11 minute read
EVENT: TSS 2021
THANKFULLY, WITH SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS HAVING BEEN LIFTED IN THE UK AT THE TIME OF WRITING, WE ARE FINALLY ABLE TO GET OUT AND ABOUT TO SHOWS AGAIN, AND LAST MONTH ON 20-21 NOVEMBER BOYCIE HEADED OUT TO THE UK TARGET SHOOTING SHOW AT STONELEIGH TO MEET UP WITH OLD FRIENDS AND CHECK OUT WHAT WAS NEW AND IMPROVED!
It feels like it’s been such a long time since I’ve been able to attend a shooting show and the Target Shooting Show was a welcome return to being able to get out and mix. This year the show was sponsored by The National Rifle Association (NRA), T2, Shield Sights and The UK Practical Shooting Association (UKPSA). As has become the way through Covid times, tickets were bought online for myself, Richard (a work colleague) and Brian, my brother from another mother who I have known for about 35 years when we both started competing in UKPSA/IPSC Practical Shooting.
I had originally gone to be able to have a look, in person, at the firearms and accessories that I’ve been restricted to doing online since the Covid pandemic struck. With an impressive 53 exhibitors, my plan was to start with a walk around the outer 24 stands then look around the remaining 29 that were in the centre of the exhibition hall. I spent the first couple of hours walking around and spotting people who I have known for around 30 years and had competed alongside over the years. A pair of very familiar faces were staffing the National Target Shotgun Association; Vanessa and Andy Duffy are veterans of many forms of practical shooting and long-time members of the UKPSA. We were reminiscing about “the good old days” and I was just about to mention a guy who I remembered well from many competitions by the name of Andy Haines, and before I could mention his name he had appeared at my shoulder. Andy was representing his business at the show with Master Class Custom Guns.
Next to the NTSA stand was a display of steel reactive targets from Practical Targets. These ranged from small round steel “fall when hit” targets right up to the familiar “pepper poppers” which are still being
used in various competitions from shotgun to rifle. The neighbouring stand was Calibre Innovations and they were showing a number of rifles made by them. In the first corner was a very familiar sight of our good friends with the AttackSense Smart Targets and range for visitors to try the system for themselves. As the queue was about five deep across the front of their stand I decided to go back to see them later in the day. Next door to AttackSense was pair of Action Air stages which had been set up for visitors to try their hand at. Each time I passed their stand during the day I was seeing some really good hit factors appearing on the board. As I was only able to attend for the Saturday, I am sure some of those who attempted the stages on the Sunday would have also turned in some impressive scores.
By the doors was the large stand of iWholesales preaching the word of airsoft! While I was there, the stand was 2-3 deep in people looking at the replicas on show and James of Bespoke Airsoft was constantly operating the card machine as the sales kept on coming. It was also great to be able to spend some time talking with the other James about some new models just out and others which are ‘coming soon’. iWholesales are “Big Friends” of Airsoft Action, so if you’d like to know more about some of those coming soon models then keep your eye out over the coming months. East Midlands Ranges (EMRR) was next and the chance to have a really close look at the CMMG Resolute 100, Mk4 in .22LR. Having built my own replica of a CMMG, featured in in the magazine, Issue 125 (available to read in Back Issues via the website and other platforms) it was really nice to check the build quality, fit and finish of the real thing. For the price, coming in at UK£1200 it is a real contender in its price bracket.
Next stall after EMRR to visit was the Steel Target Company, manufacturers of high quality steel targets for all aspects of shooting sports. The product that they make that was of the most interest to me was the Mini IPSC Gong, coming in at UK£28 and made from Hardox steel this could be finding its way into my kit for competitions to come. Bill and The Airsoft Action Red Cell have been using a similar aluminium
type plate as a practice target for when we test various airsoft RIFs, supplied by my good self, and The Cell’s Jon Mills is also using the Gong as part of his practice for the upcoming Practical Airsoft Multi Gun (PAMG) development.
Moving further round the hall the impressive Vortex stand was really interesting. I’ve been a long time fan of Vortex Optics and between myself and my colleague Richard we own SPARC ARII, Venom and Strike Eagle units, and there are some interesting new products coming from Vortex, more on this soon… promise! Simpson Brothers and Aim Field Sports were next. I’m afraid to say I soon breezed past them on the first pass as the Great Britain Precision Rifle Association (GBPRA) really grabbed my interest. Being an avid watcher of Precision Rifle videos on YouTube it was great to see that it’s a sport that is really active and popular in the UK. I spent a good 20 minutes, alongside Brian, finding out all about the GBPRA. Also finding out that the pinnacle of the sport is being able to take part, if you qualify, in the Bi-Annual IPRF World Championships!
PASTY UP, GOOD TO GO!
After a much needed coffee and pasty in the site coffee shop we went back to the Exhibition Hall to carry on with our wander around the other stands. Next was the second reason I wanted to visit the show and this was the Westlake Engineering stand and to meet the man himself behind the muzzle loading revolvers, Mr Alan Westlake. Alan brings in components of unfinished revolvers, modifies some parts and manufactures the muzzle loading cylinders. This then makes them legal Section 1 ‘Muzzle Loading’ firearms. A really clever way to let shooters have a feel of what it was like to shoot revolvers back prior to 1997, which would now be Section 5 Firearms… of course we get to do this in 6mm form but it’s great to see “real steel” examples too.
