SHOT SHOW 2015 is over and hopefully now we can settle down to normal business. For those not in the know the SHOT SHOW is a show for dealers each year to showcase new products for the coming year. The word SHOT stands for shooting, hunting and outdoor trade. In years past we knew that if the product was premiered at SHOT, it would soon be seen on the dealer’s shelves. With the economy down in the dumps and the product demand changing with the wind, that is no longer possible. Today’s SHOT is more like a concept show. Gun companies come up with a brand new gun and showcase it at SHOT. If they get a lot of orders for it, they then build it. That in itself usually means 8 to 10 months wait while they produce it. If they don’t get a lot of orders for the gun and interest is stagnant at best, then they drop the idea and in most cases deny they ever made one. The only company I know of that is normally not in that category is Ruger. In most cases, if they show it at SHOT it is ready to be shipped to the distributors. They were burned several years ago with the introduction of the P-85 in 9mm. They got a lot of magazine articles about the gun, got lots of interest but the gun just wasn’t ready. They had glitch after glitch and it was somewhere in later ‘87 or early ‘88 before we actually saw one. After that every gun they premiered at SHOT was tested and ready to go. And I give Ruger a lot of credit for that. That is how it should be.

The show this year was full of new products, some of which I am sure we will never see on any dealer’s shelf. By the way, a good friend who keeps up with the paperwork for SHOT said there were almost 200 manufacturers of AR-15s and AR-15 uppers and lowers there. If that is true and with the glut of AR-15s on the market, a lot of those manufacturers will be out of business by the end of the year unless they can come up with some gimmick to set their AR above most of the rest.

I am going to briefly go over some of the new items and let it go at that. Those that know me know one of my pet peeves is gimmicks. And some of the items are pure and simple gimmicks. So rather than make this a negative Notes I will roll on by them and keep my big mouth shut, as hard as that may be.

A company in Tennessee called Reliant has come out with a 4 barreled 9mm called the Signal 9. It looks like a hugely overgrown Sharps 4 barreled derringer or an oversize COP 357 magnum derringer from the 80s.

Sig has a new 10mm coming out called the Sig Elite.

Rock Island Arms has a new 1911 style 380 called the baby Rock. Cute little devil. Sort of like the Colt Government 380 with balls.

Benelli is expanding their line up this year to include an over & under for the first time, the model 828. They also have a new M-4 Tactical shotgun along with a 20 gauge waterfowl shotgun. This is a first as most waterfowl guns try to get as close to the power of the 10 gauge as possible. They also have a new 20 gauge turkey shotgun on their plate for this year. Good for them.

Century Arms has a new 9mm out that looks like a cross between a Sig and a Glock. It is called the Canik TP-9 and is a striker fired 9mm but also has a decocker which is a bit unusual for a striker fired pistol.

Mossberg has a new polymer framed 22 rifle with a steel barrel coming out. The gun is called the Blaze and comes in several finished from black to camo. It comes with a 10 or 25 round magazine. They also have a new 22 LR caliber rifle that has the looks and feel of the AK-47. This one is called the Blaze-47. The gun looks exactly like the AK with the wood stock and forend.
Mossberg also has a new rifle out that is high class all the way. This one is called the Patriot. It is a twin lug, push feed bolt action rifle The gun reminds me of the older Winchester M-70. The rifle has a very classy look and I was highly impressed by it.

Everybody has been talking about the new Glock 40. That is the model 40, not a 40 caliber. It is chambered in 10mm and is a long awaited long slide. It has a 6” barrel and slide and has a cut out on the rear of the slide to accommodate a red dot sight. Hopefully you like the Glock as that is about all you will be seeing on the covers of gun magazines and in articles in them for months to come. I am very fond of the 10mm and am glad to see Glock heading in the right direction, but then again that is not unusual for Glock.

The 17 HMR has not done well in any semi auto until now. The bullet puts out so little recoil impulse that it fails to work the action. Well, Savage has cured that problem with a gun specifically built around the 17 HMR. It is called the A17. It is the first high performance semi auto rifle designed for the 17 HMR cartridge. It has a delayed blowback action that allows the gun to use every bit of recoil impulse the 17 puts out. It comes with a case hardened receiver 10 round rotary magazine similar to the Ruger 10-22 mag and has Savage’s popular Accu-Trigger. This one should do very well with varmint hunters. CCI has also come out with a special 17 HMR round to compliment the new rifle and is said to be considerably faster than standard 17 HMR ammo.

The folks that make the little Zip Gun that attaches to the bottom of the AR-15 now have a new version coming out in 22 Magnum.

