2012 Shot Show Diary

[Joe]

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

KWA
Yes, we asked about the Kriss GBB.  KWA explained they've had to rework the innards.  Prototype is shooting 460 fps.  Their goal is 350 fps for production models.  Upgrades will include bolt and barrel.  KWA explained training required higher velocities--500 fps.  So they will have that option available, although KWA did not go into much detail.

We got to hold it.  It's front heavy, as you can imagine.  The one we held felt solid with no loose or flimsy parts.  Magazines will be 25 (standard) and 50 (large capacity).  Magazines are proprietary.  KWA ATP magazines will NOT work in the KRISS.

No, we did not get to shoot it.

KWA is hoping for a Summer 2012 release.  Price is $ 400 or a little less.  

More to come . . .

[Joe]

Questions?  Requests about specific things?  Please post in the following thread:

http://springfieldairsoft.com/forum/index.php?topic=732.0

Trying to keep this thread clean and to the point.

[Joe]

Jon:  "Terrible's is the Jiffy Lube of Las Vegas"

Joe:  "You mean the Strip Show, too?"

[Joe]

KRISS Update:

According to the 2012 KWA Catalog, the KRISS fires:

(1). Semiautomatic;
(2).  Two-round bursts; and
(3).  Full automatic.

[Joe]

Wednesday, January 18, 2012:

We hit it hard yesterday.  We gathered a large collection of catalogs.  Back at Home Base, we divided the catalogs into three categories:  (1) guns and gun-related accessories; (2)  vests, pouches and such; and (3) miscellaneous [basically anything that caught our eye.

Adam reconnoitered the site and got serious intel on who had what.  Shifty got out the three page listing of exhibitors.  He went through and marked what booths we wanted to hit.  Sundown added on-the-ground intel and Real Steel sites to our target list.

Today, we'll be running recon and gathering intel.  Translation:  seeing exhibitors, asking questions and gathering more catalogs. 

I'll see what I can do about your questions.

More to come . . .

[Joe]

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

First up, Wiley X.  Lots of eye protection and top notch gloves.  We explained the word was their gloves ran a little small.  We confirmed this by my trying on a pair.  I normally wear XL gloves.  The Wiley X XXL gloves fit perfectly.  The sales rep said he had not heard this but was glad to learn this.  He said he learned as much from customers as we did from him.

Next, Leapers/UTG.  Sweet Moses!  AK Heaven!  Rail kits, stocks, optics galore.  I think there were some other things, too.  

Stay tuned . . .

[Joe]

Echo 1 Booth:

Beautiful guns.  Echo1 has some FN FAL varients in the pipeline as well as two varients of Echo1's Modular Tactical Carbine (MTC).  The FN FALs are heavy--a lot of metal in these babies.  Shifty's evaluation:  "They feel good.". He added the sights are a little low; you couldn't use them while wearing a full-face mask.

The MTC varients (MTC 2 & MTC 3) are lighter.  Again, full-face masks will keep you from using the iron sights.  I fell in love with the MTC 3.  It's got a keyhole stock and a shorter barrel.  You can swap it out to a longer barrel for a DMR.

Anticipated release for these guns is Summer 2012.

Echo1 displayed some Hakkotsu had a prototype bullpup.  Railed all over.  Shoots single, 3 round and full auto.  Anticipated release:  2 years.

Hakkosu Pressurized Mortar. Fill with water and gas up. The shell has a 225 yard range (estimated).  Cost:  to be announced.  Anticipated Release date:  April 2012.

Echo1 showed me their RedStar PKM prototype.  Big, heavy but with a correspondingly massive bipod.  Uses the 249 gearbox.  Small 11.1 1500 lipo. Echo1 makes a battery well-suited for it.

The ammo box is HUGE--5,000 bb capacity.  There's room in the box for the ammo box battery (small lipo is recommended) and It feeds directly into the chamber like a normal magazine--no tubes here.  The feed is trigger-controlled but there are options.  It shoots around 450-ish.  Release date to be announced.  Price is between their 249 and their 240.

Also in the Red Star family is their Hungarian AMD 65.  Solid metal (I held), 370-400 fps.  Anticipated release date:  April 2012.   

[Joe]

Condor:
Surprisingly small amount of product on display.  A little disappointing.  The bright spot?  Their 2012 catalog has many pouches and gear in the new ATACS camo pattern.  We saw some of this new-patterned gear at the booth.  It looks promising.

[Joe]

In case you've noticed, I haven't written about Spartan.  Their booth area is big and well-stocked.  I want to do the company justice in my writeup.  Tomorrow, Spartan.

Red Wolf is a no-show here at the SHOT Show.  So I don't have any word on TM or any of Red Wolf's products.  Sorry, folks.  I can only report on what's here.

[Joe]

We've accumulated another group of catlogs.  We haven't sorted them yet; we'll do that tonight.

