#Iwa

Dynamic Arms Research is a high-end German manufacturer of AR-15 rifles. DAR manufacture their own uppers, lowers, rails and muzzle brakes. They use Lothar Walther barrels and Magpul stocks and magazines.   They are chambered in .223 Rem., .300 Whisper and 6.8mm SPC. The rifles sell for around €3000 (nearly $3,900 at todays exchange rate).  These photos were taken at IWA ’13.

Izhmash will debut the long anticipated Saiga MK-107 at the IWA show in Germany tomorrow. This gun is the first ever civilian-legal variant of the AK-107 / AK-108 with its famous balanced recoil system.

The second handgun I ever purchased – and the most accurate I’ve ever owned – was a replica single action revolver made in Italy. It was chambered in .45 Colt and a blast to shoot. There are many varieties of single action revolvers available now, and many are made by the Italian manufacturer Uberti.

Beretta semi-auto shotguns are prized in the competition world, but don’t have the same presence in the “tactical shotgun” world alongside weapons such as the Remington 870 Police and Benelli’s Tactical series. Beretta is hoping to change that with the Tx4, a 12ga semi-auto with an 18″ hammer forged and chrome lined barrel, iron sights, and a top picatinny rail. Jarno of Beretta explains more in the video.

While at IWA, I had the chance to sit down with two very knowledgeable guys from the Turkish firearms manufacturing company, Sarsilmaz. Semih, a sales executive, talked to me about the company itself and their plans to expand to the United States, while Ahmet, an engineer, discussed the various pistols, revolvers, and shotguns that the company makes.

Due to import restrictions, the Sig 55X rifle series is pretty rare in the United States. As a result, many Americans are unfamiliar with this excellent weapons system, while others around the world are intimately familiar with it. Rico Ghinolfi was the Swiss Arms gunsmith pulling IWA duty, and he took a lot of his time to discuss this and other topics with me. He’s a very knowledgeable and skilled individual, and I learned a lot from our talks – I tried to stop by every day and pester him with more questions, none of which he had difficulty answering.

In order to find out which method of rifle barrel manufacturing was best, I interviewed Jochen Anschutz (president of Anschutz) and Woody Woodall (president of Lothar-Walther). I found it interesting that although Mr. Woodall stated that all three of the major methods – cut rifling, button rifling, and hammer forging – can produce equally accurate barrels, and although Mr. Anschutz is surrounded (in Europe) by manufacturers that produce hammer forged barrels, both companies choose button rifling for their precision rifle barrels.

I spoke with the president of Steyr Mannlicher at IWA and he informed me that they will import the AUG to the United States through their Trussville, Alabama facility. This is good news for AUG fans, especially since the quality control will be under Steyr’s watchful eye, and not a corporate partner. However, I do not have specific dates or prices to report.

While at IWA, I had a chance to interview world champion pistol shooter Rob Leatham. Mr. Leatham has won the IPSC World Championship 5 times and the USPSA National Championship an incredible 24 times, among many other prestigious victories. He’s been described by Brian Enos as “the finest and most accomplished shot on the planet.”

As I mentioned previously, the KRISS booth was pretty impressive. They had lots of Sphinx pistols on display, as well as Defiance suppressors and pistol sights. Last but not least, they also had the KRISS Vector .45 caliber submachine gun. Before I continue, let me say that they do not refer to it as the “Super V” and do not like it to be referred to as such. Calling it the Super V almost cost me some free Swiss chocolate!

Christophe Guignard, CEO of Defiance (and VP of KRISS and Sphinx) explains the features of their pistol and submachine gun suppressors. Innovative is an overused term in this industry, but these products definitely have innovations that set them apart from practically all other suppressors on the market.

For dangerous game hunters, a reliable rifle is a must; having your rifle fail when a triceratops or other African game is charging you is simply not an option. Enter the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express, built on the pre-’64 action with its claw extractor for extra reliability. To handle the power of dangerous game cartridges, there are two steel stock reinforcing crossbolts and dual recoil lugs.

Engraved firearms are incredibly popular outside the United States, and many manufacturers of high-end rifles are more than happy to grab a share of this market. Several engravers were actually working while at the show, but none looked quite like Verena of Steyr, who is featured in the “ Gun Girls of IWA” post.

The Sig P210 is without a doubt an iconic handgun, highly respected for being an incredibly accurate firearm. However, the design didn’t lend itself to rapid and easy production, and as I was told by various sources in Europe, quality varied with the mood of the workforce.

Perhaps the most impressive booths at IWA came from Switzerland – KRISS Group and RWS went all-out with details such as live music, waitresses serving free alcohol, and Swiss chocolate being handed out like, well, candy. While I didn’t spend much time at RWS, I was definitely taken in by the variety of products on display at the KRISS/Sphinx booth, such as the Sphinx pistols. They’re an interesting departure from standard pistol design and manufacture, as the frame is manufactured in upper and lower segments and then joined together.