Tutt Goes to SHOT SHOW Conclusion

[CowboyTutt]

Well guys, its taken me years to figure a way in, but I finally was able to attend the SHOT SHOW! I thought I would report back to you what it is like from a "first time attendee" perspective. Please bear in mind that I'm no Jeff Quinn! I don't have his experience with firearms, or as a reporter. Also, whereas Jeff gives a well-rounded and professional review of all types of firearms, I went purely for the fun of it, and can only report about the things I am interested in, and checked out while I was there.

First off, after I was in, I decided to make myself the "unofficial" Leverguns.com correspondant. I didn't ask anyone's permission to do so, but I promise I did not act in any way that would bring embarrassment or shame to the forum. I also told manufacturers exactly that: I was just a member of a forum who writes articles.

Here was my hastily made badge:



This is going to take me days to write, so please check back in. I will be submitting it in many small posts since if I take too long to write something, I have to log in again, and risk loosing everything I have written. So please bear with me!

-Tutt

[JerryB]

Looking forward to "all" the reports,must have been alot of fun.

[Jeff Quinn]

It was good to meet you there Andy.

Look forward to your pictures.

I am sure that I missed a lot of stuff.
Used to be that I could take my time and see everything at SHOT, but now, I have so many commitments for meetings and such, that a lot of my time is wasted walking all over creation having to be somewhere at a specific time.

[C. Cash]

I like it! Good group of guys to represent and sounds like you had some fun. Look forward to your posts.

[JReed]

Aint Shot Show great? I went to the 1997 show when I was stationed in Hunstville AL. going to MOS school. I still wish I had brought a camera with me .

[CowboyTutt]

First off, it is hard to describe the scale of this event. It involved two main halls inside the convention center, and 3 very large tents outside in the convention center parking lot! The inside halls are so large, that it is very hard to cover an entire hall in a day if you're stopping to check out even a third of the exhibits. I was told by a spectator that if you walk all the rows at the event, it adds up to 14 miles. I doubt that counts the walk between the halls, or to the parking lot.

In terms of what is represented, I would break it down into the following categories. Guns/ammo, knives, hunting gear, police/tactical, optics, and miscelaneous like cooking devices, spices, safe dolly's, artwork etc. There were so many exhibitors in each category, that they could be a show unto themselves.

Here are some pics of the tents outside, the convention center, and from inside the halls.

[claybob86]

... I will be submitting it in many small posts since if I take too long to write something, I have to log in again, and risk loosing everything I have written.
-Tutt

When I write something long for a post or email, I do it in a word processor program, then copy and paste, that way nothing can get lost.

[rjohns94]

congrats, now tell us what you saw

[CowboyTutt]

Keep in mind also, that this even is for distributors, and they had anything from a few chairs and a table, to small conference rooms at each booth to "wheel and deal" on large purchases to be bought wholesale and sold retail.

I went to Savage Arms first as I was chasing down Mic McPherson who has a long-standing relationship with Savage.

Savage has some neat new target models. They also have been co-operating with with Mic on his SMC cartridges, which are the application of solid fuel (i.e. rocket science) theory to firearm cartridges. More here:

http://www.superiorballistics.com/

Anyhow, I didn't get too many details of any of the firearms I looked at, and next time will ask more questions, and keep a pad handy to write down notes. But here are some cool Savage pics:

I would like to see the whole gun that this trigger belongs too!







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Here is their website:

http://www.savagearms.com/

[CowboyTutt]

The existance of Big Foot has been the subject of some threads here lately. I can honestly say, he DOES EXIST!





You have to be careful when you go to such a large event. You don't know what rough and dangerous characters you might run into while in Las Vegas. Here are a couple of guys who were in town for the festivities, and the ZZ Top Cover Band Try-Outs!

[jazman]

"but I promise I did not act in any way that would bring embarrassment or shame to the forum"

Heck Tutt-
I hope you had SOME fun, I'm sure we could have handled some small embarrassments and/or shame...

