there’s not a program for them to get
involved in at most schools, they end
up putting down the gun and pursuing other interests instead.”
It’s a situation that Snow and the
NSSF find unacceptable and one
they’re trying to rectify through the
recently established Collegiate
Shooting Sports Initiative. Founded
as a way to make it easier for people
to establish legitimate shooting programs at the college level, the CSSI
is designed to be the starting point
for coaches and students who are
interested in establishing a rifle,
pistol or shotgun club or team at
their university.
Community
Networking
“By bringing together all the
resources they need in one place,
we’re hoping to provide coaches and
students with the tools they need to
get a program at their college up and
running,” Snow says. “We’re also
creating a community network that
will allow people to tap into the successes of other coaches and programs
across the country.”
One Member’s
Experience
One member of that community
network, and a valuable resource for
anyone involved with shooting at
the college level, is Shawn
Dulohery, coach of the Lindenwood
University shooting team, which has
won the last six national championships. Dulohery has been shooting
for decades, winning multiple
national and world championships,
and representing the United States
in the past five Olympic Games. As
a coach and competitor, he has seen
first-hand how important it is to
keep young adults engaged in shooting at the college level, and says that
he’s extremely excited about the
potential that the CSSI has to
accomplish that goal.
“We’re doing a great job of getting these young people exposed to
shooting, but if they don’t continue
to be involved and engaged and
challenged, there’s a good chance
that they’ll find something else to
latch on to,” Dulohery says. “Each
time that happens, we’ve lost a
shooter who otherwise would have
helped perpetuate the sport that we
all love.”
With the establishment of competitive shooting programs at colleges across the country, those students who got a taste for shooting
in high school will have an outlet to
further their interest and improve
their skills. They’ll also have the
opportunity to act as ambassadors
for the sport, and get other college
students involved in shooting.
“These students can go out and
encourage their friends who haven’t
had the exposure to the shooting
sports,” Dulohery says. “With the
kinds of networks and peer influence
they have, one shooter can turn into
twenty in a matter of a few weeks.
But it’s only going to happen if there
are shooting programs in place that
they can get involved in.”
Grants Program
One of the biggest hurdles to starting a shooting program is the cost.
To make that obstacle a little easier
to overcome, the CSSI has created a
grant program that will match up to
$7,500 in funds for any college that’s
establishing a shooting program.
“It’s a matching grant, so students
are going to have to go out and put
the effort in as well,” Snow says.
“But if they do, they could have
$15,000 to get the program started.
For a new program, that’s pretty
significant.”
But it’s also just the beginning.
“This initiative is exactly what we
need to get those programs established. But the bottom line is that
shooting is an expensive sport. If you
don’t have the means to do it, you
aren’t going to get the exposure,”
Dulohery says. “This is a win-win
situation for everyone involved, but
it’s also a two-way road. These students have the potential to be future
customers, future employees and
future spokesmen for our industry.
But in order for that to happen, the
industry has to take the bull by the
horns and get involved by providing
these students with the resources
they need to turn an interest into a
lifelong pursuit.”
Industry Support Is
Crucial
Snow says that because the CSSI has
been established as an initiative rather than a program, like the SCTP,
industry support and corporate partnerships are going to be even more
crucial to its ongoing success.
“In order to grow this sport, we
need to do it at the industry level,
and this is a great opportunity for
the industry to jump onboard to
support the NSSF and grow the
shooting sports,” Snow says. “Time
is of the essence to assist these college students.”
And the time to do it is now.
For more information about
the CSSI, or to get involved with
this crucial initiative, contact Zach
Snow at [email protected] or log on to
nssf.org/cssi.
day, January XX, 2010 ■ Shot Business Daily ■ 1
f e at u r e
The aim of First
Shots is to teach
new shooters
safe and responsible use of firearms. But fun is a
big part of the
program as well.
First Shots:
Building Your Customer Base
and Image in the Community
NSSF recruitment program is creating new shooters By Marilyn Stone
N
SSF’s First Shots program is one of life’s rare opportunities where it’s win, win, win. Former non-shooters discover a fun pastime to share with family and friends. Range
owners and their retail partners boost their customer base and
membership. Trainers get to do more of what they love—train
new shooters on safe rifle, shotgun and pistol handling. And, in
the long run, new shooters’ word-of-mouth endorsements
strengthen the image of the shooting industry with the public.
First Shots, the NSSF’s newshooter recruitment program, offers
a three-hour introductory class formatted for rifle, handgun or shotgun.
Each of the three programs focuses
on safety and the fun of shooting.
Recognizing that people new to any
sport are reluctant to spend hundreds
of dollars before experiencing it,
manufacturers provide loaner guns,
targets and ammunition for First
Shots programs. Participants need
bring only their curiosity. In addition, the NSSF will help ranges plan
for a successful event.
First Shots has “the perfect name,”
says Harry Misener, special-events
coordinator at Shooter’s World in
Phoenix, Arizona. The title signals to
novice shooters that they will be
among peers with about the same
knowledge level, not thrown in with
experienced shooters.
Spreading the Word
Although the NSSF will cost-share
50 percent of the advertising dollars
with ranges, Misener filled seven 18to 24-student classes by word-of-
mouth between May and September
2009 and has started a waiting list.
Richard Sprague, owner of
Sprague’s Sports in Yuma, Arizona,
had a similar experience. Initially,
he used the NSSF’s co-op advertising dollars to advertise and buy a
banner he still uses. Now, people
call to be put on a waiting list if
he doesn’t have a First Shots program scheduled. Although Sprague
can’t put hard numbers on First
Shots recruitment, he says he
knows the program “brings in new
customers. It’s an outstanding program and tool. I appreciate what the
NSSF is doing.”
In addition to bringing in new
range members and customers,
Sprague sees a larger benefit for the
firearms industry in promoting a
positive image and benefits to the
community. First Shots shows the
community that the firearms industry
supports safe gun handling.
“Learning gun safety from certified
instructors is really important,”
says Sprague. He says he allows
10- to 12-year-old kids to attend
First Shots as long as a parent
or guardian accompanies them.
Elaine Scott, a Shooter’s World
participant from Glendale, Arizona,
illustrates the value of First Shots’
focus on safety education. She had
taken a basic handgun class, but came
to First Shots to learn more about
gun safety and basic tips on choosing
a handgun. Women value safety, so
emphasizing safe gun handling can
help close the sale—and not just for
her. Survey results vary, but the
woman in the family more often
makes the decision about purchases
and the family’s recreation.
Richard Hare, membership chair
for the Tri-Cities Shooting
Association in Richland, Washington,
has witnessed how women bring in
their families. In May 2009, the association hosted a women-only First
Shots for 72 women. Since then,
women have brought back their families to shoot. Sales are booming for
most ranges and firearms retailers,
but eventually the gun-buying wave
may subside unless businesses start
cultivating relationships with new
shooters now. First Shots can help
keep the waves coming.
Turning Curiosity Into Dollars
Forty-seven to 54 percent of First Shots attendees (47 percent for
handgun and shotgun and 54 percent for rifle) say their motivation
was to answer, “What is it like to shoot a handgun, shotgun or rifle?”
Ninety-eight percent of survey respondents ranked their satisfaction
as “very satisfied” or “completely satisfied.”
NSSF’s First Shots surveys prove the program’s track record in customer recruitment. Six-month follow-up surveys show that four in 10
First Shots handgun participants returned to the host range to shoot
an average of six times. More than half of participants (53 percent)
have met their state’s requirements to own a handgun since the initial seminar. Forty-three percent of participants subsequently purchased shooting-related equipment, spending an average of $590.
The majority of participants (93 percent for handgun, 86 percent
for shotgun and 84 percent for rifle) state that they are more likely to
continue shooting after participation in First Shots.
Target shooting and personal protection are equally important.
Nearly seven in 10 are likely to purchase a firearm for these purposes.
Target shooting is important here. It means shooters will keep buying
ammunition and targets and will renew memberships.
First Shots creates the potential for exponential growth in shooting
sports participation. More than six in 10 participants have introduced
someone else to recreational shooting since their last seminar.
f e at u r e
The NSSF Families Afield Program
aims to get young hunters excited
about the sport by pairing them with
adult mentors.
Families Afield
Continues to Break
Down Barriers
Mentoring programs are helping to get young hunters
back in the fields and woods By Brian McCombie
T
his past August, Wisconsin sportsmen celebrated when Governor Jim Doyle signed into law
Senate Bill 167. Sponsored by Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover), SB 167 created a mentored
hunting license, allowing people 10 years of age and older to hunt with an experienced mentor prior to the completion of hunter education. The legislation was the culmination of five years
of work for the Families Afield Program, founded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation
(NSSF), the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
(USSA) to eliminate barriers to hunting. The cornerstone of the program: introducing the
apprentice-hunting concept at the state level, which is embodied in the new Wisconsin law.
“Replacing our ranks as older
sportsmen pass on and leave hunting
is critical to conservation and hunting,” says NSSF President Steve
Sanetti. “This new law is a major
tool for accomplishing that important task.”
“Laws like this one in other states
have proven to be effective at recruiting new groups of hunters, such as
women and urban residents,” adds
Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and
CEO. “And, most important, the
program has been shown to be safe.”
“Since the beginning of Families
Afield, more than 283,000 new
hunters have been introduced to
the field, with a safety rate that
exceeds even that of regular hunters,” says George Thornton, CEO
of the NWTF. “Wisconsin has
been a priority for our volunteers,
and we could not be more pleased
about the new law.”
With Governor Doyle’s signature,
Wisconsin became the 29th state to
lower barriers to hunting through
the Families Afield legislation.
“It’s the notion of, ‘Try before you
buy,’” says Melissa A. Schilling,
NSSF’s manager of recruitment and
retention.
The “try” typically allows an
apprentice youth hunter to go afield,
with a mentoring adult hunter and
experience a hunt before the youth
needs to take that state’s hunter education course. The “buy” comes
later, when youth hunters decide that
they want to hunt in the future.
“In Ohio, they looked over a couple-year period once Families Afield
was in place,” Schilling notes. “They
actually found that fifty percent of
the apprentice hunters had moved on
and taken the hunter education class.
They are continuing to hunt, mostly
big game. So Families Afield is, in
fact, working.”
Get Outside
In Ohio, and all other Families
Afield states, the mentored youth
hunters have a great safety record.
“With 280,000 new hunters, it’s
fantastic that we’re still maintaining a
safety rate that exceeds that of regular hunters,” says Schilling. “That’s
backing up the research that shows
when a youth apprentice hunter goes
out with a mentor, it is safe.”
For the future of the sport, the
importance of introducing young
people to hunting cannot be overstated. According to Chris Dolnack,
NSSF’s senior vice president, by
the time a young person reaches 12
years of age, his or her recreational
activities are pretty much determined. “In today’s environment,
you have dual-income families and
the kids are always on the go,” he
says. “Almost everything today is
scheduled for kids, from school to
sports and other extra-curriculars.
There’s also a huge focus on computer games and television.
Children tend not to be encouraged
to go outside. By the time they’re
12 years old, for the most part,
they’re already predisposed toward
their recreational activities. So if a
kid isn’t exposed to hunting by 12
or so, he may or may not pick it up,
even if he’s introduced to it later.’
But if you can get those same
youngsters afield with a mentor
who can show them the ropes and
infuse them with the thrill of the
hunt? “They’re champing at the bit
to take the hunter ed course,”
Dolnack says.
Eliminating that 12-year-old age
barrier was the focus of the very first
Families Afield initiative, which
occurred in Pennsylvania in 2004.
Dolnack, who grew up in
Pennsylvania, was the NSSF’s point
person on this effort. The NSSF,
USSA and NWTF first examined the
Top Ten hunting states, by participation and hunting licenses sold annually, and then studied the political
situation on the ground in each of
these states. Pennsylvania seemed the
logical choice, as it did not allow a
youth to take hunter education
before the age of 12.
Breaking Barriers
“It all came together,” Dolnack says.
“USSA has a unique competency and
expertise on state hunting and legislative issues. NWTF has a very large
and active membership in
Pennsylvania. And the NSSF, as the
trade association of the firearms and
hunting industry, was in the position
to provide the funding.”
Pennsylvania Families Afield legislation was signed into law by
Governor Ed Rendell in January
2006, creating the nation’s first mentored youth hunting program. The
legislation also removed the previous
age limit for young hunters, and left
that decision up to the parents.
For 2010 and beyond, the
Families Afield program will continue to look for more opportunities to
reduce barriers to hunting in other
states. “We’ll probably start looking
at really focusing on Western
states,” says Schilling.
