[SHOT 2026] Living The Fudd Dream

These days, tacticool everything is what’s hot at SHOT. Whether it’s AR-pattern rifles, semi-auto handguns with high-capacity mags, thermal sights, and tons of stuff that bolts on to your rifle’s forend, you can find equipment at SHOT that would have made a Navy SEAL green with envy not very long ago.

But SHOT is not just for people who are serious about equipping themselves for friendly neighborhood riots or the coming apocalyptic world as the dollar melts down with decades of Western political hegemony right behind it. SHOT stands for Hunting and Outdoors as well as Shooting, and there’s plenty of stuff for a grumpy Fudd like myself to see at the show.

But there’s a problem: The asking price is $3,499. That’s a lot of money to save a pound or two of weight. And there’s another problem, maybe: It doesn’t come in .243 Winchester, the classic lightweight caliber, nor does it come in .223, the most popular .22 centerfire by far. Weatherby chambers the rifle in 22 Creedmoor, .240 Weatherby Magnum, .25 Creedmoor, 25 Weatherby RPM, .270 Winchester, .280 Ackley Improved, .308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6.5 Weatherby RPM. The .270 and .308 options are classic Fudd calibers and maybe some of the others are on their way (.280 AI and 6.5 Creedmoor), but a couple of standards are missing.

Building a modern semi-auto

Semi-auto deer rifles have practically died out; Browning is the only American company still making their old standby, the BAR, although it’s much-upgraded. The Winchester Model 100 died out a generation ago, and the Remington 750 has not been revived since their factory in New York went through a couple of bankruptcies. People can buy AR-10s for hunting, but what if they want a rifle that looks like it was made for hunting and not the jungles of Vietnam?

Winchester saw an opening here and are now selling something less-expensive than their sister-company’s BAR. Winchester now has the SPX2, a lower-priced idea along the same lines. I love that they still make a semi-auto with a wood stock and iron sights, no matter how goofy those irons are. Winchester brought a few hundred of these into the U.S. a couple of years ago as a Lipsey’s exclusive, but now they should be a lot more widely available.

Now, if only someone could convince Big Green to bring back the Remington 7600 (or, maybe someone could introduce a clone?). While pump-action rifles have never been mainstream popular, they had regional pockets of religious adherence in the US, particularly in New England and Pennsylvania. Now, if hunters from those states want a new pump-action hunter, they’ll have to settle for a Pedersoli Jackal, which was on display at SHOT again this year.

The Ruger booth is filled with Fudd-friendly firearms, either new or returning. They have a lot of new polymer pistols and even a new AR that’s a hot item (see Sam’s take here), but they also have racks of rifles like the 77/44, the 10/22 and the American bolt-action. They brought back the Red Label shotgun this year. Ruger has even absorbed Marlin into their company and have a couple racks of those classic lever guns. And on one wall, they have a long display of Fuddtastic pistols: The Mark IV rimfire series for filling the pot with small game, and big-bore revolvers for hunting big game or protecting yourself from bears while you’re hunting. 

In other words, there’s something for everyone, like I said here. I loved visiting the Ruger booth, even if I had to schedule my visits carefully to avoid the jam-packed crowds. Like Henry’s emphasis on lever guns and revolvers, Ruger’s emphasis on firearms that are practical for outdoorsmen meant there was lots for me to see here.

See photos of other Fuddtastic stuff below: