This year's SHOT Show was not, to put it mildly, noted for lots of new stuff. Nonetheless, there was no shortage of interesting rifles that are not new, and which you will sure as hell not see at Wal-Mart. --DP A-Square Tyrannosaur
Blaser S2 Safari
Savage 110
Savage Model 12F
Lazzeroni Global Hunter
NULA Model 20
Marlin XL-7
Montana Rifle Company
Winchester Model 70
This year's SHOT Show set new records for number of attendees, exhibits, floor space, and real he-men wearing tactical packs, but it was tragically lacking in booth babes. Our intrepid photographer shot the only good ones we found and then was forced to include beards, backpacks, and other stuff just to pad out the section.
Feel free to skip them. There were a number of booth babes who were, to be brutally honest, not babes. In fact, some of them looked like Bill Heavey with a bra. I'm sure they are fine people, but you are supposed to be a hottie if you do this kind of work. --David Petzal More SHOT Show coverage
Most Interesting Rifles
New Shotguns
Top Optics
Coolest Gadgets
Riflescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, rangefinders: when you're shopping for optics, there is so much variety as to boggle the mind. Prices range from reasonable to ridiculous, but when it comes down to it, you get what you pay for, with some exceptions. Here are 10 items that blew me away at the show.
--Jay Cassell Konus M30 scope
Trijicon crosshair
Bushnell Elite 6500 scope
Zeiss rangefinding scope
Nitrex binoculars
Brunton Echo scope
Nikon Monarch scope
Nikon rangefinder
Minox binoculars
Minox DEC
The SHOT show is the best place to see the latest and greatest guns and ammo for the year, but there's so much more gear than that here. It's easy to find the usual suspects -- riflescopes, binoculars, camo clothing, treestands, knives, the list goes on.
But one of my favorite things is digging up great gadgets. High tech, low tech, it doesn't matter, these things are the kinds of things you wish you had invented. I did a little investigating, and here's what I found. -Jay Cassell
Motorola EM1000
Krypton bore sighter
Bushnell Trail Scout Pro
ACR PLB
Survival kit
Gerber Bonecrusher
Coast flashlight
Buck Extract L.E.D.
The 30th annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas showed a regrettable lack of booth babes but, by way of compensation, lots of interesting new shotguns. Upland bird hunters should be especially pleased by the shotgun class of '08, which includes some lightweight pumps and autos as well as a little something for everyone else.
Benelli
Beretta
Franchi
Browning
H&R
Mossberg
SKB
Weatherby
Winchester
Remington