Also see Day Four from Mark's (our social media specialist) view! Read here.
For those us of from the Central Time zone who have not quite adjusted to the Pacific time zone in Vegas, we were up by 5 am on day four of SHOT Show week. When that happens we may as well get to work. After a shower and a walk to the convention center. I was on the show floor by 6:20.
THE AIRGUN HUNTING LODGE
Wow! You almost need to see the corner tower of our booth to appreciate it. It is nearly 30 feet tall. On the outside as you come down the isle there is a large picture of Rossi Morreale, host of American Airgunner TV Show, holding the Umarex Hammer and on the other pictures is a hunter holding a Gauntlet. As you go around to the inside the tall wall an Airgun “hunting lodge” is revealed. Four animal mounts taken with the Umarex Hammer .50 caliber air rifle are hanging on the wall and there’s over 20 4x6 photos of Airgun hunters with their harvested game. Among those are photos of Steve Scott’s Cape Buffalo, Eastern Water Buffalo and my two black bears. More importantly, this is where the Umarex Hammer is displayed and there’s also an Umarex Gauntlet dipped in Prym1 Camo. We’ll have about 30 of those for sale on our website in just a few days! Everyone has loved them here at the show, so we know they won’t last long.
The Airgun Hunting Lodge quickly became the spot where many of the content developers wanted to do their recording. Rossi with American Airgunner streamed live to YouTube, Rick Eutsler and Ben recorded with Eydin Hansen (@TXHogDude), Steve Criner (Dog Soldier) and myself for Airgun Web. Ray Blades with Ontario Out of Doors and several others also stopped in for a few words on all the new Airgun and Axeon Optic products for 2019, included in that was GetZone who covered the Axeon Second Zero with its inventor John Baker from TACOMHQ. Deb Ferns, founder of Babes with Bullets came by to talk about hunting with the Hammer. I’m sure there were a few people that I missed in this list. As we see the content we’ll share it on our social channel an on our SHOT Show page on our website. So be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
MORE IN THE BOOTH
Each of our airgun brands has their own wall. There’s a brand on one side of each “pod”. The Legends display has the new Cowboy Rifle Lever Action is on display. The way the lever action is loaded and the way it ejects cartridges puts a big smile on everyone that experiences it. Umarex Airguns takes two of the pod walls, one of those is where the Umarex Synergis is. The .177 caliber Synergis has garnered a lot of attention at this show due to the fact that it’s a repeating under lever with a low profile removable magazine. Between the auto indexing magazine feature and the price of $169.99 the Synergis is clearly going to be one of our most popular rifles of the year. The M9A3 full auto Beretta in FDE is popular, as will always be full auto pistols. GLOCK airguns command attention too. Buyers and media are coming in asking to see them. And of course the Ruger® 10/22® air rifle is highly sought after. Some have been pleasantly surprised at the attention to detail in the 10/22® air rifle. It’s the Hammer though, that is commanding the most attention as our projected production date nears quickly. Everyone wants to see the final magazine and parts on the beautifully assembled big game hunting rifle.
AXEON OPTICS ON DISPLAY
Around the corner Axeon Optics has a full line of optics on display. The Second Zero is the most popular product in that area. One person said they thought it was the best kept secret of SHOT Show. It’s popularity is closely followed by the new and improved Absolute Zero. It’s been made easier to mount by using a quick clamp that goes around a 1-inch or 30mm scope tube and a Pic rail attachment is also provided. The Absolute Zero, which works across gun platforms (including air riles) and calibers is not only simple to attach to your gun, but it can truly help you find your zero in just one shot!
ELITE FORCE IS HOOKED UP
Around the wall our Elite Force Airsoft division has their own dedicated booth space that looks absolutely outstanding. The in-house graphic team at Umarex USA really outdid themselves this year where the graphics are concerned. Elite Force has all new slat wall and full-size graphics in addition to an upstairs meeting space. The four guys that sell and market our airsoft lines had no down time. As soon as one customer left, another arrived. They’ve got an area dedicated to airsoft pistols like the new Smith & Wesson Airsoft line-up and another area that’s all airsoft rifles from the Amoeba line to VFC, HK, Elite Force, and others. Elite Force started handing out commemorative poker chips to their dealers and buyers during SHOT Show a couple of years ago, this year the Elite Force chips are magnetic. A nice touch.
IT’S THE UNFLASHLIGHT
Finally, there’s a brand new display for the new EXUDE series of lights from Optical Dynamics. We’ve introduced more powerful and rechargeable units that are expected to be available in May. These lights are really something unique. They create a pure, clean collimated beam of light that creates a sharp, focused circle that lets you see in great detail at distance.
That’s a wrap on Tuesday and our fourth day in Nevada. The show has only just begun.
By JB