2012 SHOT Show Day Three Wrap-up
Matt Korovesis 01.19.12
This was my last day to walk the floor, but I made sure it counted.
Perhaps the most innovative product on display at SHOT this year is Thompson Center’s Dimension bolt-action rifle platform. The Dimension is a modular rifle that can quickly and easily switch between several different calibers by only replacing the bolt, magazine group, barrel and scope mount. There are four different “series” of parts for sets of calibers, A for .204 Ruger and .223 Remington, B for .22-250 Rem, .243 Win, 7mm-08 Rem and .308 Win, C for .270 Win and .30-06 and D for 7mm Rem Magnum and .300 Win Magnum. The parts for each series are each sold separately. You can switch between the different series in a matter of minutes.
In my opinion, a modular gun system could be the next big thing in the military small arms industry, and it’s cool to see it tried out in the commercial market.
Another piece of exciting news from SHOT was that Wolf Performance Ammunition would be entering the firearms market with the importation of Saiga and Vepr AK style rifles (the Vepr rifles will be coming from the Molot factory in Russia). Many of the Vepr rifles they’ll be bringing in are similar to the ones that K-Var is introducing, but certain variants have small differences. Some of the higher-end models, like the Vepr Hunter and Vepr Super (seen above), feature detachable or permanently attached Picatinny rails. It’s good to see a wider variety of AK type rifles in the United States this year.
Wolf is also going to be getting involved in the AK optics game this year. They had some Russian-made mil-spec scopes on display this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing just what they can bring in.
Last and certainly not least, I stopped by the Magpul booth. These guys are always on the cutting edge of small arms technology, whether it be a full rifle platform or new ergonomic furniture. One of the new things they introduced this year is new furniture for the Remington 870 shotgun. The SGA 870 buttstock has four modular half-inch spacer inserts to adjust the length of pull from 12.5” to 14.5”, a comfortable new grip angle, sling attachment loops and interchangeable cheek pieces to compensate for different optics. In addition to the buttstock, they’ve created a MOE shotgun forend that resembles their AR forends.
That’s all I’ll be able to write on new products for the 2012 SHOT Show as I’m flying out early tomorrow morning to get back to Michigan. Keep following our SHOT Show home page for more updates from the floor and be sure to check out my previous write ups from the past couple of days.
I've been a history and gun enthusiast since I was a kid. I love to shoot just about anything, from silenced bolt-action .22s to fully automatic heavy machine guns, and I love even more when I get to write about them. My main interests are modern small arms and the military small arms of World War II and prior conflicts, with a particular focus on Russian and Finnish firearms. Reading about guns like the Mosin-Nagant rifle in books and on the internet got me interested in collecting, shooting, and writing about them, and I hope to do the same for others through my work.
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