Paula Del Giudice: It was quite a Show

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

SHOT SHOW 1997 is a memory. The doors on the largest gun and shooting sports show and conference hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation at the Las Vegas Convention Center closed Sunday after thousands of visitors passed through them.

It's grown quite a bit since inception -- the Show just completed its 17th year. The first one I attended was the second annual. I remember being a "wet behind the ears" magazine editor walking the hundreds of aisles of merchandise. It was incredibly overwhelming. It still is.

All the manufacturers are trying to capture those dollars from retailers who are at the Show to place orders. The sellers try to distinguish themselves from the booth next door, and all the other merchandise, by whatever means seems to work.

Actually, it would be easy to spend the entire four days of the Show browsing and not see all there is to see.

This year I tried to weed out a small sample of the best and most interesting new products and trends unveiled at this year's Show.

Western Birds

I ran into Jim Matthews, one of the most prolific outdoor writers in southern California, at the Show. He has published a newsletter that Southern Nevada hunters should know about. It's called Western Birds -- The Wingshooter's Newsletter. It is a very site-specific publication aimed at telling you where you can find birds in southern California.

The editorial philosophy requires you know how to read a map, and Matthews points out that owning a GPS unit would be handy in order to plot guzzler locations.

You'll read info so specific, you ought to be able to drive and walk right to the birds. Details such as "A-4 (guzzler) is 3.4 miles from the gate on the west side of the road, perhaps 30 yards off the road. It is located just below the prominent rockslide the road cuts across."

The info isn't cheap ($100 per 6-issue subscription). But if you hunt birds, you'll find the price worth paying. Call (909) 887-3444 for subscription details.

A Remington steal

Remington has more new products this year than one can possibly keep track of. In a major development, the company has introduced a new design in autoloading rimfire rifles called the Model 597. It's available in three versions, offering a choice of carbon or stainless steel barreled actions, synthetic or laminated wood stocks, and chambering for either standard .22 long rifle or .22 magnum ammunition.

Garmin steps up

Billed as the world's smallest 12 parallel channel GPS (global positioning system), the new Garmin 12XL has several features that make it quicker and easier to use. It even purports to be able to maintain satellite lock under the most difficult of situations, including dense tree canopy and urban obstructions. The design of its keypad allows for one-hand operation.

It will store up to 500 waypoints and 20 routes of 30 waypoints each. (You can map all those guzzlers and the routes for finding them.)

Although not the most inexpensive handheld GPS unit on the market (Magellan's GPS 2000 carries a $200 price tag -- the lowest in the industry), the GPS 12XL sells for just under $400.

Scope it out

Pentax took a look at its traditional satin chrome scope finishes and decided to introduce a new finish that looks better on the new and popular stainless steel, composite stock guns. In addition to being less reflective of glare, the new finish is highly corrosive resistant and is durable and scratch resistant.

You can find this new "electroless nickel" finish on 3X-9X Lightseeker (PD), the 4X-16X Lightseeker (FP), and the 6X-24X Lightseeker (FP) model rifle scopes.

Extra on X-tra

Realtree has introduced its latest camo pattern called the X-tra. It's called the largest, most realistic three- dimensional camouflage pattern ever. It offers all the elements of the outdoors -- tree trunks, large and small limbs, a variety of leaf types and colors, large open areas and extreme contrast from light to dark.

According to Realtree Designer Bill Jordan, it's only recently that textile mills have found the technology that allows them to print the new X-tra pattern.

Realtree X-tra is available in two versions, brown and grey. The manufacturer recommends that brown works best from early through late fall, then from mid- to late spring. Grey works best from late fall through winter, then in the early spring.

The pattern will be found on hundreds of products ranging from bows to guns to rainwear and waders.

Quite a flap

The Las Vegas Flappers Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, the very first organized women's chapter, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a dinner at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Gold Coast.

Profits from the event will go to Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of waterfowl and their habitat. For tickets call Pamela Goodwill at 896-1588.