New Tools for the New Year (by Colonel Smoothbore) 1.7.17
By angelamontana

Posted: January 8, 2017

As often times happens, the New Year has brought us announcements for new guns and accessories from numerous manufacturers. There will be even more at the upcoming SHOT Show. There is never enough time, nor space to list them all, but I thought I’d offer up a few that I think will be big sellers.

First, Springfield Armory® has finally entered the modern sporting rifle market with its AR clone, The Saint™. This is a 16 inch 1:8 twist barrel chambered in 5.56 NATO (.223 Rem.). The rifle sports Bravo Company® furniture with KeyMod attachment points, a GI charging handle, and one 30 round Magpul™ PMag.  With an $ 899 MSRP and the Springfield Armory® name, this gun will sell well.

Savage® Arms has a bunch of new guns including a couple of cool new rifles built specifically for long range shooters. Two versions are available; the 10 BA Stealth, and the 110 BA Stealth. The short action 10 BA Stealth is chambered in both .308 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor. The long action 110 BA Stealth rifles are available in .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum. The .308 has a 20 inch barrel, the other three calibers have 24 inch barrels. The barrels are threaded and the 110 guns come with a muzzle brake. The guns have blueprinted actions, monolithic aluminum chassis, some Magpul® furniture and the excellent Savage® AccuTrigger™. The suggested retail for the 110 is $1484 – 1622 MSRP and $1207 for the 10 models. I have found the 10 BA Stealth models available for around $ 850-900. These guns are readily available and will give the hard to find Ruger® Precision Rifle a real run for the money.

Savage™ has also entered the MSR AR style rifle market with 4 new “Modern Savage Rifles.” There are two 5.56 NATO chamberings, the MSR Patrol and the MSR Recon, and two .308 guns, the MSR Hunter and MSR Long Range.  The MSRPs for the new rifles runs between $ 852 and $ 2284. We’ll take a more detailed look at these guns in a later column.

Smith & Wesson™ has a bunch of new guns coming this year. Two that really caught my attention are the M&P M2.0 and the Performance Center® M&P Shield 45. The M2.0 has a redesigned trigger, grip, frame, and finish. The gun comes with 4 interchangeable backstraps that have a new texture design. I’ll get you more information as soon as I can get my itchy fingers on one.

The Performance Center® Shield 45 improves upon last year’s addition to the shield line. Like its PC 9MM and .40 S&W mates, the PC Shield 45 has a ported barrel and slide, improved trigger, Hi-Viz™ fiber optic sights with Tritium Night Sights as an option. I have a PC Shield in 9MM and it is a terrific CCW pistol. The .45 ACP Shield gun was a welcome addition to the Shield line and I predict the PC 45 Shield will be a big seller, perhaps the best option in the Shield line.

New Year offerings from the firearms industry just seem to make Christmas last a bit longer and I can hardly wait for the Shot Show offerings.

Be safe and good shooting.

Colonel Smoothbore

www.guncoach.net

 

New Podcast!

Riley's Meats - Butte Wild Game Processing