The major outdoor brands typically unveil their new ammunition lines and even new cartridges (like the 27 Nosler) at SHOT Show each year. Not surprisingly, they also like to feature their new firearms at the show as well.
Fortunately, the gun industry did not disappoint this year and there’s certainly a lot for hunters and shooters to like about the new crop of rifles and handguns hitting shelves this year. Here are three especially interesting new firearms that made headlines at the 2020 SHOT Show.
Image credit: Benelli USA
Benelli Lupo
Long known for shotguns, Benelli formally unveiled its first bolt-action rifle this year: the Lupo (which is Italian for “wolf”). Benelli pulled out all the stops to make this a very accurate, utilitarian, ergonomic, and comfortable-to-shoot rifle.
Each rifle comes with a set of shims that give the shooter the ability to adjust drop, cast, and trigger reach as well as length of pull. The Lupo also incorporates the same Progressive Comfort recoil reduction system Benelli uses on their shotguns, a free-floated barrel, an adjustable trigger, and a detachable box magazine.
Benelli is initially offering their new Lupo rifle in .270 Winchester (22” barrel), .30-06 Springfield (22” barrel), and .300 Winchester Magnum (24” barrel). All models come with a three shot sub-MOA accuracy guarantee.
Image credit: Glock
Glock 44
Gaston Glock founded the company that bears his name all the way back in 1963. Since then, Glock has manufactured pistols in most of the popular centerfire handgun cartridges. However, some shooters have lamented the lack of availability of any rimfire options Glock handguns.
Well, that all changed this year when Glock unveiled the new Glock 44 pistol. Chambered in the ubiquitous .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge, the new handgun is similar in size, appearance, and function to the extremely popular Glock 19 (which is chambered in 9mm Luger).
The Glock 44 has the same barrel length and overall height as the Glock 19, so it has the same overall feel of the Glock 19 and will work with most Glock 19 holsters. It also incorporates interchangeable backstraps that can be modified to perfectly fit the hands of the shooter.
Since the Glock 44 is designed to shoot .22LR ammo though, the pistol is perfect for training new shooters, for fine tuning skills at the range, or just casual plinking on a budget.
Image credit: Ruger
Ruger Hawkeye Long Range Hunter
The big gun manufacturers have responded to the rise in popularity of long-range shooting and precision hunting by designing a number of very high quality rifles designed specifically for that market segment. The Hawkeye Long Range Hunter is Ruger’s latest contribution to that field.
Built around the highly regarded Hawkeye controlled round feed action, this new rifle is built for the hunting crowd. So, weighing it at 7.2 pounds unloaded and without a scope, it’s heavy enough for good accuracy, but light enough to carry afield without too much trouble.
The Hawkeye Long Range Hunter uses a 22” hammer forged barrel with a radial port muzzle brake, comes from the factory with a 20 MOA Picatinny rail for increased long-range elevation capabilities, and has a laminate stock with a nice recoil pad that’s adjustable for length of pull.
Ruger currently offers the rifle in the sweet shooting 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC cartridges, both of which are well-suited for great performance at extended range.
