There are three major firearms trade shows during the year. SHOT Show is the kick-off for the larger US-based companies. The other US-based opportunity for a big flashy launch is the NRA Annual Meeting, but the throngs of non-industry retail visitors makes it less appealing. TTAG has been covering both of these events for the last three or four years, and we’ve seen the changes in strategy. Companies are starting to abandon the traditional launch schedules because their new shiny products are getting lost in the noise generated by all the other launches happening at the same time. But there’s one last major industry trade show that TTAG hasn’t covered. Until now . . .
The IWA Outdoor show in Nuremberg, Germany is Europe’s equivalent of our SHOT Show. All of the major “outdoors” manufacturers based in Europe are there, and this time we’ll be able to actually talk to the folks in charge instead of their US-based counterparts. It should be interesting, getting to ask GLOCK about their 42, the management of Walther about their potential legal troubles and the folks at H&K how that sarcophagus is coming.
By the time this posts, I should have left Dallas. I’ve routed myself through more airports than usual to cut down on costs, but I’ll be on the ground Friday morning and you can expect the usual level of trade show coverage once I get set up. Stay tuned — this is gonna be fun.
Drillings. And hunting guns. Don’t need no more ARs or AKs. Air guns also.
I could use a P22….
Arrrggghhh!!!!!
I am still waiting for a quad barrel shotgun with barrels in 12, 16 and 20 gauge.
In (more) seriousness I would like a Ithaca 37 featherlight with conversion parts to convert it to 16 and 20 gauge (from the original 12 gauge).
The featherlight 20 ga Ithaca was the bomb for all day quail and rabbit hunts.
I know, just thinking that it would be nice with a 12 gauge option due to cheap plinking ammo while 20 gauge is good for teaching new shooters and stuff like that. 16 gauge is just classy and I can share ammo with some of my friends.
+1 on Drilling pictures
I’m interested in any odd hunting contraption; particularly air guns.
NICK! While your in Germany hit up as many bakeries and candy stores as you can! YOU WONT REGRET IT!
Remember this quote: Zwei beir bitte.
“2 beers please.” – Very nice, what else would you need to say in Germany!
Mein Zimmer oder Ihre?
Wo ist die toilette?
Arbeit macht Frei!
Never funny.
I just looked that up and the history behind it, not cool, not cool at all.
It is actually “Bier”.
Where’s the sausage!
Lord yes, German sausage.
Yes. Bakeries. Seriously.
Roll has an excellent point. The bread that comes out of German bakeries tastes five times better than the sorry excuse that we buy at stores in the U.S. After eating bread from a German bakery, you will swear that bakeries in the U.S. use sawdust as their primary ingredient.
Pretty much the same thing goes for their salads as well. I am thoroughly convinced that far fewer people in the U.S. would be overweight if our vegetables tasted as good as the vegetables in German salads.
Anyone have any ideas why that is? Are they using real grains and vegetables rather than the stuff we grow in the U.S. that has been hybridized to the Nth degree?
On the bread front it’s really a just the “style” of how the bread is made. Most of what we get here are based on lighter Italian and French styles. There are some U.S. bakeries that produce bread that comes very close, IMHO, to bread found in Germany. Zhender’s comes to mind.
On the veggie front I’d say you’re comparing German vegetables to American supermarket vegetables. Supermarket vegetables are, a lot of times, grown out of season which greatly affects taste. They travel a LOT further to get to a supermarket than German vegetables do. And, let’s face it, supermarkets are famous for buying cheap crap. Again, you CAN get really tasty vegetables in the U.S. You’re just not likely to find them at Wally World. You’d be better off at a small, local farmer’s market.
What happened to your access to real food? My brother was in the US and complained about how expensive vegetables and the like are to fast food. He asked how can you allow something like that.
I personally am a fan of making my own bread, it takes time but it is good.
I use a bread machine to knead the dough, then decant it onto a pie plate for the last rise and bake.
We agree, A person will eat till they get the nutrients they need & if its through crap food they will eat a lot. Germany does not allow GMO food(last I heard),that better eating through chemistry. If you eat organic vegetables you will get the nutrients & taste. Exception, corn, it is almost destroyed by GMO farmers & the organic has been wind contaminated.
Totally off-topic for this page, but do you have data that proves that GMO veggies are less nutritional than heritage varieties?
Much like we’d say to the anti-gun folks, “please show your evidence”.
Pave, I can’t give you the hard data you want. The Germans French Italians will not allow GMO on the store shelves(last I heard). I can’t eat GMO corn, my stomach won’t tolerate it. Most of the studies were done comparing insecticide sprayed to organic & the difference was X7 in some cases. The drums of spray were marked “poison”(but a little bit was ok?). So in comes GMO because people weren’t buying the spray ok sh!t anymore. I won’t trust my life to big gov. & monsanto. Sorry for boring everyone to tears.
My wife is non gmo and organic only. She buys her veggies and fruits at the farmers market and the taste is very much different from supermarket stuff.
We have a very small space in our back yard that she grows potatos and beans and peas and other greens and they come from non gmo seeds. Much more flavor.
forget that krap. Schnitzel mitt pommes! Jaeger Schnitzel mit pommes! Rahm Schnitzel mit pommes.
Und vor Fruhstuck, Nurnberger Bratwurst!
Forget the Backerei and Konditerei. Go get some Schnitzel mit Pommes.
You can NOT get good Schnitzel in Die Vereinegen Staaten.
…safe travels to you.
By the way it sure sucks to be unarmed, doesn’t it?
And remember, the old adage applies in Germany as well, “When seconds count, der Polizei are only minutes away.”
But a SAK or multitool is always with you (and can make someone scream like a little girl if applied correctly).
I usually when visiting new countries buy a (inexpensive) sak or multitool on the airport when arriving at my destination.
Keep an eye out for the Zastava PPZ. Those whacky Serbs are getting into polymer framed pistols it seems.
I studied abroad in Germany last summer. Beautiful scenery, great food, and beer bottled out of the mountain springs of Valhalla itself. It’s a shame they haven’t gotten the gun ownership thing right like the Czech Republic did, at least by European standards.
Looking forward to your great reviews Nick.
Man, I love the city of Nurnburg. Spent a lot of time there in the 90’s. Incidentally, back then the SOFA permitted US service members to bring their guns with them. When I first arrived, I rolled through customs with a bunch of guns and ammo (including a Glock .45 and a 1911 and 200 rounds), and when the customs guys asked if I had anything to declare, I said exactly what was in my luggage. They jumped up startled, and then said, “oh, American. No problem”, and sat back down and waived me through without even checking my creds!
Met a German girl thru my DIL. German girl was an exchange student and got to be friends with my DIL. She comes to visit every couple of years and brings european chocolates. We gave her her first experience at the range and she loves it. It’s a fair trade, bullets for chocolate.
I hope you brought your Gun Geeks Diner’s Card…