GunsAmerica Blog SHOT Show 2012

Some products just don’t deserve to stay in the file and closing our coverage of SHOT Show 2012, it would be a crime to not include mention of these incredible bleeding zombie targets we found at Media Day at the Range. Every shooting station at Media Day pretty much had at least one of these extremely unique targets, and they aren’t as cheesy as you may think. Not only do they bleed, they are also designed to “mutilate” with dozens or hundreds of rounds fired into them, so even dumping mags into them is somewhat pleasing as a reactionary target, with ongoing deterioration of the dummy as it slowly gets chewed away.

A first look a the new Rock River 1911 with a polymer frame and machined slide. It feels a little different than a standard steel 1911, but this was just a first look on a prototype gun. At the projected price point of about $800, this new 1911 will be a formidable competitor in the market at that price point, and higher price points. Rock River doesn’t mess around with anything they do and this gun is truly impressive.

Awesomeness is not a word you would think could make it through spell check, but it is actually a word. If there was one product at Media Day at the Range, SHOT Show 2012, that excelled at awesomeness, it was the modular rifle chassis system from Ashbury Precision Ordnance, or APO. It is called the Saber-FORRST, for Folding Rifle Stock System Tactical. They all don’t seem to fold, going by the catalog, so it is a little confusing. But they sure excel at awesomeness.

This is a very good video on the subject of “what the heck would you want that for” for offset sights on your tactical rifle. At first you might think, like many of us did, that they have become popular just because people like to look like they are going “gangsta” during competitions, by holding their rifles sideways, but that isn’t the case. XS Sights has developed these 45 degree offset sights for both tactical and competition shooters who are using optics with magnification, and who may have to switch between very close and very far targets quickly. At magnification it is very hard to “find” close targets in your scope, and your field of view is extremely compromised, as is your periferal vision, because your eye is focussed into the magnification. In such cases, you can leave your scope at magnification and just turn the rifle sideways to use the fixed sights for close shots. This video is worth a watch if you use an optic with magnification on your tactical rifle.

This Escort line of shotguns from Legacy Sports International is made in Turkey by Hatsan. It seems to be modelled after the Remington 1100 and since the brand has been in the market for several years, this appears to be an extremely mature product. The guy in the video is in one of those Sportsman’s Channel shows that those of us with Comcast, Direct TV, and most other cable/satelite systems don’t get, but he seems to have used the guns in the field quite a lot and believes in the quality of them. Googling around I found no bad reviews of them, and in general all the Turkish guns have been reliable and extremely well received. Hopefully we’ll get a review gun over the coming year and test these guns with a variety of hunting loads. They seem to be worth checking out if you are in the market for an auto-shotgun, and they do make tactical as well as hunting models.

You wouldn’t think that a gun would be made specifically to bang around behind the seat of your truck, to get banged and bumped on who knows what, and to get dripping wet, dirty, and still work, but that is exactly what Savage has done with the new Hog Hunter line of rifles. They aren’t pretty guns, but they aren’t for pretty game either.

The TC Arms Venture is one of the best value in American made bolt action rifles, and this year TC answered the call to make a youth sized version. It has an 11.5 length of pull out of the box and it will be available in .223, .243, 7mm-08 and .308 for now. The barrel is only 20 inches for good balance in a small gun, and it comes with a 1 inch spacer for the stock, so the gun can grow with your child. All of the Venture rifles come with an MOA gaurantee, and we proved this out easily with a rifle they sent us for testing. There is also a new winter camo Venture as well. TC makes a lot of “gotta have it” guns and this looks to be another.

Ultrasonic cleaners have come a long way in the last few years and these new Turbosonics are cutting edge. After a 10 minute cycle you can clean 1300 9mm cases, or 4 pistol frames, and the Lyman solutions have a rust inhibitor in them so you can leave them on steel. All of their concentrated formulas are formulated to clean both the insides and outsides of your cases and metal parts. The coolest thing about this big model is that it has a drain, so you don’t have to dump it out manually, and that makes for an easy to use machine that will be welcome on your bench.

The AR-10 finally is available with a non-proprietary magazine, it takes Magpul P-Mags now. Also some new uppers from Armalite as they charge ahead with a 7.62×39 and 6.8SPC upper for their iconic rifles.