For more information, log on to
familiesafield.org or contact Melissa
Schilling (203-426-1320).
f e at u r e
Breaking Ground
Randy Luth, who
recently retired as
president of DPMS, has
long been a proponent
of using the AR platform for hunting. Here
he is shown with an
impala he took in
Zimbabwe using a .308
AR that he converted
from a semi-auto to a
bolt-action single shot.
The 1st AR in Africa
Breaking a barrier often takes a great idea—
and a lot of guts By Christopher Cogley
R
andy Luth isn’t the kind of guy who likes to simply accept things the way they
are—especially when it comes to accepting the notion that AR-platform rifles
have no place in hunting applications. For years, he has worked to dispel that
belief and break down the barriers surrounding modern rifles. As a sportsman, he has
hunted a wide variety of North American game with ARs; as president of DPMS Arms,
he made them available to other hunters in a range of sporting calibers; and as a
member of the shooting industry, he has helped prove that these weapons are the next
logical evolution of the American sporting rifle.
His efforts—along with the efforts of many others in the industry—have paid off handsomely.
These modern sporting rifles have begun to gain
more widespread acceptance in mainstream hunting circles, but despite Luth’s best efforts and successes, there were still some barriers he couldn’t
break through.
“I always wanted to take an AR-15 to Africa,”
Luth says. “But you aren’t allowed to bring semiautomatics into Africa for hunting purposes, so it’s
never been possible.”
Not possible, that is, until Luth figured out how
to do it this past July.
“I knew I couldn’t change the laws there,” he
says. “But I could change the rifle.”
So he took one of his .308 rifles and converted it
from a semi-automatic to a single-shot bolt-action.
Luth had no way of knowing if the converted rifle
would be acceptable to the authorities in Africa;
there was only one way to find out for certain. So
in July, he slipped it into a case and boarded a
plane for South Africa.
“I had rehearsed my sales speech for months,
and I went over it again and again for the entire
twenty hours on the plane,” he says. “I tried to
cover every possible argument the custom agents
might give me.”
Moment of Truth
Still, he knew there was a good chance that officials might not listen to his explanation about the
rifle and might confiscate it simply because it
looked like a military weapon.
To cover his bets, Luth had brought along
two traditional bolt-actions. When he arrived at
the airport police station in Johannesburg, he
presented those for inspection first. They were
waved through without much thought. Then,
the moment of truth arrived.
“It definitely drew some looks when I pulled it
out of the case,” Luth says. “They asked me what
it was, and I told them it was a prototype for a new
single-shot .308. In the end, they let it through.”
Luth went through his sales speech one more
time at customs in Zimbabwe. He had the same
trepidation, but he also got the same result.
“And just like that, there I am in the country with
the first-ever legal AR-15,” he says. “It was huge.”
The sense of accomplishment he felt was intensified with each of the six animals he hunted with
the rifle. But he says it was more than just the
accomplishment—it was what the accomplishment
symbolized.
“This wasn’t about me or DPMS,” he says. “It’s
about doing something to help promote the fact
that it’s okay to go hunt with an AR-15.”
Line Expansion
And now that he has broken through that barrier
in Africa, Luth said DPMS is going to help give
other sportsmen that opportunity by creating a
line of single-shot rifles similar to the one he used
on his safari. It’s also looking to expand the line to
include rifles chambered for larger calibers
equipped to handle Africa’s bigger game.
Luth readily admits these rifles aren’t necessarily
designed for everyone. “It’s more about the
uniqueness of it,” he says. “It’s for that type of
person who’s a little edgy or wants to do something a little different.”
And Luth knows that there are definitely
people out there like that. People who tend to
take risks and like to shake things up. People who
have a tough time accepting the status quo. People
just like him. Booth #14949. (800-578-3767;
dpmsinc.com)
A Better
Mousetrap
It’s a classic story. Build a better mousetrap
and the world will beat a path to your door.
That’s exactly what’s happening to Jerry
McPherson, founder of Montana Decoy.
In 1996, McPherson was just another
bowhunter trying to find a way to improve
his elk-hunting success. He thought a cow
decoy would be just the ticket, and when he
realized the industry wasn’t producing what
he wanted, he decided to make it himself.
After some experimentation, McPherson
hit upon a two-dimensional photo-realistic
decoy. The body of the decoy is a print of a
high-quality photo on a cotton/polyester
fabric. The image is mirrored on the opposite side, so that no matter from which
direction a critter approaches, it will always
see a realistic rendition of an animal.
To keep the material erect, a steel band
is sewn between the two sections of the
body. The band is also the key to the
decoy’s portability (no mean feat, when
you consider the size of an elk), as it allows
the decoy to be folded to a third of its full
size for transport.
To finish assembly, leg poles are provided
to hold the unit in position. A hunter inserts
leg poles into specially sewn sleeves. Setup and teardown are simple and fast.
The company has since expanded past
elk and now makes more than 18 different
decoys, including whitetail, turkey, coyote,
mule deer, antelope and moose. To date,
all of McPherson’s decoys are 2-D, but to
enhance the line, ultra-realistic HD photography will be making its debut on the 2010
decoys, and McPherson says more animals
and more poses are in the works for 2011.
To attract new buyers, McPherson is constantly thinking of new designs. “You’ve
got to keep experimenting, growing and
coming out with new things,” he says. “The
decoys we sell haven’t hit everyone, so
we’ll keep coming out with new things.”
Part of his development process is to
take prototypes into the field and see how
animals react. When he tested the prototype of the mule deer buck, for instance, it
didn’t get the response he wanted. So he
went back to the drawing board and created a doe that did the trick.
The “moo cow” prototype was brown
and white, which didn’t work all that well,
either. Here, he switched to a Black Angus.
Voilà! The pattern has sold out. McPherson
believes this decoy would also be useful
for waterfowl hunters in open fields.
Booth #965. (888-332-6998; montana
decoy.com)
f e at u r e
Taurus
The Judge was
conceived as
the ultimate
personaldefense firearm.
It has proved to
be very popular
with consumers.
The Game-Changer
The Judge sets a new standard in personal protection
T
hree years ago, Taurus introduced an unusual firearm it
dubbed The Judge, a powerful revolver designed to be the
final word in close-quarters personal protection. Capable
of chambering both .410-gauge shotgun shells and .45 Colt
centerfire cartridges, the unique five-shot combo gun immediately caught the eye of consumers—so much so that dealers
report output hasn’t remotely matched demand.
As further testimony to the gun’s
intrinsic power, Remington, Federal
and Winchester all have developed
specific loads for it—and you know
you don’t get huge ammunition companies to pony up precious resources
to develop a niche product unless
they firmly believe it has real legs.
No question, The Judge has been
a game-changer for the company. So,
how did it come to be?
“Several years ago I was asked
to write an article for American
Rifleman on home defense with a
shotgun,” says Taurus president and
CEO Bob Morrison. “I took a
Remington 12-gauge Model 870
with a cylinder bore and 18-inch barrel and tested a variety of loads—
from No. 9 shot to 00 buck—in oneyard increments, based on the standard sizes of bedrooms—nine by
twelve feet, twelve by fifteen feet and
fifteen by twenty feet.”
Morrison was surprised by the
results. “With 00 buck, I noticed I
was still only getting a silver-dollarsize hole at five yards.”
His concern boiled down to this
incontrovertible fact: In a life-threatening situation, such as a carjacking
or home invasion, the duress under
which the average person must operate would dramatically affect their
ability to shoot accurately.
Disappointed, Morrison set out to
find a gun that would perform at a
higher level, with a wider latitude for
the average shooter. Gradually, his
thoughts turned to the .410.
Having shot a lot of .410 in skeet,
he fully understood its patterning
characteristics. “I realized that if I
chambered a revolver for .410—for
close quarters—and then rifled the
barrel so it would also accept .45
Colt—for longer shots—I might
have something,” he says.
Morrison took the idea to Jorge
Veloso (an executive at Taurus headquarters in Brazil). “He grasped the
concept at once,” Morrison says. “Of
course, we had to check with the
ATF, but with the rifled bore there
were no legal issues.”
The big advantage of the design,
says Morrison, is that with the new
gun he was able to get a 12-inch
torso-size pattern at close range.
Morrison notes that initially some
critics dismissed The Judge as a novelty item. But that changed after
Dick Metcalf shot the gun on
Personal Defense TV.
“Once Metcalf fired at a target, a
mock-up of a carjacker, from the
rolled-down window of his vehicle
and the viewer saw the target impact
Ammunition Developed for the Taurus Judge, the Supreme Elite PDX1
combines three Defense Discs with 12 BB-size shot pellets in a .410 package.
The basic idea behind The Judge is to give the average shooter a larger pattern
when faced with a carjacker or home invader.
firsthand, we had a winner,”
Morrison says. “It’s one of my
proudest accomplishments on the
manufacturing side. It really put our
name on the map. Furthermore,
The Judge has become the gun of
choice for a number of people looking for the ideal personal defense
gun. And it is, without doubt, the
biggest product introduction in
Taurus’s history.”
There are currently eleven models
from which to choose, the latest a
small-frame 4510 Public Defender.
Booth #13738. (800-327-3776;
taurususa.com)
f e at u r e
Editor’s
Note: This
article originally
ran as part of
Brownell’s Web
bench, an e-mail
newsletter
available at
Brownells.com.
But the insights
of the author (at
left) about the
health of the firearms market are
worth sharing
with retailers at
the SHOT Show.
Frank Talk
An industry veteran speaks his
mind about sales trends and
the famous “Obama Bubble”
By Frank Brownell
W
e’ve been doing some “reality checks” around here,
trying to get a handle on how our industry is doing
and how we need to prepare for the upcoming year. As
we look back, it would seem that most of us in the industry
have had a fantastic run of business. Our industry has been recognized by shooters, non-shooters and even the economic whiz
kids on Wall Street as one of the very few bright spots during
this economic downturn. You probably saw it in the huge volume of sales starting right at the election in November 2008,
peaking somewhere around Easter 2009 and then sliding back
closer to the traditional summer slowdown we always see.
In doing our analysis here, we
asked ourselves the following three
questions and tried to come up with
answers. You might want to stop a
moment, and with a fresh cup of coffee, ask yourself these questions
about your business and how you feel
about your future.
1.Is this “Obama Gun Sale Bubble”
over?
2.Is demand for firearms and
ammunition coming down to the
standard demand curve for our
business?
3.What can we do for the remainder
of 2009 and all of 2010 to match
or beat those high sales in the
“Bubble” months of 2008-09?
We came up with some answers,
which I’ll pass along to you, but they
really are only our opinions.
Hopefully, you will find something in
here that will be beneficial to you in
your business.
Back to Normal
We believe the insane demand level
for tactical firearms is over, and
future demands for these products
will come back down to the industry norms. Keep in mind, though,
there have been a huge number of
non-traditional firearms buyers
making purchases of AR-15s. So
there are a lot of customers out
there who will still want to accessorize and modify one of the
world’s most versatile and popular
platforms. There is definitely still a
market for AR-15 “stuff,” but we
see a much softer market for the
basic platform.
The conceal-carry/home-defense
market, however, is starting to heat
up, and right now is the beginning
of a “short boom”—not as significant as tactical rifles, but a boom
nonetheless. We don’t know how
much leg this market can get under
it or how long it might run. It is
getting lots of play right now in the
gun press, so take a look at how
you can get into it modestly and
watch it closely.
We strongly believe the reloading
and ammo markets are still underserved and have strong growth ahead
of them. It will take longer to get
these markets back to norm because
of the primer shortage.
The deep fluctuations/price
increases in the metals markets from
which most of these ammo components are made—lead, copper and
brass—has an impact on availability
and prices. Our industry’s share of
these markets is not even a wrinkle,
and we have neither control nor any
leverage we can bring into play. We
just have to wait for the metals markets to settle out.
Net Results
Shotgun and hunting markets did
not seem to have the same favorable
run-up as the tactical weapons market. From what we think we see,
there might be some returning
strength. It looks like reservations for
hunts have still to recover. We definitely expect those to slowly come
back, but quite possibly not until
folks are more comfortable the economy has settled down and a general
recovery is under way. Hunts are discretionary, and more easily put off.
For net results for 2009, don’t
focus too much on beating year-overyear numbers. Our last year was way
out of the norm. Instead, focus on
the year’s sales number. With the history we’ve had, it would actually be
acceptable to have a 0 percent
growth year in 2010.
It all depends on when your fiscal
year ends and where the “Obama
Bubble” fell. Sometimes it’s just nice
to have survived and to be able to
move on!
f e at u r e
Aimpoint’s New Red Dots
Aimpoint
New full-size
red-dot sights
should appeal to
big-game hunters who hunt in
thick timber.
