The first day of the world's largest gun fair, the SHOT Show, officially begins on January 18, 2022. But the "Industry Day at the Range" has always taken place the day before. At this event, journalists get the chance to try out the new products that will later be presented in the halls on a shooting range just outside Las Vegas. all4shooters.com is of course also on site at this start event of the trade show and reports on a selection of the most exciting new products from this year. The article will be updated continuously.
News from the SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range 2022
We report in text and video on the new short and long guns that Michael Paa – our reporter on site – was able to try out live. In addition, there are the first quotes from the manufacturers.
We're finally back at the beautiful shooting range in Boulder City, a half-hour drive from downtown Las Vegas. Here, as usual, journalists and bloggers from all over the world can get a sneak preview of the guns, ammo and accessories that will be displayed at the SHOT Show. Here's our team heading towards the shooting range and making their entrance... It's time to register at the entrance and get in. Everything is ready for the Industry Day at the Range 2022!
Arrival of the team at Industry Day At the Range
The Boulder City Shooting Range
The Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club, which has been hosting Industry Day at the Range for years now, was built in 1938 by U.S. Army engineers and was one of the first ranges with 1,000-yard targets. It is located near Boulder City, a town that was built in 1932 to house workers engaged in the construction of the Hoover Dam, which still provides power to the city of Las Vegas. Over the years, the range has been gradually expanded and now offers twelve shooting bays with distances ranging from 200 to 900 meters, and several pistol, shotgun and a shooting clays ranges. The range also hosts archery, Western and service firearms shooting competitions. During events like the Industry Day at the Range, the place is filled with booths, tents and quaint food trucks, and is crowded with journalists and bloggers from around the world. Our team is spoiled for choice as to where to start telling you about the SHOT Show 2022.
Savage Impulse rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor
Some time ago, the US manufacturer Savage Arms entered the bolt action rifle market with the Impulse, a gun featuring a straight-pull action bolt and the Hexlock system based on a ball-bearing locking mechanism. At SHOT Show 2022, the company is now presenting a model designed for high accuracy requirements. The core and most striking distinguishing feature of the Elite Precision from the other, more hunting-oriented models is the new stock: It comes from the manufacturer Modular Driven Technologies (MDT), also based in the USA. This fully adjustable chassis system is made from a single piece of aluminum. It features an ARCA rail along the full length of the forend and is also equipped with M-Lok slots. This allows the shooter to easily and conveniently mount a wide range of different accessories, such as a bipod.
Other features include a finely adjustable trigger following Savage's signature AccuTrigger system, and the detachable magazines with ambidextrous release meet AICS standards. Savage wants to combine high accuracy with fast follow-up shots. An ideal package for the currently very popular disciplines of the Precision Rifle Series (PRS). A glance at the data sheet also reveals a downside to the good features: the rifle weighs 13.7 lb/6,210 g. In addition to the model available at Industry Day at the Range in the trendy long range 6.5 Creedmoor caliber, the Savage Impulse Elite Precision will also be available in the .308 Winchester, .300 PRC, .300 Winchester Magnum, .338 Lapua Magnum, 6.5 PRC and 6mm Creedmoor. Prices and the market launch in Europe are not yet known.
Walther PDP SD Pro pistol in 9x19mm
Walther showed its brand new PDP SD Pro for the first time. Walther's PDP, the "Handgun of the Year 2021” after all, was released in February 2021 as the successor to the successful PPQ. The PDP SD Pro features factory an optics-ready slide, a more aggressive grip surface and an improved trigger compared to the old PPQ models.
For the internationally already successful PDP, there is also an important update from Walther for dealers and customers alike: effective immediately, all Walther PDP pistols will be equipped with a new optics mounting platform. The new cut-out for the mounting plate is 2 mm longer than before and thus enables the mounting of all currently popular red dot sights such as Aimpoint ACRO, Vortex Venom or the Burris FastFire series. In addition, the new equipment includes recoil studs and larger screw cutouts.
