SHOT Show 2025 kicked off 21JAN25 in Las Vegas with an anticipated audience of 70,000 attendees. The very first show was held in St Louis in 1979. Now only Vegas can hold it. It is enormous. The show is the world’s largest firearms trade show, and with U.S. sales of guns and ammo topping out at $8.9 Billion yearly this show is high dollar competition to show off all of the new stuff as you may imagine. You can walk all three days and not see it all in the Venetian and Caesar’s Palace connected convention centers. Vendors are trying to entice you with all kinds of give away stuff. Now I am much too jaded to be taken in by such trinkets, but did have to get a bigger bag to carry mine home in.
Here is some of the notable items I saw today in addition to seeing several PKM and FN 249G machine guns lying around the place as well as the odd M2 Browning. Merica.
Berry’s Bullets are completely encapsulated in metal jacket and less likely to add melted lead to the air when you are shooting. I talked with them about what they had new for 2025, and they showed off a combo .40 S&W/10mm 222 grain FP-TP and a 100 grain RN for 30 Super Carry. I was curious about sales of their bullets in 30 Super Carry and was told they supply a surprising amount to retailers and home reloaders. It is a relatively unknown caliber but has interesting ballistics. Most of the major manufacturers offered a pistol in 30 Super Carry, but here just a couple years into it several have dropped it.
Boston Leather is an Illinois company based in Sterling, IL. They make police duty type leather gear among other things. Good quality work and nice to see an Illinois firearms-based company represented at the SHOT Show.
Bushmaster
Yes they are still around. They are showing off a new BA50 in .50 BMG with a 10 round magazine and bipod. It is huge and weighs 29.5 lbs. It went from my “Might be nice list” to my “Hmmm list.”
Canik
Last year Canik made a huge splash announcing they partnered with Taran Butler of TTI to trick out a John Wick level SFx 9mm for very reasonable money. It took months to fill orders. They also put out a Rival-S with an all-steel frame- it was such a big hit the reps said it took even longer to fill initial orders because the steel frame could not be built as rapidly as the polymer frames. This week Canik is showing their brand-new Mete SFx “Sketch” pistol. It is easy to spot, it is in a cool blue Cerekote color with black and white accents. The Sketch is limited to 2500 pieces and comes with a certificate and patch (kind of reminds me the SIG Legion concept). It comes with one 18-round and one 20-round magazine, an optic ready slide, flared magwell, and additional backstraps, all color matched of course. It comes with a matching blue holster and a hard case. Seems they want it to be seen as a collectible or exclusive piece. If you don’t know Canik by now you probably should. Their lineage goes back to the Walther P99 and Smith & Wesson SW99 and the ergonomics make it one of the most comfortable pistols to lay hands on. Canik seems to mirror current Walther PDP designs and has made many changes and upgrades over a pretty short period of time while also garnering a reputation for dependability and accuracy. MSRP for the tricked-out Sketch pistol is about $700.
Canik’s newest micro 9mm is the MC9 Prime. It has a flat trigger and a dream trigger pull. Much like the ever-expanding Sig P365 line, this MC9 Prime has a ported barrel and a longer grip and can accept 17 round mags into a very small frame. I can be found either flat with optics cut or with Canik’s already installed self-manufactured red dot sight.
Colt
Is passing out carabiners with “Colt- Still making history” on them. Cute. Lots of .45’s in evidence but the most eye-catching items are Colt revolvers. The super-sized stainless-steel Kodiak, 6 shot .44 mag with a ported barrel and a .357 version called the Grizzly are pretty sweet. But don’t call them just an Anaconda and a Python…that is right out! Oh they look just like them and cost the same at $1500, but they have new model names you see. Very important to the Colt reps I can tell you. I also saw my first Colt Viper revolver. It is a 6 shot SS medium frame j.357 revolver which looks an awful lot like the old Lawman right down to the gutter rear sight groove instead of a stand-up rear sight. Several vendors mentioned they are seeing a resurgence in revolvers. The Viper MSRP is $999
Davidsons
Davidson’s Exclusive is showing off a new variant of an old theme. It is the Ruger Mini 14 Tactical .300 Blackout. Yes, not only did they stuff a .300 Blackout barrel into this venerable Mini 14 platform it also has integral scope mounts and comes with a Picatinny Rail that goes over the top of the receiver and an obligatory heat shield. Oh, and the best part…yes, they have it all in Stainless Steel with a side folding skeleton stock. Can you say “the A-Team” with .300 Blackouts? Hope you can score better hits than the A-Team did (TV censors would let them use full auto, but they were not allowed to depict them actually hitting a human being.)