W
ith the addition of two new hunting
sights to its line of red-dot optics,
Aimpoint has upped the ante in reddot-sighting technology. Both the Hunter34L
and 34S are ideal for standard or short-action
rifles, as well as shotguns and even magnum
handguns. Light transmission and optical performance are enhanced with a 34mm tube and a
new front-mounted adjustment system that
helps a shooter get on his target quickly.
I had an opportunity to try a prototype H34L on a
Remington Model 700 in .30-06 in Saskatchewan last
November, and while the monster buck I was hoping for
never appeared, I was impressed at how quickly the sight
could pick up the target, even in fading light. What was
especially helpful was the digital push button that allowed
me to intensify or back off on the brightness of the
dot—a huge help as daylight started to fade.
According to Brian Lisankie, president of Aimpoint,
these full-size sights will appeal not only to those hunters
already using red dots, but also to
hunters who demand a full-size sight
on their firearms. “What’s even better is that, with just a bit of practice,
you can make long-range shots with
these sights without difficulty. And
once you start using a sight where
you can keep both eyes open, there’s
no going back to magnified versions,” he says.
The sight I used was light in weight
(9.2 ounces), 9 inches in length and
mounted on 34mm Weaver rings.
Both sights are fully waterproof, and
are advertised to run for 50,000 hours
on one CR-2032 battery. Each has
2 MOA adjustments. SRP: $862.
Booth #11521. (877-246-7646;
aimpoint.com) –Jay Cassell
f e at u r e
Ryan Horsley (right), general manager of Red’s Trading Post in Twin Falls, Idaho, explains the features of
an FNP-45 to a customer. To his right, Tim White of FNH USA also helps a customer. Though the FNH USA
road show focused on the SCAR 16S modular rifle, dealers also had the chance to sell FNH’s other firearms as well.
FNH USA
Hits the Road
A 38-foot-long trailer loaded with products
makes a great impression on dealers and
customers alike By Slaton L. White
L
ast year at the SHOT Show, I was looking at a new product in a booth when a
dealer came by to admire the accessory as well. When I inquired whether he
would stock the item, he said, “Only if they support it, by some sort of advertising or promotion program. If they’re not willing to make an investment in it, why
should they expect me to?”
Strong words, but he had a point.
Last summer, FNH USA put its money where
its mouth is. The manufacturer equipped a special 38-foot-long trailer with the company’s
entire product line and hit the highway on a
tour of stocking dealers that featured consumer
events as well.
“Our customers had the chance to experience,
firsthand, our product line,” says Barbara Sadowy
Bailey, director of marketing for FNH USA. “It
was also an opportunity for customers to test our
products before they bought them—a great benefit
to them.”
There was another benefit as well. One of the
featured products was the SCAR 16S, a modular
rifle, chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO (.223
Rem.), which features a free-floating, cold-hammer-forged, Mil-Spec barrel with a hard-chromed
bore as well as an innovative gas-operated, shortstroke piston system for fouling reduction and
improved reliability. The SCAR 16S also has
ambidextrous operating controls and a receiverintegrated Mil-Std 1913 optical rail, plus three
accessory rails to allow use of a wide variety of tactical lights and lasers.
“Customers had the chance to shoot one of the
most exciting new firearms on the market today,”
she says, which no doubt helped increase foot traffic.
By summer’s end, the trailer had visited 40 dealers around the country, logging an estimated 9,600
miles along the way. “This is just another way we
have found to support our dealers,” says Bailey.
Ryan Horsley, general manager of Red’s
Trading Post in Twin Falls, Idaho, agrees that the
program was successful. “Having the FN trailer
onsite was extremely beneficial for us,” he says.
“We generally have three shows a year with FN,
but this show with the trailer really brought out
the loyal FN customers, many of whom bought
more than one gun.”
Horsely notes that FN has become the retailer’s number-one line since it started carrying FN
a little more than one year ago. “FN has gone
above and beyond any other manufacturer in
supporting us,” he says. “And this was a case of
giving back to the dealer and giving back to the
customer. Our customers were very excited to
have an opportunity to shoot the SCAR. They
had a lot of fun.”
Funny how fun translates into sales. Booth
#13060. (703-288-1292; fnhusa.com)
f e at u r e
lowing, but its solvency was a huge concern,”
Martinez says.
The prolonged time for order fulfillment was
also a concern. “The problem,” says John Trull,
Remington’s vice president of firearms product
management and marketing, “was that Dakota
didn’t have enough cash to build rifles.”
The tough times had led the previous
management to enact drastic cost-cutting measures, as Martinez discovered when he inspected
the wood inventory in Sturgis. “The quality of
wood had gone down,” he says, “but we’ve fixed
that. Dakota has a new supplier of high-quality
wood—English, Turkish, Bastogne and Claro walnut—that’s been hand-selected for strength and
beauty, and the old inventory has been shipped to
Ilion. We’re going over every rifle with a finetooth comb before it goes out the door.”
Dakota Arms The Dakota 76 African Big Five (top) has been designed for
dangerous game. It also features case coloring and high-wood stock. The
Dakota 76 African Traveler (above) breaks into two sections, for easy packing
and shipping. The idea is to build exactly what the customer wants.
High Hopes
Once given up for dead, Dakota Arms is back
on track By Slaton L. White
E
stablished in 1982, in Sturgis, South Dakota, by the late Don Allen, to build highgrade hunting rifles, Dakota Arms had recently stumbled badly under new ownership. It was literally within one week of shuttering the operation forever when
Remington walked through the doors last summer with a check—and hope.
“We closed the acquisition in July, and then
moved quickly to get our arms around the
patient,” says Carlos Martinez, Remington’s product manger of premium custom firearms.
Patient. Interesting choice of words, for Dakota
was indeed at death’s door, and the new owner had
to perform the business equivalent of a Code Blue
to keep it from expiring. Step one for Martinez,
who was charged previously with revitalizing
Remington’s Custom Shop at Ilion, was reestab-
lishing a relationship with vendors and suppliers
who weren’t being paid. Step Two was reassuring
employees that their checks wouldn’t bounce. Step
Three was assuring customers that deposits would
actually lead to a finished product, one worthy of
the Dakota name.
Fine-Tooth Comb
“What we found was that Dakota had a loyal fol-
Custom Fit
Martinez says every rifle will come with a buttonrifled Douglas barrel that has been chambered
manually to ensure constant high quality. But he’s
quick to note that a customer can specify another
barrel, if he so desires. In addition, every chamber
is hand-polished and test-fired for case inspection.
“We guarantee accuracy to one inch or better
with three-shot groups regardless of caliber,” he
says. As proof, rifles will ship with a test target.
“Dakota is all about low volume and high quality,” he says. “Though we would like to expand
output, we’re not talking mass production. It’s all
about options. Case-coloring. French-grade finishes. Whatever the customer wants, he’ll get.”
Martinez says he expects to double the business
in two to three years. Considering Dakota’s meager output the past few years, would that mean
merging Dakota into the Custom Shop?
“No,” says Marc Hill, chief marketing officer of
Freedom Group (Remington’s corporate parent).
“You can’t put the Dakota name on a Remington
and expect it to fly. The folks at Dakota are artists.
We’re going to let them run it in Sturgis.”
Martinez radiates confidence as he runs his hand
lovingly along a Model 76 African, which lists for
$7,595. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Then he says, “Most
important, Dakota now has the financial backing
to succeed. Customer deposits are safe; the guns
will be built, and they will be delivered.” Booth
#15133. (605-347-4686; dakotaarms.com)
f e at u r e
Puma Knife
Company A pair of
industry veterans is
breathing new life into the
venerable German knife
maker. Look for the
reintroduction of the
Pathfinder (left), Game
Warden and Deerhunter,
as well as some new
products in 2010.
The Big Cat
Is Back
German knifemaker Puma is
poised for a comeback
J
ust a few years ago, knife maker Puma appeared to be a
brand headed for oblivion. Founded in 1769 along the
Wupper River, it was one of the original companies that
helped establish Solingen, Germany, as the world’s knife-making
center. In 1957, Puma came to America and was quickly adopted
by knife aficionados. But over the past 15 years, sales volume fell
dramatically, mainly due to a flood of cheaper Asian imports.
But like the legendary cat that
inspires its name, Puma has sprung
back to life. Industry veterans Bob
Carpenter and Chris Lalik believed
in the brand, and a year ago teamed
up to form Puma Knife Company
USA. Headquartered in Lenexa,
Kansas, the new company was awarded the North American Puma distributorship.
It was a daunting challenge, but one
year later, the brand has more than
doubled its business. “Dealers and
distributors have welcomed back the
Puma brand, and the sales and quality
it has represented for nearly two hundred and fifty years,” says Carpenter.
“The biggest challenge has been to
communicate that not only is Puma in
business, but it is doing the proper
sales, marketing and inventory management to make sure that orders ship
on time and complete.”
According to Carpenter, the key to
continued growth will be a combination of developing strong new products and the reintroduction of such
popular classics, such as the Game
Warden, Pathfinder, Cub and
Deerhunter. “We are communicating
to consumers that their new Puma
knife will be the best knife they will
ever own,” he says. “Puma is still the
only brand that Rockwell proofs
every knife to verify its steel quality.
The big cat is coming back with a
roar.” Booth #3249. (913-888-5524;
pumaknifecompanyusa.com)
f e at u r e
Remington has
designed a new
caliber—the 30
Remington AR—
for its lightweight
R-15 rifle, making
it a legitimate
deer gun in any
part of the
whitetail’s range.
The Modern
Deer Hunter
There’s a new player in town, one
that can offer the deer hunter a
brand-new experience By Doug Howlett
H
itting the range for a quick check of a scope’s alignment is
a camp ritual for sportsmen arriving on their first day of
an outfitted hunt. Often, the guides on hand will tag
along, not so much to check out the type of firearm the hunters
will be using, but more to take stock of their clients’ abilities
with that firearm. Most of the time, the guides politely hang
back out of the way, maintaining an appearance of indifference,
quietly sizing up their week ahead and maybe offering to hang
a fresh target or two.
But last year at Live Oak Hunting
Lodge in El Dorado, Texas, the
sight-in session wasn’t typical. The
hunters there were gathered to try
out Remington’s new R-25—a beefier alternative to its R-15—which is
built on an AR platform and lobs
deer-crushing .308-caliber bullets
over the smaller .20-caliber rounds of
its little cousin. Like the Viagra commercial in which the wife suddenly
takes notice of her dolt of a husband
when he arrives home on a Harley,
the guides were suddenly more interested in their hunters’ guns than in
their hunters. It was obvious, despite
the fervent embracing of ARs by
shooting enthusiasts and the predator-hunting community, that these
rifles were still far from commonplace in deer camp.
As the hunters ensured their sights
were dead-on and took time to learn
more about the operation of the
guns (for a number of us, it was the
first time using an AR-style rifle),
some of the guides edged in closer to
get a look. With almost shy, curious
smiles, a few finally asked if they
could shoot them.
Indeed, even as AR manufacturers
struggle to keep up with demand—if
you want a fully tricked-out model,
you can expect to wait at least six
months to get it—because of a military-friendly and savvy shooting public and the specter of a gun-grabbing
Obama administration, one of the
big questions among makers and
dealers remains: As interest in ARs
expands beyond the shooting community to more and more hunters,
how do you attract that largest segment of game-pursuing sportsmen,
the whitetail deer hunter? Courtesy
of some new caliber offerings and
that ever-growing wave of interest,
we’re about to find out. Perhaps
more important to dealers is how
much potential lies out there. At least
one manufacturer, Remington, is
betting that it’s a lot.
Gun of the People
When renowned outdoor writer Jim
Zumbo made statements condemning the AR as an unacceptable hunting rifle in a now infamous blog post,
few people realized at the time that
what he actually did was open a dialogue among hunters and shooters
that had largely gone unexamined. At
the center of that sometimes uncivil,
often irrational discussion was, “Does
the AR deserve legitimacy in the
fields and forests of America?” For
that, manufacturers and fans of this
“modern sporting rifle” (MSR) probably owe Zumbo a good bit of
thanks, for his ire-provoking comments among AR aficionados
spawned numerous magazine and
newspaper articles that looked at the
pros and cons of both sides of the
issue, and forced many sportsmen,
sporting writers and outdoors-television hosts to deliberately think out
their positions on the topic. In the
end, it was a process that proved to
be very supportive of the AR.
