SHOT Show 2013

Also see my SHOT Show 2014 Report

I’ve returned home from my first SHOT Show and what an experience it was! The vast array of businesses was simply astounding. Products ranged from simple, yet effective, hand held clay target throwers, to state of the art precision guided rifles. There were complete product lines of clothing and footwear, decoys, game calls, gun care, gunsmithing, locks and safes, steel targets, firearms, knives, optics, reloading, outdoor cooking, as well as gear for military and law enforcement professionals. Needless to say, four days is not enough time to cover the entire show!

The following is a small sample of the cool new products I got to try at SHOT Show 2013. Stay tuned for more…

Targets Throwers

Tom and Jerry Black, the inventors of the WingOne®, came up with the idea of a clay target thrower in the ’60s.  Their design virtually eliminates broken targets, while the thrower imparts a spin on the target which stabilizes it in flight. Various flight patterns such as standard and high velocity, curling throw, chandelle, and teal are achieved by simply altering your body position. They produce both a left and right hand version of the WingOne®. It is made in the USA and backed by a limited lifetime warranty!  After arriving home, I took this simple little tool outside and started flinging clays into the snow, in -25C (that’s -10F for my American friends).  Works just as well as they said it would – I was amazed at how quickly I was throwing great targets.   Plus, these guys were just plain fun to talk to at their booth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our historical definition of “WingOne®” is to throw or launch a projectile by hand or hand held device.  Or, to “WingOne®” is to throw an object and hit it with a rock or other projectile.  This was our phrase for shooting clay pigeons instead of saying “Pull”.  This phrase has been used by our family for over sixty years and you are welcome to join us . . . Tom & Jerry Black

Ammunition

Two new types of ammo caught my eye. Both from Winchester:

1) 17 Winchester Super Magnum rimfire (See Winchester Video)

Winchester’s hot new rimfire cartridge approaches centerfire ballistics at a fraction of the cost. It sizzles a 20-grain bullet downrange at 3,000 fps with 400 foot-pounds of energy (top), and a 25-grain load at 2,600 fps with 375 foot-pounds of energy (bottom). Outperforming the 17 HMR and the hottest 22 Magnum loads, the 17WSM is a welcome addition to the rimfire family of cartridges. I shot it at SHOT Show Media Day at the Range and it appears to be a tack driver. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it this summer and giving it a true work out.

 

2) Winchester AA TrAAcker shotshell (Read Article by Aaron Carter)

Winchesters slogan is “See why you’ve been missing”. In this new shotshell they have incorporated a new style of weighted wad that stays with the shot column. Wads come in two colours – black and orange depending on the lighting conditions that you are shooting in.  You can see the wad clearly, traveling in the same direction that your shot cloud went – above, below, or behind the target!  This new tool will be a great asset to target shooters looking to improve their shooting skills.  I gave it a try and it works great. The price will only be a couple of dollars more per box than standard ammo – worth it to brush up your skills before the bird hunting season.

Winchester’s TrAAcker video

Firearms

Precision guided firearms are the type of technology you would expect to see in the Head-Up Display (HUD) of a fighter aircraft but not a long range hunting rifle – until now! The future is here with the new Tracking Point rifle system. This state of the art rifle system needs to be shot to believed. Tracking Points slogan is ‘1000 yards is easy’.  The ballistic computer on board the custom rifle does all the nessesary calculations to make incredible shots at long distance. The mantra is ‘Tag, Track, Exact’ – the shooter tags a target with the push of a button forward of the trigger gaurd. The ballistic computer tracks the target even if it moves.  The shooter then squeezes and holds the trigger. One the reticle passes over the tagged target the shot is released. From what I’ve seen it is hard to miss with this system. This video shows the system in action.

“At TrackingPoint, we’ve created the world’s first Precision Guided Firearms, integrating precision hardware, digital optics, and tracking technology to give you a shooting experience unmatched in the world today.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out: SHOT Show 2014 Report