SHOT Show Day One Airgun News

[Stephen Archer]

Here's a few more observations from today's show. I hope they will be of interest to GTA members.

Pyramydair/Air Venturi was showing several prototype PCPs from Evanix, including a bullpup model and a fully automatic - yes that's FULLY AUTOMATIC - PCP air rifle in calibers up to .357 and with two large air tanks for power - one up front, the other in the buttstock. Wow! But is this a continuation of the direction that seems to be pushing airgun performance ever closer to that of firearms, with all that means for our hobby?

Air Force showed further incremental improvements in their basic platform, including improved forends, pistol grips of a soft, black synthetic material and a new butt plate assembly. Also shown was a pressure gauge on the side of the air bottle and a fill male quick disconnect on the other. This is part of the Air Force "Spin Loc" System that allows the tank to be charged on the gun.

Diana had the P1000 PCP on display in single and multi-shot models. They claim about 30 ft/lbs and availability mid-2012 or later. Beautiful guns, of course, but heavy and I dared not ask about the price!

Gamo was talking much about the new "Bull Whisper", longer silencer surrounding the barrel. They also seemed to be offering more guns bundles with AO scopes, which is definitely a step in the right direction. But I'm not the best person to untangle exactly what is new Gaomo product and what is not, they have so many products with overlapping features that it's tough for me to differentiate them. I'm sure a Gamo expert attending the Show will put me straight on this!

Yes, the BAM B40 is indeed back, at least it's now called the Benjamin MAV77 Underlever Air Rifle. Crosman personnel retrieved what seemed to be the only sample at the show from the back room so that I could see it. This gun looked like a pre-production model as I didn't see a serial number or branding. It's going to be .177 caliber only. Crosman is claiming superior accuracy due to the fixed barrel. It also claims the B40 - er I mean MAV77 - to be "intensely powerful", although that's not quite how I would describe an air rifle producing about 15 ft/lbs of muzzle energy...

Another Crosman introduction that's undoubtedly sourced from BAM is the Crosman TR77. This is a break-barrel model with a straight-line military-style black synthetic stock with pistol grip. Looks interesting, but not a "wow" for me like the M-417 - or M4-177 as it's now called - pumper that's now also available in a desert tan color as well as the existing black. The M-417/M4-177 is selling like wildfire, by all accounts.

Crosman also showed a range of "Powershot" lead-free pellets. There's "Fast Flight Penetrators for maximum penetration and superior velocity" in .177 caliber; "Red Flight Penetrators for superior penetration" in .22 cal and "Gold Flight Penetrators for increased stability for long range shooting", again in .177 caliber.

More Chinese news is that Xisico USA was showing a new XS26 model with automatic safety and Rekord-style trigger. They also showed a prototype single pump PCP of apparently British design, although it didn't look production-ready to me as a Chinese product. The XS60C is also said near to its second time around, with fixes for the safety etc. I may have more information tomorrow.

Show attendance appeared to be down on previous years - it wasn't a complete crush of people as previous first days have been. As attendance always tails-off later in the show, it may become quite quiet later. Hopefully this is not indicative of a lack of interest in the future of the shooting sports.

I'm sure there's lots more to see. As always at the SHOT Show, there's so many guns, so little time...

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[bart the fart]

WOW! great write up! The Crosman B40 ummm I mean Crosman underlever is good news indeed. I've been looking for a B40 for awhile now.
Thanks Steven, the GTA is there with you in spirt...cheers Bart

[ezman604]

Thanks for the excellent update Stephen. Keep 'em coming.
I would hope it's just the lull in the economy that has attendance down and not a wain in the interest in the sport as a business.
Happy Shooting!!!!
Dave
 

[SAADE]

thanks for checking in Stephen, we appreciate it

[amb5500c]

Great 1st day review Mr. Archer. Thanks.
Richard

[althawk]

oooh
on Xisico USA
"They also showed a prototype single pump PCP of apparently British design"

Trying to figure out what that could be. I'm imagining something like a swedish FX indepence in a bullpup design?

[chaindrivecharlie]

Yes thank you Mr. Archer, for sharing the Shot Show with us.

cdc

[Airgun-Al]

Interesting to note that EVANIX captured the spotlight.

I believe we will see many Korean products in the near future!

Conquest  Speed in .25, .22, .177, and 9mm to name a few!