SHOT Show 2018 – Day 2

We’ve concluded day two with sore feet but feeling well overall. With all the news of a really bad flu going around, we’re taking precautions just short of bathing in hand sanitizer.

While we didn’t shoot as many videos as we had planned, we spent quality time conversing with a number of industry leaders. We learned that one of our industry supporters has been absent from the shooting scene so he could support his wife in her battle with breast cancer. We only mention this, as we will be participating in an effort to promote breast cancer awareness in a manner that only members of the shooting sports can. Details are being worked out, so stay tuned. Perhaps the best idea we heard was outfitting 6 Dasher shooters with pink shooting bags. While this topic might seem a bit extraneous, it really represents the underlying culture of support within the shooting community.

There was continued buzz around rim-fire and we had a chance to examine the Vudoo Gun Works rim-fire rifle on display at the GA Precision and Manners booths. Most notable is the Remington 700 footprint which means you can place this rifle in any Remington 700 compatible stock/chassis.  You can outfit this rifle with a heavy barrel to approximate the weight and balance of any match rifle. In addition, the magazine has the same dimensions as the ubiquitous AI AW magazine so you can fully emulate a center fire match rifle. We plan to meet with the folks from Vudoo Gun Works on day three to learn more about this rifle.

Vudoo Gun Works V-22 Action

We saw a proliferation of chassis options at various price points. One offering that caught our eye was the KRG Bravo Chassis with a list price of $350 USD. This chassis would allow any entry level shooter to turn an existing Remington 700 or Tikka rifle into a competitive platform. We also saw the new Tikka offerings from Manners Stocks. Why the excitement? Tikka rifles make a terrific entry level rifle as configured from the factory. As a shooter advances, they can turn an off the shelf rifle into a very capable custom rifle in a pay as you go approach.

We also had an opportunity to visit with the folks at Zero Compromise optics. Frank Galli was raving about their scopes so we had to take a look for ourselves. We had a chance to look at two pre-production models purpose built for precision rifle shooters. Most notable is the use of high end Schott glass and Austrian manufactured components with final assembly in the U.S.. Their scopes should be available by the middle of 2018.

Steve chatting with Nick Gephart of Zero Compromise

The folks at Phone Skope had a pretty interesting product in the works. You’ve probably seen their offering for spotting scopes, but soon they will have an offering called Skope Division to attach directly to a rifle scope. This is a notable development, because similar products on the market are much more expensive. This device allows a shooter to record what they see through their rifle scope onto their phone. It also offers the ability for somebody to see what another shooter is seeing in their scope. This can be a valuable training aid – instead of having a more experienced shooter describe what they are seeing, you can actually see what they are seeing. The Skope Division should be available by the middle of 2018 and retail for approximately $200 USD.

Skope Division mounted to scope

We also had a chance to run into Brian Whalen of Colorado Precision Rifle. He’s collaborating with JP Rifles on a new bolt action chassis. This chassis is being built from the ground up based on feedback from precision rifle shooters. A real effort has been made to get the rifle as low and in line as possible with the butt to maximize control of recoil. Build quality on the prototypes were in line with the quality that one would expect from JP Rifles, so the final product should be something special. Release dates and pricing have not been set, but check back on the JP Rifles site for updates.

Finally, a number of vendors have committed to participate in our cross promotion program. As you may recall from SHOT Show 2017, this will be an opportunity for our audience to win some terrific products. So far we have participation from Kestrel, Vortex, Legacy Sports, Manners Stocks, Mile High Shooting, Nightforce, TriggerTech, KRG and U.S. Optics. We expect to secure more participants in the upcoming days.

That’s it for day two! Our plan is to hit the sack early and hopefully get at least fifteen vendor videos produced on day three!

We will be releasing videos in the next couple of weeks, meanwhile please come back to www.65guys.com for daily SHOT Show updates.

Editor: Ed Mobley (ed@65guys.com)

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