[CowboyTutt]

Jeff, it was a pleasure to meet you and Boge too. I know how hard it is to make all those meetings and still see things. Mic was on a similar schedule. I won't be addressing anything related to scopes and tactical guns, or even semi-auto handguns since I live in CA and its not really relevant to me. So, I'll be missing a lot of stuff too in my thread. If you wish to comment on anything or add to it, please feel free to do so!

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

As I said, there were so many knife manufacturers at the Show, that I didn't even stop to see them all. I did make two visits to the Hanwei booth. They make swords, knives and collectables, but also some very fine functional swords made of folded steel or Damascus. They have an armory in Tibet, if I remember right. I've have always wanted a good Chinese sword to learn a martial art sword set. The sword in the pics is Damascus with real shark skin scabbard and in the grip. The hired help were very nice too!











Here is their website:

http://www.cashanwei.com

I was also very impressed with the knives of Bear and Son Cutlery.

Here were some large Bowie knives in Damascus steel with grips of Cocobolo, Bone or Stag. The stage grips felt the best to my hand, and the large knive balanced very, very well. Better than my Kabar, in fact.



Their products can be found at

http://www.bearandsoncutlery.com

[CowboyTutt]

There are also some neat target games at the show. I was there with my friend Professor Loudenboomer, and Mic McPherson's two sons. The Prof. was a "shooting animal" with a handgun on this game!



I also got to handle the new Mossberg 464 Leveraction, which is a '94 Winchester design. These guns have already been reviewed in the media I think, and I can only comment on the fit and finish of the rifle at any rate. The wood was a good fit, but I found it to look rather plain in person. The bluing was nice. With the Winchester Model '94 out of production, it will fill a nitch, but I was a little underwhelmed.



I am a big fan of CZ rifles and CZ/Dan Wesson handguns. I'm sad to report that the Dan Wesson revolvers are not in production right now at all. They are hoping to resume, but there are problems and they don't know when. The D.W. 1911 guns are doing well.

CZ has some neat new tactical rifles built on the CZ 550 platform, and one of them uses the 338 Lapua. When you add their excellent set-triggers, this would seem like a viable option. I don't have any pics of them, I'm sorry to say. Here are pics of their Varmint rifles, and the 3 different laminate stocks that are available on most of their rifles.





The Mossberg line can be found at http://www.mossberg.com

and CZ products at http://www.cz-usa.com/

[CowboyTutt]

I ran into a group of Shootists at the convention. In this photo are Professor Loudenboomer (who prefers to remain anonymous), David Torkelson, R.W. Boyle and "Wild Bill" Thorpe. I spent some time talking to R.W. and "Wild Bill", and they were very, very friendly.



Here is a pic of Prof. 'Boomer and Mic McPherson together the first day of the event. They are old friends.



I also spent considerable time with our own Steve Young at the EMF booth. At one point, I managed to introduce Steve to Mic McPherson, and watch their conversation on how to "trouble-shoot" my 454 Puma. The ideas that passed back and forth were truly amazing! Both men came away impressed with the other man's ideas and knowledge, I am quite sure! I had a pic of the two of them together, but my camera did not focus correctly, so that one is lost.

I really enjoyed Steve's company over my two visits to the EMF booth. He is a very friendly, complimentary, and "down to earth" person. He was instrumental in correcting the slightly oversized 44 mag barrels being made by Rossi a year or so ago. His expertise on pistols and rifles is truly remarkable. We are very lucky to have such a man contribute to our Levergun family. Here's Steve and I together.

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[dr walker]

You look like you had a great time. Those chinese swords are interesting.

[J Miller]

CowboyTutt,

Great report and pics. Question on that new Mossberg 464: were you able to open the action and look inside? I'm curious about the carrier and other internals.

Joe

[Jeff Quinn]

CowboyTutt,

Great report and pics. Question on that new Mossberg 464: were you able to open the action and look inside? I'm curious about the carrier and other internals.

Joe

Mr. Miller,
I'm not The Tuttster, but the 464 is a bit different in the internals. It has a round bolt like the Marlin, but a rear locking bolt similar to the Winchester 94. As Tutt reported, the wood is rather plain.

