NRA Show- Lousiville, Ky

Since I live in Louisville, I have been looking forward to the 2016 NRA Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center for quit a few weeks now. And am happy to report it really exceeded expectations, and with 11 acres of firearms display, 750 some odd vendors, as well as all manner of gear and accessories it was an exciting few days. Friday was the day of "The Trump" and it was packed so I decided wait until Saturday. Their were a ton vendors and knew I wouldn't have enough time to see everything that I wanted which ended up being the case, but along the way I did run across some very cool unexpected newly released products.

Needless to say, one the first things I focused on was finding the Savage Arms section. Located practically in the center of the display floor, near a few of the other big names, like Sig, Barret, Burris. etc..., it was reasonably easy to find. Everything was laid out well, done in the new logo, and they had plenty of staff to answer basic questions. At first, nothing really caught my eye, except for the new Axis with the wood stock which I had not seen before. But after milling around for a bit I came across the soon to be released Short Action Savage Stealth.

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For whatever reason, it did not have a special display and was off to the side not in the main area. They said it would be available in about 2-3 weeks.

Here are the basic spec's

- Savage 12 Target Action Top Bolt Release(it doesn't look like one to me, maybe I am wrong)
- Accutrigger that adjusts down to 1.5 lbs
- The Chassis is made by MDT for Savage
- AICS Compatible, it had the MDDTAC Mag but should work with Alpha, AICS, new PMAG etc..
- Fluted 24'' Barrel threaded 5/8-24
- Accepts AR-15 Style ButtStocks
- Blueprinted/Trued
- This one was in 6.5 Creedmore.

I asked the manager if any formal testing had been done to show what if any improvement their was associated with having the action trued up. He stated it was "incremental". I took that as code for not much, and if we did do any testing we are not telling you!! Also, it was noticeably light than the RPR.

Definitely not a target action. To bad it didn't come with the BA/LRP action. Thanks for the write up.

My favorite new product was the New Sig Sauer Tango 6 5-30x Optic. This was released at the NRA show and was designed to be their first serious foray into the PRS style optics. Personally, I have never used a SIG optic and was skeptical that they even knew what the precision rifle community was looking for. Boy was I wrong, not only did they put together an excellent scope with all the bells and whistles, it comes with something I have never seen in an scope, a built-in feature called "LevelPlex". Before I jump into that, thanks to Joesph a very knowledgeable support staff member who took the time to explain, in detail , all the features and how they worked. Here are some the highlights..

They have designed their own reticle called the DEV-L. As you can see it is a Christmas Tree style reticle and reminded me a little of the HORUS59/Tremor Styles. Now if you look closely on the left hand side you will see a amberish/yellow colored arrow. This is the Level-Plex feature which is Anti-Cant built directly into the reticle/scope. When the scope is canted the lights flash and when it is not they are off. This particular model was calibrated down to a 1/4 degree, however he stated the next release will be 1/2 degree. They configure this feature at the factory and it is covered by a lifetime warranty!! I had a chance to fool around with and I must admit it is very slick and could see may uses from PRS to ELR type shooting. If the lights bug the hell out of you this can be turned off along with illumination if you so choose from the parallax turret.

They didn't have a spec sheet, but this was in MOA, and they have MIL/MIL model coming out with 2 other reticle choices which if I recall correctly are a MIL-DOT style and I can't remember the third!! . Price point $2400ish MSRP.

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Glad to see more competitively priced high-end optics coming out!

Next was the Beretta/Tikka booth to check out the new TikkeT3x. I have never owned a Tikka, but it is high on my list of rifles to aqcuire so I was very interested in seeing what they had to offer. These rifles just looked awesome when I walked in, the layout at the booth was fantastic, and it helped they were mingled in with some of the newer SAKO's.

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This model was in 6.5 Creedmore, and they also had offerings in .260 Rem, .243, .223, .308 with varmint and sporter barrels, threaded or not, and standard and compact sizes. Some the changes that have been made to new models are

-Steel Recoil Lug instead the aluminum one.
-Larger ejection port
-New Stock that has the modular hand grip and doesn't have the "hollow" sound as he put it.
-None longer has the grooves on the scope rail, minus the rings as well
-Upgraded recoil pad
-Steel Bolt Shroud

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As usual they looked very well put together, were light and easy to handle, and I think are probably some the best out the box actions. Most MSRP around $1200.00 and they should be available here in July.

TV news reports claim that a large percentage of the NRA attendees were armed. Wouldn't that mean that hundreds if not thousands of people would be gunned down? I hear that guns, and those who own them, are dangerous. I was unable to attend, but I'm curious about how many thousands died at the convention. :noidea:

The scope mounts are pinned, nice touch!

rosco ,,,,,, i record and watch a long range precision rifle show and noticed some sig scopes on a few of the guns, surprised me to,,, im sure many of you watched the same show on tv that i did ,,,, with the ceo and,,, the engineer in charge of the RPR project ,,,,two things got my attention,,, one thing they talked about was research about what makes a rifle MORE accurate ,,,,now ,,, they never said what the results were ,,,,,, but they did talk about the barrel , action , stock all being inline ,,,,, made me if that was a better design,,,,,

Which show? Not much of a TV guy, don't even have cable.