European American Arms
EAA had a big display and right in the center was a 3D printer building something. Turns out they have a project with Cosaint Arms called “3D Grips4U”. Yes they are building custom pistol grips on the 3D printer. How custom? Well, you the consumer get a resin mold which you use to imprint your actual hand and grip. You then ship it off and they have a computer measure your molded handprint/grip and it saves it as some techno magic file which goes to the 3D printer to build. Looked like they were doing 2011 grips when I saw it. It harkened back to the 1960’s and 1970’s when you could send in a tracing of your hand (yes like a grade school turkey hand drawing) to Bear Hug Grips and they would use it to make custom wood revolver stocks in your image and size.
FN had their 509 MRD on display (yes putting a dot on last year’s pistol) and their brand-new Reflex Micro which holds 11+1 9mm rds and comes with an optics plate already cut out. Biggest thing about this tiny gun is the aggressive front and back strap checkering in the polymer frame. It really digs in. You are not going to mishandle it or lose grip if sweaty or wet. Not sure how my palms and fingers would feel after extended shooting, but this is a micro size EDC pistol so I doubt people will put a lot of rounds through it.
The Austrian company generally does not make big changes year to year. A G17 from 1987 looks pretty much the same as one built in 2025. This year they are selling their popular pistols direct with Aimpoint COA dot sights already mounted. Whee. Now the Aimpoint is a good sight, no doubt but not a lot of engineering went into the Glock plan to screw them on top of their MOS optics cut guns. You can get them on the G43X, G48, G19, G45 and G47 from Glockmeister.com.
Year after year we wait for the fabled Glock Carbine to be released. Sigh again not this year. Maybe Glock “Perfection” has reached its peak since they are not engineering new and innovative stuff anymore. Remember last year when they put a G17 slide on a G19 frame and called it “new”? Perhaps they are just serving as the standard for all the other companies who are making clones and improved versions of the original Glocks. “It has to be as good as a Glock.”
Hornady
Big H has two new bullet lines on display the first is “Match Winning Performance” in the Aeromatch bullets. They say they are produced in small product batches to exacting detail and are available in .22, 6mm, 6.5m and .30. Their second line is Hornady Back Country Defense Ammo with a new bullet design. The point or tip of the bullet and hollow point are protected by the metal jacket and should hold the bullet together for deeper penetration before expanding like hollow points do. The are putting it out in 9MM +P in 138 gr, .357 165 gr, 10mm 200 gr, .44 mag in 240 gr, .454 Casul .300 gr and 460 SW and 500 SW.
Hi-Viz
I wrote about the Hi-Viz company yesterday from the range but it is worth repeating they have new co-witness pistol sights which can align with a red dot, and they have added several additional manufacturers to their line of excellent Fast Dot H3 sighting system to include Ruger, S+W, Sig, Glocks and just this month have added Canik’s as well. The Fast Dot approximates a red dot but is only the height of iron sights. Light gathering tubes front and rear are orange/red, but when you line up the rear tube with the front the picture turns brilliant green. It becomes a bright green dot. It works with both eyes open, one eye open, astigmatism and even weak eye dominance. Optics Planet has them for about $125.
Hofner Knives
Brian Hoffner was on hand with his LE driven lock back knife fighter knives. Brian knows a thing or two about it being a former officer and designed these folders to be one handed opener and will readily teach you his should be patented upside-down deployment. When you pull the knife from your pocket the clip can put it into your hand, and you hold it with the back into your palm and fingers along the handle. With a shake the blade will deploy and lock out pointed straight down. Some knife fighting techniques use this grip and Brian shows variants in real life and on training DVDs how you can put the knife in your weak hand and still draw and two hand a weapon if necessary. Really different. Most of his folders are less than $100 and he had deep discounts for multiple purchase. I also saw his new Beast non folder. It is about a foot long stainless bowie with about a 3/8″ spine-it is thick! The knife is designed as a police entry tool which is actually rated and intended to be used as a pry bar if necessary. The Beast should be named the BEAST.
IWI
The Israeli company makes a lot of fine weapons, and their new Masada Slim is no exception. It is micro compact size 9mm with a 3.4″ bbl and holds 13 rounds. The Masada Slim Elite comes with a factory installed red dot. I also looked at their Carmel 223/5.56mm rifle. It is a complete redraw of what a mag fed rifle looks like. Closest thing to is a SCAR. It has a left side charging handle and a very compact and short stock. They started shipping them in 2024 and MSRP is $1399.
LokSak
I bumped into my old friends from this great company. They make ziploc baggies. What is so innovative about that? They make them big and small and they are waterproof. Around boats and water anything valuable goes in a LokSak and you don’t have any more worries. I have used them for years on SCUBA trips, especially for very expensive cell phones, computers, tablets and storage media and key fobs. Try dunking your phone in a regular zip lock bag. You will be buying a new phone. The LokSak table has a tablet which is running with camera on and it catches you walking up to the table. Oh and the tablet is inside a full aquarium at the time. Good gear. They also have added Faraday Bags, soft material you and put your phones in to block all signals coming and going. Handy item. The rfid blocking bags aren’t cheap at $100, but if you need one (or more) it is well worth it if you get my drift.