[Griff]

Been to several Shot Shows over the years, last back in Dallas. Looks as awesome as ever! Good job!

[CowboyTutt]

Jeff, thanks for the help in answering Joe's question, I could not have done so. Joe, I did work the action, and it was reasonably smooth. That's about all I can say about it.

I enjoyed looking at the products from Uberti, particularly their variation on the Colt Lightning pump-action rifle. The fit and finish on the one I looked at was excellent. The wood had nice grain, and the color-case hardening was very nicely done. They even took the time to use brass escutcheons on the fore-arm; a nice touch. But the action was sort of stiff, and the wood had that typical Uberti orange color which diminished the beauty of the nice wood in my opinion. I'm sure the action could be slicked up, and it was to all visual aspects a very nice rifle.

The Winchester 76 I picked up was very nice, and the toggle action on this one was very smooth indeed. The color case hardening was respectable but the wood is not as fancy as what was on the Lightening.

It is probably the best made '76 on the market right now. They are also available through Cimarron. Here are some pics.













The link to Cimarron is http://www.cimarron-firearms.com

[CowboyTutt]

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the SHOT SHOW for me was to be able to pick up and examine similar products from different manufacturers. I've been considering a Single Action Army of some sort, and was able to look at the offerings from Colt, U.S.F.A, Cimarron and EMF. First off was Colt. Colt seems to be ramping up their SAA line and had some new models to show. I have to say the one's I saw were very, very nice. The color-case hardening had deeper colors than what I saw at Uberti, the bluing was very nice, and the fit of the frame to receiver was tight. They have a new Frontier and Sherriff model.











Their products can be found at http://www.coltsmfg.com/cmci/custom.asp

[CowboyTutt]

I will get back to SAA's in a minute. Next was off to Winchester. They have a new '95 in 405 Winchester in honor of Teddy Roosevelt in two grades. They were both very nice but which one you like best is a matter of personal preference. These guns are probably made by Miroku in Japan (I'm not 100% sure), but lets face it, they make an excellent rifle.





Winchester is expanding their Super X3 line with some new models. They have a new 3 1/2 12 gauge model in a gunmetal grey color that was very nice, and offered the advantage of the 3 1/2" chamber. They have a new Turkey model that comes from the factory in camo and has a red dot sight on it. Finally, I have to say, I was REALLY impressed with the "Flanni-gun". It is a slightly modified SX3 that was built for Patrick Flanigan, the extreme sport shooter. While you may not like the looks of it, it is a remarkable shotgun, capable of firing 12 rounds in less than a second and a half! You have to see the video of Patrick shooting this thing to believe it. His has a special 12 shot mag tube on it. The production one is standard length, but Patrick sells a mag tube conversion kit from his website that holds 11 rounds, and it is a very simple installation. I actually had the opportunity to talk with Patrick briefly. He said that its hard for him to explain how he does his shots because it is so "instinctive" for him. I can see how that would be. He was very courteous. Owning one of these could be a lot of fun, and it was one of my two favorite guns at the entire SHOT SHOW, not because of how it looked, but because how it could function. WOW!













Winchester's products can be found here at http://www.winchesterguns.com/ and Patrick Flanigan's website is here at http://www.patrickflanigan.com

[CowboyTutt]

Marlin has some new SxS shotguns out. They actally looked very nice, and handled well when I picked them up. They are also not particularly expensive, and are most likely a good value for the money. Marlin referes to them as their LC Smith line. They are imports, but the fit and finish was surprisingly good.





They can be found at http://www.marlinfirearms.com/

[CowboyTutt]

OK, back to single actions. I went to U.S.F.A. next. Their John Wayne pistol is a very fine example of excellent craftmanship without too much "bling". I explained to the sales rep the frustration of dealing with a website that claims that guns are for sale, only to find out they were not currently being made. He explained that it used to be they were always so far behind, they could not possibly catch up, and they were always behind on some of their orders. They have pretty much caught up with demand and have also arranged for their products to be distributed through Accusport which should greatly improve the availability of their products.

