spectr17
02-06-2002, 09:48 PM
S.H.O.T. SHOW REVELATIONS -- Jim Matthews column 6feb02
New `02 shooting products unveiled at SHOT Show
Outdoor News Service
### ### LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The first new rimfire cartridge in over 25 years and an extensive expansion of the short magnum class of modern short, stubby hunting cartridges were the highlights of the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held in Las Vegas from Saturday through Tuesday this week.
### ### This event is the hunting and shooting industries' annual unveiling of its new products for the coming year. For those of us who like all the bells and whistles of this sport, it is like a huge candy store for someone with a sweet tooth.
### ### One of the most popular and significant new items shown at the show were a literal gun safe full of rifles chambered for the new .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) cartridge. It is the first new rimfire round in over two decades, and orders of ammunition and new rifles in the round guarantee that it will be in all of the gun and hunting stores across the nation. Hornady worked with Ruger and Marlin to make sure factory rifles would be available for their new round, but by the last day of the show, there were few makers of rimfire rifles who did not plan to have .17 HMRs -- Mossberg, Kimber, Anschutz, Savage, H&R, and many others were quick to announce their own versions.
### ### I want one or two.
### ### The other significant item, at least for me, was the introduction of a new 27 caliber cartridge -- the .270 Winchester Short Magnum. It has been over 50 years since a 27 caliber cartridge has been introduced, which is odd. Most other calibers have dozens of round that shoot bullets of that diameter. There are dozens of .22s and .30s, but exactly two .27s. The original .270 Winchester introduced in 1925 and made popular by gun writer Jack O'Conner, and the .270 Weatherby, a not-so-popular magnum version that was the first of Roy Weatherby's magnum designs that made him famous around the world.
### ### The .270 WSM is just one of five rounds introduced in the last two years by the big two of ammunition makers -- Winchester and Remington -- that feature short, fat cartridge cases. The idea here is two-fold. The big stubby case burns powder more efficiently and works through a shorter, more rigid action. Both things lead to better accuracy. Both Winchester and Remington have nearly identical 30 caliber and 7mm versions now in their lineups.
### ### As gun writer Mic McPherson told me one evening during the show, "Short and fat is where it's at today." He was talking about cartridge design, not my physique. They make good sense to techo-weenies who talk about combustion ratios and burn efficiency and regular hunters who just want good cartridges to carry in the field.
### ### Other highlights gleaned from my notes after walking the show floor for four days include these:
### ### -- A .454 rifle made by Puma, a Brazilian company imported by Legacy Sports, on a Model 92-type lever action design. The .454 is a magnum handgun round that has incredible whomp. Short, handy and powerful, bear and wild hog hunters will love this one.
### ### -- Thompson/Center, well known for its single shot pistols and line of muzzleloaders, came out with a novel muzzleloader design that has a completely enclosed ignition system that doesn't need to be cleaned built. The original action design -- which might be described as a "falling trigger mechanism" -- has to be seen to be appreciated.
### ### -- W. L. Gore, the company that developed the first breathable rain-proof and wind-proof fabrics, has perfected its new Supprescent fabric that blocks human scent from escaping. When worn head-to-toe, it eliminates human scent that spooks game. Other scent-proof fabrics out there lose their effectiveness after a few washings. Supprescent is a permanent scent-proof fabric that can be washed over and over.
### ### -- Watch for FUD (short for "fold up decoys"). Designed in Australia, the FUD is an ingenious form design that can be used on water or land. It is a nearly full-bodied waterfowl decoy that can be folded flat so four to six dozen can be more easily carried in less space than 12 or 18 regular decoys. They are made by Blackwater Decoy Company and duck stamp artist Adam Grimm did the life-like paint job for these decoys.
### ### -- On the nostalgia front, Remington has brought back a 16 gauge version of its popular Model 870 pump shotgun, and Winchester announced they will make 1,500 copies of ###Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Medicine" -- the Model 1895 lever action rifle in .405 Winchester. Hornady is also running a lot of that classic ammunition.
### ### This was the largest SHOT Show in the 24-year history of the event, completely filling the Las Vegas Convention Center (nearly 500,000 square feet and about 400 miles of aisles if the blisters on my feet are any indication). It was also expected to set an attendance record of around 40,000 people from the industry, including some 500 gun and outdoor writers like me.
