SHOT Show 2020 – Day 1 Coverage

SHOT Show 2020 Day 1

The Media room is open an hour before the show so I hung out there for a bit

…and ran into none other than Hickock45!!!!

Per the SHOT Show 2019 fact sheet, the total weight of goods delivered for the show exceeded 7,000,000 pounds! This included more than 15,000 firearms, which were all inspected and tagged before being put on display. Did I mention that SHOT is big?

STI was the first booth that I visited in 2018 so I thought I would keep up the tradition, especially since there was a chance of seeing the actual movie gun from John Wick 3! Of course, I love my own JW3 gun but handling the real movie gun is still a special experience for me.

Sadly it was not there but I would get a related surprise later on in the day. In the meantime, STI briefed me on their totally new lineup of no less than 7 Staccato variants! Based on customer demand of people wanting to carry their competition guns, STI is moving more toward “tactical” as opposed to a pure competition gun. They have even brought back a single stack!

From a quality standpoint nothing will change as the guns will still be hand fitted and will retain features such as island barrels.

Next on my list, B&T, which was my favourite booth of the show so far. As I mentioned, I REALLY liked the USW-A1 at range day so I wanted to have a closer look.

I also REALLY liked this in SPR in 300 blackout with integrated suppressor!

As well as this grenade launcher.

Just great product from B&T.

I shot IWI’s T12 shotgun at 2018’s Range day but I missed their booth at the show to get better pics and to see a real UZI in person so I wanted to correct those issues.

And here is the micro Uzi!

The Tavor shotgun with rotating magazines.

Loved the cut-aways

I visited the Ed Brown booth to see two things in particular…first the new “Fueled by Ed Brown S&W M&P collaboration…while there are lots of custom Glocks out there, not as many people are doing custom M&Ps…this one has Ed Brown parts and is hand fit just like a custom…US$1,999

And second, the Jeff Cooper re-release…the last time this model was available, I chose my Molon Labe over it…glad that I can have another chance

I got to meet / re-meet a lot of celebrities and industry icons today….such as Les Baer (he was not at the booth when I visited in 2018), who I also ended up seeing a second time in the hotel elevator later in the day lol.

I am holding the new American Handgunner

While he is holding this one

I also got to meet the founder of Freedom Arms…who had this very special set made in his honour

To me though, all of their great big caliber revolvers (and a single action) are works of art

I know a lot of people are into chassis systems, when I hear the words “precision rifle” I immediately think of the H-S Precision HTR. I especially like the take-down version.

H-S was showcasing many new, lighter hunting models in various finishes.

I especially liked this one.

That having been said, I’d be very happy with a Desert Tech lol…especially the Covert

Or for larger calibers…

The MDR is now available in multiple calibers.

I stopped at the Kel-Tec booth mainly to check out their KSG line of shotguns. Yes, they introduced some new handguns but the focus of my review is on things that I like not necessarily reporting on every new introduction lol.

I liked the ultra compact, which would be prohibited here I think but there is a version with an extended barrel that I handled recently at Bulls Eye London

Speaking of, look who I ran into at the booth! None other than Scott from Bulls Eye.

I knew that Tom was visiting Cadex so I wasn’t sure that I would but their booth sure caught my eye! (that happens at SHOT lol). LOT’S of great new products here.

The Sheepdog was introduced last year

…and now there is a lighter version for hunting.

The Kraken with interchangeable calibers…you can see the take down tools to make the switch in the second pic

And if you think that suppressor on the Kraken is big, check out the one on the .50BMG Tremor!

My personal favourite, the C.P.S with quick release stock

New colours

New two stage trigger (vs. single stage)

New rail mount

New bi-pod

And new shotgun accessories!

As you may know, I am just as much into knives as I am into guns, maybe even more so! I did visit several knife booths, such as Benchmade.

I took the opportunity to look at their latest Balisongs, since we don’t really see those here. The handles on these three are G10, steel, and titanium respectively. The magnetic latch on the titanium model was pretty cool (pretty much pops open when you squeeze the handles).

Apart from their Balisongs, my favourite Benchmade of all time is the Stryker designed by custom knifemaker Allen Elishewitz (who is at SHOT as he designs knives for Hogue), now only available as an auto.

I did like their new out the front auto a lot though

SHOT exclusive scales and S90V blade steel on this one

This gentlemen’s folder is expected to be their biggest new introduction…no pocket clip, it comes with a sheath

Continuing with knives…I was hoping to see Ernie Emerson and update our comparison picture but sadly he was not at the show.

I did get to see the new smaller Sheepdog, shown here next to the original size.

Other interesting knives at his booth…the Seax fixed blade neck knife

CQC-7 fixed next to the folding version

The P-SARK trainer

And my personal favourite, the Super Commander

Back to guns….I put myself on the “the list” for a Springfield FBI gun almost 2 years ago without ever having handled one in person…now I can say that my instincts were right because it is stunning in person

Next stop, Colt

Of course all the talk about Colt is around the re-released Python, but as I mentioned after shooting it at Range Day, it didn’t excite me enough to want to purchase one.