Interestingly, they had to move out of the original Colt "Blue Dome" manufacturing plant because the wooden floors would vibrate when the train close to the factory would pass by, and it would "throw off" the new CNC machinery that U.S.F.A. purchased. Since this was unacceptable, they had to move the plant down the street.

I told the sales rep I had just come from the Colt display, and I was comparing pistols. He said that their guns were less expensive than the Colts, but frankly that just depended on the model. They did have some models less expensive than the Colt, but also some that were more expensive. He also claimed that the U.S.F.A. guns were a little more accurate. I can't confirm or deny this, but I think the difference may not be noticable to most shooters. There is no question they make an outstanding single action, and they may even be the best ones on the market.



There products can be seen at http://www.usfirearms.com/

[Mike D.]

GREAT report, Andrew. I have always wanted to attend SHOT but it it conflicts with WINCHESTER shows.

The new "Frontier Six Shooter" looks good, but Colt needs to use a 1st Generationm hammer to clean up the lines and make it more "authentic".

[JReed]

Tutt this is an awesome post.

[Ysabel Kid]

Okay, this is killing me. The Shot Show is for professionals in the industry and not open to the public, correct? Does it cost professionals to attend it?

Just wondering if I could volunteer to be the representative for a local gun store...

[CowboyTutt]

J.R. thank you for the kind words. I'm just an ordinary guy trying to report back to the rest of us who can't attend. Ysabel, if your in the profession, it may only cost the price of a ticket, which is around $15-$20 online if you purchase your tickets in advance. This is up to your company, and whether they are interested in doing what it takes to get tickets. I don't know much about that part of it, as it was left up to my host, who had previously attended. I hope this helps some, but its really up to your gunshop to check things out.

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

Next off was Cimarron firearms and their single actions. I had to admit, they had some stunning creations from their custom shop. Their "charcoal blue" finish does have a bluish hue to it, and looked quite good when combined with either a nickel or color-case hardened receiver. The company rep told me that Uberti has one production line for Cimarron and "one for every one else". I discussed this later with our own Steve Young, and it seems unlikely that it is a separate production line, but perhaps an assembly line with parts finished to Cimarron's specs regarding color and details. However, I was able to handle a pistol that had a trigger/action job, and it was very slick indeed. The price point was also less than the Colts or U.S.F.A. guns. Steve informed me that the Italians have really made progress in their single-action copies, and all of them used a coil spring instead of the original leaf spring underneath the bolt, one of the weaknesses of the original design. EMF also has a new pistol for Cowboy Action Shooting called the Tombstone that is designed to compete with Cimarron's Evil Roy competition gun. I'm afraid I don't have pictures of it, however.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of the single actions made by Colt, U.S.F.A. or Cimarron.





You can find Cimarron products at http://www.cimarron-firearms.com Their paper catolog is one of the nicest, and is worth ordering.

[CowboyTutt]

Living in CA poses some unique problems with firearms ownership as everyone is aware. I've been wanting a derringer for some time, but Bond Arms are not for sale in CA. Enter Cobra Enterprises from Utah. They make a derringer called the "big bore" that is available in 9mm. It is the largest caliber they make. They are inexpensive, retail is about $160, and the 9mm with the right bullet would be enough to stop a fight. Fit and finish appeared to be very good. They are 100% made in the USA and feature a lifetime warranty.



Their products can be found at http://www.cobrapistols.net

[CowboyTutt]

Now to the good stuff. One of the booths I was really looking forward to seeing was from Shiloh Sharps. Some of my pics did not turn out too well, but I will post them anyhow. The sample I liked was a #3 Sporter done up in a heavy 1/2 octagon/round 30" barrel chambered in 45-70. This configuration, while heavy, actually balanced very well, the middle point being just north (muzzle end) of the receiver. I suspect Scott T.'s "Big Nose Kate" feels similar with its 26" full octagon barrel. I told the representative that the European products were becoming so expensive that the Shiloh rifles were competatively priced. He said, "I know, I'm delighted!". Cimarron is going to discontinue their "Big Fifty" this year, probably for this reason. Obviously, the quality of Shiloh is well known. He invited me for a tour of the factory if I'm ever in Montana, and I will certainly do that next time I am there.









