I visited WGT Consulting’s soon to be opened new pro shop on Friday and learned that they would have a booth at this year’s Sportsmen’s show so I decided to check in with them as my first stop.
Mr. Burke, of Burke’s oil soon stopped by for a visit
GUNS
Alright, all settled in, I started my quest for all things tactical…let’s start with firearms
Target Sports had a huge array of Fabarm STF12 shotguns…my very first gun was a Fabarm Pro Forces, nice little shotgun, and it is great to see where they have evolved.
My favourite was the 11 inch with multi-position stock
I found the LOP of the fixed stock on this FDE variant was a bit too short for me
I did like the folding stock
Nickel finish
The removable rail system is very slick and returns your optic to zero
A bit older school, the semi-auto SAT 8
Lol, the modified Costa grip
Target also brought some handguns with cerakote done in-house at the Calgary store
Next, Stoeger Canada where I found the biggest surprise of the show, they are bringing Victrix in to Canada, an Italian brand of precision rifles up to .50BMG!
I really liked the Pugio
This one is a military model
Still my favourite shotgun of all time, the Benelli M4…and the Supernova Tactical 14” is not far behind
More Benelli goodness
Including the MR-1 rifle
More firearms from Browning
And Sauer from MD Charltan
Who also brought some Sigs in .177…these mimic the size and weight of the centerfire pistols
OPTICS
In last year’s show review I said that Leupold stole the show so I was eager to see what they brought this year.
I looked at three scopes, first the Mark 5 HD…said to be lighter (by 20 ounces) than competing scopes and offers extreme low-light performance,. It has tactile, audible click adjustments, larger numbers, and a high-speed throw lever.
Another look at the LRP that I saw last year
And the new, economically priced Freedom series that was released at SHOT show
Speaking of SHOT, Steiner was one of my favourite booths of that show, certainly the one with the best customer service and I do love their products…the Sportsmen’s show tends to focus on their hunting line
If you read about my broken camera saga and Nikon Canada replacing my D600 with a brand new D610, you would know I am now a Nikoner for life. Their booth was particularly interesting as it had both new and vintage pieces.
This 100 Year anniversary set of binoculars was modelled after a vintage design
This pair was made for stargazing and boasts 70x power, an extremely wide field of view and a $10,000+ price tag!
A vintage field microscope!
The new laser rangefinder can read distances out to 3000M!
I liked the texture of the realtree coating
Aimpoint at MD Charlton’s booth
KNIVES
Most of the blades at the show are what I would consider very very low end lol…as in $20 fantasy knives. Nevertheless, I did manage to find some quality blades, such as Gransfors axes, hand forged in Sweden.
My favourite was the two-headed model and yes, it was sharp! Price for that one was in the $400-$450 range
The Council Tool line is more economical as they are drop forged.
Ron Post is a fixture at the Sportsmen’s Show having done it for 25 years…last year there were big crowds around his booth so I did not have a chance to handle his knives and made it a point to do so this time around. His style is very utilitarian, geared toward hunters and he mainly uses 154CM steel.
CASES
When it comes to hard cases, Pelican needs no introduction…new to the show, PelicanZone carries the full line and I was happy to see such a huge selection in person.
I have the LOC (Laptop Overnight Case) and always wanted to compare it to the dedicated clothing cases…I must say that I prefer my beefier case.
Gun cases from the slim single pistol case
All the way up to multiple rifle cases
The new cooler line, designed to keep your drinks cold for 10 days!
Along with individual drink sized coolers
Very plush interior dividers for your camera gear
I already own several Pelican cases so my next one will for sure be a Nanuk.
I really like their designs! As a Canadian company, they understand our needs, for example designing the gun cases to accommodate trigger locks.
And insert for silica gel packs
The new single pistol case with Classic insert fits 50 different designs (1911, Sig, CZ etc) and there is a dedicated insert for Glocks
My favourite case…dedicated AR15
Hearing protection from Sport Ear
Last but not least, tactical lights from Fenix
The new headlight with removable rechargeable battery (but can still be charged via USB), with multiple intensities (up to 950 lumens), red lights, and hi-viz headband
Over 3000 lumens for this model
Camping light
This hunting model illuminates in multiple colour such as red for night vision and blue for blood trailing
Nice to see the gun orgs..CSSA, raffling off a Lithgow and Beretta
CCFR
If you hit the food court, I recommend the smoked meat sandwich
So all in all it is hard for me to judge this show…it seemed smaller than last year and coming off of SHOT show it seems way smaller but if you look hard enough you can still find some treasures.
RL
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