Our Best Shot

By NRA Staff

Every year, the National Shooting Sports Foundation hosts the most amazing, enormous trade show you could ever imagine, called the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show. Everyone who's anyone in the world of shooting, hunting and the outdoors treks there to announce what's new for the year. It's not open to the public, so every year, NRA editors make the pilgrimage so we can rush home to our keyboards to tell you all about it. However, as grown-ups, we sometimes wonder if we've got a different take on what "cool" is than you do. This year, we tried something new. We asked NRA's Youth Shooting Sports Ambassadors to join us on the show floor, take a long look around, then give us their opinions, too!

	Michael Carter Royal Rangers Ambassador Kick the Tires, Light the Fires An avid outdoorsman, Nancie Weston invented a product useful for everyone from the Special Forces to the beginning outdoorsman. The BlastMatch is a one-handed flint-and-steel-based fire starter that will work in the worst weather. When combined with the Wetfire Tinder, this amazing device can even start and sustain a fire on water. Gone are the days of soggy matches or struggling with flint and steel. This product will give you a fire every time. It has earned a permanent place in my survival gear, and is well worth every penny. www.ultimatesurvival.com
Calling All Ducks As an outdoor enthusiast, the value of a quality product cannot be overstressed. The new Flextone game calls have definitely met the standard for quality. Flextone has made a game call that is inexpensive and easy to use, yet still sounds like the real deal. The new Flextone waterfowl call will have a permanent place on my lanyard. The first time I tried it I fell in love. With their sleek looks and top-quality sound, these calls earn an easy A+. www.flextonegamecalls.com
	Amy Clark Venturing Ambassador Maraudin'! My favorite thing that I saw at the SHOT Show was the Crosman Benjamin Marauder PCP Air Rifle. This rifle comes in either .177, .22 or .25 caliber with velocities ranging from 900-1100 feet per second (FPS). This air rifle weighs 7.5 pounds and is 43 inches long. The Marauder is an extremely accurate and quiet air rifle, comes with a 10-round auto-indexing clip (the .25 caliber comes with an eight-shot clip), and is charged with compressed air or CO2 to 2500 psi. www.crosman.com
Lock It Up One of the most interesting companies I saw at the SHOT Show is Scentlok. Scentlok manufactures odor-eliminating clothing. Scentlok uses activated carbon fabric which has been lab-tested and proven to reduce odors such as body odor and breath odor. This allows the hunter to be less detectable by animals, and gives the hunter a greater chance of getting his target. From hats and gloves to jackets and coveralls, this unique line of clothing was made for hunters and is available in five different color patterns. New for 2010 is the Vertigo line, which offers the ultimate in concealment with patterns like snow camo. www.scentlok.com
	Kyle Loyd NSSP Ambassador Go Incognito I was impressed by True Timber Camo. This is a camo company based out of South Carolina, built from the ground up. They have developed a new camo pattern called MC^2 (Maximum Concealment Camo). It is a unique blend of color schemes that come together in different outlines to help hide your physical presence in any region of the country. Aside from being one-of-a-kind, True Timber Camo is also 100 percent American made. www.truetimber.com
Cool Crossbow I'm also a big fan of Excalibur crossbows. Crossbows in gen-eral are starting to become a very hot topic on the hunting scene, with more and more states passing new laws and bills to legalize crossbow hunting. You might ask yourself what products are the top of the line, and for my money, it's Excalibur. Excalibur crossbows have a simple, yet very effective, recurve crossbow design. When it comes to very important qualities such as durability, accuracy and overall design, Excalibur crossbows can not be beaten. New for 2010 is the Excalibur Axiom kit, which includes a matching multiplex crossbow scope with mounting hardware, a four-arrow quiver and four Firebolt arrows with field points. www.excaliburcrossbow.com
	Jessy Hagey National High School Rodeo Ambassador Savage's Winner I like the Savage Arms Mark II BTV in .22 LR because it is an accurate, lightweight gun. I like the gun for its features too. This 20-inch-long, 6 ½-pound rifle features the AccuTrigger, which is feather-light but still safe. A light trigger is key to a shooter's accuracy. If your gun is dropped or jarred it will not discharge with the AccuTrigger system. I like the thumbhole on this gun as well. The thumbhole makes this gun feel more comfortable and secure to me. I have had very good luck with the Mark II series in the past. At the 2009 National High School Finals Rodeo in Farmington, N.M., I shot a perfect score of 200 points with a Savage Mark II BV. This shows me that I can count on this gun as well as the other Mark II guns when it comes to competition. www.savagearms.com
Go Maverick! The SunBuster Maverick Shoot Correct Lens System is a great product. These glasses fit your frame if you have a smaller head and features. They are comfortable glasses, sitting on your face right without pinching, so they can be worn all day. The system also includes five different lenses, all in different colors for whatever lighting or target you're aiming for. A chart comes with this system so you can find the right lens. The different lenses are designed for better performance. I like this system because the lenses are very easy to change and you only need one pair of glasses to do so. The glasses and lenses also block out any UVA or UVB rays—another reason why I like them. If you are any kind of hunter or shooter, you know how important your eyes are! www.sunbuster.info
	Ben Hayes Boy Scouts of America Ambassador Synth Music The Weatherby SA-08 Synthetic shotgun has a lightweight and durable injection-molded synthetic stock. All metalwork is matte black to reduce glare from the sun and its sleek top rib dissipates heat and aids in target acquisition. It also features a unique dual-valve system for the widest range of load versatility. It is available in 12 and 20 gauges. I love the look and the style of this gun. It is almost weightless; I would have no problem taking it in the backcountry on a long hunting trip. www.weatherby.com