Over the past 2-3 years the data driven approach to long range shooting has really taken off. Bryan Litz, Cal Zant and Frank over at Snipershide seem to have taken the lead. Ruger, Sig and few other manufactures have seen the potential for profits by tapping into the "Long Range/PRS" community so I would expect more and more coming out soon.

It;s not difficult to build an accurate rifle using the quality parts that are readily available today, I've built 7 now in my garage that were all plenty accurate. My current has been very accurate and consistent. No registered GunSmith has touched my rifle to date other than having the action Cerakoted. What is becoming better is the ability to mass produced higher quality parts that require mush less hand fitting than firearms used to require. That is the primary reason we are starting to see more from factory firearms. They will still have drawbacks that are corrected in full custom builds, but they will offer a lot more from a factory level firearm!

Man this is pretty sweet! Some nice eye candy - especially the Savage stealth - I wonder if this is to compete with the current ruger model? That tikka - remember i traded my tikka for the SS savage 12? Yeah... I still like them tikkas but I just like savages more. Maybe i'll get another tikka down the road BUT... but that 243 offering is really peaking my interest for something on the side! Great info!

The Stealth and Weatherby(can't remember the name) are new rifles that I believe are designed to compete with the RPR . Sadly it doesn't look like they either really engaged with the PRS community and if they want them to fly off the shelves like the RPR they will have to do better.

The Stealth does have potential, but Savage has done a poor job marketing the rifle. At the show they was not a single person who REALLY knew about the rifle. For instance, I was told it we based around the Savage 12 target action which it is not. Nor did they know which type of Accu-Trigger. Really all they needed was a spec sheet.

Maybe they will make some changes and do a 180 and sponsor a few shooters in the production class of PRS. A few wins and people might start paying attention.

Rosco ,,,,, its Long range reality on the sportsman network

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Originally Posted by savgebolt

Rosco ,,,,, its Long range reality on the sportsman network

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That show is humorous! I've only seen short clips though.

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Originally Posted by Rosco

The Stealth and Weatherby(can't remember the name) are new rifles that I believe are designed to compete with the RPR . Sadly it doesn't look like they either really engaged with the PRS community and if they want them to fly off the shelves like the RPR they will have to do better.

The Stealth does have potential, but Savage has done a poor job marketing the rifle. At the show they was not a single person who REALLY knew about the rifle. For instance, I was told it we based around the Savage 12 target action which it is not. Nor did they know which type of Accu-Trigger. Really all they needed was a spec sheet.

Maybe they will make some changes and do a 180 and sponsor a few shooters in the production class of PRS. A few wins and people might start paying attention.

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Sometime the people working the booths at these type shows are hired to do the show. It would be typical not to get good
answers to technical questions at a show. Realize that most people walking around there wont be asking tough questions anyway.

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Originally Posted by Rosco

Which show? Not much of a TV guy, don't even have cable.

Over the past 2-3 years the data driven approach to long range shooting has really taken off. Bryan Litz, Cal Zant and Frank over at Snipershide seem to have taken the lead. Ruger, Sig and few other manufactures have seen the potential for profits by tapping into the "Long Range/PRS" community so I would expect more and more coming out soon.

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Well with all respect, the ones named on the top line have seen the potential which is what inspires them also.
The train actually left the station in the fiftys. But very few cared or noticed until about 30 years later.
The early passengers were happy with their ignorance and success before they were told about the proper way to go about things.
Somehow word got to them that about 80 1/4 min clicks on the Unertle would get a magnum rifle on paper at 1000 yds. (any magnum)
And the rest they were able to work out by themselves and share the information.
Now the seats on the train are in much demand mainly because of the reason cited, that being the potential for profit.
And the whistle has been replaced by frequent horn tooting, some very loud.
Just think, if the computer hadn't been created, some of these guys might have trouble spelling the word book.
Let alone filling pages with mostly useless information in real world circumstances.
For those interested, 80 clicks still gets you close even with bergers, and if you haven't tried it you should before buying a bunch of books.

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Originally Posted by yobuck

Sometime the people working the booths at these type shows are hired to do the show. It would be typical not to get good
answers to technical questions at a show. Realize that most people walking around there wont be asking tough questions anyway.

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Everyone I spoke with worked for Savage out of Westfield, Mass. One of them was even a sales manager, but that's not to say they were given any manner of technical information about any particular rifle. I was told they did have some engineers on the floor, but I didn't have an opportunity to speak with them.

yobuck,,,,,,, so true ,,,, i attended the nra conv in indy ,,,,,,, i was a little slow on the trigger ,,, but finaly got it , some of these people might be sellin car parts or what ever as their regular job ,,,,,, so check their credentials before you ask questions