The Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show featured a number of new technologies.
Armatix, for instance, is offering a pistol that only shoots if it’s near its matching wristwatch. I can’t imagine too many people will pay €7,000 for a .22 pistol that lights up green (or red) though.
More practically, Glock has updated its pistols:
Each one has a fiercely textured grip, a larger magazine release and interchangeable backstraps. There’s something new under the hood too. Each gun has a set of three springs to dampen recoil. When we shot the .40-caliber Glock 22, its kick was surprisingly soft.
This Burns scope sounds like technology I expected to see much earlier:
It has a laser rangefinder that can automatically adjust your sights to compensate for the fall of each bullet over long distances. Just point the crosshairs at the target, push a button on the side of the scope, and a bright red dot will show you exactly where the bullet will fall. We were able to easily hit targets at 400 and 700 meters without any experience at long-range rifle shooting.
The semi-auto civilian version of H&K’s 416, the MR556, should be out soon — but by then everyone will already have an assault rifle, right?
Threatening home invaders with apparently deadly force and then shooting them with tiny koosh balls does not strike me as “the most intelligent way to defend your family” — but that’s what Lightfield is selling:
Later this year, you will be able to buy rubber bullets for home defense. Lightfield has been selling these projectiles to law enforcement agencies and wildlife officials for years. Each round is filled with a soft projectile that resembles a koosh ball. They look like toys, because they’re made by a Chinese toy factory. The best thing about them is that they aren’t likely to kill someone even if they are fired at point blank range. They’re so soft that they’re almost incapable of penetrating the body.