Going Green Having the opportunity to go out to the range on Media Day at the SHOT Show was a sweet experience. Media Day is a chance for manufacturers to show off their new products. For me, one product stole the show, and that would be the Viridian Green Lasers. The Green Laser allows for sight at all times of the day. It also is much more visible to the eye. The lasers are compatible with most pistols. As the company states, "See better, shoot better," and this is by far my top pick of accessories to help you shoot better. www.viridiangreenlaser.com
	Collin Wietfeldt NRA Ambassador I Wanna Be A Ranger The Ranger XL shooting glasses are the best shooting glasses that I have ever used or seen. Randolph Engineering did an awesome job on making these glasses adjustable for all different shapes and sizes of people's heads. The main features of these glasses are an adjustable nose bridge for a custom fit, offset nose pads to prevent fogging, interchangeable polycarbonate lenses, cable temples with comfort fit covers, greater vertical coverage and lifetime solder joint warranty. Another feature that is important in today's economy is that they are made in the USA. One of the other reasons I like this product is the quality and clarity of the lenses are awesome. Targets are clear and crisp when looking through the lenses. I have used Randolph Ranger shooting glasses for the last four years and highly recommend them. www.randolphusa.com
Now Hear This The Peltor Tactical 6-s Earmuffs caught my eye at the 2010 Shot Show because they appeal to me as a shooter. The earmuffs offer great hearing protection and enhanced hearing of the smallest noises at the same time. As a hunter, this can help me while I am hunting because I can pinpoint the smallest noises and at the same time I can shoot a rifle or shotgun at game without jeopardizing my hearing. As a shooter they help for when you are trying to coach or being coached because you do not have to yell or take your earplugs out between shots. Four 1.5 V long-life AAA batteries provide 200+ hours of service; the muffs weigh only 8.8 ounces total. www.peltor.se (available through Cabela's, www.cabelas.com)
And Now, A Word From Our Editors…
Scout It Out This year CVA introduced their first centerfire-only rifle for 2010, the Scout. Don't worry, they didn't forget junior shooters—this brand-new rifle also comes in a compact version chambered in .243! This compact version has a 20-inch barrel, a 35-inch overall length and a 13-inch length of pull (LOP), and includes all the quality you expect from a CVA rifle, including ambidextrous stocks and a CrushZone recoil pad. Worried you might have some growing left to do? CVA offers an option to purchase a full-size stock, just in case you need it later. www.cva.com
Gamo's On Their Game Gamo's new pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) DynaMax Multishot pellet gun comes topped with a GHM 3X-9X-50mm RGB Dot scope from BSA Optics. Unlike the company's break-action air rifles, the Multishot uses a reservoir of compressed air to propel the pellets at a sizzling 1,200 fps for the .177-caliber version and 1,000 fps for the .22-caliber version. Fed by a 10-shot removable repeating rotary system that can cycle shots at a rate of one per second and an air reservoir that holds enough compressed air for 30-40 shots, this new PCP provides less recoil and greater accuracy. www.gamousa.com
Mini Mossberg 2010's SHOT brought a bumper crop of "first guns" that are designed for the smallest of new shooters. Among this harvest was Mossberg's new 510 Mini Super Bantam shotgun! Weighing just 5 pounds, the shotgun has an 18 ½-inch barrel and a buttstock with an adjustable LOP. This hot new scaled-down scattergun is available in 20 gauge and .410 bore. www.mossberg.com
Off To See the Wizard We were particularly psyched to see the newest addition to the Rossi family, the Wizard. They didn't name it that for nothing, because this is pure magic. The revolutionary stock design allows you to shoot with just about every popular centerfire caliber there is, .22 rimfire and .22 rimfire magnum, plus all shotgun gauges and (as if that weren't enough!) two muzzleloader gauges. You simply buy a Wizard rifle (starter models for youth are available in .223, .243 and .308), then buy additional barrels if and when you're ready. Youth model barrel length is an easy 22 inches long, and the gun weighs in at a trim 6¼ pounds. As always, Rossi offers a free one-year NRA Junior Membership with the purchase of any Rossi youth model. www.rossiusa.com
Modern Looks, Old-School Price If you're a big fan of the look of modern black rifles, but not so in love with the cost of shooting them, you'll love the new Mark II Tactical Rimfire from Savage Arms. It's got Savage's famous AccuTrigger, a heavy barrel for accuracy, a sweet bolt action and all the high-speed, low-drag flair of a black rifle…but without the price tag. The .22 LR ammunition needed to feed it is inexpensive and plentiful, and the rifle itself can be had for $469-$539, depending on what type of rail you want. www.savagearms.com
Here Comes the Judge Taurus' wildly successful line of Judge revolvers, which will digest both .45 Long Colt ammunition and .410 shotshells, just got wilder. The Circuit Judge is a shotgun/rifle crossover, resulting in a carbine reminiscent of the Colt Model 1855. To protect shooters' hands when firing the Circuit Judge, Taurus designed a block around the muzzle-end of the cylinder to deflect gas away from the fore-end. With an 18 ½-inch barrel, overall length of 38 inches and 4 ¾-pound weight, this neat new carbine should be easy to handle for most young shooters. www.taurususa.com
Hey There, HotShot! If you're on the lookout for a terrific first rifle, has Thompson/Center got news for you! Their new HotShot, which is modeled after the super-cool full-size Pro Hunter, is scaled down to fit the smallest new shooters. Chambered in .22 LR, this single-shot break-open rifle's working parts are all engineered to move easily so small hands don't have to strain. Available this summer in three color choices, be sure to give the HotShot a gander! (Look for a full review on page 10 of this issue.) www.tcarms.com