One fact that cannot be denied is
that even the classic sporting arms
that more traditional-minded hunters
prefer had their genesis in military
use. The lever-action deer rifle, popularized in Westerns and still carried
by some hunters today, began as the
Henry Repeating Rifle of the Civil
War era. That gun’s popularity eventually gave way to the more versatile
and accurate bolt-action, which had
its beginnings in the battle-tested
rifle design of Paul Mauser.
With thousands of M-16-toting
soldiers returning from the Vietnam
war in the late 1960s and ’70s, interest in modern sporting rifles was
born. But it wasn’t until the post9/11 actions of our military in both
Afghanistan and Iraq—where so
many of our reservist fathers, brothers and friends have been called to
duty—that the rifle truly rose to
prominence as a consumer item.
Combine that with the fear of a gungrabbing administration in a White
House backed by a Democratcontrolled Congress and anti-gun
media, and MSR manufacturers have
found themselves at the center of the
perfect consumer storm.
Defining a Market
Until recently, most of the hunting
interest surrounding AR-style rifles,
better known for their .223-caliber
configuration, has come from the
predator and varmint hunting communities. A need for light-recoiling,
fast-cycling, quick-cooling and versatile rifles makes this design an
ideal match for this type of hunting.
And while interest in both target
guns and predator hunting has
grown in lockstep, the Holy Grail of
hunting niches remains the whitetail
hunting crowd. The number of deer
hunters dwarfs all other types of
hunting combined.
Although .223 is a legal caliber for
deer in some states, even where it is
permitted, few people would recommend it for deer hunting. A quick
look at any gun/hunting message
board will find its proponents as a
viable deer caliber, but those proponents are few and far between. The
caliber simply lacks the reliable
velocity and knockdown power needed for large game.
f e at u r e
Remington’s
communication
director, Linda
Powell, took the
largest buck of
the hunt, which
was organized to
showcase the
fun and performance of shooting the new R-25.
In late 2008, shortly after Remington introduced
the R-15—a camo hunting rifle built on the AR
platform and benefiting from the designs of
recently acquired sister companies Bushmaster and
DPMS Panther Arms—it introduced the R-25,
designed to cycle three popular short-action cartridges for deer hunting: the .243, the 7mm/08
Rem. and the .308 Win. It was an express move to
bring more deer hunters into the AR fold.
“ARs are becoming embedded in hunters’ minds
now, but that interest has still been limited by the
availability of calibers,” says Remington’s Linda
Powell. “We’re changing that.”
The R-25 is built on the slightly heavier AR-10
platform—heavier by nearly 2 pounds, to be
exact—which helps dampen some of the increased
recoil inherent in the more powerful round.
“The guy familiar with an AR format can
transition more easily to the heavier format,”
says Powell. “Still, some guys want to stick with
the lighter rifle. Both are extremely fun and easy
to shoot.”
While Remington is a newcomer with big-game
ARs, both Bushmaster and DPMS have offered
models for several years, Bushmaster with its .450
rifle and DPMS with its Panther LR Series of
rifles in .243, .260 Rem., .308 and .338 calibers.
Still, Bushmaster’s and DPMS’s consumer base
remains more focused on traditional AR products,
whereas Remington’s is decidedly hunter-oriented.
As such, Remington may be in a better position
to more quickly move the market in what appears
to be its inevitable direction, in which ARs become
as commonplace as more traditional hunting rifles
due to consumer demand.
This move benefits Bushmaster and DPMS, as
well as Rock River, ArmaLite and others, all of
whom make ARs in calibers suitable for big game.
Remington quite simply has ready mechanisms in
place to quickly reach the deer hunting world.
These other companies’ marketing efforts have
never been as ramped up toward that audience.
Betting Big on a New Rifle
Both the R-15 and R-25 have been well received
by hunters, and it was on that Texas deer hunt
that the R-25 proved itself to be a more-thancapable deer gun—and darn fun to shoot to boot.
It’s safe to say, several writers in attendance
became converts to this type of rifle, myself
included. I took three deer in as many days
with my R-25 chambered in .308, including an
11-point walking 90 yards away, a head-shot doe
at 76 yards and another antlerless deer across a
field 150 yards away. None of those deer ran a
step after being hit.
On the heels of the R-25’s success, Remington is
now introducing a new chambering for the R-15,
the brand-new 30 Remington AR. The gun hit the
shelves in September. But don’t think of this as a
step back or away from the R-25. It’s really about
offering more options.
“This is just the next step in the evolution of
these rifles,” says Powell. The 30 Remington AR
offers ballistic performance similar to the .308,
all delivered in the more compact, lighterweight R-15.
“This is a bona fide hunting caliber that legitimizes the R-15 as a big-game rifle,” says Powell.
With bolt-action rifle sales soft right now, and AR
interest through the roof, she sees the company
putting itself in position not only to sell rifles to
deer hunters interested in the rifles, but to actually
grow interest in the rifles for the benefit of hunters and, ultimately, their dealers.
When asked if the interest is genuinely there
among deer hunters, Powell says, “Put it this way:
We see enough interest that we are placing a lot of
emphasis on these guns right now.”
Selling to Hunters
Robert Marcus has long found a ready audience
for AR-style rifles at his store, Bob’s Gun Shop,
which is a landmark in Norfolk, Virginia, home to
the largest naval base in the world.
“We’re in a Navy town, so interest in these guns
has always been high,” says Marcus. Despite the
longtime interest, however, he says he hasn’t seen
anything like the demand for these guns that he’s
seeing now. And he is not surprised that
Remington wants to grab a piece of this market.
“The Model 700 is one of the best-selling deer
rifles of all time,” he says. “Remington recognizes
that people like change, so it is always working to
design something that will pique the consumer’s
interest. If it’s anything military-style right now,
it is selling. If it is a traditional-type hunting gun,
it’s not.”
The AR-10, in its heavier calibers, has been the
big seller for those guys wanting an AR for deer.
“The .308 has been an interest for some time,”
he says.
It makes good business sense for dealers to
harness the current interest in modern sporting
rifles and parlay that into sales to the huge deer
hunter market.
f e at u r e
Savage 220F
Slug guns for
deer have come
a long way in the
accuracy department. Savage’s
take on the
concept is a
20-gauge boltaction, built on
the 110 rifle
action and stock.
The result is an
incredibly accurate, very affordable gun that
kicks a whole lot
less than a
12-gauge.
Savage’s ShoulderFriendly Alternative
This 20-gauge bolt-action delivers big results in an
easy-to-handle package By Slaton L. White
S
hotguns for deer have come a long way. Those of us who grew up lobbing pumpkin balls
through smooth bores are continually struck by the astounding accuracy of a modern sabot
slug and rifled barrel. The problem? Throwing an ounce of lead downrange isn’t exactly
shoulder-friendly. As a result, hunters don’t spend as much time at the range as they should, and
new hunters (especially youth and women) are repelled by the recoil of a 12-gauge, especially
when they pull the trigger on a 3-inch shell.
The solution, then, is to downsize.
Though some of the old guard
might look on a 20-gauge slug gun
as “kid stuff,” the 20-gauge is, nevertheless, a viable deer-getter. It is
an excellent choice for many hunters, especially since some ammo
companies are now marketing premium 20-gauge sabot slugs.
When Savage Arms looked at the
issue, the manufacturer didn’t want
to enter an already-crowded market
with just another slug gun. So, it
opted for a bolt-action platform that
could deliver the accuracy for which
Savage is known.
“The bolt-action shotgun is a
niche market,” says marketing manager Bill Dermody. “Now that may
imply small, but done right, it can
be profitable.”
The key here is to control develop-
ment expenses. That’s why the new
gun—the 220F—is offered only in
20-gauge. “The reason for this is that
we can use the 110 rifle action and
stock,” Dermody says. “We didn’t
have to go out and create all new
product here. Those kinds of savings
can be passed on to the consumer.”
No kidding. This is a gun that
lists for $500, and will sell for less
than that.
A Light Tap
Dermody also notes that building the
gun on a true rifle platform makes
the action inherently more stable,
and thus far more accurate than that
of a shotgun. “I also like the fact that
you can mount a scope directly to
the receiver rather than having to use
a cantilever,” he says.
If the performance of the boltaction I shot last summer is any indication of what a deer hunter can
expect in the field, Savage has itself a
winner. I didn’t bother to measure the
groups at 100 yards, but the first three
shots hit the center of the target, and
two of the holes were touching. At
200 yards, though the spread was
much greater, all three were still inside
an 8-inch target, to which Dermody
simply says, “Dead deer. This is a true
150-yard slug gun for deer.”
Of equal importance, I shot 15
times in a row, both on and off the
bench, just to see how my shoulder
would feel. Instead of the teethrattling shoulder pounding so
common with 12-gauge slug recoil,
all I felt was a light tap, attributable, in part, to a nicely designed
factory recoil pad.
The 220F slug gun features a tworound detachable box magazine and
is chambered for 3-inch shells. It also
features the company’s reknowned
AccuTrigger, as well as a free-floating, button-rifled barrel, controlledround feed bolt with oversize bolt
handle and swivel studs. The receiver
is drilled and tapped for a scope.
More For Less
Dermody says that Savage will
attach a hang tag to the gun noting
the recommended ammo. “This gun
is incredibly accurate with the right
ammo,” he says. “We patterned it
with Remington AccuTip—both
2¾- and 3-inch—and 3-inch
Federal Barnes Expander. The
retailer really needs to impress
upon the customer the importance
of using this ammo to get the
results the gun is capable of.”
Though Savage will continue to
offer a 12-gauge bolt-action (the
210F), Dermody says, “This gun is
not built on the same receiver as
our rifles, so we don’t get the same
economies of scale as we do with
our 20-gauge. In fact, the suggested
list price of the 20-gauge is $130
less than the 12-gauge—and the
12-gauge doesn’t have the
AccuTrigger or a detachable magazine. So, really, you get more for
less with the 20.”
More for less? In this economy,
that sounds like a formula for success. Booth #14331. (866-233-4776;
savagearms.com)
news
Online Training
Helps Sales
Manufacturers and retailers alike have a
huge stake in an educated sales force. But
all too often, potential customers encounter a clueless associate who tries to bluff
his way through to a sale. While that tactic
might have worked a generation ago, these
days younger, Web-savvy customers have
already conducted basic research before
they even walk through the door. If the guy
behind the counter starts blowing smoke,
they simply bail. And the damage doesn’t
end there, either—you can bet he’ll tell his
buddies to stay away.
But that very same Internet can also help
retailer stay in the game—by providing
product seminars.
Six years ago, Swarmbuilder, a Utahbased operation that specializes in wordof-mouth advertising services and online
training, launched 3point5.com, a site that
focuses on training retail sales professionals. The idea was to provide a low-cost—
and far more compelling—alternative to
paper, VCR or DVD training. It worked. The
site has grown exponentially in the intervening years and now boasts more than
130 outdoor-related brands.
One of the reasons for the site’s success is that it employs what it calls a
“gaming” style of learning. In other words,
it’s more like play than work, and when
you make something fun, people will
spend more time with it. There’s a financial incentive as well. Those who successfully complete the interactive tutorials
qualify for insider discounts.
“I’m huge on having the guys behind
the counter know our products,” says
Tiffany Hackenmiller, marketing coordinator for Crimson Trace Corp. “It’s especially
important when we introduce new products like the MVF Green Modular Vertical
Foregrip [below].”
But, she notes, Crimson Trace doesn’t
have the manpower to visit individual
retailers. “That’s why the site is so important. Manufacturers no longer have to go to
retailers—retailers come to them. And
bottom line: Retailers push the product
they know.” Booth #3720. (3point5.com)
Bogs Blaze MT
Insulated rubber boots
that don’t breathe trap
moisture. The resulting
wet foot will chill in cold
weather, and a hunter
distracted by cold feet is
not hunting effectively.
The solution is to create
a design that allows
moist air to escape,
which is exactly what
the Blaze MT does.
Bogs’ New Boot
Beats Cold Feet
Insulation is only part of the story. The real
issue is also getting rid of the moisture
T
here are many times when insulated rubber boots are a necessity, but they definitely have a downside: They do not breathe, which leads to sweaty feet. That’s
less of a problem for a hunter who keeps on the move, but it’s certainly an issue
for anyone who sits a spell; the downtime simply gives all that trapped moisture a
chance to chill the feet.
Bogs Boots has tackled the problem head-on
and is unveiling its antidote to cold feet at the
SHOT Show. The breakthrough is the new
Model 52115 Blaze MT men’s tall rubber boot in
Mossy Oak camo.
In a nutshell, water can’t get in, but perspiration
can get out.
“We don’t claim it’s totally breathable,” says Bogs
President Bill Combs, “but tests show that it definitely moves enough moisture to keep your feet dry,
thanks to a panel of MT material across the middle
of the boot.”
