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When we stopped at the Benelli SHOT Show booth, three guns caught our eye – the Benelli ETHOS shotgun, the Franchi 3 1/2” Intensity shotgun and the Uberti 1873 Lever-Action Competition rifle, a trio of exceptional guns from the Benelli family of companies.The heart of the ETHOS shotgun is Benelli’s Inertia Driven System. Proven in nearly half a century of use in the most demanding competition and field applications, this simple but extremely effective system provides the operator with a number of benefits. There are only three primary parts – the bolt body, inertia spring, and rotating bolt head. Simplicity translates to reliability. It never needs adjusting and can handle a variety of loads from 3 ½” magnums to light field loads. The low mass of the moving parts makes for a fast cycle time, giving you quicker follow-up shots. And the locked bolt keeps powder residue in the barrel for a cleaner action. The AA-Grade walnut stock was not only gorgeous, it also housed a recoil reduction system. The ETHOS wore a light weight carbon fiber vent rib incorporating an interchangeable front sight so you can use the best color for the day’s hunt. Red, green and yellow fiber-optics are included. Take a look at this fast-loading, fast-shooting and beautiful-to-behold example of the gun maker’s art.

The Pro-Custom 18.9 isn’t your typical 1911. It might look like its ancestors, but it has a distinct difference. The double-stack magazine holds 18 rounds of 9mm. While I’m hesitant to call that an advantage, it does have its benefits. If you’re looking for a fast race gun, you won’t have nearly as many reloads with the 18.9 as you would with a .45 ACP 1911 (even one that’s a double-stack). And because it is a 9mm, you can still get a decent grip on the gun.

After four days drooling over the smorgasbord of guns at SHOT Show, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to look at some bigger gun safes! I found just what the doctor ordered at the Liberty Safe booth. I’m telling you, if it has to do with shooting, chances are it’s here. Wish you could walk around the show with us to take it all in, and that’s why we do these videos – to share as much as we can with you. For the sake of full disclosure, you should know that I already have a smaller Liberty safe at home. It probably makes me biased, but at least it’s based on years of personal experience. Liberty makes great safes at a fair price, and the customer service is excellent. The safe we videoed is the Liberty Fatboy 64, the number one selling safe in America. In addition to the great paint job, this safe is set up to hold 64 guns. The tops of the middle shelves can be lifted to store more long guns or left in place to store handguns, valuables, important documents and so forth. You won’t have to worry about thieves walking out the door with it either. It weighs 915 pounds. Liberty has an optional Safe Alert security device which monitors your safe when you’re away. It will send an alert directly to you if anyone tampers with it. And get this – the monitoring service is free! Liberty sells 25,000 Fatboys a year because it’s not only a great safe, it’s a great value. Check it out.

Noreen Firearms has a new AR patterned rifle. A new AR. Right. We’ve heard that a lot at SHOT show. You don’t even have to be here in Vegas to hear someone yammering on about a new AR. But Noreen’s guns are a little bit different. It’s an AR all right, but not a 15 or a 10. An AR 10 isn’t a big enough platform for this big boy. We are talking a true long-action AR. One big enough for 30-06.

Steel targets are usually not all that exciting. You lug them to the range, set them up and make them ring, but that is about it. Enter Action Targets. They have a number of targets that bring more action to your range time. From their flip-around Dueling Tree to the Rimfire Spinning Jack, Action Targets provide for more interactive reactive targets. But they have upped the game with what might be the coolest Action Target to date.

Perazzi knows how to make a hell of a good shotgun and brought a plethora of them to SHOT show this year. The most exciting one for most of us is the new MXS series of scatterguns. These are Perazzi’s new, more “affordable” line of sporting shotguns. Affordable is subjective. In order to keep the costs down, Perazzi isn’t using the fanciest wood or including the beautiful engraving we usually expect from a Perazzi. That’s not to say that the wood or the finish is lacking. The MXS is most certainly nicer than you would find on your standard run-of-the-mill shotgun (if you don’t mind the large “MXS” carved on the side of the receiver).

There are countless 1911 fans who love their single action carry guns but want just a bit more versatility from the design. Lights. Lasers, maybe. Many companies have answered the call and bolt rails into their frames. But what about the rest of us, the ones who own traditional 1911s? Recover Tactical has the answer. The Grip and Rail system is a great option for people wanting to hang gadgets off their 1911: a set of grips that extend out under the trigger guard to make a rail under the long end of the frame.

Inteliscope has an interesting product here at SHOT show 2014: a smart phone holder that is designed to mount to a rail on your rifle or pistol. The newest version is the Inteliscope Pro, a universal mount that will hold most smart phones. At this time, the apps are available for iPhone and Android. While we were initially skeptical about mounting a phone on the top of a rifle, we had to see it for ourselves. And we were converted. We’ve seen the light.

If the popularity of the 101-year-old Browning-designed Model 1911 pistol tells us anything, it’s that great guns get even better through the application of modern technology. Remington took a page out of that playbook in the design of its newest pistol, the 9mm R51. What today is a beautiful sub-compact concealed carry gun started in 1917 as the Remington Model 51, designed by John Pederson. Pederson was a contemporary of John Browning, who called him “the greatest gun designer in the world.” Remington based its new gun on the Pederson design, resulting in a pistol with a crisp trigger, reliable action and a low bore to reduce felt recoil.