Categories: EventsKate Krueger

SHOT Show 2016 in review Part 1

Although my visit this year was short it was full of interesting new products, meeting new people and visiting with old friends.

We started out on Monday for Industry day at the Range and it was busy, dusty and loud as expected. Lots of walking but more importantly lots of shooting and I didn’t have to bring the ammunition. There were a great list of vendors that included 10X, 5.11, Action Target, Crimson Trace, MyTopo, Kimber, Glock, Daniel Defense, Federal Ammunition, Amscor and the list goes on…

There were a couple of obvious goals to meet and those were shoot Kimber’s new revolver, Ruger’s new pistols, Glocks CMOS additions and for me to stop at Daniel Defense and shoot full auto. Well I can say that those goals were met and more. We took our time and chatted with friends here and there and then got serious by checking out some of Federal’s ammunition. I tried their very cool 9mm 115gr TSJ range ammunition they refer to as Syntech with red plastic coating. It’s an easy shooting round to be sure but the one that really caught my attention was Federal’s 9mm 150gr JHP… that’s right 150gr. It really surprised me because as I cautiously shot it through a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield I was expecting a bit of a kick instead it was very easy to control. I really like the idea that I can carry a more powerful round in my own Shield and not take a lot of punishment shooting it. Nice Job Federal!

At the same booth Federal was utilizing its ammunition in a little survival rifle that I’d only read about. The Savage Model 42 Takedown… it’s an over/under 22LR / .410 that breaks down and can be carried in a back pack. It’s a real sweet shooting little gun. You will have to forgive me but I will be darned if I can remember the stats on the ammunition as I was too busy enjoying the gun. Nice Job Savage!

Photo by Brian Kovacs

My husband and I then stopped at the Glock booth to see what they had this year and I chose to shoot the Glock 43 again and did enjoy it (they never give you enough ammo) but my husband fell for the Glock 40 10mm long slide with CMOS. He just loves to shoot 10mm and has a particular fondness for Glock’s long slide models and this was no exception. He was also glad to find out that the model could be purchased without the dot sight.

Photo By Brian Kovacs

Now as a favor to a friend I promised I would shoot Springfield’s XDS models … which I did. And those of you who know me well know that I’m not a huge fan of Springfield’s XD lines. BUT I have to be honest I did enjoy shooting the XDS line. The 9mm was an easy shooter, smooth, not a bad trigger (I’ve shot better triggers and worse triggers) and not much recoil. The 40 S&W on the other hand was a handful but not uncontrollable which did surprise me. Now the 45 ACP was the true surprise as I was expecting more bulk, more recoil and I got neither. In fact, it was a smoother shooting gun than the 40 S&W and I enjoyed it. So I guess I can no longer be a naysayer… LOL.

I’ll write some more tomorrow but wanted to start getting some of this posted so you didn’t think I was goofing off.

Kate Krueger