By now you should be familiar with O’Dell Engineering’s Annual Range Day as this is my third time covering the event. Still, some things are worth repeating.
First of all, it is super impressive that O’Dell has been running this annual event for 10 years, especially given our political climate. Not only that, they are continually bringing new products to our market and each event features several introductions.
Just to recap, the industry event allows retailers to test the latest offerings and provide/receive direct feedback. The intention is to increase retailers’ first-hand familiarity with the products so they can better answer questions and better match firearms with the customer’s shooting needs.
Opening words from our host, Phil O’Dell and briefings from Ian about some new products we will see on the line
Mike from the CSSA has been at all 10 O’Dell Days
The full CSSA crew with Mike, Jordan, and Tony Bernardo
Reps from Amchar, the event co-sponsor and Fred from FOC/TACCOM
It is great to see politicians at such events. Doug Treleaven, Conservative candidate for the Kitchener Conestoga riding with Ryan from SFRC
This year’s event shirt features the new Wrangler, which I will get to shoot shortly
Time for the traditional pic with Phil and Ian
I also wanted to use this opportunity to try the new custom hearing protection I got from Safe and Sound. The left ear was rock solid and gave good protection but for some reason the right ear was moving a bit so I ended up switching to my Peltors later in the day. Not sure why as this didn’t happen when I tried them at home.
I took the VIP limo to the rifle range lol
First up, Canuck shotguns
The Enforcer
and the folding version
However the Operator with wood furniture was the most popular gun of the day
EVERYONE was shooting it lol…I guess there is something to “retro”
Vs. the FD12, the most popular gun in 2021
On to Bergara, another product line distributed by O’Dell. They had several on the line from .22 all the way up to 6.5
I love the finish on the Bergaras, both in terms of look and feel
Shooting the Bergaras
Doug shooting the Bergara. He clearly has experience with firearms and was shooting like a pro in no time!
Canuck pro-staffer and competitive shooter Dave Tree brought his personal gun for comparison against a stock Bergara
Nifty Arca rail on Dave’s competition gun
Bipod’s are also a convenient place to hang your shooting bag for PRS competition lol
Influencers like Chris Costa and Jade Struck have helped to cause a big resurgence in lever-action rifles. I can see why as the new Wranglers, available in .357 and .410 were my favourite guns of the day! So fun to shoot.
I prefer the one with the full rail and beautiful green stock
Though this one had a beautiful wood stock and bluing
This one was chambered in .410
Or if you prefer rimfire….
The crew from FOC giving the lever actions a whirl
And now my turn! We were shooting .38 but of course you can also load these with .357
No recoil but it throws the casing high! I think that one hit the ceiling lol
I was amazed by the low recoil, even on the .410
My co-photographer, Tom liked the Wrangler as well
Rep from Al Simmons in Hamilton with the .22
There are now 3 versions of the Derya TM-22 including the new Standard, which will retail for $299
Closer look at the Standard
Shooting the Standard
Amchar, co-sponsor of the event, brought 7 Kel-tecs (and one GSG) for us to try, including their shotguns with dual mag tubes
SU22
And the Sub2000, including the new Gen3 version with iron sights that stay in place when you fold the gun
Learn more about Kel-Tec here
Fred shooting the SU22
I would definitely put a red-dot on it as it was a bit challenging for me to find the Ghost ring. Other than that, really fun to shoot
Next the Sub2000 Gen3
And the KSG Compact
Doug was impressed
The GSG-16
Ok on to the skeet range!
I like the Hunter pump in Bottomlands and the Over-under in Realtree Max5 camo
Rep from Al Simmons shooting the over-under
the Trap version
the auto-ejector throwing the empty shell over his shoulder
I wanted to get pics of the over-under in Max5 and Tom was happy to oblige
More skeet shooting
On to 5-stand
Some of the guns on the line
Clays come in high and low
We close the day with a prize draw for the attendees
Scott from Bullseye North wins the Kel-Tec
Rep from Al Simmons taking home a very small box with a folding Canuck shotgun!
Another Canuck shotgun prize
And a Bergara for Gary at Select Shooting Supplies, accepted by Dean on his behalf
As usual, the event was catered by the legendary Lancaster Smokehouse (I was just there after another event a week or two ago!)
Thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, the Sportsmens Club Galt, and of course the O’Dell team for putting on such a great event.
RL
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