rlauferblog

DAY 3

Well today is the last day and we are going out STRONG! Believe me, there will be some FIRE in this post!!!

One of the big advantages of a show like this is connecting and re-connecting with industry folks..i ran into my favourite Stoeger rep at the dinner last night and that reminded me to visit her booth. And boy am I glad that I did!! I found my absolute favourite gun of the show, the Benelli M4 A1…like heart beating fast, hot flashes favourite! I already have a Benelli M4 but not like this and the clever boys at Benelli made it so I cannot retrofit the parts, forcing me to buy a new one. And I think their plan worked!

The proprietary fore-end

MASSIVE controls

Door breacher

Now if that is not enough for you at the Stoeger booth, how about this $27,000 Victrix .50BMG from Italy? Yes, that is DOLLARS not LIRA! Every part of the gun is laser mapped pre-assembly and then the whole gun is laser mapped again once assembled. The data is tied to the serial number and if your gun ever needs servicing, they will clone parts for it to the laser specs! All their guns are F1 class.

Muzzle brake

Note the unique vents on the bolt to direct gasses sideways for shooter safety

Still not enough? How about a SAKO TRG…with a takedown screw in the bolt handle

Oh and the takedown tools are stored in a compartment on the fore-end

I was told on set-up day that an actual Colt C20 would be on display to showcase its USO optic…I checked back and did not see it but thanks to social media, I saw that it arrived so that was my next stop. WOW…another show favourite!!!

The same thing happened with the CSA Compact….it wasn’t there when I visited the booth but I saw it on social media and bam a THIRD show favourite!! Wow, I am finding all the best stuff on Day 3…usually things are winding down at this point. But don’t worry, there is more!

I love the super Compact and can confirm that it fits in a GoRuck GR-1 Shooter bag

One of my objectives for Day 3 was to get an action figure from 3RIUS – Holodeck 3D

Here I am ready to be scanned

After seeing the scan, I got a great idea…I remembered seeing an airsoft version of my John Wick 3 gun so I rushed over to Action Air and they graciously let me borrow it for a re-scan!

By the way, those guys had some other incredible airsoft guns…check out this Resident Evil limited edition

And these

Thanks to Action Air, my 3D action figure will look like this…man I love TACCOM!

3RIUS – Holodeck 3D is actually owned by the same group who owns M-GEAR …awesome EDC tools

And these guys even teach Filipino martial arts!!!! More on that topic after lunch!

But first, a visit to my good friends at Tactical Imports to see their new bullpup shotgun…these were flying off the shelf and TI had to keep re-stocking during the show lol

MKA 1919 Match Gen 2

Type 81

Speaking of good friends…Nanuk! New big multi-gun case

Nice big handle to carry the big case

And for shorter carbines

I still need to get a custom two gun case made

By now you must be wondering, what about Glock? Well as you can imagine, their booth was pretty mobbed at all times. I did manage to see the new Aimpoint ACRO on a Glock and believe it or not, it was SMALLER than I thought it would be (based on all the memes)

Considering they won an award, I wanted to give Triggertech a closer look but they were mobbed too! I didn’t get a chance to speak with them but got some decent pics.

Pretty hard to talk to Vortex too lol…this is why I try to get in early so I can take pics before the crowds but I cant get to all of them in time lol

I am a big fan of Peltor hearing protection…I have two electronic muffs (Comtac and Tactical Sport) and probably 5 of their non-electronic muffs lol.

I have never tried their in-ear products…until today! And I have to say I was pretty impressed! I

It was also fantastic to talk directly to an engineer…I am telling you, TACCOM is just like being at SHOT show!

Some more of my favourite brands…Surefire

And Trijicon

And now for some new (to me) things…Danaper CCW bags…come in all shapes and sizes and feature quick access from multiple angles with hidden zippers…some also have compartments for body armour. The rep gave multiple demos using many of the variations and it does look fast!

