Wow, what an opportunity to be able to attend 2022 Shot Show industry day at the range. The setting was amazing, Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club outside Las Vegas, NV. A complete gun range in every sense of the word set in the middle of desert with seemingly unlimited shooting space. The venue offered a large number of hand guns available to shoot, multiple rifle manufacturers and a few shotguns to try as well. I will admit I most enjoyed shooting the long-range rifles made from state-of-the-art materials and varying custom designs. The latest technology was on display and the manufacturers were more than willing to let you experience their custom builds. With the ever-increasing shot distance on trophy animals, the rifles I had the opportunity to shoot easily take an average, inexperienced rifle shooter like myself and make you quite efficient at shots 1,000 plus yards.
One of the most impressive rifles I shot was the 475 Safari Bolt Action Rifle built by Bishop Ammunition and Firearms out of Antelope, CA. The company is very passionate about their rifles and manufactures all of their own ammunition to assure a seamless combination. I sat down and shot their rifle at a target that was about 1000 yards, roughly 4 feet in diameter and found that it was difficult to miss. Now there is no guarantee I could hit an elk or like sized animal without putting in some real practice, but the fact that I could find the target with each shot gives me some very real hope. The scope was set and it was a very little wind, consequently the conditions were ideal.
While speaking with the ammunition designer and builder, she indicated the 390-grain bullet was travelling at 2,500 feet/second with a very large impact area, rather impressive given the weight of the load and its bull nose design. A great deal of time an experience has gone into getting everything to work seamlessly and they made an average shooter look good, with a lot of patience and passion they have created an amazing line of rifles. I’d like to thank the people at Bishop for giving me the opportunity to experience what they have built
Kristopher Andrew Nelson/Jerry Nelson photographer: 2:00pm Jan 19, 2022