My aimless wandering at SHOT Show, likely brought on by dehydration and sensory overload, landed me at the booths of new and old friends alike. I stumbled into IWI’s booth and took a look at their Tavor TS12 shotgun, among other cool guns.
The Tavor TS12 is quite the interesting beast. As per IWI’s website:
“The Tavor TS12 12 gauge shotgun is a gas regulated bullpup shotgun that can be configured for either right or left side ejection and operation. It feeds from one of three (3) individual magazines which can hold four 3 inch shotgun shells or five 2 ¾ inch shotgun shells each. This means that the potential overall capacity from all three (3) individual magazines is 15 rounds plus one additional round in the chamber. The TS12 has a unique feature that automatically loads a round in the chamber once the subsequent loaded magazine is rotated into position. It can be fed and unloaded from either side and is easily convertible to left hand operation.”
I found the TS12 to be relatively light and easy to shoulder. I have it on good authority that the gun will be offered in OD Green and FDE.
Ruger, a company that TTAG readers know I am quite familiar with, has released some new rifles and pistols. Most of these have been announced prior to SHOT. They include a new custom shop line featuring 1911 pistols and some .22LR rifles.
In addition to those products, Ruger has also released new Ruger Precision Rifles in .338 Lapua and .300 Win Mag. These are large, powerful rifles geared for the long-range shooter and based on the wildly popular RPR in .308 Win. New also this year are 17 HMR and 22 WMR versions of the Ruger Precision Rimfire.
Stoeger came out swinging this year with the surprising new STR-9. This is a 15+1 round, polymer framed 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
I was very impressed with the quality Stoeger has brought to the table- for a stunninglu affordable price.
The MSRP is only $350, which means street price will likely be about $300 new.
The STR-9 has a number of features including interchangeable backstraps, a loaded chamber indicator, the usual trigger-mounted safety, 3-dot sights, and a 5 year warranty. You finger groove haters may be disappointed.
This is a budget priced gun, but you’d never know based on the feel and the features. I was truly expecting it to be in the price range of other similar guns, around $500.
The trigger is quite literally better than those on guns costing twice as much, I kid you not. The Stoeger reps I spoke to were very proud of it.
I fired a simulation course with a modified STR-9 and you can see my score above. If you are at SHOT, I suggest you go try your hand and beat my score.
You’ll get twice the reward, as not only will you get to brag about besting a guy who gets paid to shoot guns, but you’ll also get to handle the STR-9. It’s a win-win for sure.