Next stop was the huge expanse of a stand of Firing Solutions. FS supply everything from a breech flag, through a mass of target options, reloading components and ammunition all the way up to firearms, including the new Sheild KMR S 01 Long Barrelled Pistol (LBP) in .22LR, based on the brilliant CZ Shadow; although not the cheapest LBP available, the feel and handling was very similar to the Tangfoglio DVC pistol I owned back in the 1990’s. I think I’m going to find it very hard not to have one of these in my collection in the coming years, and we MAY know a man that knows a thing or two about the Shadow...
My foray into the centre of the hall started with a stop at Shellhouse Bullets as I was on the lookout for some 148gn Wad Cutters for my “real steel” work. It was great to speak with Donald and Macauley Locke who make these bullets and find out a bit about them. They also took the time to show me some really fantastic copper swaged bullets which are made by their friend at MME Custom Bullets. Sharing the same space as Shellhouse Bullets was A&A Gunsmiths. The owner of A&A is Alan Vickers who I used to compete alongside on a regular basis at Lincolnshire Shooting Centre back in the 90’s. Alan now is a specialist in Cowboy Action Shooting, supplying revolvers, shotguns and underlever rifles used in the discipline.
GETTING DOWN TO IT
Next door to A&A was The Tunnel Ranges and T2 stand. Now this was one of the primary reasons I wanted to go to the show, as they are one of the only sellers of .22 WMR Semi Auto AR style rifles. The T2 is made in house from billet aluminium and I was given the opportunity to handle the rifle. Having an engineering background I was really impressed with the fit of the receiver; you’d need a mighty fine feeler gauge to find how much gap there is between
the upper and lower! I was told that the parts are machined to a 3 thou tolerance to allow for the 1.5 thou layer of Cerakote that the rifles are finished in. Also in the coming months T2 will be releasing their own magazine which will allow the operation of the bolt hold open function, which can be really important for those wanting the functions of centrefire AR platforms.
Behind T2 was John Mason, Managing Director of Hammer Pair Performance Ltd which had the Mantis X3 training tool mounted on a CO2 SIG replica. The Mantis was linked to both a tablet and a larger screen and allows you to practice the handling and dry firing of any platform that you can fit it to. This is all achieved by the micro accelerometers which analyse many facets of your weapon handling and display on your mobile phone or tablet. I have to say I’ve been using the Mantis now for a number of years and find it really handy both for practice, airsoft and also live fire analysis. Of course it was obligatory for Richard, Brian and myself to have a challenge to see who could get the best score. My colleague Richard was that impressed with the Mantis system that he wanted to try my unit at work the next day, and I am sure that both he and others at the range will be buying one to use in the near future.
After some 6 hours of wandering, pondering and chatting to a large number of people it was time to make our way home. There was a lot to see and I felt I had run out of time to talk to everyone I had wanted to. If work had allowed I would have visited on the second day as well. I’m looking forward to next year and seeing what further innovations and products are on show.
In the days after the show closed we caught up with event organiser, Mike Darby, and asked him for his personal thoughts. This is what he told us (and thanks also to Mike for the photos):
“I am very pleased that the Target Shooting Show got to go ahead in 2021 after the chaos Covid has caused events over the last 20 months in the UK. The show had an excellent turnout of exhibitors and attendees and it shows how much we want to get back to normal and start attending gun shows and events again.
Sadly the new variant may still play a part in shows and events in 2022 but hopefully the main impact is now behind us and we can continue as normal!
The Target Shooting Show partners and sponsors were the new T2 AR15 rifles from The Tunnel Target Sports Centre, The United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association, Shield Sights, a world leading UK red dot gunsight manufacturer and the National Small Bore Rifle Association.
We had a number of companies launch new and exciting guns and products at the show. Notably the T2 AR15 UK manufactured in .22WinMag and .223, the New Reflex Mini Sight X (RmsX) from Shield Sights and numerous other new developments.
Regarding the world of Airsoft we had iWholesales the large UK airsoft distributor at the show and Bespoke Airsoft retailing their brands. Alongside that we had an Action Air practical range for punters to try their best against the UKs top dynamic shooters and AttackSense again showed off their fantastic airsoft electronic target systems for people to try out and for clubs to buy….. personally I would have spent hours over the weekend just doing these activities if I didn’t have a show to run!
In 2022 we plan to again have the Target Shooting Show at NAEC Stoneleigh, Coventry in November but also a brand new UK show at Bisley in Surrey, the home of UK shooting sports in August called the ‘National Shooting Show - Bisley’. Again this new show will encompass all shooting styles and types and airsoft will again play a big and significant part in the event with airsoft retailers and airsoft ranges for attendees to take part in and discover the exciting world of airsoft shooting - we hope to see you there!” AA