Shiloh products can be seen at http://www.shilohrifle.com

[jengel]

Next year we really ought to have some kind of identification system for forum members. I met Jeff and Boge Quinn and that was the only confirmed member of the forum that I could identify. I was kind of neat though, Jeff drives right by my shop on the way to Sturgis. Good guys them Quinn fellers.

The SHOT Show was really neat. We found some new stuff that was really neat. We will be a dealer for many companies and have some really cool stuff. One of the neat items was Kings Shadow Camo that is a really neat fabric. They have two new patterns that are not on their website yet. Another neat item that we saw was the Figure 9 and S Biner from www.niteize.com

[CowboyTutt]

Another booth I made not one, but two trips to was Freedom Arms. Who wouldn't! I had the opportunity, finally, to meet Bob and Wayne Baker and speak to them both. Wayne is working on a book about his life with the help of his daughters, and it was delightful to have him show me some of the book and pictures. He has been married for 60 years!!! No small accomplishment. He did tell me that "Bob runs the company, because Bob runs the company!". What he meant was that Bob runs the company because he's the best man for the job, not because he is related. I also told the both of them, that I know our own Kansas Ed who used to work for F.A. Ed, they wanted to say they remember you very fondly, and to say hello. Now Bob is a piece of work. He carries himself, and presents as such a kind, respectuful and dignified man with just a touch of reserve. He is a class act all the way.

Obviously, I wasted no time talking to him about a Freedom Arms levergun! His first response was, "I get so many requests for that". He said it was not an issue with tooling, or getting tooling, but only that they would want to produce a product that was durable and versitile enough in what it could be chambered in that it would require a lot of thought. Freedom Arms will not make a product unless they can make it as close to perfect as possible. I mentioned I know about the two prototype rifles designed by a former F.A. engineer, and that it might be a good starting point. Anyhow, he did not rule out the possibility of making one someday.

Bob told me how he personally designed the round butt grip frame while he had some free time one day. He ground the shape, fired it, ground it some more, fired it, etc, until it was just the right shape. It is the best grip shape for a barrel of 6" or less. After that, the standard grip frame is the best. The standard grip frame felt very familiar to me, much like my Accusport Ruger Bisley. The rounded butt just fit like a glove in the palm. Wow. It is truly a very ergonomic design.

I personally really like the 500 Wyoming Express cartridge. I will just have to have one of these someday.

While I was there, I heard rumblings of a new product from Freedom Arms, but I have no idea what. As I said, Freedom Arms is not the type of company to talk about a product until it is already perfect. It should be announced within the next year, and more than likely within the next 6 months. My camera was experiencing some "eye fatigue", so I apologize for the blurry pics.









Freedom Arms and their products can be seen at http://www.freedomarms.com/

[C. Cash]

Thank you Tutt! Great photos and commentary. Almost feels like I got to go....

[CowboyTutt]

Jengel, anymore contributions would be appeciated if you have them. Its too big a show for any one person, or pair of persons.

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

Thank you Tutt! Great photos and commentary. Almost feels like I got to go....

Cash, that is the whole idea of this post! Glad your enjoying it.

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

All right, a brief pause for "a word from our sponsor", the city of Las Vegas. I stayed in Old Town Las Vegas at the Vegas Club and Casino. Old Town is not as busy, frantic, loud or as expensive as the Strip. The Vegas Club is a respectable hotel. The room I had was in the older tower, but it was clean and quiet. The bed was comfy. The hotel backs up along the Freemont Street Experience. It is an outdoor mall of sorts but with no cars. Overhead is a canopy that doubles as a projection screen or monitor of some kind that does brief shows at night. It is quite literally TWO BLOCKS LONG! You can't imagine looking up, and watching this animated feature play overhead, with sound! Very impressive! I really enjoyed Old Town Las Vegas, and will stay there again if I'm able to return for another SHOT SHOW.

