2016 SHOT Show

[BluntForceTrauma]

Here's your official 2016 SHOT Show thread. Discuss anything related — 6.5 Grendel or not — to this year's SHOT Show, before, during, and after!

[SHORT-N-SASSY]

[SIZE="3"]Faxon Firearms, 2/1/2015, "In the short-term, 6.5 Grendel is up next." --- http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showpost.p...stcount=11

I hope to see the Faxon Firearms ARAK-21 Upper Receiver-Barrel Assembly, in 6.5mm Grendel, announced at SHOT Show 2016 --- it's about time.
[/SIZE]

[BluntForceTrauma]

SHOT Show 2016 starts next Tuesday and goes thru Friday. Wish I was going! Actually, am just as excited about Alexander Arms' upcoming new loadings as about anything else. My wish for 6.5 Grendel steel-case ammo has long since come true. Everything else is gravy!

[kmon]

Vortex will be unveiling a made in the USA tactical scope with 10mils per revolution supposedly in the Kahles area of quality and priced about like a Razor. Weight is just over 28 ounces

[BluntForceTrauma]

And so SHOT Show 2016 begins today!

One of the things I'm watching for news about are metal chassis for bolt-actions, particularly in light of Howa's upcoming 6.5 Grendel mini-action. See example here.

[joker31]

didnt get to go this year! maybe next year

[danm]

https://youtu.be/iHakHge3tiY I know... it's Kel-tec, and that front site is RIDICULOUS... but it's a cool concept...

[Rust]

I'm here at the show. There do seem to be a lot of chassis systems on display, but I don't recall having seen any thus far that fit the micro action yet. Not to say there not out there, but I don't think I've seen one on display.
Some things I did get a chance to check out that were interesting to me were Elcan's quick switch magnifying scopes. They have three presets 1x 3x 6x (I think, may be wrong on powers) but the cool thing is that they have a simple knob located where the focal distance adjustment would normally be located on the left side of the scope. You just turn it to the mag power you want. Much easier than most scopes where you have to turn a knob on the body. The eye relief changed quite a bit as you changed power, but the scope was also set in a bad location for me on the demo. It may be less noticeable if set up in a better position.
Also in optics I liked the new Eotech scopes. Variable power, first focal plane, illuminated reticle, And the new first focal plane Nikons seemed like a very nice scope for what should be a reasonable price.
Also really like the new Mega Machine 308. Going to be their first complete rifle, and looks VERY nice. Short carrier, light weight under 8 lbs, ambi controls on the lower. Just looks like a good set up. I'm sure they're not going to be handing them out for free, but if you're in the market for an AR-10 check them out.

[danm]

Thanks for the update Rust!

[Rust]

I've been jumping around going to meetings, and have not had a chance to see much outside the main hall and the police/military halls the last two days. We've got more free time tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to look around downstairs where there are more small manufacturers. I'm personally usually more interested in seeing what kinds of new ideas and products people are developing than what the bigger name company's are doing.
If I see anything cool I'll try to let you guys know.

[Klem]

Glock has announced at SHOT they are including the popular G19 and G17 sides with slide-melt cut-outs.

Until now this has been factory available in the long slide competition guns only. Now Glock is making available reflex optic mounting in their most popular carry handguns, the G17 and G19.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/glock-1...ics-ready/

Glocks site;
https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/glock-1...ics-ready/

[dobrodan]

https://youtu.be/iHakHge3tiY I know... it's Kel-tec, and that front site is RIDICULOUS... but it's a cool concept...

What I feel they should have done with the -C, is to move the trigger a bit backwards, and make the grip a bit steeper.
That way they would have had a little room to mount an adjustable stock, the rifle would have been slightly longer, but probably had a COG more or less directly above the grip.

[lwminton]

Glock has announced at SHOT they are including the popular G19 and G17 sides with slide-melt cut-outs.

Until now this has been factory available in the long slide competition guns only. Now Glock is making available reflex optic mounting in their most popular carry handguns, the G17 and G19.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/glock-1...ics-ready/

Glocks site;
https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/glock-1...ics-ready/

Does this mean an old 19 can get the new slide?

[stanc]

Also really like the new Mega Machine 308. Going to be their first complete rifle, and looks VERY nice. Short carrier, light weight under 8 lbs, ambi controls on the lower. Just looks like a good set up. I'm sure they're not going to be handing them out for free, but if you're in the market for an AR-10 check them out.

At $2500, it's not even close to free, but it does indeed look very nice.

