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Well I went to SHOT and it was a good time. I had specific things I needed to do so only spent a day and a half at the show. I was there as a guest of Thunderbeast, and really was left to my own agenda. Here are my observations.
The new Burris RTS 1-6 scope is under $400 with the Burris mount and its a great scope for an AR. It IS better than the Vortex and other offerings in the price range.
The new Vortex 1-6 and 8x scopes are meh. At least they are pricing them more realistically, probably in response to Burris
The SIG scopes are nice, but just MHO they are overpriced. Yes, I understand they have improved quality a ton and have lured staff from Leupold over, but with the competition putting out equal or even better product at lower pricing I would have to be a real fan to buy one.
The Eotech Vudu scopes are nice. A tick on the pricey side, but still very nice. The 1-8 has great potential for a 3-gun competitor. The 8-32 is probably going to find a place on my 6.5 Creedmore.
The Fix rifle from Q is the truth. Of all the high speed rifles I looked at it is the only one I wanted to whip the CC out and purchase.
The Howa chassis system rifle is also on the list of must buys. If you have a Howa rifle then your existing short action will drop into the chassis without much effort on your part. Their new rifles in 6.5 Grendel and 6.5CM are priced perfectly and the actions are still typical Howa, butter smooth and tight.
JP has a lot of cool new stuff, including a sweet super low profile adjustable gas block for pinned/welded barrels that allows you to remove the gas block for cleaning and service. Their weighted bolt carrier is also typical JP, beautifully done and it works.
If your building a 16 or 18in 3-gun rifle you should look long and hard at the carbon handguards from Lancer and Brigand Arms. They will help balance out the gun and are super tough. Lancer is making carbon handguards for Faxon arms as well.
For those of us in FREE AMERICA the Thunderbeast cans are as always top notch, and Ray and Zac have spent a huge amount of money on equipment to make the best product possible. They are buying entire mill runs of titanium and constantly experimenting with new material and technology to make quieter and more durable suppressors. The new cans from Q are also pretty sweet, and Silencerco has introduced a pistol similar to the Tac Sol Rugers and Brownings that are integrally suppressed and they are making it available to the civilian market.
Cerakote and other finishes were there, same old stuff, blah blah meh..but I did have a great talk with H&M which does a black nitride surface treatment that does not add any buildup and is super tough. Looks to be about $200 to for all the steel parts for a pistol, and they can do any ferrous metal including stainless. They do a REM polish that yields a super slick and tough finish that looks like a high-end OEM finish. They will also do pistol/rifle barrels and the entire barrel- including the rifling- gets the finish and much like melonite it reduces fouling and wear. Since it adds no material and changes no dimension the break-in after the barrel is done is very short.
Tons of other stuff I could talk about but those are the things that stuck with me.
The new Burris RTS 1-6 scope is under $400 with the Burris mount and its a great scope for an AR. It IS better than the Vortex and other offerings in the price range.
The new Vortex 1-6 and 8x scopes are meh. At least they are pricing them more realistically, probably in response to Burris
The SIG scopes are nice, but just MHO they are overpriced. Yes, I understand they have improved quality a ton and have lured staff from Leupold over, but with the competition putting out equal or even better product at lower pricing I would have to be a real fan to buy one.
The Eotech Vudu scopes are nice. A tick on the pricey side, but still very nice. The 1-8 has great potential for a 3-gun competitor. The 8-32 is probably going to find a place on my 6.5 Creedmore.
The Fix rifle from Q is the truth. Of all the high speed rifles I looked at it is the only one I wanted to whip the CC out and purchase.
The Howa chassis system rifle is also on the list of must buys. If you have a Howa rifle then your existing short action will drop into the chassis without much effort on your part. Their new rifles in 6.5 Grendel and 6.5CM are priced perfectly and the actions are still typical Howa, butter smooth and tight.
JP has a lot of cool new stuff, including a sweet super low profile adjustable gas block for pinned/welded barrels that allows you to remove the gas block for cleaning and service. Their weighted bolt carrier is also typical JP, beautifully done and it works.
If your building a 16 or 18in 3-gun rifle you should look long and hard at the carbon handguards from Lancer and Brigand Arms. They will help balance out the gun and are super tough. Lancer is making carbon handguards for Faxon arms as well.
For those of us in FREE AMERICA the Thunderbeast cans are as always top notch, and Ray and Zac have spent a huge amount of money on equipment to make the best product possible. They are buying entire mill runs of titanium and constantly experimenting with new material and technology to make quieter and more durable suppressors. The new cans from Q are also pretty sweet, and Silencerco has introduced a pistol similar to the Tac Sol Rugers and Brownings that are integrally suppressed and they are making it available to the civilian market.
Cerakote and other finishes were there, same old stuff, blah blah meh..but I did have a great talk with H&M which does a black nitride surface treatment that does not add any buildup and is super tough. Looks to be about $200 to for all the steel parts for a pistol, and they can do any ferrous metal including stainless. They do a REM polish that yields a super slick and tough finish that looks like a high-end OEM finish. They will also do pistol/rifle barrels and the entire barrel- including the rifling- gets the finish and much like melonite it reduces fouling and wear. Since it adds no material and changes no dimension the break-in after the barrel is done is very short.
Tons of other stuff I could talk about but those are the things that stuck with me.
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