Well, the 2008 SHOT Show is in the history books, and it was big as usual.  Tons of vendors, lots of great products.  Here are a few that were memorable for us, hope you enjoy it!

Schmidt & Bender

You all probably know that we're big fans of super clear optics.  In that arena, S&B is certainly a market leader.  S&B unveiled a new scope for long range tactical rifle this year, it is a whopper.  It's based on their proven 5-25 x 56 PMII scope, and it is now a 12-50x (!) magnification version.  That is a HUGE range and enough power to compete with any spotting scope in the world.  We would be you can see bullet holes at 1K on a mirage-free day. 

The scope is the same body as the 5-25 with the turret that changes color based on which revolution you're on.  The main difference is the prototype at the show had numbers rather than a single color change.  This is because the elevation is going to be HUGE.  A great scope for the 50 crowd and 1 mile shots.  If you need to know the MSRP, this scope is not for you.

S&B PM II 5-25 x 56

Burris Scopes

While Burris might not have the long range market dialed in like some of the other manufacturers, they are sure working on it.  There are making a new "extreme" line of long range tactical scopes.  However, what impressed us the most was a quiet introduction of a new 1-4x scope that is ACTUALLY A TRUE 1X.  There are very few of these out there, even though some manufacturers tout a 1X description, they must not open both eyes when they shoot.  

Both eyes open...   For those of you that shoot AR's a true 1X variable is a rare find.  Nightforce makes one, if you have a spare 1200 bucks laying around.  While we love Nightforce optics, spending that kind of cash on a 1-4X is not within our budget, and the justification for a short range optic of that price braket is...well... it would get us in trouble.  Our target price is about half that.  So.... enter Burris.

The scope is not yet readily available, but should be out by the spring / summer.  We are set up to obtain one for test, so we'll see what happens and post the results here.  We are looking forward to really giving this scope a workout, and we'll have MSRP and details then.

Burris 1-4X

Emerson Knives

We had to pick up a couple WAVE knives this year.  These are built like a tank, and are actually faster opening than an automatic (which is great because accidentally carrying your automatic to some states will get you arrested).  If you haven't seen the WAVE feature, it's basically a hook that catches the top edge of your pocket and whips the blade open when you draw the knife.  You can draw the knife without it opening if desired. 

We purchased a CQC-8 and a tanto.  The handles are glass / epoxy and checkered for a non-slip grip.  The 3.9" blades are 154CM and beefy.  Here is a pic of the CQC-8 and their description.  Check out the video, and tell us what you think !   MSRP is $238.

Emerson CQC-8

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