#SHOT2020

As the sun began to set in the southern Nevada desert, Industry Day at the Range came to a close. The targets were taken down, the firearms stowed and the products started making their way to the SHOT Show floor. Most would call it in, go grab a bite to eat and maybe hit the casino floor after a long day of walking, talking and shooting but the TFB writers. For us, as the sun was setting on Industry Day at the Range, the TFB “Do it In the Dark” machine gun shoot was just about to begin.

The Ultimax Mark VIII has been out for several years now but this is the first time that the light machine gun has been out on Range Day at SHOT Show, allowing the public to get some hands-on with the light machine gun. Developed in the 1980s by Jim Sullivan, the Ultimax is perhaps most famous for its extremely controllable rate of fire (sometimes balancing the buttstock on a shooter’s nose or chin). Despite decades since its inception, the light machine gun still hasn’t seen widespread adoption throughout militaries throughout the world. The Mark VIII attempts to change that by showing the U.S. market what ST Engineering (ST Kinetics, formerly Chartered Industries of Singapore, CIS) still has to offer.

Last year at SHOT Show 2019, I had a chance to take a look at a prototype rifle by MARS Inc. Back then it was in an early development stage with most parts being in white. Later, during 2019, we learned that MARS and Cobalt Kinetics submitted a rifle to NGSW trials that was based on the general design of the gun we saw at SHOT 2019. For SHOT Show 2020, MARS brought the civilian version of the rifle chambered in .308 Winchester. This final iteration of MARS rifle is called M19 Mustang.

At SHOT Show 2020, along with the firearms announced last year, Zastava Arms USA also displayed two new guns that they have started importing just recently – the M91 DMR/sniper rifle chambered in 7.62x54mmR and the ZPAP85 pistol chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO.

Every year, during the SHOT Show days, Rifle Dynamics hold their own event, the RD Open House. This year I was lucky to be able to attend it and in this article, I’ll tell you about the newly released and prototype Rifle Dynamics products as well as some really interesting builds displayed during the event.

Last year,  Strike Industries released over 50 new products – that’s one new product per week on average. And looks like in 2020 the mad scientists at the SI R&D department are going to keep that insane rate. Let’s take a look at each of the new and upcoming products that the company brought to SHOT Show 2020.

At SHOT Show 2020, Nosler announced a new .270 caliber addition to their cartridge family – the 27 Nosler. In their press release, Nosler describes this cartridge as an offering “that redefines performance as radically now as the 270 Winchester did upon its introduction in 1925“.

POF USA‘s SHOT Show booth was crowded as usual. And the reason is they simply always have new and innovative products. This year, in addition to the Minuteman rifle that was introduced a couple of months ago, POF USA also brought the following new products: Rebel22 rimfire pistol, Rogue rifle and pistol, and P19 pistol. Let’s take a brief look at each of the new guns.

At SHOT Show 2020 I had the opportunity to get my hands on a fairly rare pistol from Beretta – the 92X Performance. The Beretta  92X Performance is designed to be a competitor’s pistol. Every detail that could be streamlined for the competitor has been updated from the base design of the Beretta 92 in order to accommodate the modern competitive shooter.

On the pre-range day of SHOT Show 2020, I had a chance to visit the Arsenal booth and take a look at their new AK-20 series of rifles. Retaining the good ol’ time-proven AK mechanism, these rifles offer a lot of improvements that are added to make them capable of providing features that we demand from modern firearms.

Welcome to SHOT Show 2020. TFB is kicking off our coverage this week with a friendly plate rack competition at the Industry Day At Range event. GLOCK has loaned us a handful of G44’s, CCI has provided 10,000 rounds of their new Clean 22 rimfire ammunition and TFB has a dedicated lane. SHOT Show 2020 will kick off at the TFB lane (SR-5) at about 8:00 with Medal Of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer firing the first shot. After the first shot, TFB, GLOCK and CCI are hosting a rimfire plate competition with the fastest time winning a GLOCK G44.