The SHOT Show floor opened Tuesday morning and Police1 staffers raced to find new and not-so-new products to write about.
My first stop was at the Staccato 2011 booth. Staccato makes two very nice lightweight alloy frame, anodized coated aluminum 9mm CCW firearms, the C2 and C. The C stands for compact and Staccato sells double stack (16+1) and single stack (8+1) versions. Both come with low-profile Dawson sights or optics-ready slides with sights that will co-witness with popular red dot optics. Both are priced at $1,999 and $2,299 for the optic ready versions.
Holosun, which one instructor tells me offers sights that are more robust than some of the higher-priced RDS, has announced the smaller EPS and EPS Carry. Both have fully enclosed emitters, which are less subject to problems when wet or dirty. The EPS are based on the 509T but with a different footprint. The 509T uses the non-ZEV RMR cut but a booth staffer said that they may offer a mount for the EPS that will fit the ZEV cut – but could not make promises at this time.
Like the 509T, the sealed emitter allows for an IPX8 waterproof rating, and the sights have Solar Failsafe, Shake Awake, a 6MOA dot and a lower deck height that facilitates the use of standard height iron sights on many pistol models.
Mesa Tactical has been known for its scattergun products for many years and new for 2022 are the Benelli M2 and M4 sidesaddle shell holder with an RMR mount up top. The mount is affixed to the Benelli’s drilled and tapped receiver.
The Remington 870 is not left out, with a sidesaddle shell holder with Picatinny rail up top, again mounting to a drilled and tapped receiver.
Mesa decided to dip into the AR market and its first products are the Pyramid M-LOK compatible floating handguard and Trejo rubberized grip. The aggressively shaped Pyramid includes a steel barrel nut that is small enough to fit under the gas tube or piston. For anyone who builds or services ARs, you know that this means the barrel nut does not need to be shimmed, indexed or timed to let the gas tube pass through it, so installation is simplified, especially on multiple rifles.
The rail is slipped over the barrel nut and three alternating bolts are screwed from one side to the other through TIME-SERT inserts, which means that the bolts only make steel-to-steel contact, helping to prevent the stripping that can happen when steel to aluminum interfaces are used. When properly torqued, the “kerf” between the two sides becomes parallel, making it easy to check periodically that nothing has come loose.
Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced technology appears to be magic. I saw magic at the Double Shoot and Meprolight booths. By combining a smart sight with AI-based smartphone software, the rifle-mounted Foresight easily and seamlessly can be zeroed without the need to even touch your optic. The software will calculate the needed adjustments and transmit them to the scope automatically.
In concert with the Meprolight app, the operator has instant access to more than 20 reticles and up to 10 personal firearm profiles and can display a leveler, compass heading and more next to the chosen reticle. After zeroing on multiple firearms, the sight can be moved from gun to gun and one button press loads the zero for that firearm back into the sight.
While the app makes zeroing of the Foresight completely touchless, the app also can show you how many clicks of elevation and windage you need to dial in to zero other supported sights without calculation. And once you’re up and running, the Double Shoot app will score your targets for you. I was really impressed so let me walk you through how it works.
You first print a letter-size target from the app’s library. The app’s sidebar (Figure 1) is used to select your load, sight and target. Next, take a photo of the blank target, take several shots (preferably from benchrest), then take a second photo. (Figure 2). The app colors the shots green and calculates how far your sight is off and shows you exactly what you need to do to zero. You then take another set of shots and another photo (Figure 3). The app colors the new shots red and confirms your zero. Other functions let you view your shooting history and can give you extensive statistics.
And once you are done zeroing your sights, the app can be used to point-score targets and give you average group sizes. Targets can be scored across multiple users, perfect to help speed up quals and competitions.
While there is one version of the app, there are multiple software subscriptions: Individual ($11.99/year), Plus ($25/user/3 years with a 100-user minimum) and Professional. Each subscription unlocks different features within the app. For example, the Israeli Defense Forces use the Professional version to limit selection to the loads, sights and targets they use. The Plus version is perfect for clubs and ranges to re-sell to their members or customers.
There was plenty more on the floor, so check back for more coverage all week and into the future!
