Perusing the various blogs and posts, it appears that there are a couple of trends from this year’s show, but oddly not really being recognized as such yet. I’m seeing quite a few new Brazilian rails (you know, slick), looks like there’s a few new cans, and everyone and their mother is putting something out in 300 (but not sure if that’s real or just perception due to the 300 marketing machine).
Anyone there seeing any trends popping up across various manufacturers.
Yeah, fucking zombies. I can’t believe that even a company like eotech would jump on zombie bandwagon.
That and featherweight plate carriers.
There wasn’t as much 300BLK as I thought there would be.
Minimalist plate carriers was one trend I saw. I don’t understand it, but it was there.
I held a ton of new slick rails. MI actually has a pretty nice one as well as noveske. I still think the MFR is the best deal going.
A lot of bolt gun chassis systems.
Red dot milling services was big. ZEV has their act together, their silicon carbide grip is incredible, as well as the trigger and milling services.
High range variable optics, I handled all of them, and actually wasn’t overly impressed with any of them.
Some more .308 gas guns.
The piston revolution is still strong. I glad I hopped off that train when I did.
Quite a few new AK improvements if your into that.
Oh yeah, and zombie everything.
I was expressly ignoring the Zombie thing. Corporate involvement in this is an indicator of shark-jumping like when you’re a kid and suddenly your mom likes the same band as you. 
There is a lot of action in the 7.62 NATO segment as well. Established players like LaRue and LMT offering variations of their product line, KAC completely revamping their entire line, Colt (maybe, finally, for real) releasing the 901, Armalite offering a Pmag compatible lower, and some other people moving into that segment.
If you want a .30 cal AR, either in .300 BLK or 7.62 NATO, 2012 is your year.
Sadly my mom never got into Metallica…
I’m not sure I understand this trend at all…why would a plate carrier be marketed for its “reduced weight”??? I can understand if they were saying that its primary goal was to be lower profile or better air flow for breathability, but once you add armor, pouches, mags, and all the other sh*t people put on PC’s, how the hell will you tell the difference in 8oz worth of less material??
Because manufacturers make more money on big mil contracts than they do on individual purchases.
And “military” is almost synonymous with SOCOM since they’re the only folks who actually have money to spend. Also, what SOCOM uses eventually filters down to the rest of the military.
Ounces add up to pounds, whether you’re patrolling at 10,000 ft in Afghanistan or working with aircraft (that may also have to operate at high altitude thereby reducing performance)
Nylon is much easier to reduce weight compared to trying to cut weight from things like batteries or anything made of metal.
I spoke to a guy who wanted to change his unit’s procurement process so that everything would have a weight listed so that you can do an immediate comparison with all items in a particular category. For example; HK M4 mag vs Magpul PMAG- but this would filter down to any and everything an end user might be using to include the weight of a wrist watch…
The one I’ve noticed recently has already been mentioned - slick smaller diameter rails with add-on panels. Look what Troy started!
fixed
More 16" AR-15s in 300 blk isn’t going to get it done.
We need other guns in 300 blk. We need bolt guns, TC Encores, etc
I noticed the number of pictures with ARs with milled receivers. Not going to get it done.
From a novelty-seeking hobbyist’s standpoint, I am really looking forward to the Tavor being released.
The practical side of me is glad to see new AAC cans.
Also, according to a video I saw, H&K figured out a way to make a 7.62 AR weigh 17lbs? I hope the accuracy benefits of a steel upper receiver are worth it.
Another plate carrier trend I see here is the going away from Molle webbing on vests. Some folks, such as First Spear, are cutting slots in the material and reinforcing it. Standard molle pouches will work on it, but FS has a unique mounting method that actually breaks away at certain weights. This is a nice feature if you work maritime or around aviation.
We really liked what First Spear is doing in terms of kit design.
Smocks are popular. Vertx, Crye, and First Spear all have nice ones.
Dog tracking collars seem to be big this year.
More Chinese made scopes as well.
only things I saw that I was interested in are the Tavor, First Spear 6/12 Tubes, and that Geissle tuned milspec trigger
That’s too bad… I’d HATE to have my eggs in that basket right now. I think the Retards are even figuring out how retarded the piston AR is.
There’s NOTHING exciting about silencer releases… By the time they get to dealers and Forms get approved, people will be talking about next years models. :rolleyes:
The one exception to this may be the Surefire 762 MINI. They seem to have a better track record of show:production delay, and for all I know the thing already is out as they also tend to have product available before it’s even on their site.
Agreed. Its more than a little disappointing that my SDN-6 is obsolete by the SR-7 before it even cleared the ATF.
Yeah!! No doubt! I’m not dealing with AAC anymore… This 90T nonsense… We were trying to fix the 51T yesterday. :rolleyes: But I need to buy a $2000 lathe to make their 51T’s lock up right for bolt gunning. :sad:
For my money, the stuff I thought was the coolest was not big ticket items like guns, but smaller gear innovations. It wasn’t all peachy though.
Specifically:
-TNVC had an IR patch that illuminated veins under IR. Amazingly cool tech. They also had what they were calling IR Dirt, which is a binary compound that can be cut, shaken, and spread around the ground or on a person. It’s basically the color of dirt, but glows bright under NODs. Absolutely cool tech.
-S&S Precision’s plate harness was so simple but brilliant. 1lb 6oz. Shipping in a few months and 380 dollars. I can see this being a fantastic setup for police or special operations units needing either active shooter rigs or something incredibly low profile.
-This was truly the year of the slick rail. Between Geiselle’s rail, Noveske’s NSR-11, the new URXs, Troy, etc etc…excessive rails are going away…fast.
-Leupold’s Mk6 and CQBSS. The Mk6 was everywhere this year, and for good reason. Leupold came out swinging with their 1-6 short dot which looks great. The Mk6 3-18x incorporates the turret design of the CQBSS, along with the zoom controls being the entire bell of the scope. Price looks to be about 1800-2000, or about 2700-2800 with the H58 reticle. The big news is that the CQBSS, which is a good scope in the H27D version, but was 4500 dollars (ugh), is that it’s now been dropped down to 3000 dollars. Yay!
-S&B…wow, what a disappointment. Boooo! They’ve increased their cost to 3500 dollars, and STILL no solid release date. Now having to finally look through it, the exit pupil is bad…really bad.
-Suppressors. Wow did SilencerCo come out swinging with their Saker can. The biggest thing was that the Saker can be retrofitted to drop on the existing AAC 51-tooth muzzle devices. Talk about sneaky snakes. AAC also had their awesome Titanium Element .22, new SR 300BLK cans, break open rifle, and 91-Tooth cans and muzzle devices. Surefire had their new .22 (which to me felt way too complicated compared to SilencerCo and AAC’s offerings).
-Lights. Sorry but I just do NOT get strobing…at all. And it seemed like strobes were on EVERYTHING this year.
I’ll post up some photos shortly.