The Column, No. 10:

The 2005 SHOT Show "At A Glance"

The 2005 SHOT Show reportedly attracted more than 1,725 exhibitors, increasing from last year's 1,600. Total attendance was 37,671, with 569,000 square feet of exhibit space. Far too many things were going on for one small report to attempt to be inclusive, so I'll just mention a few features likely to be of interest to today's muzzleloading enthusiast.

Austin & Halleck unveiled their new 1894 action based inline, as yet unnamed, featuring .504 and .451 Kreiger barrels suitable for both heavy conical and medium to heavy saboted bullet use. It appears extremely well built like few frontloaders offered today, with a price target somewhere in the low $500 range. Along with this brand new rifle, Austin & Halleck is now meeting the needs of turkey hunters with their 420 in-line actioned black powder (or, as Chris Hodgdon prefers to call it) "Triple Seven based" shotgun. Great looking, as you would expect from Austin & Halleck.

The always innovative Knight Rifles has a new break action inline, the "Knight Vision" that will be ready for this year's season. Hammerless, red plastic jacket based, with a built in swivel primer extractor; it felt good in the hands, and looks to be the easiest Knight ever to clean and operate. This is targeted at the $399 area, another pleasant surprise.

Thompson / Center Arms had a .50 caliber version of their Contender G2 on hand, and I was delighted that it had the same balance and feel of their current Contender G2 .45--a wonderful inline. I'm really looking forward to hunting with the .50 cal. version.

Bushnell always knocks me out with their new line-ups, and this year was no exception. They have a new, low profile Holosight that looks to be a dream to use, a new 5 - 1500 yard rangefinder that is LED enhanced, a new line of GPS units, and a new line-up of trail cameras-all exciting product.

Sightron's new side focus scopes look elegant, and their expanded 30mm line-up offers even more internal adjustments, and stronger tubes. Their binocular and spotting scope lines continue to grow as well.

It was a delight to visit with the affable Ken Oehler and family of Oehler Research, the place to go for those truly serious about their personal load development.

Western Powders, Brownells, Hodgdon, and Savage Arms all made this year's SHOT Show a great place to be. I also enjoyed visits with Barnes Bullets, Warne bases and rings, XS Sight Systems, and though not muzzleloading related, found the Browning and Beretta booths to be spectacular. If you love shooting sports, it is a great place to be.