2018 Shot Show Updates

[JohnyMac]

Post Shot Show updates here!

Here is a pic for you Erick.

[Jackalope]

Gee, I've been waiting for updates!

[Erick]

Thanks!!

[Nemo]

Gee, I've been waiting for updates!

Hail, I been waiting on an invite to go!

Nemo 

[JohnyMac]

First update:

My feet and right hip are/is KILLING ME! Food and drink is expensive so I am refraining from booze to dull the pain. 

Ok there are five (5) venues. The biggest one is the main venue (Go figure) and we did half of the main venue today. The main venue is average everyday Joe stuff. You know, H&K, Sig, Colt, blah,blah, blah. We will hit the LEO/Military venue tomorrow first thing.

Now picture this ENORMOUS ballroom. While facing north, the western half is tacticool crap and the eastern half is your run of the world shooting/hunting stuff. Better yet...The western half is Barrett, Night-Vision USA, FN, and Daniel Defense while the eastern half is Remington, Browning, Winchester, and MidwayUSA.

O-Kay, now that I have painted this picture, there is NOBODY in the eastern part of this ballroom - EVERYBODY is in the western part. If I was to invest in a new gun store my inventory would be 80/20 tacticool to traditional. OMG!

All of the sales guys on the tacticool side are sporting beards, tats, and aggressive tudes while on the traditional side they are sporting Blue Blazers,  kaki slacks and a freaken tie! Similarly with our female sales staff.

One side is wearing TIGHT tee tops and skirts/slacks/Short-shorts that are painted on thier young bodies and on the other side a nice business suit with the skirts at an appropriate level. I will leave it up to YOU to figure out which which booths the ladies represented. OMG!

The above was just to add some color to the event.

OK, for you H&K PV9 fans who want it in .45 ACP. There is a prototype ready to go into production BUT it ain't happening this year. The bean counters figure it is not needed as all of the other models are selling well.

Skyy, handguns are there and the new model 3 is out in .380 ACP BUT no dealer has it yet. Maybe by year end.

The highly anticipated H&K automatic grenade launcher is available (See pic below) and you can own one BUT you can't own the grenades. We get a volume break on the cost if we buy five.

I could go on and on BUT I am at overload point and I have yet to see the cool crap yet.

Keep in mind this is a dealer show and you can not just buy one or two of something. To use Kimber as an example, because we are a small company, we have to buy five Kimber's of one model before they will ship. So lets say you want a Kimber Eclipse II with night sights, no worries I can sell you one BUT I have a min. order of five of that model, or $5.5K at wholesale. Again, this is not a RETAIL show it is a dealer show. This is typical with everyone.

I am a Filson outerwear nut. Half my gear is Filson. Well Filson had a booth there and as I walked in I was pounced upon by a salesman wanting me to buy my spring line then and there. He noticed I was wearing a Filson flannel shirt and wool vest so he naturally assumed I was buying products for my store (s). Nope, I was just window shopping. He dropped me like a hot potato and moved on to another person who wandered into his Filson booth. 

This is serious stuff!

OK, OK, off to the LEO/military part of the show tomorrow. Do you folks have any questions on stuff you want info on or want to buy - LEO, Military, or Regular Joe? Post it here and I will see what I can do.

10-4 folks

[Jackalope]

Thanks for the report Johny.  It looks like I'll have to replace my H&K USP .45 some day.  I really like the VP9, it has become my EDC gun.

[Kbop]

very cool!

[Nemo]

Couple questions.

Is there a youtube for how to build the grenades that fit that launcher?

FYI, I have full access to a battery powered wheel chair for next year.  We could trade off.

Any loot obtained?

Is photo below accurate.  Reportedly from SHOT Show.

Nemo

[Jackalope]

If you happen to stop by the Palmetto State Armory booth....there's rumor of them producing an H&K MP-5 clone.  If true, when will it be available and the approximate price?

[JohnyMac]

@ Nemo, never saw the booth or sign. Not saying it isn't there however I haven't seen it.

M203 grenade launchers (See attached) can be purchased without a category III stamp. I was also given some bogus info that the projectiles fired from a M203 was classified as a category III destructive devise , e.g. hand grenade.

