Great British Shooting Show

[Dellboy]

Went to every Newark Show as from Newcastle Upon Tyne it was an okay trip to do in a day and always really enjoyed those shows. Hadn't been to Stoneleigh since the first one but my friend was keen to go and my sister lives at Nuneaton so stayed with her Friday night which was good. Got in to the show ground without problem (apparently there was an accident on the motorway which delayed a lot of people). Did not seem a lot of visitors which is good in a way as wasn't too crammed. Awful lot of clothes retailers and not shooting relating stuff. My friend was looking for a nice knife and a BSA Lightning air rifle and found neither. I was interested in looking at a GSG MP40 - none to be seen or any other .22 semi autos. Did see a nice Miroku .22 lever action I would have bought had I not already bought the Marlin. Love the Winchester collection, always spend time ogling the collection and talking to the guy. Lot of shotguns and .22 rifles. Expensive food. We both said we probably enjoyed the Northern show last year more.

Good day out but will not be returning.

Saw the Miroku and a Marlin decided on the Miroku but forgot what stand it was on , suprised your friend didnt find a knife there seemed to be loads there . i was looking for a 410 pump and found a mossburg 500 but it looked well used and was up for £400 so i left it .Decided i need an Accuracy International in my life .Confirmed a booking with Czech tactical (second visit) .Bought some trousers and some mac wet gloves so i thought it was ok . Better than work anyway ....

[Rockhopper]

There were quite a few stalls selling all kinds of knives, including collectables.

[poll007]

Definitely didn't enjoy it as much as last years.
significant lack of milsurps (even last year there was only really one or two)
Managed to get some gp11 so im happy with that, i came away with some good discussions/advice from several vendors on scopes and ended up picking up an ex demo Bushnell Elite off optics warehouse which should be delivered next week.
otherwise i finally got some ear molds taken for a set of custom fitguards which ive been meaning to get for months now.

at the end of the day i was mainly taking a group of students who all of which enjoyed them selves and got some good deals on air pitols (one even got his first rifle, a nice CZ 452 with scope and mod for only £275)

so overall it was a good day, but was definitely lacking in a few areas.

[Lever357]

There were quite a few stalls selling all kinds of knives, including collectables.

Yeah, he can be very picky. The one and only time he decided to buy something at a forestry show we were at, we were on the importers stand and the guy says, "Ah, we don't sell direct to public." He did try and find one on the other retailers stands but they had all sold out!!

[Dunc]

Went on Friday with my lad. Thoroughly enjoyed it and it seems to have 'matured'. First year in Stoneleigh there were a load of single handed folk there who seemed to have pulled out when the prices went up but I see some are back, working on related/shared stands. Unexpectedly, spent a fair bit of cash........

Met a load of people that I knew and we were all smiles and happy.

What did amaze me was that how some stands seemed to have a 'couldn't care less' attitude towards customers. Why spend a fortune on a stand and then ignore customers or certainly give a poor image of your attitude....

Then some would bring in totty who hadn't a clue about the product. And a few know how to work the crowd really well! I was so impressed by two Glasgow lad's patter on neighbouring stands that I bought a dog brush and a rubberised armoured spray nozzle for £20 each

The Farm branded burger van outside was disappointing >£14 for a burger and bacon roll with coffees. And they weren't great.....

Will certainly go next year. Entrance fee good VFM, IMHO.

[Racalman]

Went to all the shows when it was at Newark ...........great shows .

Me too, as it was just down the road from where my family lives. I enjoyed those shows but haven't been since it moved due to costs of travel and entry.

[Brian838]

Eventually have seen the lodock gear lever release. Turns out it isn't a figment of their imagination

I picked it up and had a play, feels like a well sorted FAL, bolt release was easy enough to manipulate. Accuracy wise inch and a bit at 100 yards...

SGC had a new lever release .308, balances a bit better than the Lodock, probably both going to be around the same price.

I had a feel of both, I'm now torn between getting a SGC .308 lever release and waiting for the Lodock XCR to come out as I have scraped together the funds for either. I think the XCR has the edge for me as I like the ambi bolt release, and if they make a thumb extension as they say they will, you will have the best of both worlds.

[GeeRam]

I was interested in looking at a GSG MP40 - none to be seen

They are great fun

It was a toss up between the MP40 and the Stg.44 for me, and the Stg44 got the nod.

[bradaz11]

Eventually have seen the lodock gear lever release. Turns out it isn't a figment of their imagination

I picked it up and had a play, feels like a well sorted FAL, bolt release was easy enough to manipulate. Accuracy wise inch and a bit at 100 yards...

SGC had a new lever release .308, balances a bit better than the Lodock, probably both going to be around the same price.

I had a feel of both, I'm now torn between getting a SGC .308 lever release and waiting for the Lodock XCR to come out as I have scraped together the funds for either. I think the XCR has the edge for me as I like the ambi bolt release, and if they make a thumb extension as they say they will, you will have the best of both worlds.

the main thing that puts me off the SGC is I was interested in the 300 Blk version. Is Bob likely to want to change anything or do a non standard barrel? history says no. I'm still looking at Lodock gears XCR favourably, Does Bob's rifle also take standard uppers? as to change barrel for that its better to swap whole upper. XCR was desined to be modular, and the barrel and gas tube swap out for cal cchanges

[lasbrisas]

I was interested in looking at a GSG MP40 - none to be seen

They are great fun

It was a toss up between the MP40 and the Stg.44 for me, and the Stg44 got the nod.

Funny I went the other way round and got the MP40, had it 18 months now and put an original WW2 sling on it, I'm a big fan of WW2 stuff and it's the only way of owning one here, although I have shot the real deal in Vegas amongst many others.