SHOT Show 2006: Muzzleloading
This
year’s shot show was well attended, with total participants closing
in on 40,000 for this year’s event. A novel could be penned trying
to touch on everything, which I won't attempt. Here are a few of
the picks and pans what I saw in the muzzleloading realm and related
items in Las Vegas this year:
Barnes Bullets has been
on a tear lately, introducing more products than ever, new packaging,
actually lowering prices on their acclaimed MZ-Expander muzzleloading
line, and offering new packaging as well across the board. Barnes’
Coni Brooks gives us a peek at their new packaging below. Adding
to the popular MZ-Expanders, Spitfires, their new XPB’s, and renewed
interest in the Barnes Originals comes the new for 2006 TMZ polymer
tipped muzzleloading bullets—offering the flat shooting of the Spitfires
combined with the low-velocity positive, controlled expansion of
the MZ-Expanders. It is a big year for Barnes, and their Triple-Shocks
in their centerfires have already been regularly outshooting some
of their competitors, soundly putting Nosler to shame in areas for
example. Look for availability of the majority of the new Barnes
products by approximately the end of March; for more info see http://www.barnesbullets.com
and be sure to grab a copy of their new DVD while you can.
Coni Brooks shows off her new Barnes "Spitfire
MZ" muzzleloading saboted bullets and packaging, along with
the appropriate Barnes aligner tool. Looks good, shoots good. The
bullets do as well.
A stop by the Remington
booth gave us a glimpse of the somewhat cobby “Genesis” muzzleloader,
with a “Torchcam” flip-up primer loading cap that looks to sell
some high scope rings. Not a “Remington” at all, the Genesis is
imported from the plains in Spain by Traditions. The models I looked
had typical gritty, sloppy “Traditions” triggers—all in all, a real
shame. It is “Optimized for use with Remington Kleenbore 209 Muzzleloading
Primers,” though. What that means is a mystery better left to the
internment of merciful time.
Knight Rifles has their
“Knight Vision” ready to go, along with the “Long Range Hunter.”
The Knight Vision looks to be popularly priced, now has a weight
saving alloy receiver, improved flip down extractor, and looked
to be solid product to me—with a crisp but heavy trigger as the
only area needing attention. Naturally, it all depends how they
shoot—but few Knights are anything but good to great shooters thanks
to some excellent barrel quality.
Winchester, with a bit
of egg on their face for trying to sell their standard W209 primer
as a specially packaged (and priced) muzzleloading primer
now has a new “Triple Seven” 209 primer allegedly designed to kill
some of the troublesome Hodgdon Triple 7 fouling crud. Due out in
a month or two, we will see if they have done anything substantive.
As best as I could discern, Winchester-Olin didn’t bother with the
testing—Hodgdon did. If or how or why it might work, or to what
extent Olin couldn’t say—so, a box of them will tell the tale when
they become available.
On a brighter note,
Thompson Center has given a lot of attention to their Encore, and
did a first-class job at it. A 90 degree quick release breechplug,
longer (stated 28”) fluted barrel, a Navcom / Limbsaver enhanced
buttstock, three position hammer, standard XS Sights Power Rod,
and tasteful engraving all combining to make the new Encore “Pro-Hunter”
the most desirable Encore muzzleloader yet. It shows a lot of effort;
with impressive results far beyond a merely cosmetic overhaul. Good
job by T/C!
Nikon is attempting
to market the “ultimate muzzleloader scope,” their Omega 3-9 x 40
scope. Nikon says, “This new BDC-250 reticle, with its unique
ballistic circles, allows the shooter to accurately and ethically
shoot out to 250 yards by providing instant aim points, taking the
guesswork out of where to hold on the target at longer ranges. Accuracy
you would expect from a centerfire is now possible with a muzzleloader.”
Well, naturally Nikon has no clue as to the specific powder / projectile
combination any muzzleloader chooses to use, and no scope I’ve heard
of makes a gun more accurate. What Nikon has done is basically lift
the Burris Ballistic-Plex reticle, adding circles instead of lines.
Nice marketing attempt, though a bit cheesy.
Burris and Bushnell
(new Elite 3200 3-9 Ballistic Reticle) had similar offerings,
with more features for less dollars than the Nikon hyperbole, and
a longtime favorite, Sightron, has some goodies in the works to
compliment their already impressive line. A visit to Simmons (Meade)
revealed a bit of confusion about their new “reinvention of the
riflescope,” but that will become more clear later in the year,
and Leupold’s new “broken objective” scope failed to dazzle us.
Burris, Bushnell, and Sightron still appear to be the brands to
beat for today’s frontloader with a combination of affordability,
performance and value—let your own eyes be the judge on that, of
course, as they are the only ones that matter.
Melvin Forbes was happy
to show off his New Ultra Light Arms semi-custom smokeless muzzleloaders.
True to the foundation of all his rifles—they are indeed dreamboats
to carry.
Garmin has done a comprehensive
updating of their industry-leading GPS lines (see http://www.garmin.com/outdoor/
) , Harvester sabots is busy expanding their offerings, Hodgdon
continues to lead in the blackpowder sub market with their competitors
apparently stuck in neutral.
Like computers, anything
electronic is obsoleted so fast that rangefinders and related items
just get better annually from most manufacturers. Kick-Eez has some
new recoil pad offerings that are interesting, and together with
Limbsaver continue to lead the industry according to my shoulder,
anyway.
Austin & Halleck
has their own “instant release” breechplug I found interesting,
and their Black Ice Coated / Kreiger barreled lever action front
loader with a ’92 action seems ready for imminent release. According
to Ray Crow, the A & H inline shotgun has been quite well received
since its late fall introduction.
Western Powders has
introduced an impressive full line of gun care products, and both
Battenfield and Birchwood-Casey have new offerings too numerous
to list—but well worth checking out.
Savage Arms is poised
for a huge year, after stunning the industry with the Accu-Trigger
on their centerfires and their 10ML-II muzzleloader, it looks like
they are doing it all over again with their popular rimfire line.
Savage CEO Ron Coburn stressed that the Accu-Triggers I tested were
“just straight from the factory” and they were no less than fabulous
according to my trigger finger.
Most all manufacturers
I talked to were extremely upbeat, with a big increase in preorders
this year already in the bag. That’s a good thing, as that means
more and better choices for all of us. It was a great show, and
a treat to visit with Ty Herring and Coni Brooks from Barnes, Black
Powder Hunting publisher Debra Bradbury, Sierra President and G.M.
Bob Hayden, Sightron’s Allan Orr, shooting legend David Tubb, ,
Mic McPherson (author of the best gun accurizing book ever),
Carlo Fiocchi (of Fiocchi Ammunition, no surprise there),
world’s greatest reloader Hartmut Broemel, Ron Coburn, Brian Herrick,
Cathy, Paula, and the Savage Team, and pleasant hours with Guns
& Shooting Online’s own Chuck Hawks, his pretty lady Jerri,
and the rest of the Guns & Shooting Online crew. The weather
was spectacular as a bonus, and even the Cabela’s Dock Dogs were
in great form-- looking like they could put a few polar bears to
shame.
It was a great time
among some wonderful people, and one of the best run, best attended
industry gatherings in recent memory.
M.L.
"Mic" McPherson has authored the finest instructional
texts on rifle tuning I've ever read: "Accurizing The Factory
Rifle," which has become the standard reference work across
the world for those who seek to get the most out of their firearms.
For a quite reasonable fee, I was allowed to congratulate him. Thanks,
Mic!
©
2006 by Randy Wakeman