Mossberg
Mossberg is showing off a new version of their pump action shotguns, the R Series. They modernized the 500 series to the point all I recognize is the traditional bolt. The rest of it features a a rotary safety like an AR safety instead of the old top of the tang safety, and they added a collapsible fiberglass AR style stock along with a Picatinny rail on top of the 590 receiver, foldable sights, and a slimmer fore end. They also have a new Professional series which are hand built to standards previously only available with military or GOV contracts. They ship with a Cerekote finish and optics cut and a shorter “Length of Pull “stock (good for smaller people and for people of all sizes wearing body armor.)
Ruger
Ruger RXM- this is the big star of the SHOT Show this year. It was announced about three weeks ago and boiling it down to simple terms, it is a Ruger Glock Clone. Ta Da! Yes Glock came to America in 1987 and Ruger just released their G19 clone variant to a lot of fanfare. But why? Well focusing in a bit tighter this pistol is quite an upgraded unit/not a copy. It has an upgraded trigger, slide and sights. The slide is pre-cut for optics. The polymer grip is designed by MagPul instead of by Ruger (with several grip module variants hiding just around the corner like the SIG P320s and P365s.) The pistol comes with two MagPul 15 round mags (or 10 rds in prohibitive states) and accepts all Glock mags. Smart.
Also taking a page from SIG instead of Glock, the fire control unit for the RXM pops out and looks just like a SIG P320 FCU. Hmmm. Ruger also says most Glock parts interchange. They spent a lot of promotion dollars on this pistol this month and picking it up kind of reminds me of a PSA Dagger feel and weight. Early public testing seems to be going well with the most impressive I saw on the internet before the SHOT Show was a tester lined up a whole line of shooters and they shot the Ruger RXM one after the other in a torture test- for 8400 rounds! It got so hot they dunked it in water to cool, shook it off and handed it to the next guy in line holding a loaded mag. Oh and the price? They have been seen online for $400. Yes, that is a couple of Benjamin Franklins less than a Glock 19 let alone the MOS version.
Ruger is also introducing their lightest weight 10/22 rifle using a skeletonized stock using lots of carbon fiber and weighing in at only 3.5 lbs! The Ruger Ultra Light Weight 10/22 Carbon Fiber has a tensioned barrel (think free float) wrapped in carbon and looks very space gun. Should be a big hit.
Sig Sauer
This must be my next SIG purchase. The multi-caliber, belt fed SAW machinegun. Much more exciting than the latest P365 mutation. Oops it’s been a half an hour, I’ll bet they have a new P365 variant hitting market over night!
Photo credit: Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Mdl 327 WR Jerry Miculek World Record 9mm Revolver in 9mm with a Vortec Red Dot and very nice JM designed grips. Looks just like Jerry’s signature revolver he set the world record in 2023 from the holster drawing and hitting 6 steel plates at 7 yards in 1.88 seconds. It can be yours if you think $3500 is a good price to pay.
I got Uber Champion Julie Galoob to hold up a new S&W Bodyguard 2.0 in .380 and the 9mm Equalizer. The Bodyguard is tiny. The Equalizer evolved from the EZ line and is still a compact pistol with some unique features like the EZ racking slide spring and a grip safety of all things! The Bodyguard 2.0 has a thumb safety. The .380 Bodyguard concept has been around for quite a few years, and it has bordered on the idea you can go too small. This redesigned Bodyguard 2.0 is upgraded and upsized a bit closer in size to the Shield Plus pistol- with similar capacity but chambered in .380. MSRP about $450 for this tiny EDC pistol.
Mdl 1854 lever action rifle. This rifle made quite a splash last year announced at the SHOT Show. It is the first rifle Smith & Wesson has ever made, and it was a dandy. A .44 mag lever action rifle in stainless steel. It was quite handsome. This year they are offering a dark blue model called the “Stealth Hunter” with a full Picatinny rail and modular adaptable fore end, a Hi Viz front sight and a peep sight at the other end in both the .44 mag and new this year in .45 Long Colt and .357 magnum. Last I saw they were running $1200-$1400.
S&W brings back Forty Caliber!
S&W is marketing some new .40 cal guns this year. Wha??? Everyone else has left them behind like an old overly possessive girlfriend some year ago, yet here is S&W offering up a new M&P FPC folding carbine in .40, an M&P .40 M2 metal frame model and a new SD40 pistol. The SD has been around for quite a while and was first seen as a budget Glock competitor. Not sure it ever really competed, and I thought they had gone away. Nope, here is Smith offering it brand new in .40 for about $350 MSRP. Why bring out some .40 cal guns? I don’t really know. There doesn’t seem to be a market for it but the gurus at Smith obviously have their reasons. Maybe when all the ammo dries up again .40 will still be on the shelf and easy to get!
