SHOT Show 2025 Day One: A Vegas Virgin’s Perspective
SHOT Show day one is over, and I’m full of Armenian brandy. Let’s rock.
This is not only my first SHOT Show as Editor in Chief of The Firearm Blog, but my first SHOT Show period. Actually, it’s my first time in Las Vegas at all so this experience has very much been a case of the blind leading the blind. Thankfully, Doc Rader is on hand to hold my hand like a kindergartener on the first day of school, making introductions and explaining how things work.
If you haven’t been to Vegas, it works by a different set of rules. Businesses exist in this place that don’t make sense in the normal world. Like The Hofbrauhaus, a German eatery that lets you buy your friends a “shot,” which involves a woman viciously beating their ass with a paddle. Explain the economics of that to the good people of Louisville, Kentucky.
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There is but one rule in Vegas: You can do whatever you like as long as the House gets a cut. Want to smoke indoors at the Venetian? That’s fine, but please do so in the casino under the temptations of the pretty colors and glaring lights. Maybe I’ll try roulette? How do you play craps, anyway? The Uber driver who took me from the airport warned me that the age of consent is 16, and that such working ladies frequent the Strip.
Fortunately, I have no reason to ever see the Strip, because the Venetian is a sprawling complex that’s larger than many small towns. It’s an endless maze of restaurants, stores, and even a full-on canal with boats. Somewhere, there’s even hotel rooms.
I did have to venture outside of the Venetian for Range Day, which all of the veterans agreed was a miserable experience. Fortunately, it was dry, but with temperatures in the 40s, the constant wind cut through us like shotgun pellets, blowing around guns, targets, tables, and anything not staked down.
The breakout of the day was the KelTec PR57. Or is it the PR-57? The side of the gun says PR-57 but all the marketing materials say PR57.
In any case, what first seemed like an insane concept—a rotary barrel pistol fed by a stripper clip chambered in 5.7x28mm—seems to be a hit. The lack of a magazine makes the pistol so light that the wind nearly blew them away on Range Day.
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Thankfully, once SHOT Show started in earnest, we were safely back indoors at The Venetian. My first stop of the day was Strike Industries, and frankly, it’s the booth I was most excited to visit. I’ve been playing through Halo: The Master Chief Collection with my 11-year-old so their Halo-esque chassis systems tickle my nerd buttons.
Their long-awaited PS90 chassis is especially cool. The display model also included a F320 37mm “flare launcher”—not to be confused with a grenade launcher—which I can’t wait to play with. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available, and Strike tells me that the install is tricky, so I’m hoping that the new Strike Arms company releases a pre-built version.
Also cool, at least to me, is the SMC Charlie chassis, which is cool enough that it almost makes me want to buy a Sig Sauer P320. Almost.
On the way to our meeting with 5.11, Doc introduced me to Larry Zanoff, an honest-to-goodness celebrity. Of course, you’re familiar with Larry if you’ve seen Hollywood Weapons, but needless to say, if you’ve seen a movie with a gun in it within the past few decades, Larry probably had a hand in it.
Next, we rolled to my new friends at 5.11 Tactical, which are just a great group of people. At a private party, head of footwear Brendan Rynne spent an absurd amount of time fitting their new A/T Elite 8” GTX boot with Gore-Tex to my short, wide hobbit feet.
Meanwhile, I’ve been stress-testing the new 5.11 Founder’s Jacket, and it’s fantastic. I spent the day alternating between wearing it to meetings and cramming it into my backpack, and I just cannot wrinkle the damn thing. I plan a full review, but I urge 5.11 to roll out a complete line of men’s wear. I want a 5.11 suit, tie, and tuxedo.
Our next stop was Rise Armament, another great group of folks. Their new hotness is the RA-100, which is a two-stage drop-in AR-15 trigger with a combined pull weight of 4.5 pounds and a reasonably MSRP of $109.99. But my heart lusts after the $259.99 RA-536 APT, billed as the “Ferrari of triggers,” which is a literal hair trigger—just barely touch it and it fires.
Later in the day, we met up with Blake Tabb representing Holosun, who showed us a slew of new goodies. I especially enjoyed the wide picture of the AEMs-PRO-X2, but the coolest highlight by far was the DPS-TH thermal pistol sight. To see the full effect, we had to point it at members of the crowd, who were outlined in green like an old Apple II screen. The ‘80s are back, baby.
Rolling on to Glock, as one does, I had to check out the new Aimpoint COA model, which James Reeves has taken to calling the “barbacoa.” It’s…fine. It’s Glock, so you know it’s solid. I’m a Glock guy, primarily because Glock is the one pistol I know I can carry without it accidentally shooting me in the crotch—which is the single most important thing in a carry pistol. The “exciting” thing about this collaboration is standardization. You’ll be able to buy a Glock/Aimpoint holster from any gun store and it will be just fine, which will justify the initial investment.
Glock is reliable, but it doesn’t have Chiappa’s swagger. Unfortunately, my visit to the Chiappa booth may prove to be an expensive mistake. Because the Chiappa Rhino is every bit as cool as it looks in the photos. Then you hold it, and it’s even cooler. Then you pull the trigger and you feel like the Vince McMahon meme where his eyes are rolling up in the back of his head.
The new and shiny hotness was the Rhino Revolver 60DS Nebula, which is absolutely gorgeous but costs $1,850.37. I’ll sleep on it.
Speaking of exciting photos, at one point I had to take a second to swing by Hi-Point and handle the infamous “ money gun,” which actually feels much better in the hand than I ever expected.
The climax of the day was our meeting with Smith & Wesson. To say that they have a booth is an understatement, it’s more like a small city block. We were invited into bowtied waiters offering hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks, and then sat down for an extensive set of slides outlining the entire product timeline for 2025. Everything we’ve seen from Smith & Wesson has been crisp and professional and frankly makes many others look amateurish by comparison.
So, all in all, that was SHOT day one. We’re all tired, dehydrated, and getting ready to do it three more times. Stay tuned, more to come.
