By Michael A. Black | Contributing Writer
The 2025 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is history, once again sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) at the Venetian Expo Center and Caesar’s Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This was the 46th show and was just as massive as the previous events. Virtually every segment of the firearms industry and then some was represented, with more than 2,500 exhibitors.
The SHOT Show not only provides a showcase for new and established firearm companies, it also allows for industry professionals to network and see the latest products and developments in the field. The show is educational as well, offering a variety of classes covering the latest news and trends on the business side of firearms as well as a variety of educational programs for business owners and law enforcement. There are over 13.9 miles of booths where attendees can handle the latest firearms and other equipment and talk with professionals in the firearms industry. No personal weapons are allowed in the show, and for safety purposes, every firearm in the event is inspected and tagged to ensure that no weapons have firing pins. For gun lovers, law enforcement officers, and industry professionals, it’s the closest thing to heaven you’ll ever get.
As usual, SHOT Show University offered an outstanding array of classes each day in business management and law enforcement. Some of these in the business section were “Guide to Maximizing Sales with Suppressors,” “Breaking Through Barriers: Digital Marketing Strategies for the Firearms Industry,” and “The Dark Side of AI-The Cybercriminal’s AI Playbook” The Law Enforcement Education Program had a variety of classes as well including, “Instructor Development for Low Light Operations,” “The Evolution of Gear and Police Response to Active Assailants,” and one near and dear to my heart, “Police Suicide: the Threshold of Pain.” (My ex-partner on the police department took his own life.)
The show officially began on Tuesday, but industry professionals and members of the media had an opportunity to attend a special day of shooting on Jan. 20 at Boulder Range in Boulder City. Various firing stations were set up along the long range and attendees were able to shoot some of the newest weapons as well as a lot of old stand-bys.
Industry Day at the Range (Formerly called Media Day at the Range) is always held on the Monday prior to the first day of the SHOT Show. A series of buses took participants to the range, about a 45-minute trip. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were rather harsh and made walking around the huge outdoor facility rather arduous.
With temperatures on the cold side, hovering in the high 40’s degrees, the wind was absolutely brutal. Not only did it periodically pelt us with clouds of stinging dust, but these occasional bursts were so strong that it literally blew over a few portable signs and one cooler full of ice and bottled waters. The range, which is completely outdoors, offered a variety of shooting booths for both rifles and pistols, as well as a separate demo area spotlighting some new products. It required a lot of walking, although an inside shuttle was provided this year, which took you from one end of the long the rifle range area to the pistol shooting booths.
As we got off the bus, each person was given a courtesy set of new impact resistant ANSI Sport Glasses with high-grade polycarbonate lenses and a set of Walker’s Razor low profile adjustable passive ear muffs.
After taking advantage of the range shuttle bus, we were driven to one of the furthest firing stations, which hosted Carbon Research (CR), AKA “silencer headquarters.” They offered a chance to fire weapons fitted with their newest silencers. A representative had a cut-away version which showed the titanium baffles to reduce the sound of the fired rounds. Each sound suppressor is handmade with baffles fashioned with a combination of titanium, Kevlar, and carbon filters for better acoustics and heat dissipation. I must confess to lifting my ear protection for a moment as I stood in line to fire the weapons. Amazingly, the sound of the fired rounds was reduced to a plinking sound.
We took turns firing a Ruger 350 Lightning rifle and a CZ Scorpion. At first, the mounted Red Dot sights threw off an old-fashioned iron sights guy like me and my rounds went high initially. I then got the hang of finding the tiny red dot in the mount, after which I nailed the metal silhouette down range. At the behest of the range master, I put my fingers on the attached suppressor after firing off a dozen rounds or so. It was barely warm. These silencers are also extremely light weight (2.5 ounces), which, the CR associate informed me, does not add a lot of weight to the end of the muzzle, allowing the shooter to stay on target more easily. The MSRP for these silencers are as follows: CR 22—Rated for .22 short, .22 Long, .22Mag, and .17 HMR— $699.00; the CR NAS—Rated for all rimfire rounds 300 BLK 9mm and 556 NATO rounds—$399.00; the CR300—Rated up to .38 decibel reduction—$1,499.00: and the CR 9—Full auto rated for 9mm, at $1,299.00.
LWRC International also had their line of new suppressors at another booth and gave out tickets you could redeem for a free coffee at the food trucks. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of sampling either one.
We passed by some of the regular pistol stops (Colt, Glock, Smith & Wesson) because we found the long lines discouraging due to the inclement weather conditions. Finally we caught a break at the Kel Tec booth and got acquainted with their new PR57. The 5.7 mm pistol has a very unique design. It’s top loaded by pressing the round through the wide ejection port when the slide is locked back, and into the actual handle of the weapon. Literally, there is no magazine.