The recon portion of the mission is over.  Tomorrow, Jon has business meetings.  We're scheduled to meet with Magpul at 6:00 pm, local time.  I can't discuss any details of tomorrow's meetings.  Suffice to say, everyone will be seeing the results at So Go over the next few days, weeks and months.  

Jon celebrated by taking all of us out to eat.  Good Italian food and great company.  Jon and Lyn have taken good care of everyone this trip.  BTW, Lyn's cinnamon rolls are everything they're rumored to be . . .

I wasn't entirely accurate about recon being completed.  I'm hoping to break away and scope out a few more booths.  I'll keep you posted.

[Joe]

Shifty saved my bacon yesterday afternoon.  My phone was dying.  The convention center has charging stations but none of the chargers fit my phone.  I managed to hook up with the rest of the team.  Shifty, always two moves ahead, brought his charger (he and I have the same phone) with him to the show.  Voila!  Phone charged and good to go. 

I followed his lead and brought my charger today (charging as I type this).

The convention is awash in different languages.  I'm no linguist but I believe I've heard:  British English, Japanese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish not to mention some horribly accented English.  I'll wager their English is still better than my attempts at their language.  

Attendees range from the very, very young to the very old.  Sweats, jeans, khakis to suits--men and women are wearing it all.

At the risk of sounding sexist, there are a surprising number of women here for what is traditionally a male-oriented and -populated area of interest.  I don't mean "booth babes" (although they are here, too); women are running booths, representing buyers, discussing product and making deals.  

A good thing, in my opinion.

[Joe]

SPARTAN, Part 1:
I've saved Spartan for last.  They have brought a lot of product and a lot of people. 
Yes, Virginia, there are new AEG replicas.  The Smart Team company has released both the Tavor and the WWII Soviet PPSH submachine gun.  They run just under $ 200 each.  Spartan did not yet have any technical specs but they will soon.  Scheduled release date is sometime this February.  

How does the Tavor feel?  Well, it's an entry level gun.  I prefer plastic guns for the weight but this Tavor feels toylike even to me.  In all fairness,  I may feel differently after a day of lugging it around.   

The PPSH feels more solid.  I assume it's got more metal in it.  Being a lesser known WWII-era gun, it probably has more limited appeal.  It would be perfect for a WWII-themed game.

Bottom line?  Assuming the innards work fine, they would be great to try out

[Joe]

Spartan, Part 2:

Magpul guns?  Oh yeah, Spartan's got'em.  They are sweet.  Polymer but solid.  They have a new, long-barreled DMR platform coming out.  

They also displayed the already-released  AKM.  It takes proprietary magazines--the translucent Beta project AK mags.

Tango Down has licensed two beautiful guns:  long-barreled and carbine length ACRs.  The guns are solid--CNC milled metal.  It's an EBB running an 8mm gearbox and is lipo-ready.  Expected release:  April 2012.

Also inbound:  an officially licensed Kreb's AK.  Mr.  Krebs himself was in the Spartan booth while I was handling this replica.  It's solid and railed to perfection.  Being an AK, it packs a version 3 gearbox.  It shoots around 400 fps.  look for it sometime in April 2012.  

If you're a fan of Knight's Armament then you're in luck.  The company has licensed some AEG replicas:  2 PDW length and 4 carbine length models.

[Joe]

Spartan, Part 4:

Javelin has released two new lines:  (1) Battlevets and
(2) Warriors.  

The Battlevets models sport a broken-in look:  faded and worn-appearing wood and metal.  Velocity and price are TBA. I was assured the price would lean toward entry-level even though the guns were intermediate to advanced build and quality.

Javelin is also releasing its Warriors line. 7mm gearbox guns running around $ 200 with a 60 day warranty.

Speaking of quality and warranty work, I was pretty direct in asking about Javelin's history of poor quality control.   Spartan was equally direct with me.  Javelin had reworked their guns.  Spartan did not know how well Javelin's new guns would work.  I appreciated the lack of song and dance.

[Joe]

Spartan, Part 5:

SCAR Material:  Spartan had SCARs from two manufacturers:  WE and VFC.  WE makes two GBB versions:  open bolt and closed bolt.  Spartan had the open bolt version on display.  These guns are set up to run on both CO2 and Green Gas.  WE has magazines available for both gases available.  If you can't find one type of magazine then you buy the other.  Your WE GBB SCAR will handle either with ease.

VFC has also obtained a license for the SCAR.  The guns I handled were up to VFC's usual high quality.  VFC has both the light and heavy models. The price is about $ 400.

VFC also produces a VFC with the EGLM (grenade launcher).  The grenade launcher opens to the side.  The sliding chute is stopped from coming completely off the launcher.  No "tromboning" the launch tube like we've all done with a M203.  The EGLM model also comes with magwells for both light (5.56mm) and heavy (7.62mm) magazines.

Classic Army SCARs?  I spoke with Spartan this afternoon.  Spartan is not importing Classic Army SCAR replicas due to licensing issues.  Spartan is importing the VFC SCAR, both because VFC has a license and because the VFC build quality is so good.