Letting Air Out
MT is Bogs’ patented Moisture Transfer technology, which is the key to this performance. It solves
the perspiration problem that leads to wet feet,
cold or hot, by letting air out in the arch area.
This is effective because most of the heat created
in feet is behind the metatarsal bones, just in front
of the arch. So, more air is let out with the waterproof, breathable neoprene.
Combs also says that another significant advan70 ■ Shot Business Daily ■ day 2, January 20, 2010
tage is the boot’s four-way stretch shaft. Since rubber does not stretch, Bogs uses neoprene in the
shaft to allow more give and a more comfortable fit.
Still another important aspect to the design is the
unique last (the contour of the footbed and shape of
the boot), which Combs describes as “kind of a
banana shape.” This is for a good reason: You rock
from heel to toe when you walk, hike or jog, and
this boot shape helps that motion, cuts down on
shock from impact, and “just feels nice and supportive all day long.”
Cold Comfort
The new Blaze MT is the latest of many new
boots from Bogs, combining all the features
hunters want: maximum comfort in a rugged,
durable boot that is both waterproof and breathable, so feet stay warm and dry, no matter what the
conditions. They are comfort-rated from temperate to sub-zero conditions (-40 degrees F), and
have the added advantage of a self-cleaning lug
outsole. SRP: $120. Booth #11151. (800-4852070; bogsfootwear.com)
news
Redfield
Andy York,
Redfield’s vice
president of
sales and
marketing, says
that the new
Revolution
riflescope is
designed to
deliver quality
optics at an
affordable price.
The Return of Redfield
With the acquisition of Redfield, Leupold moves to create an
entry-level line of American-built riflescopes By Slaton L. White
F
ounded by John Hill Redfield in 1909, the Redfield Gun
Sight Company equipped generations of American hunters
with affordable, quality optics and shooting accessories.
When the company closed its doors in 1998, it was truly the end
of an era. Since then, the brand has suffered in purgatory as a
succession of owners failed to successfully revive the business.
But two years ago, Leupold & Stevens—which not only understood the incredible potential of the Redfield brand, but was
willing to invest the time and money necessary for Redfield to
rise from the ashes—purchased the name, as well as all the intellectual property associated with Redfield Optics. (Mounts, however, remain with another manufacturer.) That done, Leupold
threw the full weight of its design and marketing acumen into
the project. You can see the result, the Revolution riflescope, at
the Redfield booth.
“Redfield will be a complete line
of affordable, quality optics that
appeals to American hunters,” says
Andy York, Redfield’s vice president
of sales and marketing. “For example, the Revolution is an ideal
choice for the whitetail deer hunter
who wants a ‘best in class’
American-made riflescope for
around $130. All the new Redfield
products will have a cool edge to
them in terms of look and feel, and
they will offer quality and performance that hunters can depend on.”
One of the key factors in Leupold’s
decision to build the Revolution was
market research that indicated the
Redfield brand still resonated strongly
with hunters and shooters. “The
Redfield brand has been tossed
around like a ping-pong ball,” York
says. “And even though it hasn’t been
sold in ten years, our research showed
that the Redfield brand is still well
known.” But, York notes, nostalgia
alone won’t cut it. “These days, it’s all
about value. And that’s something we
think the Revolution delivers.”
The Revolution comes in
2–7x33mm, 3–9x40mm, 3–9x50mm
and 4–12x40mm models, each with a
black matte finish and either a 4-Plex
or Accu-Range reticle. Key features
include an Illuminator Lens System
with premium lenses and coatings
designed to provide superior light
transmission, an Accu-Trac adjustment system with resettable precision
stainless-steel ¼ MOA finger click
adjustments and the Rapid Target
Acquisition (RTA) lockable eyepiece.
In addition, the Accu-Range reticle
provides hold points to 500 yards for
simple, long-range shooting precision.
In the Family
“The Revolution is the only choice
in its class for those who want a
name-brand riflescope that is not
made overseas,” York says. “We are
especially proud that Revolution
riflescopes are built in our Oregon
facility by American workers. They
embody the soul of the American
hunter, and their craftsmanship is
second to none. Our workers’ skill,
hunting backgrounds and experience,
combined with state-of-the-art
design, manufacturing, assembly and
testing techniques, makes the
Revolution an outstanding riflescope
in every way.”
York adds that the Revolution utilizes a nitrogen-filled 1-inch maintube that is waterproof, fogproof and
shockproof. “We use the same
impact testers and the same waterproof-testing procedures that we use
on Leupold scopes,” he says. “We
didn’t build the Revolution at a different level.” That’s why, he says, the
new Redfield offers a full lifetime
warranty, though the warranty
applies only to those scopes manufactured at the Leupold facility.
(Leupold did not assume the former
Redfield warranty and does not service previous Redfield products.)
The Revolution is an entry-level
product designed to get the buyer
into the Leupold family, where, it is
hoped, he will at some point move
up to the higher-priced line. In that
sense the strategy is akin to what
General Motors did so successfully
for so many years by starting a buyer
with a Chevrolet and then gradually
moving him up through the line,
hopefully topping out at Cadillac.
GM’s tagline in those years was, “A
car for every purpose and purse.”
The Revolution also will be
accompanied by a full line of optics.
Though imported, Rebel and
Renegade binoculars, Rampage spotting scopes and Raider rangefinders
are designed, built and tested according to Redfield’s specifications.
“We’re doing this to meet the
demand of buyers who prefer to
carry a full line sourced from a single
manufacturer,” York says.
The Real McCoy
Leupold CEO Tom Fruechtel says,
“This scope is made in Beaverton,
and we’re very proud of that. We’ve
put a lot of time and effort into the
rebirth of this brand.” Fruechtel also
says the company greatly benefits
from family ownership, now in its
fifth generation. “We have patient
capital,” he says. “We invest for the
long-term, and that’s a big advantage
for the management team.”
He is obviously proud to say that
Leupold employs 650 people in
Beaverton, many of whom “have
been with us for a long time. That
gives us a very stable, highly motivated workforce,” a plus for any company engaged in a highly competitive
market. But Fruechtel also believes
Leupold has one more strong point.
“We’re the real McCoy,” he says.
“We know what we’re good at, and
we stick with it. We believe there is
real value in being ablel to say, ‘Made
in the USA.’”
A lot of hunters and shooters
would agree. Booth #12515. (877798-9686; redfield.com)
news
The new
Women’s Edition
Outdoor Kit has
been specially
assembled to
provide first-aid
items of most
use to women.
Think Pink?
Think Again
A
dventure Medical Kits (AMK) believes it knows what
women really want in a first-aid kit. How? “Because we
actually asked them what they wanted,” says AMK marketing director Frank Meyer. “We surveyed two hundred women
of all ages before we sat down to create the Women’s Edition
Outdoor Medical Kit. It was an item that was long overdue.”
Meyer notes that one of the key
findings was that women do not want
a pink kit.
“It’s actually kind of condescending, when you think about it,” says
director of public relations Simon
Ashdown. “Just coloring a product
pink doesn’t make it useful or even
relevant to women.”
The new Women’s Edition
Outdoor Kit allows women to take
the amenities they depend on at
home into the backcountry in a sturdy but lightweight nylon bag. “The
kit features all of the hospital-quality
wound care, medications and instructional materials that AMK is famous
for providing, plus components that
will help women when they’re hours
or days away from the nearest drugstore,” says Meyer.
Included in the kit are applicatorfree tampons with odor-proof disposable bags, medicines for treating
menstrual cramps, upset stomach and
headaches, and skin care and female
hygiene items such as Blistex, alcohol-free Adventure Hand Sanitizer
and compact Adventure Towels.
“Women have unique health and
hygiene needs that aren’t addressed
by currently available unisex firstaid kits,” says Meyer. “That’s why
our new kit contains instructional
materials and components to treat
these needs as well as the most
common injuries and ailments that
women are likely to encounter
while in the outdoors.”
Easy Care
The surveys AMK conducted in
developing the kit revealed that
women place a higher value on
hygiene items, menstrual medications
and quality first-aid components than
on such nonessentials as sewing kits
and mirrors. With that in mind,
AMK included A Comprehensive
Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine,
Third Edition (written by Eric A.
Weiss, M.D., Associate Director of
Trauma at Stanford University
Medical Center), which contains
chapters on first-aid emergencies
specific to women.
Like many of AMK’s medical kits,
the Women’s Edition Kit features the
Easy Care system, which organizes
components into injury-specific compartments, allowing for quick retrieval of materials needed during an
emergency. AMK also has added hospital-grade items for treating blisters
and wounds, instruments for removing ticks and medications for alleviating pain and allergic reactions. SRP:
$40. Booth #616. (800-324-3517;
adventurekits.com) —Slaton L. White
news
ATI’s line of adjustable
(four-position) shotgun
stocks lets shooters get
a more accurate fit—
and a gun that fits
better will shoot better.
ATI Adjusts for Its Customers
A
dvanced Technology International (ATI) is introducing a new generation of
shotgun stocks and forends, and the key component is an adjustable stock that
makes those guns equipped with it far more versatile hunting tools.
“We’re taking a different perspective from another industry,” says ATI co-owner and CEO John
Chvala, who was in the auto industry before purchasing ATI with Eric Pfleger in 2008. “Different
shooters have different arm lengths, which gives
them different lengths of pull. In addition, a person’s length of pull will change depending on how
thick and heavy his clothing is.”
ATI’s new adjustable hunting stock adjusts to
four positions, from 12 3⁄8 inches to 14 3⁄8 inches,
with the push of a button, making it possible to
make adjustments without gunsmithing tools. This
new stock and forend fits the 12- and 20-gauge
Remington 870, Maverick 88, Winchester
1200/1300 and Mossberg 500/590 models. For
added comfort when shooting, the stocks incorporate neoprene cheek rests and a recoil-reducing
buttpad with a non-slip surface, and the forend has
been ergonomically tailored with a non-slip grip.
Another advantage to this system is that it
enables youth shooters to enjoy the benefits of a
properly fitted gun. “Our goal is to make the most
universal product we can,” says Chvala, “but lighter, stronger and more tightly toleranced.”
That light weight and additional strength come
from its DuPont reinforced polymer materials—
materials that Chvala comes to without the preconceptions of much of the gun-buying public. “In
the shooting-sports industry, aluminum is known
as a premium product,” he says. “But we can go a
lot lighter and still have the strength.”
Chvala points out that the auto industry has had
great success with synthetic materials for years.
“Intake manifolds are glass-filled nylon now. So are
door handles on Mercedes Benzes and BMWs. I
don’t think people understand how strong that
material is. It’s actually stronger than aluminum. At
this point, making the material stronger is the easy
news
part; beating the preconceptions is the tougher job.”
From a dealer’s perspective, another standout
feature of the adjustable hunting stocks is their
packaging. ATI gunstocks are sold in durable,
high-quality boxes that present the stocks in the
best possible setting. Here, Chvala again found
inspiration in another industry.
“Even before I owned ATI, when I bought my
first Apple iPhone—just opening the box and feeling the drag as I slid the product out, I could tell it
was a quality product before I ever saw it,” he says.
“I copied the feel of that Apple packaging. A lot of
the time you see stocks in these plastic clamshells—here are these high-end products that look
like my kid’s airsoft products. I wanted to stand
out in that group. I didn’t want to be the next
clamshell in the row. With our packaging, I wanted to make sure you could see and touch the stock,
and take it out and put it back easily, without the
product looking like it’d been pawed through.”
And the high-end packaging has paid off. “It’s
gone over even better than I expected,” he says. “I
was at a local gun store the other day, and the
owner was impressed with our packaging. Dealers
really love it, and we’ve gotten better positioning
because of it.”
“The SHOT Show is like Christmas day for us,”
says Chvala. “We’ve got a brand-new booth that
no one’s ever seen before, so that’s exciting. Plus
we’ll be showing off a new camo process that is
industry-changing.”
That process is DyeHard, an exclusive technique
that injects any camp pattern 40 microns deep into
the synthetic stock. “The pattern is literally in the
plastic,” says Chvala. “It’s like a tattoo.”
The camo patterns have unprecedented durability. When tested with a Taber abraser, a machine
that tests industrial materials for abrasion-resistance, the DyeHard process lived up to its name.
“Most camo is gone after one hundred rubs,” he
says. “We’ve taken ours up to ten thousand rubs,
and it’s still there.”
Any digital image can be used for the DyeHard
pattern, says Chvala. “If you’re hunting in a specific area, take a digital photo of that area and send
us the image, and we can put it on your gun.
