SHOT Show full of info

This is the last of a two-part series about the 2015 Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas.

The Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, also known as the SHOT Show, is overwhelming. The Sands Expo and convention Center, located at the Venetian and Palazzo hotels, is the scene of the event.

This is a trade show for the shooting sports industry. Attendees can attend the State of the Industry Dinner, discover new products at the various booths and/or write stories at the Press Room.

There is also a day-long SHOT Show University for firearm dealers and other shooting-related. Subjects include; the latest ideas to better manage your cash flow, maximizing your store layout and reducing shrinkage.

What is our draw to the show? We concentrate on the new product angle, plus visiting with old friends at the various booths.

Here is an example of the products represented at the show: AA&E Leathercraft, with a complete line of hunting products made of leather, meoprene and nylon; Abbott Furnace Company who uses heat treating equipment to processing c artridge brass, bullets, firearm parts and more; Absorbent Industries LLC is a company specializing in dehumidification and gun storage needs; Accu-Shot is the manufacturer of precision rifle support products, such as Accu-Shot Monopod and Atlas Bipods; ACW Co., Inc. manufactures a complete line of commercial and military spec webbing products.

These are just some of the 16 pages of companies listed in Official Shot Directory beginning with the letter A. Remember there were 1,600 exhibiting companies at the show, covering over 13 acres of product display. As mentioned before, the show is overwhelming.

When we were younger, at our first show some 20 years ago, we tried to visit as many booths as possible. It is open nine hours a day and we viewed a sizeable amount of the products. Since then we have learned to visit only the booths and discuss the products of interest to us and our readers.

Items of interest included bullets, powder, trail cameras, binoculars, hand-held radios, GPS units, rifle slings, firearm cleaning supplies, ammunition, firearms and anything else outdoor related.

I own a Glock, Model 22, and have been concerned about the safety, as there is no visible safety. We stopped by the Glock booth where dozens of pistols were on display. There are actually three safeties on my pistol; a trigger safety, firing pin safety and a drop safety.

The firearm trigger must be pulled directly to the rear to release the first safety. During the pull of the trigger, the firing pin safety is pushed upward to release the firing pin. The drop safety prevents unintentional firing of the pistol through hard impact, such as when it is dropped.

At another booth we discussed rangefinders, one on the most useful tools in the hands of a hunter these days. The hunter must know the distance to the deer, elk or moose to know where to aim. Of course, this same hunter must spend time at the shooting range to make sure his rifle is sighted-in to hit the target where intended.

My rifles hit the target at three-inches high at 100 yards. This means my .30-06 is actually sighted-in to hit dead center at 254 yards. This allows me to hold on in the shoulder area of an animal in order to make a killing shot out to 300 yards without holding over the animal.

However, beyond 300 yards, my crosshairs will need to come up on the animal in order hit it. The rangefinder will give an accurate reading of the distance and, therefore, allow the hunter to make a better judgment about where to hold and therefore, hopefully, make a better shot.

The SHOT Show is the usual place where we have a chance to spend a few minutes with rock 'n roll legend Ted Nugent. Thursday night we were in the audience and watched this man open The Outdoor Channel's Golden Moose Awards with the national anthem on his guitar. He also was presented the Fan Favorite by Sarah Palin.

Ted's son, Toby, is our contact and he fits us in between two of Ted's other appointments in the full schedule. This year we spent about 15 minutes with the man, visiting about all sorts of outdoor topics.

We headed for home Saturday after spending seven days in Las Vegas. It was cold and foggy in Spokane when the shuttle picked us up and drove us to our Ram at the Parking Express lot. The truck was running and warm inside.

We climbed inside and headed for home. The trip had been long and tiresome, but successful.