For the fourth year in a row I stopped off at Shooter’s Choice for their great annual August Sale
I saw lots of new things this year, starting with the TIKKA T3X ACE GAME .300 WIN24″ Designed for both sport shooting and hunting. It has a chassis similar to MDT but it feels lighter. Perhaps that could be from its medium contour, free-floating, fluted cold hammer forged barrel that minimizes vibration, withstands heat, and reduces weight.
The BERETTA 688 Performance Sporting B-FAST is a revamped version of the 686 with Glossy Laminated Birchwood adjustable stock, heavier steel receiver, new top lever design, Steelium barrels paired with OCHP chokes, and adjustable travel of the trigger shoe.
Closeup of the B-Fast stock that provides adjustability and recoil reduction
The BROWNING MARAL 4X HUNTER .300 MAG is a straight pull rifle with a twist, err should I say a spring! The Servo Bolt System uses a spring to return the bolt to the forward, locked position. The spring assistance speeds cycling for faster bolt operation. A high-strength, rotating bolt locks into the barrel.
Another interesting thing about this rifle is that the scout sights actually worked for me! Usually my eyes don’t see scout sights well but these fiber optic ones worked very well.
I am a big fan of Steiner binoculars, in fact I have three of them! Nice to see a wide selection at Shooter’s Choice and have the opportunity to talk to the rep. I found out there is a mail in rebate happening soon, starting in a week or two (although I forgot if it is $125 or $175, sorry!)
Here is a great example, the Commander V, a porro prism from Steiner’s Marine line. The porro prism creates a realistic three-dimensional image, with maximum depth of field, so even at extremely long distances, you can clearly see whether one object is behind or in front of another. Another nice thing about Steiner porro prism binoculars is that once you focus each eyepiece to your vision, it stays in focus from 20 yards to infinity, which is very handy if you are on a moving boat or are tracking a moving animal.
Navigator Pro C 7×30 with integrated HD-stabilized compass.
Ok now THIS is cool! The Steiner ePredator8 scope has a real-time ballistics calculator and Heads-Up Display (HUD) that delivers real-time shot-critical data through its Intelligent Hunting Solution (IHS). It has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to pair it with ePredator LRF 10×42 Binoculars for integrated rangefinding!
Upstairs in the bow room, I found the Excalibur Hybrid X, the first compound crossbow from Excalibur in 20 years! It combines the technology and performance of Excalibur’s compression molded limbs and Charger X integrated crank with a custom cam design to reduce the overall width of the crossbow and adds additional speed that is not achievable with recurve limbs alone. It also has DIY Serviceability with a no-press-needed system that sets you free from the workshop, ensuring immediate readiness in any environment.
As usual, lots of great hunting gear
The sale is still on today and I recommend you stop by. See you next year!
Now THAT’S how you open an inaugural show! Flashbangs and red and white smoke grenades to our National Anthem!
The unique opening was very much inline with the unique concept of the show, namely to showcase all things “projectile shooting related.” As such, the show, co-organized by CRAFM, Uni-Turc, and The Evans Group, features demonstrations and interactive experiences with firearms, airsoft, paintball, black powder, less lethal, archery, axe/knife throwing and even slingshots! There are also 75+ vendors on hand to satisfy the needs of new and experiences shooters alike.
I guess I will cover the show in that order, starting with firearms and my absolute favourite gun of the show, the P320 with FLUX DEFENSE LEGION Conversion Kit. I was happy to find out this kit will also work with my M17 Commemorative edition.
A cool feature of the FLUX kit is that pressing the mag release on the spare mag will also release the live mag as well, as demonstrated in this video.
My next planned firearms purchase is a lever action although not quite as fancy as this stunning S&W 1854 LIMITED EDITION with its heirloom quality stocks.
Another super impressive gun of the day, the FRF2!
The new Pedersoli 86/71 Lever Action Boarbuster “Apocalypse” looks incredible with its blending of modern features like M-LOK with traditional accents in leather.
Sabatti with their Multi Radial Rifling
Including the ST12
And the new Rover Varmint Syn
New from Springfield Armory, the 2020 Boundary, featuring a lightweight aluminum hinged floor plate attached to a patent-pending one-piece bottom metal that conceals an internal magazine.
More fine shotguns from FAIR
And Tamgha
I especially liked this semi-auto
With its unique Desert Eagle like triangular barrel
Tamgha is also bringing to civilians the ANAFARTA line of gear and clothing originally designed for the military.
More guns on display at CRAFM
In addition to the static displays, there were plenty of options for shooters to experience. On the pistol side, they had Glock 17, Glock 19, S&W XS, GP100, Desert Eagle, and Ruger Super Redhawk. Options for long-guns included Springfield Armory, Maple Ridge Armory, FAIR, Keltec, Sabatti, and Pedersoli in calibers like .22, 12 gauge, .308, and 45-70.
New shooters were given a brief lesson using a Blue Gun before transitioning to live firearms.
Such as this gentleman shooting for the very first time (pics posted with his permission)
he was sending flames downrange in no-time!
though perhaps not quite as much as the Desert Eagle
And now for a demo by IPSC shooters including champion Alex Berdat!
