SHOT Show Archives

In the middle of the crowded and hectic SHOT Show there is a small quite museum. The NRA Museum to be exact. They have brought a few historic and iconic firearms to display for the show and to promote the NRA Museums.

Ever wished you could have a small section of tank tread to wear around your wrist? And did you ever wish that those treads had little tools in them? And did you ever wish that all of these tooled up treads were also a watch band? No? What planet are you from?

Sometimes an idea just seems so obvious. Why didn’t I think of that? Like the .223 you can carry in your pocket! Heizer has built just that. And soon you may be able to pick up a single stack Heizer semi-automatic. These slabs of steel are worth a second look. And what would you name this beast?

Gunny loves everything GLOCK, but does he have favorites?

The limited edition Smith and Wesson Bone Collector 460 as seen at SHOT Show 2015. This is a hand cannon.

[one_half padding=”0 0 0 0px”] [/one_half] [one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 0px”] [/one_half_last] SHOT Show 2015 is officially underway. We stopped in at the FNH booth this morning, first thing, and got the run down on what’s going on. When you make as many guns as FN, it is hard to narrow down your choices. We’ve [...]

Kel-Tec is heading into 2015 with some serious changes to some of the guns we know and love, and they’re now shipping some of the guns we’ve all been waiting for. So what’s the latest from Kel-Tec? Read on…

We got our first look at the Coonan Compact .357 Magnum 1911s at the SHOT Show today in Vegas. I wish I could have put some rounds through it, but the other people attending the show tend to get nervous about things like that.

When I was kicking around in the FNH booth at the SHOT Show today, I caught wind of a special project the folks at FN have in the works. The press release is below, and worth reading. Proceeds from the auction go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Click on the Buy Now on GunsAmerica link below to see the auction and place your bid.

Former Navy SEAL, best-selling author and media entrepreneur Brandon Webb speaks to GunsAmerica at SHOT Show 2015.

The DP-12 is a shotgun that takes all the attributes of the competition and none of their flaws. It is easy to see its inspiration comes from the Kel-Tec KSG, but the similarities end with aesthetics. And the beast is fast. Semi-auto speeds from a pump gun. Imagine the potential.

We got a chance to hang out with Team GLOCK (Tori Nonaka, Michelle Viscusi) at range day during SHOT Show 2015.

The Korth Sky Marshall may be the single most innovative 9mm revolver on the market. And I’m not talking about the exterior of the gun. This is one rimless revolver that doesn’t require moon clips, or anything extra. Check it out.

The Right Now Range is like a shooting gallery in a box. This is a great, and fun, target system that you can use to turn any suitable space into a range.

Last year GLOCK was downsizing. The .380 GLOCK 42 is a force to contend with, but it doesn’t compare to the new GLOCK 40. If you are think bigger is better (and we’re talking much bigger) check out this behemoth from SHOT Show 2015.

Tac-Con made a big spalsh with the 3MR, an AR trigger that runs almost as fast as full-auto. Now they’re adding to that trigger and taking on the AK platform, too. Drop in triggers for AKs and the Saiga 12? That’s just half of the news. The 3MR is evolving too. Now the lightning fast trigger has a third position–a two-stage trigger with a one pound break. Speed and accuracy from one trigger–and the price is coming down.

As AR pistols get smaller and smaller, they loose power. And the blast is hard to handle. The pistol caliber carbines have been slow to catch on, but that’s about to change. CZ’s new 9mm powerhouse, the Scorpion, is epic. It is exceptionally well built, and the price is going to knock you over.

Fans of the Ruger 10/22, listen up. The Charger, Ruger’s big .22 pistol based on the 10/22, is back. There are two new versions, and both come packed with features that I hope will be standard on every new Ruger. These fun guns look good, too–read our review.

The Magnum Research Desert Eagle is a big gun. It is Hollywood large. The pistol is so big that it isn’t practical for much of what we use pistols for. Yet the beast of a gun is a heavy hitting .50 AE with a lot of personality. And now, in the all stainless version, the Desert Eagle looks even better. And the built in compensator makes it even more practical. A practical Desert Eagle? Yes. Read on.

Just in time for SHOT 2015, FN America has released a compact version of their FNS. The new FNS-9C is a solid pistol–it shoots well, has great controls, and is ideal for concealed carry. And the best part may be the price tag.

Springfield Armory has overhauled the XD, and the new gun is worth a look. Start with the grip. Their new Grip Zone design is like Velcro for you hands. It is sticky in all of the right places. But that’s not all they’ve done. They’ve taken a good pistol and made it much more ergonomic and effective. And we have one to give away. Want the details? Read on….