Consequently, the pistol is very small and lightweight (13.6 ounces unloaded and 19 ounces with a full load) and holds 20 + 1 rounds. The handle width is roughly equivalent to about three Hersey Bars bound together. It does have a somewhat long, double-action trigger pull, but fires smoothly. This one had good old iron sights, no doubt because of the weapon’s overall thinness. (On Tuesday I stopped by their booth at the show and they showed me the ease with which the weapon can be disassembled. You simply push the trigger forward and the upper assembly slide glides right off the front with a smooth motion.) The MSRP is $399.00.
Due to the combination of low temperature and relentless wind, we jumped on one of the waiting shuttle buses after about two hours to return to the Strip. It should also be noted that for the second year in a row, Stacatto Arms opted not to have a booth at Industry Day at the Range. Instead, they were at a separate range day at the PrairieFire Range, located in Pahrump, Nevada. There was shuttle service to this site from the Venetian. The event was open to the general public, but a waiver of liability was required to be signed prior to admission. The folks at Stacatto later told me that the event was a success with around 4000 people in attendance.
Tuesday morning the show officially began at the Venetian Convention Center. We joined the massive flow of people marching through the hall for the opening of the SHOT Show. Once again, the array of exhibits was spread over five levels in the Venetian and a separate section in Caesar’s Forum across the street. Although it was billed as one of the largest shows ever, the trend toward austerity I commented on last year was noticeable again this time.
While the show is still impressive in its opulence, the SHOT DAILY magazines were again cut down in size, and there were no refreshments in the Press Room other than coffee, tea, and soft drinks. The supply of complimentary reporter’s notebooks and pens were gone by the second day. Also noticeable were the lack of printed press kits and catalogs from many of the manufacturers. “Everything’s on the Internet now,” was the standard reply. Free WiFi was available in the press room and QR codes and digital press kits were readily available.
Negotiating through the heavily populated aisles to find a specific exhibit was made easier by an available app, if you had a smart phone. Paper maps were also provided, as well as helpful staff in green shirts who could give out directions to the desired booth location.
Since Staccato (www.staccato2011.com) had not been at Industry Day at the Range, we made this one of our first stops. The Texas-based gun manufacturer was very friendly and showed us their newest models. It should be noted that this gun is extremely popular with law enforcement. The Texas Rangers, as well as over 1400 other law enforcement agencies, have adopted the Staccato as their duty weapon. Part of this appeal is due to the smooth, ball-bearing feel as one racks back the slide of the pistol. The standard bearer, the Staccato XC has a handsome, steel-frame This S/A 9mm has a 2.5 lb trigger pull and a 17+1 round capacity. The front sight is fixed onto the front portion of the barrel and doesn’t cycle back with the slide which allows for the shooter to maintain better target acquisition with less recoil and muzzle rise. The MSRP is $4,299.00.
The Stacatto P4 HD is their newest scaled down in size variation and is totally ambidextrous. It has a steel frame with relief cuts built in for better finger gripping power. The rear sight has also been moved to just behind the ejection port for easy fitting for a red dot sight. (In the regular sized models, the rear sight is still at the rear end of the slide. It will offer a 16+1 round capacity and weigh-in at 26 oz due to its aluminum frame. The MSRP is $2,499.00.
The general mood at the show was very upbeat, no doubt in reaction to the previous presidential election results, which seemed to follow a more favorable trend toward firearms and the Second Amendment. In fact, President Trump did have a presence at the show. I came upon a large, imposing representation of our president in the New Products section.
Numerous companies featured weapons commemorating President Trump’s reelection including Kahr Firearms Group (www.kahr.com) out of Pennsylvania with their gold plated MAGA Magnum .50 Desert Eagle, and Bond Arms (www.bondarms.com) with the “DT 47,” available in .45/.410. By way of Grandbury, Texas, Bond Arms specializes in the smallest, most powerful handguns on the market. With stainless steel frames, these mighty-mites have variations of 20 different barrels with calibers ranging from .45/.410 to .22 LR. They also are known for their “Grizzly,” a wicked looking little gun with caliber options of .45 LC/.410. It has a three inch barrel and is only 5 inches long in total length. It comes with a leather holster and has a MSRP of $377.00. They also had their new lever-action .223 rifle on hand. The MSRP for that one is $1,600.00.
Numerous other companies were promoting new lever-action rifles as well, including Smith & Wesson (www.smith-wesson.com) with their new 1854 Stealth Hunter model, available in .44 Rem. Mag, .45 Colt, and .357 calibers. This rifle also has an extended Picatinny Rail for mounting optics, as well as upgraded wood stock and a high-polish PVD metallic finish. The MSRP for this one is $1,399.00.
(To be continued Thursday)