Colt is bringing back the 1903 semi auto in 32 auto. Slated to be a limited issue run of a couple thousand guns it will likely do real well or really bad.


There are several 9mm AR-15s coming out in both rifles and pistols. Colt brought out their AR in 9mm years ago but it didn’t do well at all. Now other companies are hoping this will be their little niche in the market.

There is another copy of the H&K MP-5 coming out. It is by Zenith and is called the Z-5P in 9mm.

Many years ago there was a semi auto by Magnum Research called the Jericho 941. It didn’t do real well here in the states but they are bringing it back for another run in 9mm.

Auto Ordnance is reworking their 1911s. They have been a steady seller for them for many years but have been a very plain GI model. Now they are sprucing it up considerably to get a better share of the 1911 market.

CZ is coming out with their first 1911. They are known for what has long been called the finest 9mm on the market, the CZ-75. A lot of guns were copies of the CZ-75 including the Bren Ten of years ago. It was a bit different but resembled it enough to be called a copy.This new CZ 1911 will be made here in the states which is good. That keeps Obama from stopping it being imported.

The military has been looking for a new sidearm for a couple of years now. Beretta sent their new M-9A3 to them to test out and they quickly sent them right back saying thanks but no thanks.

Bersa is coming out with their first polymer framed 380, called the BP-380.

Remington is coming out with a brand new semi auto shotgun, the first one in years. It is called the V3. It is lighter and has a more compact receiver than shotguns in the past. It is said to be completely different from the 1100, 11-87 or the Versa Max. It is also easier on your wallet as it should sell for $750 to $800. The gun reminds me of some of the older shotguns from the late 60s. It has the slimmer receiver and finger grooves down the forend. A neat looking shotgun.

I think half the gun owners in the country have a suppressor or have applied for one and the gun companies are making it worthwhile for them. S&W now has all their M&P pistols in 9mm and 45 now with threaded barrels. The green lasers are big this year also with quite a few S&W semi autos featuring it. S&W is expanding their line up of the 460 S&W with the new Bone Collector version. The newest is a two toned gun with a heavy 7 1/2” barrel that will be a limited issue of 1500 guns.

Thompson Center is owned by Smith & Wesson and has been for a few years now. The Encore has been pretty much not available for a year now but TC says they are re-introducing the Pro Hunter model Encore in rifle and pistol form. Unfortunately no word on the long awaited return of the G-2 frame.

Weatherby is expanding their line up of shotguns. Old Roy Weatherby is probably rolling over in his grave. They are expanding their line up of turkey and waterfowl shotguns with several new series of each. They also have a ladies or youth compact 20 gauge shotgun. This one is a pump with a 22” barrel, black synthetic stock and weighing in at a bit over 5 lbs. They also have 6 new models in their WBY-X series, one of their most popular lines, built on the Vanguard rifle and guaranteed to shoot less than a 1” group at 100. They also have several new Mark V rifles that are guaranteed to shoot sub-MOA groups.

Ruger continues to add more and more new guns to their line up. They have the new 22/45 Lite Blue pistol. It has a vented blue anodized barrel with shark gill pattern side vents. They have several more models slated to be released in the next month or so.

There are a lot more and I will get to them next month. Our next HHC hunt is now 2 months away. I hope you can make it. It is a great hunt and if you have been thinking of going, consider this my personal invitation to join us. April 2-5 in Monterey Tennessee.

I learned something this week and hate to admit it. A good friend who is extremely wealthy, owning oil wells in Texas and developed a special piece of equipment to get sediment out of oil as it is pumped. He comes into the shop and buys a lot of guns, not many custom guns, but a few. But he always buys something. The problem is when I see his big monster truck pull up, I find something to do in the shop so I won’t have to go over to the gun shop. He is a great guy and very friendly but likes to talk and likes to tell stories, unfortunately the same stories every visit. I simply don’t have the extra hour to waste listening to the same stories every week. These are not bragging stories, just stories of things he has done, like Walter Brennan used to say, “no brag, just fact”. Anyway, he went up to the SHOT SHOW last week and fell over dead of a massive heart attack in his hotel room. It hit us all hard at the gun shop, but hit me especially hard as I tended to go out of my way to avoid him. He was a good friend but my time was more precious than our friendship. And that bothers me a lot. Friends are special to all of us. Most of us have very few real friends, and a loss of one hurts us deeply, especially if I did my best not to spend time with him when he was in a day or two before he died. I slighted him and now I can’t say I am sorry. And hopefully this will teach me a lesson and hopefully I will remember this when another friend wants to talk. God bless you S.R. Green. We will miss you.

Til next time, God bless,
Gary