I was a bit surprised to see Zippo at Shot Show but when I thought about it, they are a brand closely related to the U.S. military history and for most of the 20th century, were as much a part of a guy’s every-day-carry as a pocket knife.
I’m guessing most of the orders they took at the show were for custom logo editions of their iconic lighter. When I asked what “new” products they had, I was shown their newest electronic hand warmer. It’s MSRP is over $50 which is a bit pricy for a 5200mAh power bank (typically hi-capacity power banks are 10,000mAh or more). I’m not convinced that their brand halo justifies premium pricing on a unit that doesn’t appear as physically unique as their lighter?
Available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091B4FYRL/ref=emc_b_5_t
Shot Show 2022: Walther Competition Rifles
I visited the Walther/Umarex booth at Shot Show to take a look at their competition rifle offerings. While I may never put down the money for one of these beautiful rimfires, it was still worth seeing them. What was interesting was that Umarex bought the high-end airgun maker Hämmerli and now use it as their entry-level brand below Walther.
Most Olympic sports would be better if they were like the Biathlon and included a rifle portion.
Shot Show 2022: Riton X1 Conquer 6-24×50
A 6-24×50 first focal plane scope from Riton.
You had my curiosity.
It’s $199.
You have my attention.
Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uwswiD
Shot Show 2022: Pardini FR22 Free Rifle
Pardini is an Italian competition gun maker known for making some of the most beautiful and modern looking Olympic/International pistol, rimfires, and airguns. I liken them to be something like “the Bugatti” of firearms in terms of high-performance. I stopped by the Pardini booth to see how true that perception is.
Shot Show 2022: Riton X5 Conquer 4-28×56
At the Riton booth in Shot Show, I got a chance to see the 5 Conquer, a rifle scope with an extremely wide range of magnification from 4x all the way 28x; that’s power range factor of seven.
Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Club: Feb 6, 2022
This weekend, I participated in the Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Club’s first rifle first rifle match of the year. This was a 100yrd rimfire open and unsanctioned match. That means it was open to any smallbore rimfire rifle gun (or pistol) that could accurately fire on targets 100 yards away. For the match we were allowed the use of magnified optics and support devices such as bipods, tripods, and stands.
While everybody wanted to bring their best gear and A-game to the range, the ultimate goal was to draw out as many members from their post holiday doldrums and come out the range and enjoy some trigger time. We were moderately successful with 8 shooters on what turned out to be a beautiful, if chilly (for San Francisco) Sunday morning.
I brought out my CZ457 VPC which I honestly haven’t shot since the last match in November. The only change was my use of a single-shot magazine/adapter, which avoids the risk of the bullet face getting damaged as they get stripped from a magazine. This proved to be my biggest problem in the match as I was unfamiliar with the new device and also experienced a few failures to eject spent shells. I’ll have to use it for a bit to see if “breaking-in” is required or if I have a lemon?
Despite my new-hardware issues I managed to earn 1st place, hitting the bullseye 10 times on my 4 targets. It was a close match as I was only 3 points higher than the 2nd place shooter and 7 points higher than 3rd.
Club Website
https://www.coyotepointrpc.org
Shot Show 2022: Riton X7 3-18×50
Riton showed me their 3-18×50 scope with an unheard of 46 MRAD / 158 MOA range of elevation adjustment. For extreme long range competition shooters this is your scope and something I’m eager to try out on my rifles. Even Leupold top ELR scope doesn’t offer this much elevation adjustment and costs $1500 more than this scope.
Available on Amazon https://amzn.to/3LfLRL2
Shot Show 2022: Riton Thunder Ranch LPVO
Riton partnered with the infamous Clint Smith, the founder of Thunder Ranch training center to create a Special Edition LPVO. The Clint Smith designed green illuminated circle/diamond center with BDC and lead reference tics is head-and-shoulders better than Riton’s standard diamond-and-hash LPVO reticle. This 1-6x24mm scope is sure to appeal to tactical and action shooters.
Shot Show 2022: Kel Tec P50 Carbine Kit
At the Kel Tec booth, I finally find out what that weird cut-out in front of the trigger guard of their 5.7x28mm P50 pistol. It’s for the folding shoulder stock that was supposed to be shipped with the pistol/carbine. I’m still not buying the explanation for why this Carbine Kit wasn’t available when the P50 was released 2 years ago.
Shot Show 2022: Kel Tec Sub CQB
At this year’s Shot Show, Kel Tec debuted an internally suppressed version of their popular Sub-2000 folding carbine. In addition to the suppressor, this variant also includes a rotating hand guard similar to the Red Lion, which rotates along the barrel axis to allow mounted optics to be rotated out of the way when the carbine is in its folded storage configuration. This version does away with the Sub-2000’s much maligned iron sights, utilizing the hinge area that contained the rear fold up sight with a locking tab for the hand guard.
Unfortunately among many other infringements to our 2A rights, California has made it a felony to own or posses a suppressor for a firearm, despite the fact that such devices actually prevents hearing injury. I would love to see Kel Tec sell an a kit to add this rotating hand guard to existing Sub2K’s.