Anybody who’s currently using glass-filled nylon
ATI creates top-notch
packaging—in this case,
cardboard rather than
plastic clamshell—to
improve the customer’s
all-important perception of the product.
can purchase the materials and send us the parts,
and we can decorate it for them.”
What’s more, ATI has just unveiled a new section on its website where buyers can mix and
match barrels with stocks and accessories, so they
can see exactly what their gun will look like before
ordering it.
It’s just one of the many ways ATI is making
adjustments for its customers. Booth #3855. (800925-2522; atigunstocks.com) —Rob Staeger
news
Crosman
Branches
Out
Crosman Corporation, best
known for air guns, recently
announced the formation of a
new operating unit—the
CenterPoint Hunting and
Outdoors Division. Initially, the
division will offer only archery
and optics products, but ultimately it will grow to include
a wider range of products
designed for the general hunting market.
“This move demonstrates
our increased dedication to,
and investment in, the hunting and outdoors marketplace,” said Crosman vice
president of sales Steve
Upham.
Given that the numbers of
hunters in this country isn’t
projected to dramatically
increase, what’s the business
rationale of the move?
First, Crosman is listening to
its customer base. “Our product development teams and
management have all listened
to our customers and are
responding with products that
answer their wants and
needs,” said national sales
manager Brad Webb.
Second, the product lines
scheduled to be introduced in
2010 not only are a response
to customer demand, but
address two fast-growing
segments of the industry:
predators and crossbows. The
explosion of predator populations—especially coyotes—
has created new, low-cost
hunting opportunities for
hunters across the country.
Crossbows are gaining ground
as well, despite opposition
from traditional archers,
because the implements
appeal to the increasing number of older bowhunters who
can no longer use compound
bows. Many state game
departments have also modified hunting regulations to
include crossbows, again to
get more hunters into the
woods during deer season.
CenterPoint will introduce
two new crossbows and a
new line of hunting scopes
designed especially for predator hunters. The idea, says
Webb, “is to deliver more of
what hunters need—power
and accuracy—while providing
cost-effective quality and performance.” Booth #13038.
(800-724-7486; crosman.com;
centerpointhunting.com) Remington’s
Brian Lasley with
the 20-gauge
version of the
11-87 Sportsman
Field. The semiauto will also be
available in
12-gauge.
Nice Gun, Nice Price
F
or all the emphasis these days on camo-covered composite
stocks, there’s still something to be said for the more traditional look of a nice wood stock. Brian P. Lasley,
Remington shotgun brand manager, feels so strongly about the
latter, he’s betting big that a return to a wood-stocked 11-87 will
net a nice payoff for the firearms manufacturer.
“The 11-87 Sportsman Field is our
first wood-and-blued-steel-barrel
autoloader since the 11-87 Premiere
was discontinued,” he said. “We felt
there was a need that wasn’t being
addressed.”
And though Lasley believed such a
product could be a success, he also
knew the new gun had to fall into a
far different price range than the
more expensive Premiere.
“Our core customer has been
demanding a gun like this, but at a
$700 to $800 price point,” he said.
“In that range, we feel our guy will
not only buy a gun for himself, but
he’ll also probably buy one for his
wife, son or daughter. That’s not
only good for Remington, but good
for the shooting industry.”
Lasley has also monitored dealer
demand as well. “We’ve been getting
a lot of calls from dealers asking,
‘Why can’t we get 11-87 Premiere at
that [$700 to $800] price range?’”
Though Lasley admits this is a gun
that will appeal most strongly to
Remington’s “blue-collar” mainstays,
he also believes that was no reason to
put out a cheap product.
“This is a gun any owner would be
proud to take to the gun club and
shoot a round of sporting clays,” he
said. “It looks nice, and more important, it feels nice.”
One of the reasons it looks nice is
an attention to detail you don’t often
see in a gun so affordably priced. An
example that leaps to mind is the
fleur-de-lis pattern on the forend.
“This is a traditional pattern last
seen on 870s and 1100s from the
1970s,” he said. “We found it in our
archives at Ilion. It had been handdrawn on paper, so we copied it to a
digital format for use on the new gun.”
A key difference, however, is the
process used to get that pattern on
the forend. In the past, the pattern
was machine-pressed, which is hardly
the stamp of “quality.” But the
updated pattern is now laser-etched,
which creates a high-relief, sharplooking image.
“It’s the closest to hand-checkering
you can get,” Lasley said.
Lasley also insisted on a satin, rather
than high-gloss, finish for the walnut
stock. “This is a field gun,” he said.
“Many owners of high-gloss-stock
guns worry about scratches and won’t
take the guns hunting. I want our guys
to get out and hunt with this gun.”
Which is exactly what Lasley and I
did last fall on a pheasant hunt in
South Dakota.
True to his word, the gun handled
nicely. In fact, I found myself favoring the 20-gauge over the 12-gauge
simply because, at 7 ¼ pounds, the
20-gauge can be carried all day.
When I noted how well it performed in the field, Lasley said,
“There’s nothing this nice in its price
range. And, it’s American-made.”
The 11-87 Sportsman Field will be
available in 12-gauge (28-inch ventrib barrels) and 20-gauge (26-inch
vent-rib barrels), each of which can
handle 2¾- and 3-inch shells. Both
models feature dual bead sights as
well as a nickel-plated bolt and a
gold trigger. SRP: $812. Booth
#13827. (800-243-9700; remington.
com) —Slaton L. White
news
Rocky’s New “Athletic” Footwear
R
ocky is introducing a new line of hunting footwear that
incorporates athletic styling and performance features
reminiscent of tennis shoes. Called the SilentStalker series,
this collection of footwear addresses the evolving needs of the
outdoors market, and the new generations taking the field.
“Everyone after the baby boomers
has grown up with a wide variety of
choices when it comes to footwear,”
said Sam Coalson, marketing manag-
Young hunters
want a boot that
performs and
feels more like a
sneaker. The
SilentStalker is
designed to meet
that need.
er for Rocky’s outdoor division.
“Now we have younger hunters who
aren’t satisfied with styles that
remind them of their grandfather’s
Rockys; they want a boot that performs and feels more like the sneakers they’ve worn their whole lives.”
The SilentStalker series, which
includes a sneaker, a hiker and an
8-inch boot, puts performance front
and center with super flexible outsoles
and feel that is similar to a shoe. The
collection is constructed of breathable, waterproof Gore-Tex Extended
Comfort fabric cast in Realtree AP
camouflage. All styles feature Rocky’s
SIQ Atomic scent-control system,
featherweight Ortholite dual-density
contoured footbed and an ultra-flexible two-part SilentStalker outsole.
SilentStalkers incorporate breathable athletic spacer mesh linings, and
are made of rip-stop performance
nylon, with an abrasion-resistant toe
and heel. SilentStalker styles will
retail between $125 and $160.
The new Gore Extended Comfort
technology promises to be a popular feature in the line. “For years,
athletic hunters have had to compromise when selecting their footwear, turning to tall, insulated
boots that are too heavy, rubber
boots that are too hot and don’t fit
well or hiking boots that were not
designed for hunting,” said Brian
Gallagher, Gore global marketing
strategist. “Gore-Tex Extended
Comfort hunting footwear is noninsulated for easy maneuverability but
still gives hunters the durably waterproof, breathable protection they
need so they can stay comfortable in
the field and stay focused to increase
their chance of success.”
“We’ll be working hand-in-hand
with Gore throughout the year on
special events, advertising and retail
promotions,” said Coalson. The marketing begins at SHOT. “The
SilentStalker boots are going to be
one of the primary focuses at our
booth,” he said. “It’ll probably be the
first thing we talk about and hopefully the first thing you’ll think of afterward. We also have Gore-Tex on
board. They’re going to feature the
boot at their booth to show off the
new Gore-Tex Extended Comfort
technology used in the SilentStalker.”
Coalson says dealers will see plenty
of evidence of Rocky’s support of the
new footwear. “Aside from the
booths,” he says “you’ll surely be seeing the SilentStalker in product
rooms and in advertising at SHOT.”
From there, it’s a short jump to the
feet of the next generation of hunters. Booth #10318. (740-753-9100;
rockybrands.com) —Rob Staeger
news
Fine-Tuning a Skilled Sales Staff
Product knowledge counts, but creating
customer trust is paramount By Peter B. Mathiesen
The staff at Capital
Guns, from left:
Stephanie Workman,
Brittany Workman and
owner Steve Swartz.
Swartz has found that
female sales associates
are more efficient
employees in that they
“engage our customers
in a way that no man
can—or simply won’t.”
W
ithin two seconds, Brittany
Workman, the counter manager
at Capital Guns in Springfield,
Illinois, had the slide off of the Springfield
XDM. Then she said to the customer,
“Now this gun is a snap to take apart.”
The six-foot-tall 50-year-old man looked at the
five-foot four-inch 24-year-old female and said,
“I’ve been to five places, and you were the only
person who could take this gun apart—and you
never even looked at the firearm. I’ll take it.”
This is just one of the stories that store owner
Steve Swartz shared about one member of his allfemale sales crew. After running through an endless number of ill-suited male employees, Swartz,
proprietor of a 1,000-square-foot store that sells
firearms exclusively, has slowly made the transition
to an all-female sales force.
“Women listen, train and engage our customers in
a way that no man can—or simply won’t,” he says.
“I love what I do, and live for learning more
about guns,” Workman says. The former telemarketer, who previously sold travel packages to
Branson, Missouri, says that she listens to a customer carefully before she ever makes any suggestions. Once she feels ready to close the sale, she’ll
walk the customer through the product step by
step, based on the customer’s comfort.
Workman says she backs off instinctively if she
feels resistance, but the goal is to earn the trust
and respect of the customer. “Once a customer
knows and trusts what I’m saying, the sale is
closed,” she says.
Swartz has noticed several unique benefits to
hiring and training his new crew. The easy
assumption is that he hired women in order to
attract more women shooters. But that isn’t the
case. To date, the store has seen a greater impact
in capturing first-time male gun buyers in their
twenties.
“These guys often come in after visiting a couple of the less-than-friendly stores in town.
They’re wearing the scars of being ridiculed by a
callous, ‘crusty’ salesclerk,” he says. “But once
they get to our counter, they never leave without
buying a gun.”
Great Staff, Big Payoff
Last November, Workman’s younger sister,
Stephanie, replaced “the last non-engaging male.”
What Swartz sees behind the counter now are
more than just young ladies that attract loyal customers. His vision is to build a great sales staff
with uncompromising product knowledge and
intuitive sales skills; in this case, they just happen
to be women. According to Swartz, “Brittany
could sell a gun to a guy—even if he was dead.”
Many firearm retailers consider inventory and
pricing the cornerstones of sales volume. It’s all
about moving product out the door as fast as
possible.
But this store owner sees fine-tuned employee
sales skills as the foundation to increasing customer loyalty and traffic. The strategy is clearly paying dividends. Since Swartz took over Capital
Guns a few years ago, sales have grown five-fold.
news
Rack ’Em Up
F
or firearms retailers, it’s standard operating procedure to
display new long guns vertically against a wall behind low
glass cases that contain handguns, knives, optics, GPS systems and other high-end merchandise. This lineup provides a
measure of security, but it also requires the presence of a sales
associate if a customer actually wants to inspect a gun to check its
heft and feel. That’s all well and good, as long as the customer is
truly intent on a purchase, but it often ties up a salesperson with
someone who is merely a tire kicker.
To address that problem, Gander Mountain
recently restructured the merchandising and layout of its firearms departments. It’s a concept from
which the independent dealer should also be able
to benefit.
The chain has initiated a central “corral” design
that consists of a rectangular glass counter in the
middle of the department that holds handguns as
well as odds and ends such as knives and optics.
The long guns are still displayed vertically in double racks along the wall (or walls, depending on
the size of the store), but they are now within easy
reach of a customer. It’s a secure system, as each
long gun is tethered to the rack securely with a
flexible, coated spring coil.
“We did this to allow customers more time to
browse and look at guns without being pressured
into making a buying decision,” said Gander
Mountain visual merchandising manager Joe
Kamleiter. “It also frees up our sales associates to
help other customers who have a more immediate need.”
Assistant manager
Derek Holmes shoulders a shotgun from the
new rack system at
Lansing, Michigan’s
Gander Mountain. The
new racks are designed
to give customers better
access to the firearms.
In addition to the benefits listed above, the system also allows a customer to see more merchandise with less effort. However, this new “touchyfeely” program raises an important question: If the
new guns are available for anyone to pick up and
feel, are the guns really “new” anymore?
