SHOT Show Report: Bourjaily Shoots the SXP

SHOT Show starts tomorrow, and as always, several manufacturers held pre-show shooting events today that gave us press-types a little trigger time with some of their new guns. At the Browning/Winchester shoot, I had the chance to get reacquainted with the SXP.

The SXP is the Turkish-made reincarnation of the old 1300, an underappreciated, lightweight, inexpensive gun made in the old New Haven factory before it closed. Winchester announced the SXP last year but it wasn’t until this year that they actually received guns from their Turkish vendor in sellable quantities.

Anyway, the 1300 was briefly known as the “Speed Pump” because its rotary bolt helped it cycle very quickly. I remembered the guns were smooth, but I had forgotten just how smooth they were. The first two times I tried to shoot doubles with it today, I worked the slide and ejected the shell literally without knowing I had, leaving me pulling on the forearm trying to open an action that was already open. Once I figured out what was happening, I could shoot the gun very fast, and a butter-slick pump gun is a lot of fun to shoot.

I liked the way it pointed and shot, and the black synthetic stocked SXP comes with a very reasonable $400 list price, making it attractive alternative to the Nova/887/Express pumps.

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I also got the chance to try the .410 Judge revolver, which has been a surprise home-run for Taurus. It’s one of those guns people buy because it looks like fun, even if they don’t have any specific use to put it to. Not being an experienced handgunner, I was a little worried about the kick, but it wasn’t really bad at all. I have to say, it really was enjoyable spattering buckshot all over the Shoot-N-C targets they had set up for us.
That’s all I know about SHOT for today. I will know a lot more tomorrow, and will look forward to sharing it with you during the upcoming week.