By the end of Day 1 of Las Vegas' version of the Bataan Death March - also known as SHOT Show - it's pretty clear that the competition segment of the industry is going strong.

Under orders from the boss, who didn't seem at all interested in my "but it's SHOT and there's really no reason for me to write a column this week" argument, I took a look at some of the new products being introduced specifically for the competition shooter.

That Scope Don't Hunt... While I never viewed Leupold, who I think of as one of the industry's big brands, as a competition products maker, the truth is they have a long history of making top-of-the-line optics for competition.

In talking to Leupold's Pat Mundy, he explained to me that the company's competition focus goes back to the early days of benchrest shooting. It's just thanks to the exposure from 3-Gun Nation that we now think of Leupold as a top 3-Gun competition manufacturer. Pat assured me that Leupold's competition pedigree was earned well before 3-Gun became the "it" shooting sport, but then quickly encouraged me to stop by Thursday morning when Leupold hands out one of those big checks to the winner of the tonight's 3-Gun match.

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Thanks to 3-Gun and the popularity of ARs it's estimated that more than half of the optics Leupold sells for use in competition are for the AR or 3-Gun shooter. Even more interesting is that almost all of those optics feature Leupold's Fire-Dot illuminated reticle.

Leupold's Mark AR MOD 1, a 1.5-4x20 scope with one inch tube and Fire-Dot, retails for around $500 making it an ideal scope for the AR owner looking to build up his/her rifle into a competition gun.

Of course, it's their Mark 6 1-6x20, which retails for around $1,950 and whose popularity comes from the fact that the military has been buying them non-stop, that caught my attention. Unfortunately for me Pat was all out of the free writers' samples. (Apparently, I am THAT guy)

Can't Spell Winchester Without AA... You say Winchester, I think AA. And if you think that way too then you're going to love Winchester's new AA TrAAcker. Ben Frank, part of the team at Winchester that developed the AA TrAAcker, walked me through the new shotshell.

Basically, if you ever watched your shotgun wad after missing a target in the desperate hope that it might give you some insight as to where you missed, then the AA TrAAcker is for you.

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The unique wad cup design of the AA TrAAcker features helical pedals that help the wad's flight path, along with an 1/8th ounce of shot trapped in the cup, track exactly with that of the shot. Winchester has http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev8_5v8dD_U&feature=youtu.be>an excellent video that better demonstrates how the new AA TrAAcker works. When you watch it action you'll understand how valuable a training tool the shotshell can be for new clay target shooters and those of us who from time to time can't do anything but miss. The AA TrAAcker is in the final stages of testing and Winchester expects to start shipping in a couple months. And by-the-way, MSRP is expected to be only $1.00 over standard AA shotshells.

House Of Beretta's New 692... They know how to make shotguns at Beretta, and they know how to win medals with those shotguns. Beretta's new 692 O/U Sporting shotgun is an 'evolutionary step' between the 682 and the DT-11, or at least that's how Vincent Hancock explained it to me. And apparently he knows a little something about competition shotguns because of some Olympic Gold medals he won...

Yeah, that's right, when Between The Berms wants info we go straight to the top (either that or Hancock drew the short straw when they saw me coming).

The 692 is a beautiful looking shotgun with features that Hancock says make it "a more well-rounded shotgun." The barrels (28" thru 32") are Beretta's Steelium Plus which have extended forcing cones that run approximately 3/4 of the length of the barrels. The stock contains Beretta's B-Fast system, an adjustable weight system that allows you to adjust the balance point of the gun. A "spring-loaded" forend helps keep the shotgun a "stiff" opening and closing gun even after thousands and thousands of rounds. The MSRP is about $6,000, putting it well under the DT-11's approximately $10,000 price tag. Did I mention the 692 is a beautiful shotgun?

Shoot Like A Champion... So once you get that new 692 (or the DT-11) you'll probably want to get busy winning your own medals and trophies. Once again we turn to Vincent Hancock.

Along with his father Craig, Vincent, who recently left the U.S. Army, launched the Hancock Shooting Academy to train everybody from new youth shooters all the way up to China's Olympic hopefuls. You read that right, the Chinese shooters are coming to Vincent to figure out how to win their own Olympic Gold medals.

Training with Hancock, either in a group at one of his shooting clinics or one-on-one, is now very high up on my personal wish list - as it should be on yours. The Hancock Shooting Academy is adding clinics and scheduling training all the time so email booking@HancockShootingAcademy.com for up-to-date information and pricing. If you are out in the Newhall area of California, Oaktree Gun Club will host a clinic on March 2-3 and slots are available.

Franchi Has An Affinity For Shooting... Say a $6,000 Beretta is out of your price range at the moment. Franchi's got just the shotgun for you in their new Affinity Sporting model. This inertia-driven semi-auto features a 30" barrel, brushed nickel anodized receiver, black synthetic stock and forend, 8mm target rib, red fiber optic front sight and three extended choke tubes. The shotgun weighs in at just over 7 lbs.

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The Franchi Affinity is available now and carries an MSRP of $1,159 that will probably end up being a $999 "street price", giving entry level sporting clays shooters plenty of reason to give it a serious look...and it is a good looking shotgun.

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Next Up, Glock, Followed By S&W... Looking for competition gear requires a stop by the Safariland booth to check in with Team Safariland. For those of you shooting in the run-and-gun pistol sports, Safariland's popular 014 race holster is now available for Glocks. So if you are shooting Limited or Open divisions with your Glock (think Team Glock's blazingly fast KC Eusebio) then Safariland's got you covered. For those of you rocking the M&P (like yours truly...though most wouldn't call it 'rocking') the famed 014 model holster for Smith & Wesson's flagship pistol is just around the corner. It comes in Black but also in Red, so you can be like all the cool kids. MSRP on the 014 is $200.

From The House Of Tomasie... On the way back to the press room I took a detour into Para USA's booth...or what I prefer to call Travis Tomasie's booth. For those that don't know, Travis is Para's sponsored shooter and the poster child for speed-of-light reloads. He's also perhaps one of the most well liked shooters on the competition circuit. Travis ran me through Para's new Pro Custom and Prom Comp pistols designed for use in competition. The Custom is a double-stack 5" 1911 available in 9mm, 40S&W or 45ACP, while the Comp is a single-stack 40S&W. Both feature Ionbond coating on the slide, frame and barrel, VZ G10 grips (with an aggressive tread pattern), fiber optic front sight and adjustable rear sight over a flat top slide and ambi safety. The Pro Custom, with an MSRP of $1,449, has an oversized magwell for sucking in magazines during those Tomasie-like reloads. The Pro Comp goes for a retail of $1,299.

Travis also mentioned a Travis Tomasie Signature Series pistol which unfortunately isn't available yet - even to show off at SHOT. (Note to Para: Get that one done.) The model will have many of the same features as the two above but a couple more high-performance add-ons, the kind one would expect on a pistol carrying the name Tomasie...a name that strikes fear in the hearts of those that think they have a fast reload. Silly mortals, only Travis can reload that fast..

- Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network

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