IWA and SHOT Show 2006

by Tom Gaylord

Well this is way overdue! What I'm going to do is combine my report on both the SHOT Show and IWA. SHOT Show you probably know is the U.S. trade show for the shooting industry. SHOT is the acronym for Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade show. It was in Las Vegas this year, from February 9th through the 12th. The show is too large to see in all that time, but I go where I know the airguns and airsoft guns are and hope to see as many of the surprises as I can.

IWA is the European counterpart trade show. It's held in Nuremberg, Germany, and this year was my first trip there, though after seeing it I know I'll go back as often as possible from now on. Though the show is physically smaller than SHOT, both in terms of the number of vendors and floor space, I think it's the more important show. It's both more laid-back, yet more serious at the same time. SHOT seems to be a display of extravagant excess, as in, "How much money can one company spend on a trade show?" IWA, in contrast, seems to be where people slow down and make the real deals. At least that was my impression.

At SHOT you walk your feet off while subsisting on bad food, poor drinks and services that are too expensive. At IWA, everyone is your host; you are made to feel welcome and there's time to talk. After a day at SHOT, however, you are entertained by Las Vegas (when the show is held there) and that's not bad, but Nuremberg knows how to play host, too.

Enough of the talk - what's new this year?

Let's begin with Umarex
We're starting here for an important reason. They do have new products but there's a lot more that that! Remember RWS? Well over a year ago RWS USA was taken over by Ruag Ammotek, a company I bet you don't know. Well now you don't have to, because on April 11 Umarex created Umarex USA. They will now market the RWS, Diana, Mendoza and Umarex lines here in the United States. Umarex USA is located in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, so the RWS/Diana lines will move from New Jersey to the Ozarks. The new company's stated goal is to become the premier provider in the high-end airgun market.

The formation of this new company means many things to American airgunners. For starters, Umarex is one of the fastest-growing airgun companies in the world. Everyone probably remembers that they bought the controlling interest in Walther in 1993, but this year they added Hammerli to their collection of companies. What that probably means here in the U.S. is that the new company is going to sell and support their guns right, and that's a big plus. RWS used to have an excellent service reputation, but things had gotten confused and even forgotten in the last five or six years. That should change. I'm looking for the good old days when the customer was king and the company was in business because they really love airguns. When I tell you some of my IWA stories I think you'll see that this new company will do that.

The new president of Umarex USA is Adam Blalock, a name that will be known to some of you. Adam was a past president and CEO of Daisy in the 1990s and has spent a total of 18 years in the sporting goods field. We spent a lot of time talking, both at IWA and especially at the 120th Anniversary of the Carl Walther company that was held in Ulm after IWA. Adam seems enthused about the airgun market and eager to build his new company into a major player.


Umarex is about to ship the 85o Magnum, a new 12 foot-pound CO2 repeater. It's an 8-shot bolt action that comes in both .177 and .22.

New CO2 rifle from Umarex
This was the first new gun I was shown in the Umarex booth - both at the SHOT Show and again at IWA. It's an 8-shot repeater called the 850 Magnum. It develops up to 16 Joules, which is 11.8 foot-pounds. Obviously because its a CO2 gun it will develop that in .22 caliber, but the rifle also comes in .177. From the stated energy. look for about 775-800 f.p.s. in .177 with lighter pellets and 575-600 in .22.

New pistol defies description
The P99 RAM (for Realistic Action Marker) is a new type of (airsoft?) gun. The caliber is .43, which doesn't fit well into any existing airsoft/paintball category. It fires both rubber balls and paintballs, and I'm thinking it's going to appeal most to the airsoft crowd. It's the same weight as a P99, plus it holds nine rounds, so the realism factor is very high. The price will be in the neighborhood of $200, so it ain't no toy!


The P99 RAM is a new .43 caliber airsoft pistol made for multiple purposes, including normal airsoft play, law enforcement, and paintball. This one is for general play.


The blue slide is for law enforcement. No more fatalities with live ammo when simunitions are being used!

In addition to these, Umarex is also bringing out a Desert Eagle pellet pistol with blowback action! I know that's going to be well-received by the action pistol crowd.

Well that's a good start. Now I have to tell you the rest of the story, so stay tuned!