This makes it possible to use the optics manufacturers' original mounting screws for installation. New adapter plates have also been developed for the new cut-out. The following mounting plates are available: 2869136 Trijicon, 2869152 Leupold and 2869179 Vortex. These adapter plates will be used in the future for all 5" variants starting with gun number FDM0001 and for all 4.5" models starting with gun number FDL9203. The 4" variants will be converted from spring 2022. Attention: it is not possible to use the previous mounting plates. The double-stack magazine capacity is 18 rounds in 9x19mm caliber. Retail price in the U.S. is $829, or about 730 euros.
Browning / Winchester 6.8 Western rifle cartridge – its first time at the SHOT Show
Born from the well-proven collaboration between Winchester and Browning, the new 6.8 Western cartridge has been designed to provide accuracy and stopping power well beyond traditional shooting ranges, combined with a smooth and non-punishing recoil.
The challenge faced by the designers was to create a cartridge with a standard bullet weight of 165 grains – typical of .30 caliber (7.62mm) ammo – while using a 6.8-mm diameter bullet, with a better ballistic coefficient.
The basis for the new cartridge is the .270 Winchester Short Magnum (WSM), and like it, the 6.8 Western comes with a 35-degree shoulder. The maximum length of the cartridge is 75 mm. This makes it suitable for use in short-action systems. In addition, shooters should not be fooled by the lack of "Magnum" in the designation. In a laboratory test with 165 Grains-Nosler AccuBond Long Range, the cartridge reached 905 meters per second at the muzzle, which corresponds to a muzzle energy of 4,339 joules. We already published further, detailed information on the cartridge.
Bushnell introduces a host of new optics at SHOT: Riflescopes, Laser rangefinders, and LRF Binos
Bushnell renews its hunting and sporting optics lineups with a host of new products: the Elite Tactical DMR3 and XRS3 Riflescopes, with a new proprietary EQL reticle option for both optics, the Fusion X Rangefinding Binoculars, and the Prime 1800 Laser Rangefinder. Both the Elite Tactical XRS3 6-36x56 FFP and DMR3 3.5-21x50 FFP are built on the same basic platform, and offer a full feature set catering to the needs of LE and military professionals as well as long-range competitions, with capabilities up to 1000 yard ranges – the XRS3 adds magnification, although offers slightly less elevation and windage travel compared to the DMR3, 29 and 15 MIL respectively vs. 32 and 20 MIL. The optical design includes ED Prime objective, fully multicoated lenses and proprietary technology to increase by 2% light transmission over previous designs. Standard reticle is the “G” design conceived in collaboration with G.A. Precision and optionally the scopes can be ordered with the EQL reticle. The 25 yard lowest parallax setting of the DMR3 makes it ideal for rimfire competitions.
Built to last, both scopes are IP67 rated against water and dust, argon purged and built from a single-piece of aircraft-grade 34mm aluminum main-tube.
The Fusion X 10x42 Rangefinding Binoculars feature 1 mile (1800 yard) ranging capability and a new ACTIVSYNC display that morphs from black to red readouts based on lighting conditions, for the best possible visibility of the measured distance in any hunting situation. The Fusion X binos offer bow and rifle ballistics modes and height mode, which uses two ranged points and the angle in between to calculate the height of an object (i.e., a tree). The optical design uses a High-Definition Optical System (HDOS) for clarity and low-light performance, with fully multi-coated lenses. MSRP is $699.99, and the Fusion X is slated to be available in late July. Last but not least, Bushnell showcases the new Prime 1800 Laser Rangefinder monocular, also equipped with the same ACTIVSYNC display technology of the Fusion X. The Bushnell Prime 1800 is capable of measuring up to 1800yards on a reflective target and can reliably range trees out to 1,000 yards or deer out to 700 yards with +/- one-yard accuracy, and also can read angles in the field using its ARC (Angle Range Compensation) technology. The Prime 1800 includes a built-in tripod mount, and uses one CR2 battery (included). MSRP of the Prime 1800 is $249.99 and is immediately available.
