26 Jan 24
2024 SHOT Show, Last Day
Here are things I saw at the Show on this last day!
Kimber’s Maco is small-sized, 9mm thirteen-shooter. Nice size! The one you want is the R7 Maco FDE. It runs $675.00
PSA’s jointed-trigger (otherwise Glock-like) “Dagger” Pistol falls into the same category. It’s a sixteen-shooter
Shadow System’s CR920FS is at the top of this List! A compact eleven-shooter. Well set-up for concealed carry. $600.00. They make a fancier version, but this “foundation” model is the one I would select.
Turkish-made pistols:
I mentioned the Canik Pistol yesterday, but today I also saw the Girsan, Barak, and the DYI. All Glock copies, made in Turkey, but people I talked with at their respective booths didn’t speak very good English and none seemed to know the American retail price of their pistols!
Canik pistols are popular and well-established in America. The other three mentioned above, not so much.
British-made Shield pistol RDOs now all feature access to the battery without taking the whole sight off the pistol. All have self-adjusting brightness, and the AMSC model, which runs on a 2032 battery, will also run on a 2025 or a 2050 battery!
We saw the Byrna, Sabre, and the P2P “pistols,” all of which are CO2-powered, designed to shoot pepper-balls, and all are promoted as “self-defense weapons,” less-lethal alternatives to legitimate pistols. Effective range is limited to fifteen meters. Muzzle velocity is 300 f/s
These “less-lethal deterrents” may, under some circumstances, be useful to police who are in the process of making an actively-resisted arrest. However, for personal self-defense from deadly threats, I’m not inclined to bet my life on any of them!
On Range Day, I mentioned the Dry-Fire-Magazine, which is very useful for effective dry-practice training. That one is manufactured by DAA (Double Alpha Academy), and it works as advertised.
Today, I handled yet another “Dry-Fire-Magazine,” this one manufactured by Ttrigger. Works the same way, but this company’s unit is more sophisticated and can be used in conjunction with lasers and video simulators.
Final notes:
At least one major arms manufacturer, SIG, was not here, for the second year in a row. Nearly all the rest were, including many small ones.
Both the FBI and ATF have booths at the SHOT Show, every year!
Lots of vendors I talked with complained about high costs (that increase every year). Even a small booth at the SHOT Show is very expensive.
Attendance was heavy. I mingled with big crowds all four days!
I was joined for lunch yesterday by a group of my Canadian LEO students. They are all here at their own expense. Their department not only didn’t cover expenses, these officers weren’t even given time off!
They explained that all expenses were to be covered, until their department’s hierarchy discovered that the SHOT Show was in Las Vegas, NV. Las Vegas’ reputation torpedoed the trip, but my officers decided to come anyway!
2025 SHOT Show will be in January, and at the same location.
I recommend attendance by all serious students of our Art!
/John
