SHOT Show '99 writers' picks - Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show

Shooting Industry, April, 1999

As for the unit's optical specs, it's all built into a 3.5-10x variable scope with a 50mm objective lens. Battery life is said to provide about 1,500 measurements.

Gunbrella Wraps Long Guns In Camo, H&R 1871 Chambers .22 LR, Otis Creates Nipple Pen

By Carolee Boyles "ARCHERY AISLE"

It's difficult to find anything truly new in camouflage, but Innovative Sports Inc. has managed it with Gunbrella. Gunbrella is, literally, an umbrella for your long gun. It's a waterproof wrap that covers the gun completely in camo with a flap that allows the hunter to uncover the scope and a slit to access the trigger. It comes in Realtree and Advantage patterns, with more designs projected for the future.

Shooters have been asking H&R 1871 for a .22 LR rifle for years and the company finally has come out with two versions. One is an adult model with a Monte Carlo stock. The youth model has a shorter and smaller stock. Both are true rimfires, so they cannot be fitted with the accessory barrels common to other H&R rifles.

For black powder shooters, Otis Technology has created the Nipple Pen. Shaped like a short ballpoint pen with a curved point, the brass Nipple Pen has a brush at one end and a pick at the other. With the selector button in the middle position, both tools are retracted. Push the button to one end and the curved pick - which is designed to fit in-line as well as conventional muzzleloaders - comes out of the "point." Pushing the selector button in the other direction reveals the brash and retracts the pick. The brash is ideal for cleaning breech-plug threads, the breech hole, the face of the breech plug, the hammer face and the receiver threads. The pick works for nipples in cap locks and touch holes in flintlocks.

Taurus Trumpets Titanium, Colt Pockets 9mm, Kel-Tel Micros .32, Ruger Boosts Magnum

By Roy Huntington STAFF WRITER

At the Taurus booth there was a burst of titanium revolvers in several colors. What's this? Forged titanium in an L-frame fixed-sight gun, in .45 Colt, .44 Special, .41 Magnum and .357? I don't know how Taurus kept their new guns a secret but they got everyone's attention. The Taurus booth was busy throughout the SHOT Show. With a reasonable retail price, an interesting assortment of colors (Matte Spectrum Blue, Bright Spectrum Blue and Matte Spectrum Gold), custom soft-robber grips, tough-as-a-tank construction and calibers that will appeal to a wide cross-section of shooters, Taurus has a real winner.

I'd like to think holster makers are paying attention, too. If a medium-frame, beefy-caliber gun only weighs 19 ounces or so, let's hope we're going to see some innovative carry gear in the future. Skeletonized, lightweight man-made materials and creative leather in interesting carry modes will round out this new genre of handgun nicely.

The Colt Pocket Nine got my attention, too. Just a tad bigger than the .380 Pony, the Pocket Nine brings a double action, tidy little 9mm into your front pocket - honest. Factor in the new little .32 from Kel-Tec - it makes a Seecamp look positively fat and Ruger's new .454 Magnum, and it was a pretty good year for handgunners at the SHOT Show.