I had a great time this past week at the 2016 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.
Statistics:
The SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade show ) Show features more than 1,600 exhibitors filling booth space covering 630,000 square feet or about 14.5 acres.
The largest trade show of its kind in the world and the fifth largest trade show in Las Vegas. There are 12 ½ miles of aisles in the show and I have hit about a third of them today
Attendance is more than 62,000 industry professionals (not open to the general public) from all 50 states and 100 countries.
The show is divided into several different areas:
General shooting and Hunting
Firearms and Ammunition,
Law Enforcement and Tactical Gear
New Product Center
Next Generation of exhibitors
Some of the New Products I saw:
Kimber 6S Revolver small stainless hammerless 6 shot, first from the semi auto company
Ruger American Pistol in 45 and 9mm full size double stack
Spent time with Paul Lemke from Polycase ammunition
We talked about the new polymer technologies, the various calibers the ammo is offered in and the potential for use as reloading components for hand loaders. He indicated they are beginning to load in rifle calibers. Some people have asked about the effectiveness of the projectile design because it is not an expanding bullet, but the design creates a massive hydraulic shock. I reviewed some images from a hog hunt and it was very impressive results.
I sat in the Artillery Throne
I spent quite a bit of time with David Ding From Leapers / Under The Gun (UTG)
Saw a cool Mobile Range by Mike Christoff of Sticky Holsters
Tom Gresham
Looks Like the Donald Likes PTR Rifles
Celebs:
Mark Keefe – American Rifleman TV
Lou Ferigno – Brownells
Dana Loesch
Chris Knox – son of Neal- The Gun Rights War future show
Political activism & the NRA[edit]
Eric Blandford of Jonesboro, GA
Iraqiveteran8888.com
Iraqi Vet. 2nd largest Gun related Youtube Channel 930,000 subscribers
He has posted hundreds of Videos on various firearms,
His production company now does the videos for FPS Russia
Hickok45 (Greg Kinman)
Hickok45’s real name is Greg Kinman (born July 1950) [+]. He is perhaps best known for his firearm related videos on YouTube. [+] He lives in the Pleasant View, Tennessee area and is a retired English teacher from Franklin Road Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. [+] He has a huge shooting range and compound in his backyard, which is frequently shown in his YouTube videos. ✔ On January 6th 2016, the channel was briefly banned by YouTube for “policy violations”, but was reactivated later that day. In a YouTube video after the incident, he explains that he still does not know what caused them to reinstate the account. He postulates that support from other YouTube channels like IraqVeteran8888 and tnoutdoors9, as well as all of his viewers, may have been the deciding factor. [+] [+]
He started the YouTube channel in January 6, 2007, with his son John doing most of the filming. ✔ He was inspired to create it after teaching the Western novel Shane to his middle-school classroom. Most of his early videos were done wearing cowboy outfits and shooting Wild West era weaponry. Hickok45 quotes that “YouTube puts me in touch with new shooters, young people and just anybody, to educate them a little bit about gun safety”. [+] The video that got him viral was his carving of a pumpkin with a .40 cal Glock.[+] His ‘shooting compound’ where most of his videos take places is located at 1241 Old Clarksville Pike, Pleasant View, TN 37146. [+]
Greg has turned down multiple offers from YouTube and other networks to monetize his videos, but has generally declined them out of principle and the fact that he wants to remain independent. He has nearly 1000 videos as of Dec 2015. [+]
Greg is a former Tennessee reserve deputy, but has no military experience.
More to come soon!