When I was told that SHOT Show was huge and I would
literally not see everything before it was over I really didn't believe it. I
am now a believer that there is literally no way to see every single booth and
have time to talk to all of them, but really there is no need to because not
all of the booths are offering the firearms or gear that I typically review.
Media day was a crazy place to be, but at the same
time it was awesome because I was able to get some time behind some newer
firearm such as the Glock 41, Glock 42, S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR AR-15, and ADCOR
AR-15. Having time to talk with the representatives from each company and
sometimes the owners helps to give a lot of background information that may not
always be readily available.
If I were to narrow it down to 2 things that I was
impressed the most with it would have to be the Glock 42 and the S.W.O.R.D Intl
SBR (also 16" setup).
The Glock 42 was something that I went in wanting
to hate it because I thought it was the most ridiculous thing that Glock would
bring out a single stack .380 while everyone else has been pumping out single
stack 9mm's. Yet when I finally got my hands on it and felt how well it is
made, how balanced it is, and how easy it is to fire and be on steel I was
impressed. After talking with a few of the other guys and gals who were out
there at Media day I am pretty sure we all came to the conclusion that Glock
may have decided to release the .380 before the 9mm version because if they had
gone in the reverse order of that no one would buy the .380 version. Either way
it was a pleasant surprise and something I am looking forward to getting more
range time with and doing further reviews with.
The S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR and 16" AR-15's were
both very interesting rifles to shoot. They are both piston systems, with
S.W.O.R.D.'s compensator installed on them along with a few other great
upgrades. The result was an extremely smooth shooting rifle that pretty well
eliminated muzzle flip and walk. Getting on target and staying on target was a
dream, every shot was a hit.
On the SHOT Show floor(s) I was completely
overwhelmed from the beginning. The second I stepped into the Sands Expo Center
I realized just how large the show was, it took over an hour to figure out
where a majority of the companies were at and how to navigate the city that is
SHOT Show.
Plenty of time was spent talking with some of the newer companies,
gawking and drooling over many of the new rifles that are being released this
year. Such as the Sig Sauer P556XI, Rock River Arms LAR-47, and the Gallow
Technologies Weapons Storage system. There were literally so many cool things
to see that I quickly felt overwhelmed and realized that there needed to be a
system to the madness and writing down the companies I wanted/needed to see was
the best bet.
(Rock River Arms LAR-47)
(SAR Arms 9mm SBR)
I talked with a lot of companies, some who I have been working with over the past year and others that I just met this past week during SHOT Show. Everyone that I talked to was genuine and a great contributor to the industry. There were many items that were interesting and that peaked my interest, and there were other things that I could not figure out why they were there.
Overall I was completely overwhelmed from day 1 and did not get nearly as much done as I had hoped to, however once I got my bearings and gained some speed I was able to meet many companies that will be working with us throughout this year.
Just to name a few of the companies:
S.W.O.R.D. International
Offhand Gear
SAR Arms
ODIN Works
Primary Weapons Systems
and quite a few more.
I am really looking forward to bringing as much new information to everyone, and introducing many new items.
Make sure to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as new items start to roll in and new initial thoughts posts go up.
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Also make sure to follow @shiplane and @spartan_tc on Instagram for pictures and info of new gear we have coming in.