“We’ve found that while we may get an occasional nick in a gun, our customers treat our guns
with the same respect that they treat their own. It
hasn’t really been an issue at all,” said Derek
Holmes, assistant manager of the Lansing,
Michigan, Gander Mountain store.
Holmes also noted that his premium optics
inventory now rests in a much taller, higher-capacity glass case.
“Now customers don’t have to walk down six
glass cases to see our scopes and binoculars,” he
said. “In addition, we have our high-end firearms
in two freestanding glass cases, and all the used
rifles and shotguns are tethered in freestanding
racks away from the walls. Overall, the department is more customer-friendly, and it’s easier for
our sales associates to deliver better customer
service.” –William F. Kendy
news
HAVA Annual Family Day
Moves Into Second Year
A disabled veteran target
shoots during HAVA’s
second annual National
Family Day in San
Antonio, Texas.
H
onored American Veterans Afield (HAVA) hosted
the organization’s Second Annual National Family
Day last fall at the National Shooting Complex in
San Antonio, Texas. The event was attended by 89 disabled
veterans and an additional 57 family members, all of whom
enjoyed a day of shooting demonstrations, range time,
food, prizes and musical entertainment. Veterans and
active-duty military from across Texas and as far away as
Washington state participated in the event, which drew
both national and local support.
Twenty-three companies and organizations from within the shooting sports industry, including Crimson Trace, Yamaha USA, Smith
& Wesson and Remington, to name a few, supported the event along
with representatives from the Texas National Guard, Veterans of
Foreign Wars, Wounded Warriors Project, Brothers of Fallen
Heroes, Texas Paralyzed Veterans Association and the USA Shooting
Team. In all, more than 100 volunteers helped to assure that these
heroes and their families had a great day.
Attendees participated in range activities that featured eight stages
of fire, from pistols, shotguns and rifles to a cowboy stage hosted by
the Single Action Shooters Society. Children of the Wounded
Warriors were able to shoot an airsoft action course as well. The day
also featured a shooting exhibition by professionals Jerry Miculek
and Max Michel.
Humbling Experience
The event was capped off with a mini concert by country recording artist Mark Wills and a barbecue hosted by several area VFW
units. The evening festivities also featured a
raffle for the participants, where winners
walked away with various door prizes including
firearms from Smith & Wesson, Remington
and a USA Shooting Ruger 10-22 autographed
by the entire USA Shooting Team.
HAVA was formed to raise awareness and further assist disabled veterans with their healing
process through guided hunts, shooting competitions and other outdoor activities. “Our mission
to serve these American Heroes was accomplished on all fronts,” says Tom Taylor, HAVA
chairman. “In our second year of hosting this
event, we more than doubled the number of participants and had a tremendous outpouring of
volunteer support from the industry and other
organizations. We were asked many times if we
plan to host a Third Annual Event, and we have
committed to do so on November 13, 2010.”
“Yamaha is proud to be a founding member of
HAVA and to have the opportunity to support its
mission and activities like the National Family
Day,” said Steve Nessl from Yamaha’s ATV and
Side-by-Side group. “It’s exciting to see HAVA
continue to grow and reach more veterans. This
year’s National Family Day was a great success,
and we encourage everyone at the SHOT Show
to stop by the HAVA booth to learn more about
the organization and how they might help.”
“I had the honor of representing Crimson
Trace at the event,” says marketing director
Travis Noteboom. “I’ve watched HAVA grow
from an idea within the shooting industry to an
organization that touches and improves the lives
of disabled vets around the nation. It is truly the
most humbling experience I’ve ever had. We
owe these veterans a debt that can never be adequately repaid, but we need to continue to make
installments whenever possible.” Booth #L235
(honoredveteran.org)
news
Delta Apparel, Realtree Join Forces
A
s more young women take up hunting, a demand for casual clothing that mirrors that enthusiasm is created, and
being told to look in the boy’s department for something
that fits is no longer an option for a retailer who wants to court
this lucrative and growing market. Delta Apparel and Jordan
Outdoor Enterprises recently entered into a licensing agreement
that should help retailers increase their share of the young women’s market. Delta Apparel is now the exclusive marketer and
producer of Realtree Girl and Realtree Outfitters casual apparel
and headwear.
The Realtree Girl and Realtree Outfitters collections will feature a broad
range of fashion apparel providing outdoor enthusiasts with trendy casual
Delta Apparel and
Realtree are looking
to mine the growing
interest among young
women in hunting
with two collections
of casual apparel.
clothing. Realtree Girl, launched in
2006, offers a broad range of casual
clothing, including T-shirts, cargo
shorts, hooded sweatshirts and jeans,
that reflect a young woman’s love of
the outdoors. A full line of Realtree
Outfitters casual apparel and headwear was launched last fall. These
collections will be sold through a
range of distribution channels,
including outdoor retailers, sportinggoods stores and department stores.
Robert W. Humphreys, chairman
and CEO of Delta Apparel, Inc.,
said, “We are eager to partner with
Realtree on this exciting new venture. Realtree is the leading brand in
camouflage patterns, and we believe
this agreement represents the ideal
vehicle for our entree into the outdoor marketplace. We are confident
that our combined expertise will
allow us to successfully open new
channels of distribution, attract new
customers and provide meaningful
growth opportunities into the
future.”
The agreement also gives Delta
Apparel non-exclusive use of the
Realtree and Team Realtree brands
for casual apparel and headwear. In
addition, the company is assuming
fulfillment responsibilities for
Realtree’s e-commerce store,
RealStore (realtree.com/store).
“For many years, all of us at
Realtree have worked diligently to
bring value to the Team Realtree,
Realtree Outfitters and Realtree Girl
brands,” said Realtree founder and
president Bill Jordan. “Now we look
forward to working closely with
Delta Apparel as their team delivers
these casual lifestyle brands to a larger and broader market. Realtree will
continue to develop the world’s most
effective camouflage patterns—
including our fashion camo colors,
which are great for team sports and
other casual applications—and promote the Realtree patterns and
brands through all of the various
multi-media channels we employ,
including our association with
NASCAR’s top drivers such as Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Stewart. The
Delta team is renowned for its ability
to deliver brands to market.
Realtree’s relationship with Delta’s
newest business, To the Game,
stretches back over 15 years, and our
close relationship and ability to work
together will certainly benefit all of
our partners, as well as the end consumer.” Booth #10642. (800-2854456; deltaapparel.com)
11/6/09 12:15 PM
news
A special edition
Remington Model 870
and a special edition
Savage Model 110 will
be auctioned off to
support the Hunting
Heritage Trust.
SHOT Show Auction
T
he Hunting Heritage Trust is a charitable organization created in 2002 by leaders
from hunting, conservation and shooting sports organizations. The concept for
the trust grew from the convictions of dedicated sportsmen who so strongly value
our American hunting traditions and firearm freedoms that they are committed to give
back to help protect this priceless heritage for future generations.
The trust’s mission is to provide the organization and means by which this dedication and
financial commitment can be channeled into
short-term action and a long-term endowment in
support of innovative programs and strategic
actions that will help perpetuate our hunting and
shooting sports heritage. One way to do that is to
create programs that generate funding, and the
SHOT Show Auction is designed to do just that.
The 2010 SHOT Show auction, administered
for the National Shooting Sports Foundation by
the Hunting Heritage Trust, will feature two very
special firearms. The guns will be available for
bidding exclusively at GunBroker.com. Bidding
began December 28th, 2009, and will run until
1 p.m., Friday, January 22, the closing day of the
SHOT Show.
2010 SHOT Show Shotgun
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accompanied millions of hunters into the field and
captured the respect and trust of countless sportsmen and sportswomen. Reaching the 10 million
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DATE
SIGNINGS
HANDLE COLOR
CHARITY
1/20
10 am – Noon
Pink
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
1/21
10 am – Noon
2 pm – 4 pm
Digital Camo
Digital Camo
Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project
1/22
10 am – Noon
Black
Catch-A-Dream Foundation
B o oth # 1311 2
production mark in April 2009, the Remington
Model 870 pump-action shotgun is the most popular shotgun ever made. And now, the 10 millionth
Model 870 sold will be featured as the 2010 SHOT
Show shotgun as the Model 870 begins its march
towards its next milestone.
The Hunting Heritage Trust, which coordinates
the SHOT Show auction for the National Shooting
Sports Foundation, suggested to Remington executives that the 10 millionth Model 870 would be a
terrific choice as the 2010 SHOT Show shotgun.
Remington agreed, thus providing thousands of
Model 870 fans with the opportunity to bid on this
truly historic firearm. The gun will carry the theme
of “The First of the Next 10,000,000.” It will be on
display at the Remington booth. The shotgun will
be tastefully and appropriately engraved by the artisans at Baron Engraving. Baron has engraved many
of the featured SHOT Show guns and knives over
the past several years.
According to president David Baron, “The oldest
record we can find of a richly engraved Model 870
milestone gun was the two millionth 870
Wingmaster engraved by well-know Remington
engraver Robert Runge in late 1973. We think it
appropriate to base our work on the original patterns used by Mr. Runge nearly four decades ago.”
Remington is America’s oldest gunmaker and has
proudly manufactured the Model 870 since its
introduction in 1950. Although Remington introduced many variations of the Model 870 throughout the years, to suit the specific needs of a wide
variety of users, including hunters, trap shooters,
left-handers and youth, as well as platforms
designed for use by law enforcement agencies and
military worldwide, the Model 870 has remained
true to its original design.
FEND FOR YOURSELF
®
12/16/09 9:25 AM
It has been called one of “The 50 Best Guns Ever
Made,” by Field & Stream magazine, and one of
“The World’s Greatest Deer Rifles,” by Outdoor Life.
In its 50 years of production, the Savage Model 110
has received countless accolades and developed an
army of loyal owners. And now the four millionth
Savage Model 110 will be recognized as the 2010
SHOT Show rifle.
One lucky collector will have the opportunity to
add the historic Serial Number 4,000,000 to his collection, if he is the high bidder for the rifle in the
2010 SHOT Show gun auction.
“Typically, a milestone firearm such as this would
be locked away in a company vault or presented to
a museum or a VIP,” said Savage CEO Ron
Coburn. “The Savage Model 110 has achieved its
popularity thanks to the support of millions of
hunters and shooters, and we wanted to provide
one of our loyal Model 110 fans with an opportunity to own this historic rifle.”
The special Model 110 will chambered, appropriately, in .300 Savage and hand-engraved by
Baron Engraving.
news
Zel Releases New Versions of the Tactilite
Zel Custom
Manufacturing’s
popular Tactilite
line appeals to
both budget-conscious consumers
and individuals
who want versatility and simplicity without overwhelming conversion or assembly
procedures.
L
ast summer, Zel Custom Manufacturing, which purchased the
Ultralite50 product line, released the Tactilite .50 BMG conversion kit (complete upper) for AR-style rifles. The Tactilite
improves on the classic Ultralite50 design by adding no-weld construction, a free-floating Lothar Walther barrel and a CeraKote
finish. Based on the success of the Tactilite .50, Zel Custom has
released new versions chambered in .338 Lapua and .416 Barrett,
and offers both in single-shot and magazine-fed actions.
The Tactilite is a complete upper
assembly that allows a user to
quickly, and without special tools,
convert a standard AR-15-style rifle
into a precision bolt-action rifle.
With prices starting at $1,498, the
Tactilite is designed to be a highly
affordable way for people to own a
precision long-range rifle.
Michael Brendzel, president of
Zel Custom Manufacturing, said,
“It’s an exciting product that’s new to
most AR owners and gun dealers.”
Brendzel noted four product attributes that ought to interest dealers,
which will be helpful in making a
sale and when explaining the
Tactilite’s broad appeal to consumers.
“First,” he says, “the Tactilite
doesn’t require a Form 4473, so it’s
a faster and easier sale for both the
customer and the staff. Second, it’s a
perfect product for the tactical customer that already has several of
these rifles and is looking for something new.” Brendzel also noted the
Tactilite’s appeal for law enforcement officers, saying, “Third, it’s a
very affordable way for consumers,
particularly police departments with
a limited budget, to have a .50 BMG
or .338 Lapua. Fourth, the Tactilite
drives demand for other high-margin items, such as long-range
scopes, strong mounts, drag-bags
and such.”
SRP: .50 BMG, $1,698 to $2,598;
.338 Lapua, $1,498 to $2,398; .416
Barrett, $1,998 to $2,898, depending upon choice of barrel, barrel
length and action. Booth #6312.
(303-353-1473; zelcustom.com)
Wiley X tactical eyewear & gloves provide high velocity
protection that exceeds stringent military requirements.