Springfield Armory
Springfield Armory introduced their 2011 style high capacity 9mm pistol last year in a 5” and a 4” model. The 1911 styling with a double stack mag has been around for some time. This is the first one produced by Springfield and they were an immediate hit with competitors with buttery smooth controls and slide and very reasonably priced 20 round magazines for $37 and the whole pistol sold for around $1500 when other 2011 style guns were routinely up of $2000 and mags were $200+. I shot one handed to me by Rob Leatham last year and he said, “Tell me what you think and if there is anything you don’t like.” I liked it. A lot. This week Springfield has announced their Compact Prodigy line. Same 2011 double stack 9mm frame with more carry friendly features and can be had in 3.5” and 4.25” bull barrel versions (think Commander and Officer sizes.) Ambi-safety, Tritium front sight and optics ready as you would imagine. They will come with a 15 rd mag but will accept the 17 and 20+ mags. MSRP $1500.
Stealth Op Holsters
This company has been around for more than 20 years- I should know, I bought some of their polymer holsters after seeing them at my first SHOT Show. What makes them unique, is their molded holsters will fit multiple brands of pistols at a very reasonable price. Now some people argue the tension fit is not as “good” as a custom molded holster and if so go get what you really want. The Stealth Op holster will fit 194 different compact semi auto pistols on the market. 194. For the fledgling shooter who owns only a couple of pistols, or if you don’t need more than a couple pistols this holster probably fits all of them. They also make mag pouches with the same claims. The reps also told me they have a new micro pistol size holster which fits the Sig P365, Springfield Hellcat and Glock 43s.
Stellar Arms
My competition shooter friend Kevin Kolanda introduced me to the president of the Stellar Arms company Tigh Mumgaard, and to their production competition ready carbine. I said there had to be 4,000 AR platform carbines at the SHOT show, and what made this one different? Well for starts Tigh is a rocket scientist, a real one. His background is in Aerospace Engineering. He had designed and made stuff which is up floating overhead as we speak. His genius for design and production tolerances have resulted in a rifle in 5.56mm or .223 Wylde which has a lifetime guarantee to shoot sub-MOA groups- with any ammunition. I have never heard of such a guarantee. They also come with an unconditional lifetime warranty and 60-day money back guarantee. (One client exploded a .300 Blackout round in their Stellar rifle. Shipped it home, got fixed and sent back no charge.) The tolerances come so tight out of the production facility they don’t have to hand fit any of the parts. The result is a carbine with the strength of your average Redwood Sequoia. It is solid. 75% of all of the parts are made in house. Barrels are made elsewhere to Tigh’s specs and they come standard with Elfmann Tactical Triggers. Tigh also designed the muzzle break and patented the new design ambi charging handle. The charging handle has gas ports which prevent gas blow back from venting towards the shooter’s eye. Weighing in at about 6 lbs they run $1800-$3500 depending what the client wants on his rifle. You can watch Kevin shoot it and marvel as I did at the efficiency of the compensator- that rifle just doesn’t move! https://photos.app.goo.gl/VPGHvQQyXVnB6ty38
Would you like to win a Stellar rifle in a way cool way? They are working with the Miami Race Week, and you can buy a raffle ticket for as little as $25 and get a chance for HUGE prize package with over $40,000 in prizes via ultimateexperiencesusa.com. Winner gets Serial #1 rifle, two passes for 3 days at the Miami track, pit passes on race day and watch the race from the Paddock Club- where Pres Trump watched the races last year. Oh and $10,000 cash to spend at the Trump International Beach Resort where you will stay and you will have a rental car- an exotic rental car, and up to $1,o00 airfare credit to get to Miami. Quite a package. I’d be happy with just the rifle!
Tisas
Speaking of 2011 style (1911 profile) double stack 9mm pistols like the Springfield Prodigy, Tisas is offering up variants to include the new Tisa 1911 Duty DS 9mm 5” 17 round pistols for $550 are sold through Palmetto State Armory. They also have a 4” Commander length “Carry Double Stack” for about the same price. No, they are not the grade you would expect from a Staccato or Atlas in the $2700+ range, but the Tisas are gaining a reputation for dependability on a budget. I just saw their new Night Stalker DS 2011 17 round with optics cut slide, threaded barrel, Cerekote finish, suppressor height sights and flared magwell all for $599 via Palmetto. Quite a handful for not a lot of money, and yes, they take the Stacatto style or Spfld Armory $37 mags. All Tisas USA pistols come with a lifetime warranty plan.