Depending on your states laws (stop reading if you are a resident of CA., NY., NJ., etc, ) m203 grenade launcher is legal and most of the projectiles you would launch from one, e.g. smoke, tear gas, flash-bangs are legal. The frag grenades are not.

@ Jackalope, I will check tomorrow with Palmetto State Armory.

Hey if you can hook up with a category III FFL dealer GEMTECH cans are running at around $400- wholesale. Oh, ya' can't have in CA., NY., NJ., etc.

Today we roamed the LEO and Military part of the show. Less ladies with painted on clothes and a lot more of very serious folks selling some pretty serious crap. M249 SAWs were common along with night vision gear. Body armor made up a lot of what we saw - Foot to head.

We saw folks walking around in military uniforms from:

I saw...
>Japan,
> Finland,
> Poland, and
> Scotland. This guy was in a kilt.

My partner in crime saw...
> Slavic countries ( he did not elaborate),
> Italy,
> Mexico, and
> Two US Army Sergeants with Armorer badges on.

For the most part, the folks who manned the booths in the LEO/Military sections ignored me today as I did not have LEO/Military credentials BUT when my partner in crime was with me (He did have the proper credentials on around his neck) I was treated with respect and my questions were answered.

Daniel Defense had a GREAT booth and the salesman there were great. Colt's booth sucked and I got into a stupid debate with the sales man over their LEO6290 AR. The guy gave me less than truthful info and I should have just walked but I didn't and put his ass in its place. Where do some of these companies get the folks who represent their products?

I had an awesome experience at the Kimber booth. Great sales guys who wanted to sell their firearms. I was offered a contract if we bought $20K a year at cost. It use to be that with Kimber when a customer wanted X gun you had to buy five of that exact same gun. Now you can buy $20K of any of their guns direct over a 12 month period as long as it adds up to $20K by year end. Trust me, that is so much better than before.

Bumped into CJS06 this morning and he introduced me to a few guys I am looking to buy some toys from - Thank you Chris!

Anyway, the food is poor and it is expensive (breakfast is $25-). Adult beverages are through the roof in price. The weather isn't -10 degrees and it has been sunny. There are some VERY hansom ladies walking around and I have to periodically pick my partners jaw off the ground or hand him a Kleenex to wipe his chin of drool. 

Oh the life of a Shot Show attendee. 

Till tomorrow...

[Jackalope]

Thanks Johny! I'm glad to hear that you're having a good time. 

[Kbop]

Wow, cool!

[JohnyMac]

The rumor is true, there will be a H&K MP-5 clone made by Palmetto State Armory. It will be available Q1 2019. Estimated price $1,100-.

More on the Shot Show after my dinner and an adult beverage however, here are some pics.

[Jackalope]

Thank you Johny, it'll be on my short list of acquisitions next year.  I'm just curious as to the undercurrent feelings of the show.  Obviously, folks are going to be pro-gun at the show.  I know when I went to shows during Obammy's reign of terror that folks weren't happy with the situation, so I'm wondering if there was more of a positive feeling in general.

Hey did you hit the casinos?  If so, how did you do?   

[JohnyMac]

Well I am home. Did a Red Eye home leaving at 2300 hrs Saturday night. Walked into the cabin at 1300 hrs Sunday.

My partner in crime developed a cold early in our visit, probably brought there from home, and gave it to me while we were out there. So add to the Red Eye flights a cold and it has been a rough three days for me. Went to bed yesterday at 1900 hrs and woke up this morning at 0750 hrs. I am numb.

To answer your question Jackalope, the atmosphere was VERY upbeat. Mr. Trump was given credit for the turn around to the economy and pro 2A mood through-out the country. I met some of my 1:1 and internet friends out at the show. To the man/women, they were moving from prepping when Mr. Obama was in office. This worries me as I have written in the past, stay on course with prepping. Don't think that Trump is the second coming. To understand what I am writing about, please review the years/months leading up to 1929 and the great depression.

CJS06 may have more on this as he was hanging with vendors at a different level than we were. He introduced me to a great company for my next purchase, a .30 cal. can.

Donald Trump, jr was at the show and was having a great time. I didn't get a chance to meet him but what I heard was he was roaming around with a few friends and NO Secret Service protection. Now of course he would not need it at this event. LOL.

The best day of the show was Friday for me. The crowds were down about 2/3 and nobody was trying to sell things to people. Vendors and show walkers alike were having a good "slap you on the back" kind of day. 

