Maxpedition have posted a video showcasing their new products and latest gear that they’ve launched at the ShotShow this year including the Incognito Quad. you can find the video on their YouTube channel and below:
Bags and kit can be a very personal choice but as someone that carries Maxpedition products on a daily basis I really can’t fault their gear. Now if they could only make a few more MacBook compatible slip cases I’d be overjoyed!
Tim (No Airsoft For Old Men) is still recovering from SHOT Show, to quote him “I feel like death, run over by a truck and then microwaved. It was a great party.”
Like Tim says a big thanks go out to Mark (Dr Airsoft) for all the organisation and all those that backed the event. How did I miss Carlton riding the bull? The chilli must have distracted me!
Click the image for the full post and all the photos:
If 2012 is really the last year the world is going to be around, we can say this was the best party the airsoft media ever had at SHOT Show!
Most of us started the day early, climbing onto some comfortable buses to trek an hour or so outside Las Vegas to the SHOT Show media day.
A mile or so of shooting lines were set up with a cornucopia of firearms.
You could find everything from the newest Barrett to the most recent offering from Umarex in .22 cal (And you got to shoot them, for free!)
I am sure you have seen the multitudes of pictures posted all over the web, I won’t bore you with mine.
Let’s say it was a fun day.
I left early to get back and set up for the media party. We had it set up right off the dance floor inside the Gilley’s country bar in the Treasure Island resort.
Tim (No Airsoft For Old Men)
Airsoft Megastore have sent in their latest update which wraps up the Shot Show experience in a rather novel music video:
As Shot Show 2012 came to an end we decided to do a wrap up video on the show but in Airsoft Megastore fashion. We present to you our very first exclusive music video recap featuring Shot Show 2012 and our adventures in Las Vegas with our very own Masked Man aka ‘MIME’. Special guests include Dr. Airsoft, Milspec Junkie, Umarex, Magpul, KWA, and plenty of other Airsoft Megastore friends! Watch it to see what went down during Shot Show 2012. We’ll be back for sure next year! Whatever happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas.
Airsoft Megastore Shot Show 2012 Music Video Recap:
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel for a chance to win a FREE AGM P90 AEG airsoft gun.
In from Thumpy we have two updates, the first concerning the on-going ECHO1 issues from the Shot Show, and the second is a video interview with Cliff from Umarex about the Elite Force brand.
In relation to the first post you can see our photos of the JAG booth (and what was on show) here.
The second video would have been put up sooner but Thumpy contracted man-flu at Vegas and was hibernating in his room for some of the show sadly:
[Article Link] THUMPY’s 3D House of Airsoft received several "tips" from airsoft retailers that JAG Precision had e-mailed a letter to customers regarding the "dramatic" SHOT Show shutdown of their display by CYBERGUN and FN Herstal…the details of that letter are posted on JAG’s corporate homepage…LINK HERE
And, the text from that letter is also below in a screen-grab from the site on Wednesday night at 11:00 PM Eastern Time:
Also in from Thumpy is a new video at the Umarex booth:
Hi Arnie…Thumpy is healing well from his bad, bad SHOT Show bug that limited his videos from Vegas, and has his first in-depth video from the show floor with Cliff Eisenbarger from Elite Force Airsoft. This is the premium player and collector line from UMAREX USA, and features new VFC-built guns with fully-licensed trades from HK and others…and Cliff also talks about the philosophy of serving the particular needs of the USA Airsoft market. One company that is listening and "gets it" and one to watch in 2012.
More on the way from KWA, with the only side-by-side comparison of the KRISS GBB to its real-steel cousin, an EXCLUSIVE as Knight’s Armament goes ALL IN for AIRSOFT with Serial Number # 000001 of their LMG presented to Company Founder C Reed Knight and his family by Z-Shot and ARES, and a TON of other videos "behind the scenes" in Vegas you won’t see anywhere else!
Thumpy…OVER, (Thumpy’s 3-D House of Airsoft)
Airsoft Megastore have sent over their latest
Here is our Show Show 2012 day 3 coverage. We interview "Chris Costa" not once but twice. We also review Double Star’s Zombie X zombie slaying rifle/chainsaw. Also included is an exclusive look at the new and upcoming Magpul PTS products that were revealed during Shot Show 2012. Be sure to check back soon on our Facebook page and Youtube channel for more coverage from us.
Shot Show day 3 coverage
Magpul PTS exclusive reveal [can be found here]
DIGITALWastelands/AirsoftMonkey has posted 15 videos from SHOT Show 2012. The videoes have been produced by Bottlelot (pictures at Kyle’s and ORCA’s gallery). More details on their Facebook page and also on YouTube:
SHOT Show 2012 Written by ORCA
Airsoft Monkey’s Staff just returned from SHOT Show 2012! This year, we added a few new contributors to the AM staff.
- Zak (Bottlelot) Holman – Investigative Journalist / Freelance Videographer zak@onscene.tv. Avid gun shooter for 6 years. Marc Stanton – Photographer.
