QSI Training SHOT Show 2013

QSI's team coverage of the 2013 SHOT Show

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SETCAN DTS Tools

These rubber tools are designed to improve scenario based training, they were made out of a solid rubber - strong enough that they do not 'flop' around when being used. They are not designed for combat; a little too stiff for that! But the DTS rep did say they were working on a line that can be used for close combatives.

The new addition was the 'Shiv' a stabbing implement made from a similar tough rubber material. The blade part retracts into the handle so you are able to stab someone with this tool. The tip is flat and covered in a fabric so that you can coat it in chalk to track hits. - Mark

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Edge Eyewear

Tactical Glasses in Fat Head sizes!

Gabe was excited to discover Edge Eyewear, a company that has specialized in protective eye wear for the construction industry. Over the last year they have released a tactical line that includes traditional 'range' eye wear (in smoke, amber and clear lenses) and a variety of sunglasses. ALL are ANSI Z87.1+ compliant and include an anti-fogging coating. 

The anti-fogging demonstration (by model Kelly Kaye) impressed us (no, not for those reasons!), all our 'tactical' glasses failed while the Edge resisted fogging. Gabe was excited because he finally found a pair of glasses that fits his face (which is large, yet flat). The price on the glasses was also amazing $40-$60 per pair, I think that the cheapest I have ever spent on tactical glasses! Both Gabe and I bought several pairs....field testing to follow! - Mark

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Marz Tactical Gear

Marz TG were a new company to the QSI crew, but they had some interesting pouches, I liked the EOD pouch which had three mag pouches mounted on the inside instead of the outside of the pouch, this makes a lot of sense as the weight of mags on the outside of the pouch often make it flop around. The Marz TG guys were super nice and took the time to explain that they field test their own gear and its built to last. Look for more for the QSI crew on their IFAK kit. - Mark

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Media Day Gallery

Here are a few non-specific pics from the range day at Shot Show 2013. - Mark

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Blackhawk

BH had a great 'discrete carry bag', it provides enough space of an AK Folder, has a a external pocket, large internal divider and comes in a variety of colors. - Mark

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Tango Down

TD had two new products that interested us, the first was a front sight that mounted over the bezel of a surefire flashlight, this allowed you to mount the light to the top rail and still retain your iron sights.

The second was an adjustable pistol grip, if you pull down on the grip you can rotate it 180 degrees, this changes the grip from the traditional rake to a vertical rake that reduces wrist stress when carrying the rifle in a 'low ready' position. This grip had a great build quality, but I prefer a more aggressively textured grip, so I would recommend the addition of stippling or grip tape. - Mark

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Floating SAPI Plates!

DKX had a great product, a floating SAPI plate. Each plates provides +4 lbs of buoyancy. These are made out of the latest materials and are super light weight. Another group favorite; they also had a level IIIA backpack plate that was incredibly thin and lightweight. - Mark

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Vehicles of Shot

Shot had a wide variety of vehicles, check out the gallery! - Mark

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Spartan Blades

Had a small booth and didn’t have to much we hadn’t seen but it was cool to talk to them.  Spartan was the original manufacturer of what is now popular as the Benchmade SOCP and we got the low down on the licensing (turns out it wasn’t shady).

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ESEE

We met the ESEE crew and they were a great bunch of guys.  Josh regaled them with his story of 5 stitches from an Izula and they loved it.  They didn’t have anything new to show but it’s always nice to meet the makers and realize they are cool guys.

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CRKT

Actually had a couple new things of note.  They have a new line of work axes (not hatchets) meant more for rescue purposes called the Kangeet and Chogant were impressive tools.  We got price points but didn’t have the notes handy at the time of this writing.  There was also a neat new wooden lock back knife kit meant for kids and obviously for fun.

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Chiappa Little Badger

This great little survival tool is a simple .22LR single shot rifle. It comes with a wire stock and folds in half for storage. We were all surprised with how accurate this little rifle was and at around $150 a great deal. When reloading; the rifle breaks in half and the cartridge is partially extracted; I was easily able to reload even wearing gloves. - Mark

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Chiappa Rhino

For pistols I enjoyed the Rhino, an odd revolver that fires from the bottom chamber, you have to be careful how you place your thumbs as one of our group almost lost his when shooting one. For me I actually enjoyed shooting the 2 inch snub version. - Mark

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Media day, part 2

Day was very cold, one of the coldest in Las Vegas history, with a strong wind blowing in your face most of the day. That being said we got to shoot some great firearms; I shot 1000 yards twice, once with a 416 Barrett and also with the Tracking point system in 338 Lapua. One of my favorite rifles was the LMT308MWS in 308. This was selected by the British Army for their new sniper platform. It was the smoothest and mildest recoiling 308s I have ever shot. For the final gun of the day I got to play with IMI’s Tavor. This bullpup is quite the great gun. Easy to point and great ergonomics, I was easily able to double tap rounds to two targets then transition to a target at 75 yards and finally another at 100 yards. Much more to follow, plus lots of pics. Cheerio! - Mark

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Kel-Tech KSG

I found this to be quite comfortable to shoot despite the abundance of polymer.  Ergonomics are good, controls are easily manipulated and well placed (unlike their bull-pup .308 semi-auto).   I like the concept of this gun a lot but I’m not completely sold on it.  I’d REALLY like to run it in a shotgun class to put it through it’s paces.

-- To load this you flip the gun over and load shells into the bottom of the 'stock'. While shooting I almost had to stop Josh as his hand was sliding forward on the pump and his finger was straying a little to near the barrel! When we mentioned this to the rep, he replied that they had not had time to install a finger guard that prevents this very thing. He also mentioned the only issue they had run into; the screw holding the shell selector in place would back-out. A quick fix with some loctite. - Mark

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IWI Tavor SAR

My new favorite non-AR 5.56 platform.  The ergonomics of this gun are great.  Very easy to keep on target even when doing double taps @ 75 yards, fully ambidextrous controls that are easily manipulated. It can use any AR magazine. Being a bull-pup give it a much shorter overall length than that of a “traditional” carbine of the same barrel length.   This is just  a great gun overall.

IWI has opened up a manufacturing plant in the US to avoid the hassles of trying to import them to the US from Israel.  The MSRP of the base model is around $2000 so it’s not going to fit into everyone’s budget, but for those considering an ACR, SCAR, or other non-AR platform, I’d recommend taking a serious look at the Tavor. -Josh

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McMillan .308 takedown

Base model 18” barrel .308 has MSRP of about $7,000. This gun has a smooth as glass, very light weight trigger pull.  I fired the SBR (12” barrel) suppressed version with sub-sonic ammo, and it is stupidly accurate even with the short barrel. 

-- McMillan had also updated their Tac-50; the main addition was a telescoping stock to reduce felt recoil. They are currently working on export orders. But they were not allowed to shoot the .50 this year :( - Mark