Windham Weaponry Booth SHOT Show 2014

While I did not get to talk with any of the reps from Windham Weaponry I did have the opportunity to check out a few of the items that they brought with for the show.

One of the first things I noticed when walking up to their booth were the wood furniture AR's, they stood out among everything because they were different. Every other AR I saw during the show essentially looked like the other, but these were different.

While they are only a prototype I hope that Windham will release them onto the market at some point because they are awesome.

The other rifle that caught my eye was their new AR-10 SRC (Sights Ready Carbine), while there are many AR-10's out on the market there aren't many in the lower price ranges that are decent quality. After checking out their AR-10 I thought it felt sturdy while still being light (7.5lbs without mag or optic), and although there are a number of pieces I would end up changing, it is just right at the MSRP of $1413.

I had some pictures with it, unfortunately they were lost when the computer did it's own thing. So here is the spec sheet from Windham Weaponry.

I am looking forward to getting some time with the SRC .308 once I have my hands on it, since my experience with the WW AR-15 was so good. This is one company that is building affordable AR's that are great quality, and I look forward to seeing what else they bring out in the future.

Desert Tech Booth SHOT Show 2014

As many of you know it was announced earlier this month that Desert Tech turned down a rather large contract that would have supplied rifles to Pakistan, instead of compromising their beliefs they stood firm and did not take the money. If you didn't like what Desert Tech was doing before you should really like them now, I know this move made me like them even more.

With that said, I was excited when I received the email that they would be debuting the MDR (Micro Dynamic Rifle) during SHOT Show. With the success of the Tavor it was only a matter of time before more companies dove into the bull pup market, and with the MDR Desert Tech came out swinging.

While the MDR's that they had at the show were prototypes and the actual rifles will not release until 2015, you got a very good idea of just how balanced the MDR will be. Since it is fully ambidextrous, and the controls are the "same" as the M-4/AR-15 platform it felt very natural to shoulder the rifle and manipulate the controls.

One of the other great things about the MDR was the fact that it will be adaptable to multiple different calibers by switching out the barrel, bolt, and mag well. The current plan is to release it as a .308 and 5.56 at first and then offer options such as 7.62x39, .300BLK, and 6.8 SPC, and as I said before the greatest part about that is they will only require changing out parts and not the complete rifle.

Overall I am extremely excited to see the finished product of the MDR, and hopefully get my hands on one at some point. As much as I enjoyed shooting the Tavor I did not like how the controls were all rearward and took some thinking to manipulate them correctly. Having the controls setup the way they are on the MDR would only require training yourself to bring the magazine to the rear to load it.

Gallow Tech Boot SHOT Show 2014

So over the past 10+ months I have talked with Brent from Gallow Tech a few times via email, and he did a great job of leaking the smallest amounts of information as possible. When I stopped by the booth I had a very vague idea as to what he was releasing.

When I stepped into his booth and saw the panels and mounts I was truly impressed with craftsmanship and quality. While a storage idea is nothing new, the way the Gallow Tech system makes it work and look is quite different than many of the other options I have seen out there.

The panels are powder coated tan, and are made of 16 gauge steel which feels extremely sturdy and and should stand up very well to long term use. When it comes to choosing a setup for your guns, mags, and other gear the options seem to be limitless. There are vertical and horizontal rifle options, handgun racks, and magazine shelves, as I said before the options seem to be limitless.





There will be much more to come on the Gallow Tech storage system after I pick out my setup and get it mounted on the wall. I will be doing a pre installation, during installation, and after installation video so you can all see how the system works all together. So make sure sign up for our email listing to stay up to date on all of the reviews we will be doing over the next few months.

Shot Show from a green horn

Let's start with media day at the range. We took a bus out to the Boulder city pistol and rifle club range from the sands convention center. Upon arrival I didn't think the range was all the big....boy was I wrong! We kept driving down the dirt road and more and more tents kept popping up. Eventually we unloaded from the bus and walked. After we got our media passes we entered about 1/2 between both ends. We decided to start on the far end with TacCon and got to shoot their 3MR trigger (There will be more on that from me in a later post). As much as I wanted to go to every tent, we just couldn't. Between the amount of people waiting in line and the sheer number of companies, we knew we had to hit the ones you guys wanted to see. We have lots of video from what we got at the range which you can find on our YouTube channel. After hours of walking and shooting the latest and greatest, we were beat.

        Eric from the YouTube channel     IraqVeteran8888

                   Gunny sighting!

           Shooting the new Glock 41

As for the main convention, all I could say is WOW. I had heard stories from friends and local companies about the pure size of the show. I wasn't necessarily skeptical but at the same time I didn't quite believe them when they said how massive it actually was. Walking into the front doors of the Sands convention center I was already in shock. The lobby itself was bigger than any convention I had been to back home. 

