I attend the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show every year. It was held in Las Vegas this year, and it was the most exciting show to-date. I can’t tell you about everything I saw…it took me 4 days to see just the airgun booths! The show is not open to the public. This is where dealers, manufacturers, vendors, suppliers, importers and exporters show their new wares and make their deals for the coming year.

At the Crosman booth, I saw a whole lot more guns that’ll have their new Nitro Piston insert. I’m a big fan of the gas spring and believe it’ll increase sales of Crosman breakbarrel rifles. The Crosman-branded NPSS guns are now branded as Remington, and a new line of Benjamin NP guns have been added. Crosman also has some PCP pistols coming out, including the Benjamin Marauder and the Crosman Silhouette. Lastly, they’re bringing out a Crosman Premier .25 cal pellet…probably because they now have a .25 cal. Marauder rifle.

At the Gamo booth, I saw their new SOCOM Extreme breakbarrel rifle, and it delivers 1600 fps! Gamo also has 3 new .25 cal. pellets. I guess everyone’s getting into the .25 cal. groove this year. It’s a great hunting caliber, so I expect these guns to go over well. One of the highlights of this year’s show was at the Gamo booth. That’s where I saw their ND3 and ND5 lasers. These are incredible accessories. They look like flashlights with adjustable beam widths, but they’re green lasers. The ND3 can be mounted on a gun…any gun, including powerful spring-piston rifles. I can hardly wait to get my hands on one of these!

Umarex’s booth had a number of interesting items, including their new Steel Storm–a CO2 BB submachine gun that might give the IZH Drozd a run for its money. They also have a number of new airguns and airsoft guns they’re bringing out. I’ll test as many as I’m able.

This month’s reader question is about pellet head size and 10-meter shooting. Stay tuned to hear this discussion.

Download February 2010 MP3 file

Published 2/1/10 @ 12:01 AM