Left the show at about noon on Friday and took a bus to the airport. Picked up a rental car and spend the rest of the day at the Hoover Dam and then ended up in Boulder City for a nice meal and a few adult beverages. It was nice to get back to normal prices on food and beverage.

Saturday we left the hotel early and drove out to Area 51. The scenery was fantastic on our drive. Had dinner and then went to the airport for our trip home.

I have a TSA quick check ticket so going through security was a breeze however, just before we went through the metal detector machines we were asked if we had been at the Shot Show and of course we said, "yes." Well the TSA agents were EMPHATIC we declare any gun parts! Ha, ha, ha we had none. I chatted with a cute TSA agent while I put my jacket on and asked, "seeing a lot of gun parts/accessories huh?" The agent replied, "oh yeah. We actually had a pile of broken down boxes and packing tape so Shot Show flyers could box up their contraband and check it as luggage." LOL.

Jackalope, I never hit the casino's other than to pass through to get from one side of our hotel to the other. It seemed that there was nobody in the casinos gambling - Even at night. At the Black Jack tables they were offering $25- if you played the table. We did not gamble at all. In part we did not play as the whole casino allowed smoking and the music in the casino was loud. I have nothing against smokers I just don't want to hang out in a smoke filled room for any length of time.

In closing, if you are a gun nut (I am ) this show is the mecca of all gun shows. We were at the show all four days and maybe visited 50% of the booths - Probably a little less. Bring good shoes (which I didn't) because by the end of the show you will be crippled. There is hand sanitizer dispensers all over the venue. Take advantage of them.   

 

[Jackalope]

Thanks for the info Johny, and I hope you get better soon!

[JoJo]

 Get well my friend. 

[JohnyMac]

Thx gents on the "get well" comments. 

My friend in crime out there, said I ran him ragged. MrsMac took pity on my friend and asked me several times to take it easy on him. LOL.

[CJS06]

Johny

Great reviews on the show.

This year I had a much more focused schedule and did not have as much "free" time to wander. In many ways this was a blessing because according to my fit bit I still managed 37 miles over 4 days. 

I saw very few new releases that really impressed.  The Sig 365 was nice for concealed carry, the Cloud Defense weapon light at over 1200 lumens was nice and clean and robust. The various NVG companies all seemed well represented with the proliferation of WP seeming to really big.  TNVC had a cool unit that allowed a PVS14 to converted to Full Color! It is still a fairly big add on and almost as much as a second tube, but definitely damn cool. KAC re-released the "hush puppy" it is a Beretta 92f with a clip on mount can.  Not earth shattering new just very cool. 

I saw as many items that were absolute junk like the under rail mounted retractable bayonet. Think an M203 tube that just allows a bayonet to be retracted....wtf.  The Franklin Armory Reformation was supposed to be a big hit as a way around NFA for SBRing.  It is basically a 10" barrel with "straight" rifling...basically a smoothbore 5.56.  If nothing else it made for some of the greatest joke meme's for this years show. It seemed like at least 20 different people released the newest "game changing" Glock replacement barrels out there. Ill stick with KKM or Apex thanks and just avoid all the new ultra cool gotta have stuff. There was also a proliferation of new people cutting Glocks. Again there was not a void in the market so I dont expect half of these to be around next year.

I stayed at the Venetian which was nice except that I dont gamble and as Johny mentioned the food is stupid expensive. I did unfortunately drink an entire years worth of booze in those 4 days. I should be recovered by Wed. TI was able to attend the Leatherneck, Agency, Crye and Deliberate Dynamics parties. All were more subdued than previous years though still lots of fun.

The overall attitude was positive with a little bit of a "normacly bias" of Trump as a 2A supporter setting in.  Silencer companies like Silencerco are doing their best to reel in the HPA tak that they were pushing so hard last year.  As most already knew it had little chance of any immediate action and they are now suffering. With huge numbers of people"just waiting" many can suppliers are having to drop prices to maintain any sales numbers(while laying off significant staff).

Because of business in SLC I didnt get home until 23:40 last night and just got done putting in a full day at the shop. As my brain clears a bit more I will try to post some more thoughts. If anyone has any specific thoughts let me know and I will try to answer if I can.

Chris

[JohnyMac]

All goos stuff Chris!