- Iron Horse – OIF veteran, airsoft retailer employee and gun enthusiast.
- New Aziel – Airsoft and gun store employee and gun enthusiast.
- Kyle – Gun store employee and Echo 1 Lover.
Join our existing crew:
- Ning – Professional photographer and Redback One Marketing Director
- Wedge – Gun store employee, airsofter and avid shooter.
- uscmCorps – Entertainment industry professional and PTS by Magpul representative.
- and ORCA
This year we had a large crew able to attend Media Day at the Range. This is the day before SHOT Show, where you can actually shoot many offerings from firearms manufacturers.
Alex of Magpul PTS was kind enough to show off the Personal Defense Rifle (PDR) to myself and Alex (National Airsoft Magazine) when we popped by their booth at the Shot Show last week. I was sat there like a bear with a sore head suffering somewhat from the late night before . Micah had convinced me that “..the bar that looked like it was from Mass Effect” was a good idea. I can’t complain, the whisky was good!
The PDR is functional but not quite at the final production stage yet. That said the external body parts seen here are all pretty much final moulds, and not 3D prototype plastic.
It’s possibly worth remembering that the real PDR has not made it into production as the project has been shelved. Thus in relation to UK specific laws on import/export of airsoft Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIFs) as the real weapon doesn’t exist this is arguably not a realistic replica of a firearm. Don’t quote me on that though, consult your nearest shop for further advice.
Whilst this was seen last year at Shot Show 2011 further advances have been made and there’s now a working shell ejection area and we got to look inside at the now functional gearbox.
Inside you’ll find a custom gearbox shell with the motor in at an angle given the tight space and a 10 inch barrel. There’s room for a battery inside the front grip and (possibly) further room over the inner barrel if the design is changed a little. To get to the internals simply push both of the body pins out, remove the rear shoulder pad and rotate the upper forwards. Access to the hop unit is by a hole in the top.
It’s intended that the final production run will clock in at around 350fps, be serial numbered and that there will be a short p-mag in the box. Standard m4 magazines should also be compatible. It is expected to cost around 300USD when launched towards the Summer of this year.
The trigger is a two stage unit that will be familiar to any TM AUG user, pulling in slightly gives the user single shot, whilst pulling the trigger in all the way gives you spray and pray mode.
The PDR does somewhat remind me of the Bushmaster armpistol we saw in November 2002, obviously this is more polished design which could almost be the real world counterpart to the Zastaba Nosle CZN-M22 "9Weapon" from Ghost in the Shell.
The forward face of the fore-grip has the provision for a lamp/laser pressure switch to be installed. There’s talk of a grip extension to allow the use of a larger li-po style battery, but nothing has been confirmed.
Matt, (Airsoft Pacific) has sent over some more videos that they took at the Shot Show:
We’ve just put up the rest of our video coverage from Shot Show 2012. First, we talk with ARES about the officially US Licensed Knights Armament LMG. They also told us about new custom built sniper rifles with real-steel rifle stocks. For those of you hardcore players out there who have to have a specific stock and you’ve got the money to invest – this might be for you. Finally we look at a new shell ejecting M4 in development.
We also paid a visit to Palco/Cybergun to try out their new electronic target system. These target systems will provide a great opportunity for stores and event hosts to facilitate shooting competition. And we’ve got a quick preview of the new Blaser R93 sniper rifle.
Matt, (Airsoft Pacific)
While we’re on the topic of news from ActionSportGames (see previous post) of the ASG CZ Scorpion Here are my own photos of the prototype from their booth.
I’d like to thank the guys from ActionSportGames for taking the time to go through the product so thoroughly with me and answering all my questions.
Bear in mind that whilst this is the final working product the tooling for full scale production has not been started so certain details such as cost and the final package may change before launch; for example the hop adjustment has yet to be finalised.
To sum up the results of our conversation with ASG: this is a totally new AEG which will be built in Europe by ASG and is fully licensed. This is their design and their own in-house work. It’s an electric rifle with a proprietary gearbox and standard parts, there’s no fuse as it runs an intelligent programmable circuit (IC) that not only protects the internals from failure but controls the burst system. I’m told you can short the motor out and the IC will simply cut the power, reconnect it correctly and it’ll fire again. I’m also told that the IC will detect jams and barrel issues (such as obstructions) and cut the firing system to protect the internals. The unit is intended to be driven from a stick battery which runs along the inside of the CZ above the gearbox.
There’s a single, burst and full auto feature. It will come with standard magazines, hi-cap magazines may appear but not at initial release. UPDATE: I almost forgot, it also locks back on the last shot.
The CZ is built from a low number of parts and can easily be stripped down. The main spring can be removed from the rear stock area without having to disassemble the rifle. You simply fold the stock forward, rotate the spring follower (seen above) 90 degrees and withdraw the spring. Whilst it’ll be shipping at around 1J the gearbox is currently anticipated to be able to take springs that are vastly in excess of that. From our chat it seems that 1.7J would be an upper safe upgrade limit out the box. Whilst that power level may not be suitable for most sites and environments it gives you an idea of the build quality and the anticipated strength of the internals.