### ### I know I missed some cool stuff because in four days, you just couldn't see it all.
New `02 shooting products unveiled at SHOT Show
Outdoor News Service
### ### LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The first new rimfire cartridge in over 25 years and an extensive expansion of the short magnum class of modern short, stubby hunting cartridges were the highlights of the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held in Las Vegas from Saturday through Tuesday this week.
### ### This event is the hunting and shooting industries' annual unveiling of its new products for the coming year. For those of us who like all the bells and whistles of this sport, it is like a huge candy store for someone with a sweet tooth.
### ### One of the most popular and significant new items shown at the show were a literal gun safe full of rifles chambered for the new .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) cartridge. It is the first new rimfire round in over two decades, and orders of ammunition and new rifles in the round guarantee that it will be in all of the gun and hunting stores across the nation. Hornady worked with Ruger and Marlin to make sure factory rifles would be available for their new round, but by the last day of the show, there were few makers of rimfire rifles who did not plan to have .17 HMRs -- Mossberg, Kimber, Anschutz, Savage, H&R, and many others were quick to announce their own versions.
### ### I want one or two.
### ### The other significant item, at least for me, was the introduction of a new 27 caliber cartridge -- the .270 Winchester Short Magnum. It has been over 50 years since a 27 caliber cartridge has been introduced, which is odd. Most other calibers have dozens of round that shoot bullets of that diameter. There are dozens of .22s and .30s, but exactly two .27s. The original .270 Winchester introduced in 1925 and made popular by gun writer Jack O'Conner, and the .270 Weatherby, a not-so-popular magnum version that was the first of Roy Weatherby's magnum designs that made him famous around the world.
### ### The .270 WSM is just one of five rounds introduced in the last two years by the big two of ammunition makers -- Winchester and Remington -- that feature short, fat cartridge cases. The idea here is two-fold. The big stubby case burns powder more efficiently and works through a shorter, more rigid action. Both things lead to better accuracy. Both Winchester and Remington have nearly identical 30 caliber and 7mm versions now in their lineups.
### ### As gun writer Mic McPherson told me one evening during the show, "Short and fat is where it's at today." He was talking about cartridge design, not my physique. They make good sense to techo-weenies who talk about combustion ratios and burn efficiency and regular hunters who just want good cartridges to carry in the field.
### ### Other highlights gleaned from my notes after walking the show floor for four days include these:
### ### -- A .454 rifle made by Puma, a Brazilian company imported by Legacy Sports, on a Model 92-type lever action design. The .454 is a magnum handgun round that has incredible whomp. Short, handy and powerful, bear and wild hog hunters will love this one.
### ### -- Thompson/Center, well known for its single shot pistols and line of muzzleloaders, came out with a novel muzzleloader design that has a completely enclosed ignition system that doesn't need to be cleaned built. The original action design -- which might be described as a "falling trigger mechanism" -- has to be seen to be appreciated.
### ### -- W. L. Gore, the company that developed the first breathable rain-proof and wind-proof fabrics, has perfected its new Supprescent fabric that blocks human scent from escaping. When worn head-to-toe, it eliminates human scent that spooks game. Other scent-proof fabrics out there lose their effectiveness after a few washings. Supprescent is a permanent scent-proof fabric that can be washed over and over.
### ### -- Watch for FUD (short for "fold up decoys"). Designed in Australia, the FUD is an ingenious form design that can be used on water or land. It is a nearly full-bodied waterfowl decoy that can be folded flat so four to six dozen can be more easily carried in less space than 12 or 18 regular decoys. They are made by Blackwater Decoy Company and duck stamp artist Adam Grimm did the life-like paint job for these decoys.
### ### -- On the nostalgia front, Remington has brought back a 16 gauge version of its popular Model 870 pump shotgun, and Winchester announced they will make 1,500 copies of ###Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Medicine" -- the Model 1895 lever action rifle in .405 Winchester. Hornady is also running a lot of that classic ammunition.
### ### This was the largest SHOT Show in the 24-year history of the event, completely filling the Las Vegas Convention Center (nearly 500,000 square feet and about 400 miles of aisles if the blisters on my feet are any indication). It was also expected to set an attendance record of around 40,000 people from the industry, including some 500 gun and outdoor writers like me.
### ### I know I missed some cool stuff because in four days, you just couldn't see it all.