[video=youtube;xP9lRfAghBg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP9lRfAghBg[/video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP9lRfAghBg

[Rust]

Yeah, I didn't ask what the retail price was going to be on the Mega, but I figured 2000 at least.
I got most of the lower hall today, and a little bit of the lower police/tactical vendors. There were some interesting things, but not much in the way of "new" ideas that I came across. Seeing multiple "modernized" AK variants. Machined receivers, forends etc. I'm not a huge fan of the AK, but some of them look pretty nice. We had a meeting with the guys at CAA/Kalishnakov USA this morning so I got to handle one of their mock ups of their version of one. It feels pretty good from and ergonomic standpoint, but hard to say much from a non-funtional model.
Lots of cerakoted/durakoted guns this year. Not like this is new, but I'm hoping that the trend will help bring more people on board or at least open some eyes if they view the guns as art not weapons.
Also more MFGs are jumping on the minimalist/ultralight trend. I really like the 2A armament Balios rifles. I'm more a heavy BBL small group target shooter kind of a guy, but an AR that comes in at something like 5lbs is something I wouldn't mind having in the safe just for grins. Also as a machinist I appreciate the design work and machining quality on their guns.
Really the high point of my day was stopping by the AA and talking to Bill A. He talked to me for long time about the process he went through with the 6.5G, and the Ulfbehrt. The thing is bad ass! Any way, if I had not already been a fan of the Grendel, I certainly would be now. So Bill, if you happen to read this thank you for spending so much of your time talking over your rifles with me.
Boss is waiting on me to go to an event right now, so I have to run. If I think of anything else I'll post a little more later.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Good reports, Rust, thanks!

[Klem]

Does this mean an old 19 can get the new slide?

Looks like it is available in Gen 4 slides only.

[bwaites]

Does this mean an old 19 can get the new slide?

Probably not, Glock is somewhat famous for not being backwards compatible, but Lone Wolf makes a slide with the requisite parts.

https://www.lonewolfdist.com/Products.aspx?CAT=4877

I own multiple conversions, and they are great parts! My long slide G20 10mm is rapidly becoming my favorite pistol. I have a .40 conversion barrel for it, and it shoots like butter!

[motoxxx_ryder]

http://www.scout.com/military/snipers-hi...deo-thread

some good videos done by the 6.5 guys for those interested.

[Rust]

Been a few days of madness at work since we got back.
I did stop by the Glock booth Friday and took a look at the guns with optics. Nothing new really other than factory option aspect. Pretty much the same thing competition shooters have been doing for years with them.

Core rifles is doing a Grendel. Nothing ground breaking, but I do like the design of their billet receiver sets.

Morakniv is releasing a full tang knife. Moras are cheap, plain plastic, or simple wood handled working knives, but they have an excellent reputation for being just that- working knives. Especially if you're willing do a little work cleaning up the edge. I do a little bit of knife making as a hobby, and I'm seriously considering buying a couple of them to strip, reprofile, and make some nice scales for just for grins. Or hopefully they'll release just the blades for knifemakers like they do with their other blade designs.

9mm carbines were all over the place this year, both in rifle and pistol set ups. From the looks of things they're almost all being cut under variance by one manufacturer (this is nothing new in the AR world) with some minor cosmetic differences. I've shot a couple of them in the past, and while they're amusing, and mag interchangeability from Glock pistol to a carbine is usefull, they just don't do much for me overall.

DLC (diamond like coating) bolt carrier groups. This may be a solution looking for a problem, as wearing out a phosphated bolt carrier takes some serious work. I stopped by a both where a guy was demoing how hard the the DLC coating was by scrubbing a screw driver on the carrier. Then just wiping the mark of with his finger. He probably did this hundreds of times over the course of the week, and there wasn't a mark on the carrier. I don't know that there is any advantage to speak of in this application, but as hard and smooth as the stuff seamed to be I'm sure there's something I should be putting it on.

The Howa mini action! I played with a couple of them, and they seem decent for a production level action. Pretty smooth, and fairly tight (for a production gun) bolt fit. I was not blown away by the stocks, but again they seemed perfectly adequate for an off the shelf rifle in the price range they're in. I have one of the Hogue stocks similar to what they're using on my 10-22 which I like just fine, but for some reason it felt flimsy on the Howa. The Hogue's are supposedly not good for bedding as well due to it being hard to get compound to adhere to the plastic inserts. The polymer magazines also felt very light weight, but they're not holding in a ton of spring pressure so its probably a not issue. Mag release was smooth and easy to actuate.
I did try to make a point of looking at chassis rifle stocks that might fit the Howa mini since you guys mentioned it earlier. I don't think I saw any that were ready to go right now, but I'm sure someone will do it soon. I don't know, it's something I want to like, but I just feel kind of "meh" about them in general. I shoot a Savage with a McMillan A3 so the layout with a vertical grip is similar, but there's just something about most of them that just doesn't seem right to me.

Polymer80 has a DIY Glock frame. I don't really like the company following the BS they put their customers through when they launched their AR receivers, but I have wanted to do the same thing with pistol receivers for a while so I'm intrigued.

If there's anything else you guys heard about ask away, if I happen to have seen it I'll let you know what I though if i have an opinion on it.