All Outdoor

When the 338 Federal cartridge came along in 2006, I was smitten. I like short actions. I like big bullets. And I like it when they shoot fast and hit hard. The 338 had all of those things, and I fell in love

The new products announced by Winchester at the 2015 SHOT Show include the XPR line of bolt-action rifles and 20 gauge versions of their popular SXP line of shotguns.

The XPR is a follow on to the firms classic Model 70 rifle that incorporates new manufacturing techniques to offer more features at an affordable price. The rifle includes the company’s MOA trigger system, detachable magazine, polymer stock and free-floated barrel.

The new 20 gauge SXP shotguns bring a smaller bore option to the existing 12 gauge designs.

For more information on these new products watch the video as a Winchester rep goes over the features of the guns.

Last week, I wrote about the new Winchester Shot-Lok ammo for turkey and pheasant, which patterned great for me at close range and farther out at SHOT Show Range Day. That’s not the only new turkey ammo on the block, however – check out 3rd Degree, from Federal Premium.

If anyone doubted that the AR-15 was the most popular rifle in America they obviously were not at this year’s SHOT Show. Whether in the Law Enforcement, Hunting or General Firearms sections of the floor booth after booth hosted companies showing their version of this popular design.

One new AR that caught my attention was the Birdsong Raptor by Birdsong Manufacturing. This company is a spin off of the firearms coating company known for their signature Birdsong Black-T process.

Tyler Birdsong told me their new Raptor rifle is the result of over two years of engineering development, prototyping and testing. The rifle features multiple caliber options, a side charging system, and, of course, the companies Black-T coating.

Watch the video to see Tyler Birdsong explain more of the features and advantages of the company’s new Raptor rifle.

Due to all the crimes and terrorism that have occurred in the last 10 years, I’ve become more and more driven to start packing an AR15 with me in my truck when we’re traveling around town and across country. All too often, we have seen scenarios unfold where people are outgunned by a vicious madman with no regard for human life. In many of these situations a handgun is simply not enough from a defensive perspective.

During WW2, Soviet sniper rifles were basically infantry 1891/30s (and occasionally SVT40 semiautos) hand-selected for accuracy. Other than the accident of manufacture and subsequent addition of an optical sight of 3.5 to 4 power, they were not very different from the run of the mill 3-line rifle. Equipped with the side-mounted scope, these rifles lacked the ability to use stripper clips. By contrast, the German approach had two tiers, the sniper rifle proper with a 4 power scope and a designated marksman weapon, usually fitted with a 1.5x ZF41 extended eye relief scope. Over 100,000 were produced by 1945. Although of limited optical quality, these sights improved hit probability over iron sights. A couple of decades later, Jeff Cooper would call those “scout” rifles.

The Slide Fire bump-fire stock for the AR-15 made a splash when it hit the market a few years ago. For a few hundred dollars shooters could replicate the feel of full-auto shooting with a stock that made it easier to bump-fire their AR-15 rifle.

Slide Fire Solutions has followed up on the popularity of their first product by both upgrading their original stock and creating new products. In this video from the 2015 SHOT Show Slide Fire Solutions rep Brandon Ritter shows the company’s new stocks for both the AR and AK pattern rifles.

Anyone who ever played Paintball in the 80’s or the 90’s has probably heard of the Nelson Paint Company. This Michigan company’s paint products for the wildlife and forestry industries became the tech that led to the popular sport of paintball. In the ’80s their Nel Spot 007 pistol, originally developed to mark trees for foresters, became the world’s first marker for what was originally called “The Survival Game.”

Hunters and target shooters who need a quality machine rest should check out the products made by HYSKORE Professional Shooting Accessories. HYSKORE has several lines of rests made to accommodate different needs. All of the company’s rests are manufactured from cut, welded steel sections with a durable powder coat finish.

In this video from the 2015 SHOT Show a HYSKORE rep demonstrates the company’s Dual Dampener Machine Rest, designed primarily for rifle sighting, and their Track and Elevate Varmit Rest, designed primarily for hunting.

On one of the last aisles I walked at the 2015 SHOT Show, I ran across a fellow holding a gun with a compact, tough-looking sight. It looked unique and rugged – and the sight picture was not your typical image, either. So I stopped to take a look at the See All Open Sight.

You never know what you’re going to run across at the SHOT Show Range Day, and I thought the stuff by Downrange Fabrications was pretty cool. The first thing I noticed about their display was that they had a LOT of clay pigeons clipped to their steel target-holding frames. So I stopped to take a closer look.

Gunwriter Wiley Clapp frequently consults with firearms companies to produce guns that have, in Clapp’s words, “Everything you need, and nothing you don’t.”

The newest edition to Colt’s Wiley Clapp lineup is the “Wiley Clap CCO.” The CCO stands for “Concealed Carry Officers Model.” This pistol mates a shortened aluminum Officer’s Model frame with a steel Commander length slide. The shortened butt makes it easier to conceal the pistol while retaining the accuracy and reliability of the 4 1/4″ barrel.

In this video, shot at the Colt both during the 2015 SHOT Show, Wiley Clapp describes the features that make this his ideal version of this breed of compact 1911.

The Galco Gunleather company has been serving the needs of the law enforcement, military and armed citizens since 1969. Although the company already has an extensive product line Galco continues to develop new products to meet the needs of the armed citizen or the professional gun carrier.

In the embedded video, Galco Press and Media Relations Manager Mike Barnham goes over the holster maker’s new products for 2015.

Back when I first got into black rifles, I faced a choice: LWRC or LMT. For reasons of convenience (LMT was available at my local gun store) and parts interchangeability (LMT’s Modular Rail Platform gives you amazing flexibility and modularity), I picked LMT. But I do love to fantasize about the grass on the LWRC side of the fence.

I mostly know German knifemaker Puma for their premium traditional folders and fixed blade hunters, which were highly coveted when I was growing up. But Puma typically takes a beating on knife forums nowadays — the consensus seems to be that their heyday was 20 years ago, and that they just haven’t kept up with the times. Given that they’re putting out a ton of low-end to mid-range knifes in old-school stainless flavors like 440A, I’m not surprised that this is the knife knut consensus on the company. Knife knuts go for the latest and greatest techno-steels, and honestly that’s as it should be — knifemakers should stay current or be left behind.

KAI USA, better known to folks as a Kershaw and Zero Tolerance, is one of the very few players that has both mass market appeal with dozens of models in Big Box stores like Wal-Mart and high end credibility producing knives like the ZT0454 that rival customs. Last year was an absolutely stunning year for them both at SHOT Show 2014, and throughout the year as they released one amazing tool after another.

Surefire is a company you just can’t count out.  When they first started making lights it seemed nuts to sell a product that was 10 times the price of its competitors, but they proved that quality always has a customer base.

As today is genius firearms inventor John Browning’s birthday this makes it an incredibly appropriate day to write about Colt’s “soft leak” of their recreation of one of the master’s long out-of-production classic pistol designs.

The Walther CCP (Concealed Carry Pistol)is one of the more interesting small defensive pistols to come out recently. This polymer, striker-fired, pistol utilizes an unusual operating system designed to reduce felt recoil and aid controllability.

If you have $56,000 burning a hole in your pocket and want a neat reproduction of a historic firearm, check out the Colt Model 1877 Bulldog Gatling Gun