I like the magnet for his mag
and of course his Alien
now THAT’S a magwell
Alex preps for the stage
Shooter ready…stand by…BEEP!
And it’s over in a flash
time for scoring
next shooter
That was really cool to watch! Nice explanation of the sport to the crowd by the IPSC rep.
If sub-second splits aren’t your thing, not to worry, how about a cool blackpowder demo?
Thanks for changing into Regimental uniform and the demo of the full routine
Also super popular with the crowd.
In addition to the shooting demonstrations, there were also seminars on gun cleaning
Note all supplies used were by Kleenbore
And we learned about a great comprehensive maintenance kit from Borka Tools
Reloading tips from Mr. Olivier M. Lefebvre, aka “Wiki-Oli”, a reloading expert with over 25 years of experience in sport shooting, a certified firearms verifier for the RCMP, a member of both the Quebec and Canadian IPSC teams, and a Law 9 instructor.
Moving on to less lethal, Vesta from South Africa.
You can use a variety of ammo like rubber balls
or “quick silver” though sadly we don’t get the pepper balls here.
it is fun to shoot as well
Though we didn’t change targets so I don’t quite know which hits were mine (let’s just assume they were all the ones in the middle haha)
this is an example of the damage from one round at about 10 feet
There were lots of options for airsoft at the event including a huge array at TactGearz
The Magpul FMG-9 was my absolute favourite airsoft of the day
My second favourite airsoft gun was at the Taktik booth
Specifically the GBLS C8A2 Carbine. This is a SERIOUS piece of kit that is actually used by military and LEO for training. Manufactured in Korea, the electric powered recoil gun is adjustable in terms of FPS and has a reinforced high torque motor. Cost is, ahem, not cheap (north of $3k).
SIG airguns
I always gravitate to the 365
Raven Elite just introduced a few new electric airsoft rifles with a sophisticated Electronic Trigger Control System (E.T.C.S.) that has shooting mode programming capabilities and trigger sensitivity adjustment.
Love the breaching muzzle on this one
Raven was also showcasing the Thermal Master P2 pro, the World’s Smallest Thermal Camera. We got a detailed demo of the features and it is quite useful for hunting applications (especially when mounted to your firearm or bow).
Yup I was hot
More cool airsoft gear at Aventure Airsoft Lanaudiere
I love the airsoft grenades
And flashbangs
EG Canada for even more pyrotechnics (as seen in the event kick-off)
and the “world’s best firestarter” from Quick Wick
Shooting airsoft is fun, especially when you load it with paintball type ammo and are shooting at a proprietary built flashing target system. Just hit the blue and ignore the red and green flashing targets.
Now on to archery. Uni-Turc is the distributor for EK Archery.
My favourites were the VLAD
And the REVO7. It was great that we had the option to shoot it! It took more effort to cock it than I expected (also the red dot was out of battery so I couldn’t test for accuracy) but still lots of fun to shoot.
Uni-Turc also carry Ballista and had some on the line but I didn’t try them
I didn’t take any pics of slingshots or slinging so knife/axe throwing will be the last projectile I cover before getting to gear.
Cold Steel, Condor, and CRKT on the line
Uni-Turc also had some nice knives for sale from VKnives
My favourite of which was this custom collaboration with knifemaker Jerry Hossom!
Last but certainly not least, gear! I mean it when I say that. Although I started my review with a focus on firearms and other projectiles, I actually started my day at the Premier Body Armor booth, one of my favourite brands! I seriously love everything they make!
This “binder” was my favourite piece of the day
The flap on the left hides a strap
That allows you to throw the binder on like a bulletproof apron!
I picked up a bulletproof laptop case and a Gen II bulletproof can koozie (an updated version of the one I got at TACCOM a few years ago)
Another brand I love (also distributed by Evans Group), Wiley X! I was hoping to see their APEL goggles/glasses, namely the Spear, Vapor, Valour, and Gravity.
They only had the Spear
Though I did find a Vapor at Aventure Airsoft Lanaudiere
Yep both added to the list. In the meantime, I bought a pair of Bolle X100 goggles at CRAFM (you can see them in the FLUX pics).
Still more great brands from Evans Group, Surefire!
Guardian, Stiletto, and Backup
Training fauxpressors
Hudson showcasing Tasmanian Tiger with lots of new pieces
such as the Escape Pack 20L that can be stowed small and flat in its own front pocket, combining low weight with packing volume
Stuffbag 25 WPV
Water resistant W-pouch A5 made out of 420D Nylon TPU Eco
Redesigned FastMag with tabs that are easier to slot in your webbing
CAMELBAK
Vanguard
Hi-Lux optics
Vortex!
Beautiful Razor scope
A couple of pieces from their eyewear line
INFIRAY JERRY-31 night vision monocular
ProXpedition
Real Avid
CCFR
And there you have it. Expo Impact was a phenomenal show that certainly lived up to its promise with its interactive and static displays and vendors for all things projectile related! Everything went very smoothly and all the new shooters I spoke with were super thrilled with their experience and ultimately that is what this is about.
Thanks to Frank, Donald, Phil, Lizie, and everyone else involved in making this show happen. Thanks also to James for helping out with the pics. I look forward to next year’s show!
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