My previous message was posted from the phone and the Russian Hunting Magazine annual party, and either the wine or excitement impaired my spelling abilities. There was nothing RAW there (except the tartar), but I did get my second "Writer of the year" award. Thanks for your congratulations, Vic, it's in recognition of the work throughout the year (and putting modesty aside, the magazine editors said privately they originally meant to never give the award to the same person twice, but nobody else came even close).
As for the expo, even in the best of time Moscow hunting/gun shows are hardly worth a visit - there's nothing there you couldn't see at IWA or SHOT, except maybe for a few custom knife makers - unless you have business interests in Russia. Actually, I started this thread thinking that maybe someone does. But having business with Russia is a tricky thing these days, as the Expo clearly demonstrated.
In short: there were only a couple of second-tier Italian gunmakers, some Austrian bespoke makers (Hofer, Fuchs, Springer), and about all. Of course, the Kalashnikov Concern dominated the exposition, but there was not much new and interesting things as far as hunting guns are concerned. The emphasis was on black guns/tactical/military arms and equipment, throughout the show. TOZ, apparently, is loaded with military orders and stopped making hunting guns for the time being (they didn't even come).
Most of the international outdoor products companies that did come occupied minimal amounts of space, and did not even send their international managers, making do with personnel of the Moscow office. This wasn't so bad as far as I am concerned - as a translator/transcreator/copywriter I met a few people who are actually working on the ground, if I may use the expression.
Overall I don't regret coming - refreshed a few contacts, met a couple of new people, and got a couple interesting offers. But the word that best describes the expo, one that I heard from many people, is "ruins".
Guess I'll have to go SHOT or IWA next year.