            1 of many lobby entrances

Once we made our way to the floor, well, let's just say my jaw stubbed my toe. The amount of guns and gear in that single (and utterly gargantuan) room was mind blowing. I didn't know which way to turn. Had I not known about the SHOTShow app I would have been in survival mode because I'd be lost in some part of the building. Even with that app and after I thought I knew where everything was; on our last day in the convention center we found a huge room I never even knew existed. I was like a kid in a candy store. After walking for miles on day one my whole lower body ached like no other. We skipped around on the first and second floor on that day. 

             Kat from Adams Arms

The remainder of our time at Shot show we prioritized and met up with as many companies as we could that we could potentially work with in the future; A lot of which I was unfamiliar with. Luckily Travis knew what was up and helped me out a ton. We talked to and interview SWORD international, Legion firearms, tuff products, AM-TAC, and Gallow Tech just to name a few that we talked with. By the end of everyday I was ready to just collapse. I never thought I would walk so much in such a short period of time. Overall I think we walked a good 30 miles during the entire trip. 

                 Colion Noir and Lane

    Tavis and I at the Tuff products booth

My favorite booths were all on the first floor and off in the side rooms on both floors. A majority of which were somewhat smaller companies that were genuine when you talked to them. We also got to meet many of our sponsors for our giveaways we have done. It was excellent to know the people who make the magic happen.

    Desert tech MDR (my favorite rifle  of the show) 

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow ups from Shot show. There is too much to cover in one review. 

-ShipLane 

    Glenn Fleming previously of Sons of     Guns. 

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CMC Triggers Booth SHOT Show 2014

So I have been in contact with CMC Triggers on and off for the past few months but have not had the opportunity to try out or see one of their triggers in person, until last week. I had been hearing nothing but great things about their triggers from a number of people who's opinion I respect, so I have been looking forward to getting my hands on one at some point.

When I met with CMC Triggers at their booth it was awesome to find out that it is a family run business, and everyone in the family is very heavily involved.

They had a Lantac lower with their trigger installed so I was able to get a feel for how the trigger works and feels, and now I am looking forward to getting one installed in my rifle and getting some time at the range with it.

If there is one thing I respect very highly it is when a company makes you feel like you have known them for a long time and take the time to make you feel welcome at their booth. CMC was awesome to hang out with after the show at dinner one night also.

Looking forward to working with them here in the near future also.

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Diamondhead Booth SHOT Show 2014

Before I left for SHOT there had been a few suggestions (both from the page and some friends) to check out the Diamondhead booth. Everyone wanted information on the new D-45 offset sights, and a few people asked about the new polymer sights that are being offered.

I had just happened to see the Diamondhead D-45 sights on one of the Adams Arms AR-15's while at their booth and I was intrigued by them, and I made sure that we stopped at Diamonhead after that.

The D-45 sights are a very unique build compared to some of the other offset sights I have owned before. Instead of being a solid mount, they are spring loaded and can handle being bumped because they will just move back and then go right back into position. I would really like to pick up a set to use on my rifle once I swap it over to a magnified scope.

(When stowed the sights sit as low as any other folding sight)

The other sights that I was interested in were the polymer sights that they are offering. Unlike some of the other polymer flip up sights I have seen on the market these are built solid and have one ver cool feature on them. You can "charge" the sights up with your flashlight which then gives you a very bright set of night sights, I was surprised at just how bright they were when the booth rep showed me.

Wether we are able to work a deal with getting a set of each sent to us for review or we have to pick some up to review, there will be something up about them at some point this year.

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Adams Arms Booth at SHOT Show 2014

One of the first booths that we stopped at was Adams Arms, where we had the opportunity to talk shop with Kat. She is extremely knowledgeable and she can shoot too, as has been proven by some of the Instagram videos I have seen.

We also had the opportunity to check out the Kryptek patterned rifles that they brought with them, drooled a bit over them, and were impressed at just how clean the pattern was done on the rifles.

This is one company that I am hoping to work with this year to get up some reviews and information about their products for you all to see.

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Post SHOT Show 2014 Thoughts

When I was told that SHOT Show was huge and I would literally not see everything before it was over I really didn't believe it. I am now a believer that there is literally no way to see every single booth and have time to talk to all of them, but really there is no need to because not all of the booths are offering the firearms or gear that I typically review.

Media day was a crazy place to be, but at the same time it was awesome because I was able to get some time behind some newer firearm such as the Glock 41, Glock 42, S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR AR-15, and ADCOR AR-15. Having time to talk with the representatives from each company and sometimes the owners helps to give a lot of background information that may not always be readily available. 

If I were to narrow it down to 2 things that I was impressed the most with it would have to be the Glock 42 and the S.W.O.R.D Intl SBR (also 16" setup).

The Glock 42 was something that I went in wanting to hate it because I thought it was the most ridiculous thing that Glock would bring out a single stack .380 while everyone else has been pumping out single stack 9mm's. Yet when I finally got my hands on it and felt how well it is made, how balanced it is, and how easy it is to fire and be on steel I was impressed. After talking with a few of the other guys and gals who were out there at Media day I am pretty sure we all came to the conclusion that Glock may have decided to release the .380 before the 9mm version because if they had gone in the reverse order of that no one would buy the .380 version. Either way it was a pleasant surprise and something I am looking forward to getting more range time with and doing further reviews with.

The S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR and 16" AR-15's were both very interesting rifles to shoot. They are both piston systems, with S.W.O.R.D.'s compensator installed on them along with a few other great upgrades. The result was an extremely smooth shooting rifle that pretty well eliminated muzzle flip and walk. Getting on target and staying on target was a dream, every shot was a hit.

On the SHOT Show floor(s) I was completely overwhelmed from the beginning. The second I stepped into the Sands Expo Center I realized just how large the show was, it took over an hour to figure out where a majority of the companies were at and how to navigate the city that is SHOT Show.

Plenty of time was spent talking with some of the newer companies, gawking and drooling over many of the new rifles that are being released this year. Such as the Sig Sauer P556XI, Rock River Arms LAR-47, and the Gallow Technologies Weapons Storage system. There were literally so many cool things to see that I quickly felt overwhelmed and realized that there needed to be a system to the madness and writing down the companies I wanted/needed to see was the best bet.

                                                        (Rock River Arms LAR-47)

                                                              (SAR Arms 9mm SBR)

I talked with a lot of companies, some who I have been working with over the past year and others that I just met this past week during SHOT Show. Everyone that I talked to was genuine and a great contributor to the industry. There were many items that were interesting and that peaked my interest, and there were other things that I could not figure out why they were there.

Overall I was completely overwhelmed from day 1 and did not get nearly as much done as I had hoped to, however once I got my bearings and gained some speed I was able to meet many companies that will be working with us throughout this year.

Just to name a few of the companies:
S.W.O.R.D. International
Offhand Gear
SAR Arms
ODIN Works
Primary Weapons Systems
and quite a few more.

I am really looking forward to bringing as much new information to everyone, and introducing many new items.

Make sure to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as new items start to roll in and new initial thoughts posts go up.

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Glock 41 and 42 SHOT Show 2014 Initial Thoughts

On Monday I had the opportunity to shoot both the Glock 41 and 42 that are being released very soon. I remember when I heard that Glock would be releasing these new guns and thinking to myself, why is it that Glock would release a .380 single stack pistol when everyone else has been releasing 9mm? While I did not get an answer from the rep at Media Day, I did get to find out that the Glock 42 was an extremely small gun that despite it's size still fit very well in my hands. 

As with any Glock the 42 is a shooter, it was extremely easy to ring the steel with and had little to no recoil.

                                    (As you can see the 42 looks very small in Lane's Hands)

The Glock 41 was probably the one that had impressed me the most, it was extremely easy to hold even with my "smaller" hands and it shot like a dream. Thanks to Glock engineering they have created a .45ACP that feels like it has the recoil of a 9mm. If you watch the video you can see that I pulled the first shot because I was expecting it to shoot like a .45ACP and was a bit surprised when it didn't.

                                                                        (Glock 42)

Are these the guns that the community has been asking for? No, no they are not. Matter of fact they have left many people asking why.

Are these guns that will sell? Yes because they are both very well made, and we all know that even when Glock releases a gun that people question at first, it still sells.

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SHOT Show Initial Thoughts- Caracal CS308

As many of you have seen we posted up a picture of the new Caracal CS308 which was introduced during SHOT Show 2014 Media Day at the Range, and as I am sure those who have been following us and reading or watching our reviews will know I am not a bolt gun guy. However there have been 2 Bolt Guns that I have handled over the past year that have made me want to get one, the first being the Texas Customs Rifle .308 and now the Caracal CS308.

The Caracal CS308 uses a very interesting skeleton frame design, and the stock offers a variety of positions for the shooter to choose from which in turn makes it a very comfortable rifle to shoot. The muzzle break that is installed makes a huge difference in the amount of muzzle flip and felt recoil, you just don't want to be standing at 45* on either side of it because it creates a massive concussive force.

When I got behind the rifle I was surprised at how comfortable it felt and how smooth the bolt is. The bolt system that they use is a 3 Lug System which locks up much tighter that the standard bolt design, and at the same time creates a smoother bullet loading system. On top of all of that the bolt slides like glass with very little effort.

The 2 stage trigger was nice, but I would probably have adjusted it more to my liking if I could have. When shooting the rifle it was evident right away that it was going to be very easy to shoot with, after taking the first shot and having very little recoil and muzzle rise all I could do was smile a little bit.

Looking forward to seeing this rifle when it releases on the market, and also looking forward to seeing how well it holds up given the prior issues Caracal has had with their pistols.