Cost is expected to be in the vicinity of around 350USD but this is certainly not confirmed.
I can’t wait to see the production versions myself, whilst this was a prototype printed polymer, and therefore fragile by it’s very nature, the CZ was still pretty firm and of a good balance/weight. That said the front grip and folding stock are from the final design moulds. I’m personally excited to see an AEG that can (on paper) can tick all the boxes to be taken down to my local CQB site, which can be easily tuned for power with a reliable burst system.
Watch this space for more news from ASG, they are pushing hard into the US market now and their licensing opens up the doors to a wealth of previously unseen airsoft replicas.
I’ve ben over to ICS (USA) and wanted to share some of my findings and photos with you guys. On their booth they have various prototypes including new rail from ends for the M4 series, new lamp grip for their version of the (it’s not a) MP5.
Also on the shelf is their relatively new grease gun, hicap magazine (complete with adapters), XP-16.
The ICS Garand prototype made an appearance in 3D printed form. The working version is expected to be electric, 8mm and with a capacity of around 8 BBs.
I was lucky enough to see the KWA KRISS in the flesh. The final versions of the KWA KRISS on display at the KWA booth are now becoming somewhat polished and well handled, and with good reason.
On the other side of the walkway from the real firearm the KWA replica can be seen in the flesh and stripped bare in a glass cabinet. It’s so good that even field stripped you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference between the copy and the functional firearm.
Here are a few photos I took showing off the close up details:
Thanks to Jim for chatting to me and putting up with my accent for a few minutes and letting me have a play with the release version.
Fox Airsoft went to see Brian at the ECHO1 stand to play with their latest toys:
Check out this interview we just had with Brian @ECHO 1 about the new Echo 1 PKM Electric Airsoft Gun.
Airsoft Pacific had the chance to get a private meeting with 5.11 and posted their findings:
Airsoft Pacific had a great opportunity from the kind folks at 5.11 tactical for a sneak peek at some brand new tactical gear slated for release in Q2 of this year. We spotted an amazing plate carrier at Media Day at the Range that we just had to see more of. 5.11’s Dave Rhoden shows us the Tactical Brokos Belt, Tactical Chest Rig, and our personal favorite… the Tactical Tac-Tec Plate Carrier.
We’ve got all the videos plus our write-up at:
I’ve worn my legs in quite well today but managed to get all the way over to the Umarex stand in the main hall.
The first items that immediately caught my eye were the HK416C and HK417D rifles. The HK416C is a compact railed fore grip AR style AEG with the sliding bar stock. The HK417D however is a replica of a 7.62 calibre rifle with the wider magazine and receiver.
Over in their pistol section were two Elite Force M1911 copies, both were 16 round CO2 driven 6mm GBB full metal replicas. The (currently) plain and marking free railed frame 1911 is expected to retail in the region of 120USD. It had an incredibly impressive spring return on the slide and I’m confident that the GBB recoil will impress. As I’m no fan of banana style stick magazines, I’m sold on the fact that the CO2 bulb and BBs are contained in the same single removable magazine.
I’m afraid I messed up the exposure on these pistol shots so will take some better photos tomorrow.
Also available from Umarex were a selection of lower priced replicas. The TF4 “OPS” Carbine (on the blue background) is an almost all plastic AEG with a plastic body and gearbox chassis, which is a variation on the standard unit (the original retails at just under 120USD a unit) and includes a battery, charger and BBs in the box.
Whilst clear replicas and low cost equipment might not be suitable for all purposes you certainly can’t complain at the value.
ECHO1 have a heap of new gear on show at their booth. There’s a lot to mention so I’ll do my best to cover the highlights for now pending a longer article.
On show was the latest prototype of the GAT-9 which is now looking pretty complete. There’s no word on if a mullet is included in the box yet.
It’s expected to clock in at around 300fps and this AEG pistol will need an external battery. There is room in the heat shroud area for a small mAh li-po battery.
There’s an airsoft mortar on show which functions much like a bottle rocket. This replica is made from plastic materials with a rubber tip and flip out fins. The design intention is that you can fire this over people which wil be great for milsim fans.
The “Hakkotsu” rifle was also hanging on the wall. The bullpup AK style weapon is a popular choice giving you the longer barrel in a compact design, rail mounts for your accessories and the simplicity of AK magazines.
Polar Star’s drop in gas drive gearbox replacement was also on show. You can really get a good idea of build quality of their CNC design. There’s a limited number of moving parts in their sealed unit, it’s well built and they stand by their warranty.
Kel Tec PMR-30 was on display as well as the Timer Wolf and Les Baer M1911 from Socom Gear.
The Robinson Armament XCR range, minigun, RedStar LMG and PKM were also on show.