The .308 battle rifle is making a comeback. Ruger released their SR762 to high praise. Colt’s modular 901 can accept uppers in .308 and .223. The AR10 is still alive and kicking, and rocking throwbacks, like Springfield Armory’s MiA line, manage to be both nostalgic and innovative. What is it about the hard-hitting 7.62 x 51 that makes it so appealing? Wasn’t the high-pitched crack of the AR-15 sound the death knell of oversized, overweight, overkill? Apparently not. There’s more staying power in the old-school battle rifle than the slew of 5.56 rifles would have us believe. None of this is news to the fans of the H&K G3. Yet import restrictions make the G3, and the H&K 91 (the civilian version of the G3) hard to come by stateside. Don’t give up hope. At the upcoming SHOT show in January 2014, PTR will launch a new version of the Classic Wood 91, the KR. The K is for Kurz, which refers to the 16-inch barrel. The R denotes a welded rail. With a shorter barrel and a rail, the new iteration will appeal to those who respect the classic look of an old G3. It will also speak to those who want a hard-hitting CQB rifle with manageable length and the option to more easily add optics. If you are looking for heavyweight precision, with just a hint of German engineering, take a good long look at the PTR 91. These American-made 91s are taking the iconic H&K design to new levels of precision and reliability.

In this short-action version of the AR, Armalite shortened the receiver and has changed the forestock to get a shorter bolt action. The rifle has a 24-inch barrel and uses AR 10B magazines.

Leupold has long been associated with quality scopes at reasonable price points. In the words of their founder, Fred Leupold, “the customer is entitled to a square deal.” That remains a guiding principal as Leupold continues to develop and improve their line of scopes. They had an improved Delta Point 2 reflex sight for handguns and shotguns at their show booth, but their biggest news this year was the brand new VX-6 7-42x56mm rifle scope. It is so new, in fact, that the design hasn’t been completely finalized. Here’s what we know: it’s the highest variable power scope they’ve ever made, it has their Extended Twilight lens system for increased light transmission, the MSRP will be in the $2,200 range, and they expect to start shipping scopes in 4-6 weeks.

Tapco makes low-priced aftermarket parts for a lot of different guns. They define the value-oriented end of the customization market. And the R&D teams can turn around products fast. The latest offering, and one that will fly off the shelves, is a tactical stock set for Ruger’s 10/22 Takedown, one of the most versatile configurations of the venerable rimfire ever made.

3D printing is definitely the wave of the future in manufacturing. However, for the most part, what we’ve seen is novelty items or non-serviceable experiments exploring the limits of the process. As far as I know, TacStar, one of the Lyman family of brands specializing in tactical accessories, is the first company in our industry to bring a 3D printed item to market. The newest product is an AR-15 Adjustable Match Rifle Stock. This is not a toy. It’s a well engineered stock that allows you to customize the length of pull and comb height to ensure that your AR fits you perfectly. A properly fitting gun, of course, allows you to shoot your best.

Chiappa Firearms https://www.chiappafirearms.com/ Chiappa Firearms, best known for their quasi steampunk looking Rhino revolvers, had a shotgun/rifle combo at SHOT this year that the survivalists out among us will surely take note of. The X-Caliber is a folding stock, over-under, shotgun rifle. The basic form of the long gun is a 12 gauge shotgun barrel [...]

The SHOT Show is literally acres and acres of guns. The physical space is comparable to a suburban mall made up of gun stores. With so much to see, so many triggers to fiddle with, some of the real innovation can be hard to see. I first ran into the geniuses behind MyCaseBuilder.com at last year’s NRA convention. I found them again at SHOT, and they’re showing off something truly revolutionary. You can now take a picture of your gun (or whatever you’d like) and their software will convert that photo into a 3D pattern that can be cut in foam.

Blaser introduced their super fast in-line action in 1993 as their model R 93. The R 8 is the next generation. They make a modular rifle with just about any production rifle caliber you’d care to shoot. To change calibers you simply change barrels, or, if you’re changing to a different family of cartridges, the barrel and bolt, which can be accomplished simply and quickly in the field. Their guns aren’t cheap, typically running in the $3,00 – $5,000 range. However, guns wearing synthetic stocks in lieu of exotic hardwood can be purchased for less. That’s a boon to any hunters who hunt enough to appreciate what this gun can do for them. We took a look at a couple of the new synthetic stocks. While the wood stocks are truly gorgeous, the synthetic stocks have a style that we’re not accustomed to seeing, what with all the tactical plastic in the market.