Smith & Wesson Debuts New Products at 2008 SHOT Show

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation , parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 156-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, unveiled 71 new product models and extensions at the 2008 Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this week. The new product lineup featured extensions to the Company's Military & Police (M&P) Pistol and Rifle Series and a stainless steel variation of the i-Bolt bolt-action rifle. Smith & Wesson also introduced the new Night Guard Series of revolvers designed for personal protection as well as a number of new models and extensions from the Performance Center and Thompson/Center Arms.

Sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the four-day SHOT Show is the largest trade show of its kind in the world. Featuring 1,948 exhibiting companies encompassing more than 715,000 net square feet of space, the 30th annual SHOT Show attracted more than 50,000 industry professionals representing all 50 states and 75 foreign countries. Among the firearms launched at the trade show event were:

Smith & Wesson -- M&P45 pistols -- one compact and one mid-size pistol, available with or without a frame-mounted ambidextrous thumb safety -- M&P15 Rifle Series -- three new carbine rifles -- i-Bolt bolt-action rifle - in a new stainless steel configuration, including 300 Win. Magnum and 7mm Rem. Magnum with black and camouflage finish -- Night Guard Series -- six mid-size revolvers covering three frames sizes and six calibers, designed for concealed carry and home protection -- Performance Center models -- new V-Comp and Carry-Comp configurations -- Pro Series -- new competition pistols and revolvers -- Classic Series -- four new retro revolvers Thompson/Center Arms -- ICON bolt-action rifle -- 10 new variations of the bolt-action rifle in long action calibers featuring .270, .30-06, 7mm Rem. Magnum, and 300 Win. Magnum -- Encore Endeavor -- two new models available with Speed Breech XT(TM)in black and camouflage finishes

"The SHOT Show is always an exciting time for our company because it serves as a launching platform for a variety of innovative Smith & Wesson and Thompson/Center products each year," said Michael Golden, Smith & Wesson President and CEO. "This year, our list of new products included a compact version of our highly popular M&P45 polymer pistol. The M&P45C is our response to customer demand for a compact version for concealed carry by both law enforcement professionals and consumers seeking personal protection."

Golden added, "We also launched ten new variations of our award-winning Thompson/Center ICON bolt-action rifle and we expanded the Smith & Wesson i-Bolt rifle lineup with the addition of a stainless steel version to supplement the existing carbon steel models. We remain committed to building on the strength of our Smith & Wesson and Thompson/Center brands by continuing to deliver on our commitment to innovation, and by remaining alert and responsive to consumer demand while we grow our business and expand into new areas of safety, security, protection and sport."

In addition to a variety of activities at the Smith & Wesson booth, the company hosted a special media day before the opening of the convention. Held at American Shooter's Supply, the event was co-sponsored by Thompson/Center Arms, Walther(R), Hornady(R), SureFire(R), Crimson Trace(R) and Trijicon(R). During the event, industry media were given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with product managers and executive staff as well as test new models from each sponsor. The event, which was attended by over 150 industry professionals, included representatives from radio, television and print media.

Throughout the day, several media professionals gave positive critiques on the Smith & Wesson new product lineup. The company cited Patrick Sweeney, Handgun Editor for Guns & Ammo magazine, saying, "Out of all the new products introduced by Smith & Wesson this year, I'm really looking forward to testing the new Night Guard Series. The combination of features that these scandium revolvers offer, in particular the Extreme Duty fixed rear sight and XS front sight, make these handguns a nice fit for personal protection."

About Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, a global leader in safety, security, protection and sport, is parent company to Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the world's largest manufacturers of quality firearms and firearm safety/security products and parent company to Thompson/Center Arms, Inc., a premier designer and manufacturer of premium hunting rifles, black powder rifles, interchangeable firearms systems and accessories under the Thompson/Center brand. Smith & Wesson licenses shooter protection, knives, apparel, and other accessory lines. Smith & Wesson is based in Springfield, Massachusetts with manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Houlton, Maine, and Rochester, New Hampshire. The Smith & Wesson Academy is America's longest running firearms training facility for law enforcement, military and security professionals. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call [phone] or log on to http://www.smith-wesson.com/. For more information on Thompson/Center Arms, log on to http://www.tcarms.com/.

Industry Contact: Gary Giudice Blue Heron Communications [phone] Sharp, VP Investor Relations Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. [phone] x. [e-mail]