SHOT 2026 Coverage
- Graham Baates
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
It's that time again. Since 2016 I've been coming to SHOT Show on the look out for what might be your next favorite thing. This post will be updated throughout the week as I discover more things to share with you, so please check back daily as I will not be re-emailing the post. Each year the show has approximately 50,000-70,000 people, 2,700 exhibitors, and over 13 miles of booths. That means not everyone see everything, and not every story told is the same. I encourage you to check multiple sources to get a more complete picture of the show. I'll be mixing press releases in with what I personally find interesting and what the Patrons have asked to see.
*A quick note about SHOT: This is an industry-only show not open to the public. It is intended for manufacturers to show what's coming and stir interest from buyers. Sometimes that means products are shown which may not be ready for market for several months, or even ever come to market. In the past media outlets looking to make a buck from clickbait have shared those "might be coming" products, leading to consumers getting upset with, or forgetting about the product before it ever comes to market. I will do my best to only show that which I have been convinced is in production or will be soon.
Sometimes companies show a concept to see if it's worth pursuing. I will note in the description if thta is the case.
Industry Day at the Range, or "Range Day" as it's commonly referred to is a separate invitation-only event. I like to attend as it used to be that I'd find companies who do not have a booth in the main show. This year was different with the fewest companies showing that I've seen in my years of attending.
MagnaLens has expanded their offerings. The MagnaLens system allows you to magnetically attach your eye protection directly to your hearing protection. In the past they had adapters for use with popular hearing protection, but now they also have their own electronic hearing protection which smarly includes angled cuts for use with rifles. The bottom picture shows their solution for those needing prescription eyewear.
I think this is a smart idea and solves two common problems. Comfort, no more eyewear arms digging into the side of your skull under muff pressure and Real Protection because the arms of your eyewear are no longer breaking the seal of your muffs. I plan on a long-term review of these in the future.
Another smart product from MagnaLens that I'll probably pick up for myself is this target bag. For $25 it beats me hoping the cardboard box I use will survive another range trip. A hard back helps protect against target deformation and the external smaller pocket fits a staple gun and tape.
OA Defense Has new compact models with 4" and sub-4" barrels available with both polymer and steel frames, 15-round, and 17-round grips. I've shot OA Defense 2311 guns on a few occassions, but they have declined getting any more of your attention. To me these are more than just a doublestack 1911 using P320 magazines as there are many more enhancements and a lot more engineering in them than we typically see in a simply fatter 1911.
Steyr was a booth I had to swing by. As a fan of the Arex pistols I wanted to see how these new Steyr models were. I'm pleased to say they've kept everything we loved about the Arex Zero 2S and made some enhancements. The Alpha model's enhancements were also excellent. There aren't many of these guns in the United States at the moment, but more are on the way. If you weren't aware Steyr and Arex are now owned by the same Czech investment company (think of it as a Hapsburgian twist on the firearms world) and it was decided that the hammer-fired guns of Arex would become Steyr models. I hope to get some in for review as soon as possible to show the twisted "family" lineage back to the Arex, Zastava EZ and CZ models, and Sig P226.
Franklin Armory of course had their binary guns on display, but for those looking to slow things down a little they had their new bolt action with their new Total Feed Control bolt system. This new way of feeding rounds offers the benefits of push-feed ease with the preciscion of controlled-feed. I was able to toss a round in the action like a push feed, but without damaging the projectile like push feed risks. This deserves a deeper explanation later on.
Check Back tomorrow for updates of Day 1 of the show