The Sika Show 2015 was held this year at the Taupo Events Centre, just a stone’s throw away from the famous Lake Taupo, a beautiful resort town that draws tourists from all over. At 8:35am, crowds were already filling up the car park in front of the event hall, all eager to get in.
Off road vehicles and accessories welcome the visitor to the show. Lots of new toys and 4WD vehicles giving the hunter options to move around and bringing their trophy home.
Children were not forgotten at the show. As early as 9:15am, the first kids already had their face painted and ready to spend the day at the event.
Water crafts for the duck hunters and many options were on display.
Food options were one of the draw at the show. Event organisers made sure the show attendees will not go hungry.
Gun City occupied the car park with their truck and some of the wares on sale were laid out on the asphalt for the bargain hunters.
The highlight of the Sika Show this year was the collection of jaws. Impressive displays and submissions from hunters from all over NZ.
How can a Sika Show be without taxidermy? Amazing work by the artisans wowed show attendees at the entrance to the main hall.
Hunting and Fishing has a lot of ware up for the bargain hunter. Their booth was quickly filled up and within an hour, a lot of cash were handed over for some really good outdoor clothing deals.
Beretta’s booth showcased their brands of hunting rifles. I was hoping to see the Sako M10 in the flesh, but unfortunately only hunting rifles were featured at the show.
Guns, lots of guns.
While I did not get to see the Sako M10, one of the Sako hunting rifles featured at the show was their new Sako 85 Carbonlight.
The Sako 85 Carbonlight is a very impressive rifle. Amazingly lightweight, and looks very well built. Quite sure this rifle will shoot very well.
The wall of Sakos.
The famous Benelli shotguns.
Belmont Ammunitions was one of the booth where I spent a fair bit of time. Jai is a great fella to talk to with regards to ammunition and I have been on the email with him a bit with regards to heavier 77r .223Rem ammo and I was there to pick up some of the higher end Lapua competition .22LR ammo for my wife. Belmont is working on some really interesting loads in the coming weeks and one of the brands that they represent, PMC, will be bringing in more heavier bullets. Can’t wait for their email.
Some great deals at the Belmont Ammunition booth. I literally took all the Lupua SKs from the booth. Sorry folks. I did leave one brick of Lapua Midas+ out of the goodness of my heart. Ok, the truth is my lockable ammo box was full.
At the Belmont Ammunition booth.
For those who are building your new rifle, keep a lookout for the offering from SenatorStocks. Their composite stocks are impressive, and affordable. Strong as steel, and does not react to temperature changes like aluminium chassis. This is something I am going to look into at some point.
SenatorStocks at the Sika Show 2015.
Looks like a candidate for my next Tikka T3 Varmint build.
Shark Knives have some really nice tools for the hunter at the show. I was looking for a cleaver for bunnies clean up in the field, unfortunately they ran out of the smaller ones.
Gun Supplies had some really interesting AR builds on display at the show. I was so tempted to get the Oceania Titanium Suppressor and was glad I could control myself. It was going for $899.
AR15.com showed their very nice MDT builds at the show. The MDT chassis are well made and did not flex even when I place them on my knees to try to bend them. The folding stock was quite well implemented, although it is no AICS, but it is more than enough for the average shooter.
One of the most exciting AR builds I saw at the show was the AR-15 from nzar15.com. This is one of the companies to look out for if you are out to build a totally cool custom AR-15. I have already have a plan in my mind to build something with them in the coming months. A very cool company with some really cool folks. Had a good long chat with them.
A beautiful Katipo Research AR at the nzar15.com booth. It is absolutely sexy.
I was about to build my own A-Cat AR-15 stock when I saw this work-in-progress from nzar15.com. I am getting this as soon as it is released. It is miles better than the offering from AIL in terms of comfort (grip) and looks. Absolutely stunning. Except, please lose the foam. ARs are oily guns and the foam always almost soak up the oils from the charging handle and transferring them to the face.
Battle Arms Development billets and accessories are absolutely cool. If you are building your own AR, nzar15.com is the place to go to.
I was a kid at the candy store at the nzar15.com booth. And finding the Fortis Engineering Hammer charging handle just made my day. Thanks for bringing them into NZ guys. Fortis Engineering makes some really cool stuff for the AR shooter. Beautiful and well built stuff.
AR rifles galore at the nzar15.com booth at the Sika Show 2015.
Deadeye Dicks Shooting Supplies had some really good deals and very nice rifle builds at the show. They were so busy with so many people at the booth that I did not have a chance to talk to them.
Deadeye Dicks Shooting Supplies had a dedicated target shooting section where all sorts of candy were available for touch and feel at the Sika Show 2015. Looks like I have to start feeding the piggy bank.
The very sexy and desirable Nightforce scopes at the Deadeye Dicks Shooting Supplies booth at the Sika Show 2015.
Being a knife person, Scary Sharp was an interesting booth for me. I was looking at the sharpening system at the show. It was a good demonstration and one of the possible ways to achieve a good edge on your precious blade.
Knife sharpening demonstration.
Guns and Coffee at the Sika Show 2015. There was always a line at the coffee station.
Location systems and hunting safety solutions is one of those things that is close to my heart, and it was good to see groups out there working on this. Although not as comprehensive as I have hoped to see, this means the system that I am working on will have its place in the market.
Blaser had a good booth at the Sika Show. A lot of drooling at the booth, and this is one of the rifles in my list when I start building that precision rifle for hunting and target shooting.
Luxury and Gun Cleaning made possible. Seen at the Blaser booth.
Highlight for me at the Sika Show must be visiting the “candy store” from Gunsnz.
Gunsnz was pulling in the crowds a the show. It is safe to say that they are probably the busiest, if not the top 3 busiest booth at the show. I was excited to see the PWS display rack filled. Going to be meeting up with Jim tomorrow and pick up the MK116.
The very desirable precision rifles from Kimber sits quietly at the corner of the Gunsnz booth.
I am a Steyr air pistol shooter. Owned 4 of their air pistols and still shooting them today. Always excited to see their rifles at a gun show.