[jengel]

About the only other thing that I saw was the matched set of Uberti Cattleman .45 Colt revolvers. They have the same serial numbers, only to be appended as L and R at the end of the numbers. I called my Benelli rep and put a set of them on my order. They are not on the website yet but I do have a flyer for them.

There were a lot of really famous (at least to me) people that I got to see. Ted Nugent, Hank Parker, Babe Winkleman, Roland Martin, Walt Berger, R Lee Ermey, Tom Knapp (who will probably be out to my shop in May to do an exhibition shoot), Lynn Thompson and some others I can't think of right now.

[CowboyTutt]

I saw R.Lee, but it would have been great to meet "the Nuge". Didn't even know he was there.

-Tutt

[jengel]

He walked right by us. My boss didn't recognize him at first. The line for autographs for Ermey was quite long. Would have been great to shake his hand but I was exeptionally happy to shake Walt Berger's hand. That man is a legend. I stopped by the Trinidad State Junior College Gunsmithing booth and said HI. There were about 7 others alumni that put their names in the drawing for a trinket or two.

When I saw the new Mossberg levergun, I thought someone put a Winchester up on the board. It looks decent except for that overly large safety button like is on the model 500.

We did not have time to stop and smell the roses. I though it amazing that we got through 3/4 of the show on the first day. On day two, we got the rest knocked out by noon and then spent the rest of the day going back and talking to some of the companies that we thought were the best for our shop.

We actually went to the SHOT show as part of the Carlson Choke Tubes company ( www.choketube.com ). Scott Carlson used to have Northwest Arms Sales and Service in Atwood KS and when he sold out, we bought what he had left. He is just running the choke tube business now. Our shop will remain in Atwood, in a most excellent location.

[CowboyTutt]

Next off, Prof. 'Boomer and I went to Barnes Bullets where I met the lovely Jessica Brooks. I was telling her about my CZ in 375 H&H Ackley, and she asked me, "What do you use that for?". I shrugged my shoulders, and said I just like it for plinking and for handloading. She smiled, and said, "I know what you mean. My Dad made me a rifle with a cut-down buttstock in 416 Rem Mag. I use it for varminting."

MY KIND OF GAL!!!!!

She said she would send me some of the 275 grain 451 diameter pointy bullets usually used in the 460 S&W to play with in my McPherson modified Puma. I hope she doesn't forget. She was a sweety.

[CowboyTutt]

I was really impressed with the Davide Pedersoli and Co. booth. They had all sorts of reproduction weapons from Trap Door Springfields to Sharps, Lightnings and Hi-Walls. Our own Steve Young told me that the DP rifles are the only other rifles outside of Shiloh that are competitive "out of the box" for BP competitions. The rest require a rebarrel.

One of their new products, that they were particularly proud of, is their Hi-Walls. They make one in 38-55 with a match-grade barrel and a 1-in-12 twist that is designed to "lob" a 360 grain bullet. They were beautiful rifles.

I was enamored again with the DP Lightnings. DP was the last company to arrive on the market with one, and they are done right. Our own Steve Young suspects they are the best one on the market today. The attention to detail is impressive, right down to the brass escutcheons. The wood does not have that "Uberti orange" either. These guns are imported by EMF, who Steve works for. Like his leverguns, these can be purchased from Steve already "slicked-up".

Knowing that, I spoke to Debbie, the production manager for EMF, about getting one of these. During the conversation she told me that she stocks Uberti parts, she stocks Armi San Marcos parts, but she does not stock Pedersoli parts, because the rate of warrenty repair is that low. I can't think of a better endorsement than that.

DP and Co. is in a class by themselves in Italian made firearms.









DP and Co. products can be found at http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/default.aspx?lang=en

[Rusty]

The quality of your pictures is great as well. Thank you for the fantastic write up.
I may have to try to get there next year when it's in Orlando.

Rusty <><

[Griff]

Once again, Tutt; very nice. Good job! Did you happen to notice of Pedersoli has their HiWall in .32-40 (I mentioned that to Nate in a PM when I found out I had to leave Vegas in a hurry).

[CowboyTutt]

Griff, I honestly didn't notice, but I sort of doubt it after looking at their website. Most of the cartridges they offer are pretty common. Is that caliber suitable for BP competition?

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

As I said, the SHOT SHOW also features hunting gear and clothing. In fact, the second main ballroom inside the center is pretty much devoted to it. I already have a Dream Season bow hunting jacket from Scentblocker, and like it a lot, so I thought I would stop by there and see what they had.

They have a new Dream Season Pro jacket and pants out now with some serious upgrades! The coat and pants now feature upgraded SPF 60 Carbon as well as S3 antimicrobial technology. The original coat I have is very comfortable, but the special zipper designed to seal tightly can sometimes be finicky and awkward to zip up. The new Pro series features a much more user friendly zipper. It also features a zip-out liner made of Merino wool for added warmth, something that was lacking in the original jacket. The cuffs are now adjusted and sealed by a Silent Bodylock Wrist Ratchet that is much quiter than the original velcro fastener.

They added a plethora of stratigically placed hardware and pockets on the jacket to accommodate rangefinders, small binoculars, grunt tubes, wind checkers and other gear. There is a stretch chord with a carabineer style clip that allows you easy access. There is also a Quick Cinch system to tighten the jacket for a good fit around your chest, as well as a tapered neck design to reduce bulk at the neck area.

They even added a slit in the back for a safety harness to pass through for treestand hunting, and non-slip grip patches on the shoulder to eliminate load shifting of packs.

The pants feature a high-back waste, double reinforced seat and knee areas, Quad Cargo and Ergo Angled Pockets, and 20" leg zippers to facilitate the removal of boots.

Both the jacket and pants are made with a Micro-Fleece that is very quiet and water resistant. I can tell you based upon my experience with the original jacket, that it takes a deluge or long term water exposure from light rain for the waterproofing of this material to finally give out, and even then the fleece will keep you warm. As I said, I love my original coat, but the added warmth of the new coat without a lot of bulk from layers underneath would be very handy.

The pants by the way, can be cut and hemmed without damage to the carbon material, something that I would most likely need to do for my short inseam.

Finally, I also found a new "unscented" gun oil based upon a carbon technology. They also make unscented solvents. There is no point using scent blocking clothing if your gun reeks of Hoppes #9.

The oil and solvent can be found at http://www.scentcontrolsystems.com

and the awesome Scentblocker clothing at http://www.scentblocker.com

[CowboyTutt]

Gerbing's Heated Clothing also had some new products out. For those of you who don't know, Gerbing's is generally known as the best manufacturer of heated clothing for motorcycling. Now they have branched out into hunting gear with a hybrid technology that allows the vest to be heated by plugging it into your Quad or running it off of a very small portable battery pack that fits in a pocket. They have new applications of this hybrid technology that will be out in the next two months, so stay tuned.

[CowboyTutt]

Lastly, I ran into Esmeralda, the "Queen of Grip Making", and her assistant Letti. Esmeralda made the custom grips on my Kimber 10mm, and they are beyond compare. I managed to introduce them to Mic McPherson and they took this great pic together. Some guys have all the luck!



Well, that's it for my first visit to the SHOT SHOW. Apparently, this one smashed all records for the size of the event, and the number of attendees and guests. If you ever get a chance to go, don't pass it up!

As always, thanks for listening.

-Tutt

[jengel]

Hey CowboyTutt, you going to Orlando next year? I think that we probably are.

[CowboyTutt]

Jengel, I honestly don't know at this point. It depends if my "ride" is going, but I sort of doubt it. Its a long way to FL from CA.

On another unrelated topic, how far are you from Wichita, KS? I have family there and another friend by the name Kansas Ed. I want to take another trip out there and visit, but I might be moving this summer which will probably rule it out.

-Tutt