SHOT 2015

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Having locked in the Sands Expo and Convention Center’s two million square feet of meeting and event space until 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show had over 1,600 exhibitors filling more than 630,000 net square feet of booth space. If you weren’t among the over 60,000 attendees, here’s a few items of interest for your shop.

Brownells, the acme supplier of our trade, didn’t have any new tools to announce but has created anew service called Edge (brownells.com/ edge, For a $49.95 annual membership customers receive free standard-rate shipping and returns within the United States and US territories via USPS or ground and discounts on 2-day, overnight, haz mat, and heavy weight charges. For busy ‘smiths, this will quickly pay for itself. To promote this, Brownells is running a sweepstakes until May 1 to give away a STI Edge pistol.

The promotional raffle runs until May 1. Below center: Designed specifically for DPMS LR- 308 and Knight’s SR-25 pattern rifles, Brownells new .308/7.62 AR 20-round magazine has a new-design follower that keeps even pressure on the round stack through entire feed path and a dry-film lubricant for smooth insertion in mag well. Dave Manson Precision Reamers (mansonreamers.com, released a few new tools.

In receiver tooling is the Action Indicating Set ($135) for setting up receivers in the lathe for traditional, single-point action blueprinting. Two tapered bushings are included and sizes are available for various receivers. For 1911 work there’s the new Frame Jig ($150), .45 ACP 0.906" Gauge (with flag, $30), Reamer Stop ($20, reamer not included), and Government and Officer’s Rivet Plate ($30.) For revolver tooling, Manson’s Squaring, Forcing Cone, and Chamfering Cutters are an improvement on older designs.

Where other cutters used a drive shaft through the barrel, it was a compromise when working on the forcing cone/barrel extension that sometimes allowed off-center cutting. Manson’s design is piloted on the shaft of the cutter and immediately adjacent to the work, giving maximum support to the cutter and yielding smoother cuts dead-concentric with the bore. Different sizes will handle smaller J-Frame up to larger N-Frame and Redhawk-size revolvers in .32 to .510 calibers.

As before, the company offers a Writer’s Discount where the company will refund the price of any Manson Reamer tools used in a project that is mentioned in a published article. Industrial Diagnostic Services (ids-usa.biz, formerly MDS, expanded their line of affordable bore scopes. The Flexible Video Borescope features a flexible 3.9 or 5.5mm 39-inch shaft attached to a hand held LCD monitor with digital zoom powered by four AA batteries. The $395 unit can record and save video to USB or SD card.

The Smart- Scope uses a similar flexible shaft but is Wi Fi powered and transmits the image to an Android or i OS device running the free i Borescope application. An included video cable allows the unit to be connected to a standard monitor for viewing as well. Finally, the VO-Scope is a selfcontained bore scope with internal LED light, flexible shaft, and can be adapted to other video equipment.

Bill Wiseman & Co. (wisemanballistics.com, has been making industry-standard accuracy and pressure testing fixtures for years and announced anew Universal Receiver Unit. Featuring air and electrical connections, the table is fully adjustable up and down and for

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Above center: The Wiseman Texas Safari Rifle is a heavy-duty action ideal for custom projects. com is a suite of proof-of-concept simulation tools that goes through the entire process of machine set up and manufacture on a computer without set up time or risking tool or part damage. windage and elevation. The pneumatic firing device and breech has been redesigned to work with only 8 parts compared to the previous 36part model for easier and reduced maintenance.

The company also makes a dedicated AR-15 Test Fixture that accepts any complete AR upper to test function and accuracy, greatly speeding testing while allowing setting an initial zero. In addition to testing equipment, Wiseman also makes premium actions. The Texas Safari Rifle is a heavy-duty, all-steel machined action with a 1.550" diameter barrel shank, Timney Trigger, built-in Talley bases with your choice of 1" or 30mm rings, and M16style extractor.

The TSR-Tactical action is similar but has integral 20 MOA Picatinny scope rails. CNC machines have greatly improved manufacturing capability and versatility but they must be programmed correctly. An error can ruin parts or damage tools and equipment. CGTech.com produces VERICUT, a suite of CNC simulation software that enables a complete start-to-finish review of the machining process and finished parts. Users report that the first error VERICUT catches pays for itself in saved time and reduced tool breakage.

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Above center: Talley Manufacturing expanded their line with rings in a color case hardened finish. Cerakote (cerakote.com, released Ceramic Clears, a clear coat for hydrographic film application. Available in high and low gloss, this finishes any hydrographic film with 5B adhesion at 9H hardness and eight times more scratch resistance than other brands. For more information visit ClearCoating.com. KNS Precision (KNSprecision. com, announced their patent-pending Hammer Cage.

Designed for AR-15 work, the Hammer Cage slips around the hammer in the lower receiver, relieving spring pressure. This insures the hammer isn’t under tension during removal or installation and avoids using percussive force on the hammer pin (and subsequent damage) from hammer blows. An included combo tool lifts the hammer spring legs and pushes out the pins, making AR-15 lower receiver building much easier.

Talley Manufacturing talleymanufacturing.com) expanded their line with rings in a color case hardened finish. com) makes a line of stocks for tactical and sporting use featuring no-bedding chassis for a variety of actions and PBA (Push Button Adjustable) to fold and adjust for height and length of pull. net, expanded their line of AR-15 parts with KR-7 and SLK Key Mod handguards and accessories. H-S Precision hsprecision.com) released anew fullyadjustable Savage Tactical Stock.

Designed for the model 10 and 12, this has the same features as H-S Precision’s Remington offering with clickadjustable cheek piece and length of pull in the company’s full range of color and finish options. We found more items than space allows and shot product video demonstrations. Visit American Gunsmith. wordpress.com for more details. AG