I have heard of Alien Gear holsters but missed their booth at SHOT show so was pretty happy to hear they were coming to TACCOM! Their Shape Shift holster has won numerous awards. Basically it is a modular system that allows you to use different mounts to transform a holster into multiple carry options.

You can see the single attachment point here

And the companion trigger guard on the gun

Which allows the holster to be extremely flexible

Alien Gear was also showcasing their new Rapid Force high retention holster designed for law enforcement

Red Tower Armoury had one of the nicest looking displays of the show…unfortunately my camera didn’t like the backlighting that made it so beautiful ..sorry guys

But you can see it on their customized guns

Now this pearl pink really has to be seen in person!

Oh and now they are cerakoting motorcycles too!

Still tons to cover…C4L…veteran owned

Patch Panel

CZ

CTOMS…where I bought the awesome Crye Precision shirt that I am wearing…I have pants on order too..should be here in January lol. CTOMS has GREAT customer service! Shout out to Shy who helped me on my order but could not make it to the show.

The venerable 5.11..i have LOT’S of their pants…and a few hats too, including one gifted to me by Doug Marcaida when he started representing the brand (and I took his seminar)…and another by the generous Canadian rep…thanks bro!

Nice Canada-specific product!

Fighting for our rights…NFA

And CSSA

Hey its TheShmoo manning the tanks lol

Ok time for lunch…and yes, more meat! I paid an extra $6 to supersize and WOW it was worth it!

The food court was right next to the main stage so I listened in to the panel about female shooters

Next on stage, Canatek Gun works with their innovative locking gun block to store and transport multiple guns…basically you don’t need individual trigger locks and allows you to fit many more guns in a smaller space. Definitely worth checking out.

Now remember that I said the M-GEAR crew teach Filipino martial arts? Well I was thrilled that they were doing an on-stage demo! I have taken a few seminars myself and, being a “knife guy” I love it.

They demonstrated using all types of knives and improvised weapons.

Again, I told you we were finishing strong and I think you will agree it is pretty hard to top a seminar with Chris Costa on the Mindset of the Use of Force. Given the sensitive topic, I cant divulge too much other than to say it was highly educational. Chris had some great anecdotes to drive his points home. And I think I will get a t-shirt made with “there is mag change in there” because that could be the best line ever lol.

Now the very last but not least, Movie Armament Group! I have seen tons of social media chatter about their booth over the weekend…there was so much to see that I cannot do justice with comments so I hope you are all ok with a pic dump.

And now for some closing comments…

First, we had the Golden Bullet Awards now I present to you the RL1 awards for my Best In Show…but because I cant pick just one, I will do my top five in each category.

Guns
1. Benelli M4 A1
2. Korth ULX
3. Colt C20
4. CSA Super Compact
5. Alberta Tactical Rifle MS18-A3 CCFR Edition

Optics
1. ATN Monocular
2. FLIR Breach
3. Nightforce BEAST
4. Nightforce ATACR 1-8×24
5. US Optics TS 2.5-20

Experiences
1. Attending seminars by Chris Costa and Master Ken
2. Getting things autographed by Chris Costa and Master Ken
3. Attending the Golden Bullet Awards and sharing a table with Lovie and 2 champions
4. M-GEAR Filipino martial arts demo
5. Seeing two editions of High Capacity magazine with my articles at TACCOM

Some people have called TACCOM “SHOT show of the North” and as someone who has attended SHOT, I tend to agree. It is not just the guns, it is the fact that you have global industry reps / engineers here to interact with you, seminars by industry icons like Chris Costa and Lovie, the industry dinner, and an overall professional atmosphere that brings the community together

The bottom line is that the TACCOM team did a phenomenal job.

I must also say that I am very grateful to be given an all access media pass. I could not have done this review without it. To put things in perspective, I spent about 25 hours at the show and that much again going through the approximately 1100 pics that I took…and I only posted half of them!

I’ll be happy to do it all over again next year.

RL

PART 1

TACCOM 2019 – Part 1

PART 2

TACCOM 2019 – Part 2

PART 3

TACCOM 2019 – Part 3