VISIT US AT BOOTH #20220 / WILEYX.COM
WILEY X, the WILEY X Eyewear Logo, WX, the WX Eyewear Logo and the WX WILEY X Logo are trademarks of Wiley X, Inc.,
registered (marca registrada) or pending registration in the U.S. and numerous other countries and jurisdictions.
11/23/09 12:52 PM
news
shot
show
2010
New
Products
top. Breathable and buoyant, these lightweight
boots also feature self-cleaning, all-terrain outsoles, large easy-grip handles for pulling the boots
on and off and Rocky’s popular SIQ Atomic scentcontrol system. The MudSox will be available in
the new Mossy Oak Infinity camouflage pattern,
Realtree AP and forest green. Styles include
10-inch and 16-inch versions. SRP: $110 to $130.
Booth #10318. (740-753-9100; rockybrands.com)
Browning’s Hi Power
flashlights are designed
to squeeze every drop
of energy from a pair of
AA alkaline batteries.
Woolrich Elite Series
Tactical
The long-sleeve Oxford CCW offers a pair of
innovative two-layer magazine-holding pockets.
Maximum concealment is achieved by inserting
cardboard or other documents into the outer
pocket to reduce printing. Another feature of this
innovative design is the versatility of tucking the
shirt into the waistband or wearing it out. And
while many tucked-in shirts limit accessibility, the
Oxford CCW has a magnetic closure closer to the
top to facilitate access to a shoulder rig. Featuring
100 percent cotton Oxford cloth with a wrinkleresistant finish, the shirt also has a hidden, false
button-down collar and false buttons with discreet
magnetic closure for easy, quick access to the waist
and side vents. Available in loden, British tan and
blue. SRP: $49.99 (small to 2XL), $54.99 (3XL).
Booth #10560. (800-996-2229; woolrichelite
seriestactical.com)
Browning
Hi Power flashlights, newly designed to squeeze
every last drop of energy from a pair of AA alkaline
batteries, feature all-aluminum construction with
walnut or black resin inlays. The bulbs are the latest
generation Cree XPE LED, rated for 50,000 hours
of use. Available in four finishes. SRP: $74.99.
Booth #15138. (801-876-2711; browning.com)
Rocky Brands
The MudSox series is built with a snug-fitting fullneoprene sock that can be easily rolled over at the
Truglo
Yes, hunters need a durable watch, but who says it
can’t look sharp? That’s the idea behind the new
Formex watch, which features a sapphire crystal
with anti-reflection coating, a durable stainlesssteel case, Swiss precision quartz movement and a
tritium-coated, glow-in-the-dark dial. It’s also
water-resistant up to 100 meters (or 10 atmospheres). SRP: $1,250. Booth #1444. (972-7740300; truglo.com)
LaserLyte
New Rear Sight Laser (RSL) models for Smith &
Wesson M&P pistols are now available. Easy-toinstall and operate, the new RSL offers a highpower laser with the benefit of not having to
replace existing grips, internal stock parts or holsters.
The new Formex watch from Truglo has a sapphire
crystal with anti-reflection coating, a stainlesssteel case and a glow-in-the-dark dial.
LET US HELP YOU...
GROW YOUR
BUSINESS!
MAKE IT MORE
PROFITABLE!
SERVE YOUR
CUSTOMERS BETTER!
Visit SHOT Show Booth #4047 and discover how Brownells can help you
make your business more successful. Check out…
• Our SHOT Show FREE &
Reduced Shipping Promotion
• How-To Videos
• Brownells Business Advantage
• Gunsmiths.com
• Gunsmith Career Fair
Plus, get answers to your tough gunsmithing questions from our
experienced Gun Techs.
Visit Our Main Booth: #4047
200 South Front Street
MontezumaIA 50171
800-741-0015 • brownells.com
Source Code: CJU
11/10/09 10:44 AM
news
The RSL’s activation switch is a strategically
placed button at the back of the slide that is easily
activated by the thumb in a normal shooting position for left- or right-handed shooters. A small
LED on the back of the laser indicates whether it
is on and what mode it is in. The RSL is powered
by four 377 batteries commonly used in watches
that provide one hour of run time on constant on,
and two hours in pulse mode. LaserLyte offers
discounted batteries through its website.
SRP: $199.99. Booth #1805. (928-649-3201;
laserlyte.com)
Primos Hunting Calls
With just one hand and the pull of a trigger, you
can adjust the Primos Trigger Stick to your
desired height. The Trigger Stick is a lightweight,
height-adjustable (36 ½ to 61 inches), two-piece
bipod that serves as a rest for guns or optics. It
comes equipped with a detachable V yoke, which
serves as a cradle into which a gun can be securely
placed for improved stability while shooting.
SRP: $109.99. Booth #11343. (800-523-2395;
primos.com)
Weaver
Taurus
Turn a flat-top AR-15 or M16 into the perfect
optics platform with the new Weaver Flat Top
Riser Rail. Made from anodized aircraft-grade
6061-T6 aluminum, the rail has been engineered
to provide the optimal mounting height for all
types of optic and ring combinations. Available in
both standard and quick-detach models. SRP:
$55.95-$60.95. Booth #14038. (800-635-7656;
weaveroptics.com)
The Primos Trigger Stick is a lightweight, height-adjustable, two-piece bipod that can serve as a rest for
both guns and optics. It comes with a detachable V yoke, which cradles to secure the gun.
Due to overwhelming customer demand, Taurus
introduces its popular 709 SLIM 9mm pistol in
two new calibers. The 708 SLIM .380 ACP offers
7+1 rounds or 9+1 rounds with extended magazine, and the 740 SLIM .40 S&W offers 6+1
rounds or 8+1 rounds with extended magazine.
These small pistols, which weigh only 19 ounces
and are less than an inch thick, are good candidates for concealed carry. Other features include
crisp single-action/double-action trigger pull and
low-profile fixed sights, a visual loaded chamber
indicator, a new trigger safety and a manual safety.
Booth #13738. (800-327-3776; taurususa.com)
Gunslick
The .50 BMG Rifle Kit, designed to work with
most .50 BMG rifle barrel lengths, includes carbon-fiber rods, chamber and bore brushes,
Foaming Bore Cleaner, mops, patches, clothes,
brushes and a Gunslick Pro carry case. The bore
guide doubles as a way to inject bore cleaner into
the barrel, and the cleaning rods (in two different
lengths) can be put together to service longer bar-
85+ Years of Boot Making Has Taught Us a Thing or Two.
Only outdoor boot manufacturer
established 1923
to be granted ISO 9001 status for
jetzendorf, germany
highest quality construction &
process standards.
www.lowaboots.com
uplander gtx
R
zephyr Desert Mid
Lightweight field boot,
ideal for upland bird hunting,
shooting clays
hunter extreme gtx
also available in gore-tex
R
also available in wide
LOWA Field Boots: designed to withstand miles of
rugged terrain while delivering all-day comfort.
shot show booth #11051
R
Elite desert
"Best-in-class" insulated
mountain boot
Lightweight, stable, extremely
breathable desert boot.
Used by U.s. Special forces
and british army
also available in wide
LOWA task force boots: answering the need for faster,
lighter footwear to handle the most punishing conditions.
/ outdoor retailer booth #35073
join lowa
boots on
facebook
12/9/09 1:58 PM
news
High Gear’s Axio
Max altimeter
includes a Swiss
air pressure sensor, an altimeter
and a compass,
and is equipped
with a 100-hour
chronograph.
two-piece sliding frame incorporates
an open central channel with plenty
of clearance for high-capacity
detachable magazines as well as
lever-action guns. A convenient storage area incorporated into the front
of the base features a removable lid
that adds additional clearance when
detached, but also doubles as a rear
support surface for firing handguns.
Another key feature is the front
elevation system. A spring-loaded
tension mechanism and heightadjustment knob allow for one-handed elevation adjustments, keeping the
front cradle wobble-free throughout
the entire vertical range. Overmolded
front and rear supports protect the
gun’s finish, but are firm enough to
prevent any give or play. SRP: $54.
Booth #15135. (573-445-9200;
caldwellshooting.com)
rels. SRP: $109.95. Booth #14038.
Booth #13749. (800-948-8029;
(800-635-7656; gunslick.com)
rossiusa.com)
Rossi
High Gear
All-in-one is certainly an overused
term, but in the case of the new
Wizard, it’s right on target. The new
offering from Rossi allows shooters to
use 17 popular calibers (and shotguns)
on a single platform. The Wizard’s
design allows a shooter to transfer any
barrel quickly and easily for different
hunting or shooting applications.
Features include single-shot capacity,
an attractive hardwood stock with
carbon-steel barrel and receiver,
scope-mount base and hammer extension-transfer bar and manual safety.
The lightweight Axio Max altimeter
watch is built on a user-friendly
module and features triple-sensor
technology, including a Swiss air
pressure sensor, an altimeter and a
compass. It is equipped with a 100hour chronograph, a multitude of
alarms for use in monitoring hydration, altitude and rest, a mineral-glass
lens with a high-gloss finish that is
water-resistant up to 50 meters, a
replaceable battery hatch and a highly breathable, flexible and adjustable
band. The new desert/black color
with negative LCD is great for hunting and fishing. SRP: $150. Booth
#4433. (highgear.com)
Champion Traps &
Targets
Whether it’s a single- or doublerelease system, Champion handheld
remotes allow shooters to expand
their shooting positions and improve
their skills. By getting away from the
thrower, shotgun enthusiasts can better prepare themselves for skeet,
trap, sporting clays or actual hunting
situations. Features include an ability
to launch from up to 120 yards away,
a three-button on/off switch and an
LED arming switch. The remotes
work with several target systems,
including Champion EasyBird automatic traps (AutoFeed, 6-Packer and
Doubles), as well as SST and
180-Sporter trap throwers. SRP:
$89.49, single; 151.49, double.
Booth #14038. (800-635-7656;
championtarget.com)
Shooters Ridge
The design of Rossi’s new Wizard
allows a shooter to transfer any
barrel quickly and easily for different
shooting applications.
Tired of dragging out deer with a
rope? The new Buck Sled is a simple-to-use, pre-formed, roll-up plastic sled designed to ease the transportation of big game. Just load up
the animal, secure it by running a
rope through the grommets and slip
on the blaze-orange adjustable shoulder harness. You’re good to go.
$44.49. Booth #14038. (800-6357656; shootersridge.com)
RCBS
The new Precision Bipod features
quick-adjust telescoping legs that
range from 7 to 10 inches and skidresistant polyurethane feet. The
bipod also delivers 25 degrees of cant
adjustment, for improved set-up on
uneven surfaces. A large paddle lock
helps deploy the bipod quickly and
easily by allowing the user to push
and rotate the legs in one smooth
motion. This bipod works well with
AR-style firearms used for both
three-gun competitions and varmint
hunting. It can also be converted to
non-Picatinny-style weapons with
the addition of a Weaver Tactical
99468 Swivel Stud Picatinny Rail
Adaptor. SRP: $219.95. Booth
#14038. (800-533-5000; rcbs.com)
Caldwell Shooting
Supplies
The Matrix combines great new features and rock-solid stability in an
affordable rest. Central to the design
is the ultra-rigid, U-channel frame
that can be quickly adjusted in length
for the perfect fit with any gun. The
Central to the
design of
Caldwell’s Matrix
shooting rest is
the ultra-rigid
U-channel frame
that can be
quickly adjusted
to fit any gun.
Frankford Arsenal
By combining tough, impact-resistant materials and an innovative locking design, the Ammo Vault offers
unsurpassed protection for rifle cartridges. No more rattling; no more
rubber bands; no more cracked and
broken boxes. Give ammunition the
protection it deserves. Two sizes fit
nearly any rifle cartridge. Each unit
securely holds 20 rounds of ammunition. Available first quarter of 2010.
SRP: $10. Booth #15135. (573-4459200; battenfeldtechnologies.com)
MGM Targets
The MGM Switchview is a small,
lightweight lever that clamps around
the power-adjustment ring of various
power scopes. Made from anodized
6061/T6 aluminum, the Switchview
allows the user to quickly and easily
adjust the scope’s power setting with
a push or pull of the lever. Ideal for
law enforcement, military or competition shooters, the lever works
equally well on telescopic sights for
AR-15 to long-range bolt actions.
The lever is easy to use and enables
the user to change magnification settings in seconds—even while wearing
gloves. SRP: $59.95. (A limited-time
offer will be available at the SHOT
Show. Forty percent will be taken off
the SRP, a savings of nearly $24.)
Booth #20439. (888-767-7371;
mgmswitchview.com)

Easy Company Veteran at SHOT Show

Transcription

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