SHOT Show 2020 Range Day Highlights
Each year before industry insiders flock to the halls of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show – better known as SHOT Show – a contingent of firearm folks head out into the desert of southwest Nevada for a pre-show lineup of exhibitors. Live ammunition is forbidden on the SHOT Show floor and any firearms in the exhibit hall must be disabled and are inspected to ensure that they are non-functional.
This policy, however, is not in effect at the annual SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range in Boulder City. Not by a long shot.
At this pre-show demo day, invited members of the media and buyers have the opportunity to meet with manufacturers and vendors among smaller crowds than those at SHOT Show proper. Attendees also have the opportunity to get hands-on live fire trigger time with the latest guns and gear to hit the market and many that are yet to be released. The GunLink team has again been invited to this event and did just that.
We got to see some pretty great firearms and gear at Range Day that seem to indicate that the industry has actually been listening to consumers and developing some new products that fit their needs. And the show has not even begun yet! If this demo day is an indication of what else we will be seeing at SHOT Show 2020, we think this will be a great year for a firearms industry that has shown some signs of slowing down somewhat in the past couple of years.
Read on to see our Range Day highlights and be sure to watch the GunLink Blog and GunLink Forums for more. Continue reading
Kimber Announces New Products for 2020
Kimber Mfg., Inc., a leading American firearms manufacturer, announced today their new product lineup for 2020. If the company’s pattern continues as it has in previous years, we look forward to putting some rounds through these new handguns at Industry Day at the Range during our coverage of the 2020 SHOT Show in January.
As the market leader in 1911 pistols, it is appropriate that the first product announcement is a high performance 1911. Introducing the 1911 RAPIDE Black Ice. The RAPIDE Black Ice boasts performance enhancing features including stepped cocking serrations, slide lightening cuts for faster lock time, striking two-tone KimPro finish, DLC coated barrel for extreme durability, flush fitting magwell, match grade trigger breaking crisply at 4-5lbs, and Tru-Glo TFX Pro Day/Night Sights.
The next introduction is the Raptor Collector Edition family consists of the Stainless Raptor II (1911), EVO SP Raptor, and Micro 9 Raptor. These beautiful pistols will be offered for one year only and are sure to become collectables. Each Raptor will wear a unique two-tone finish, accented with a special patterned G10 grip with the trademark grip scale pattern. Night sights are standard on all, as is the special Collector Series marking on the left side of the slide and special serial number prefixes to mark these unique items. Continue reading
Buyer Registration Opens for 2020 SHOT Show
Buyer registration is now open for the 42nd Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show). Set for January 21-24 at the Sands Expo Center, the SHOT Show will attract more than 60,000 professionals to Las Vegas for the firearms and outdoor industry’s annual main event. Registration for media will open later this week. Exhibitor registration will open later this month.
Owned and sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry trade association, the SHOT Show is the largest trade show of its kind in the world. The show is open to trade members only and not to the public.
Many official show events cluster around the four days of SHOT Show itself, creating “SHOT Week.” These include the 6th Annual NSSF/HAVA Golf Classic in support of Honored American Veterans Afield, a firearms industry-run charitable organization that helps the healing of disabled combat veterans and their reintegration back into normal life through participation in hunting and shooting sports.
The two-day Supplier Showcase is a show-within-a-show, with hundreds of OEM third-party suppliers meeting with exhibiting manufacturers and exploring their needs for extrusions, fabrication, fabrics, machinery, metal, plastics, software, logistical support and tools.
If you are unable to make it to the industry’s largest show of its kind, be sure to keep an eye on the GunLink Forums, right here on the GunLink Blog, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get all the scoop on the latest products and all of the news coming out of SHOT Show. Our team will be providing our ninth year of coverage again from the opening shots of Industry Day at the Range through the closing of the show. Continue reading
Springfield Challenges Micro 9mm Carry Market with New Hellcat
Springfield Armory Announces Hellcat: Worlds Highest Capacity Micro 9mm
Seeking to challenge the market segment currently ruled by Sig’s amazingly small 10-round micro-9, the P365, Springfield has announced their latest concealed carry wunderkind, the Hellcat. Although not big fans of the company, this new pistol has us genuinely curious. Although essentially impossible to find locally in our neck of the woods, we’re looking forward to handling the diminutive, well-capacitied, optic-ready pistol at SHOT Show and getting the opportunity to run some rounds through it at Industry Day at the Range in a couple of months.
Springfield’s announcement:
After years of development, we are proud to introduce the Hellcat, the highest capacity micro compact 9mm in the world and the next generation of defensive pistol from Springfield Armory.
“This is the first step in a new direction for Springfield Armory polymer handguns and embodies our disciplined approach to modern firearms design. Every detail of the Hellcat has been shaped by a singular mission — to deliver the definitive concealed carry handgun,” says Dennis Reese, CEO of Springfield Armory.
The 3″ barreled micro compact pistol features a class leading capacity of 11+1 with its patented magazine — 13+1 with the included extended mag — and is the result of years of painstaking development and engineering in addition to intensive collaboration with top engineers, shooters and self defense experts. Continue reading
Hi Point Changes Up Their Pistol Line. Finally.
Aside from being big, bulky, heavy, and ugly (all true), one of the main beefs that people have with the budget-friendly firearm brand HiPoint is the low capacity (also true). Their line of pistols and pistol caliber carbines have always featured a limited capacity single stack magazine despite the wide grips. That changes now.
For two decades, the Model C9 – a blowback operated polymer-framed 9mm pistol with Zamak slide – has been the company’s flagship handgun. Throughout that time, the Hi-Point product line has seen precious few changes aside from the addition of new calibers and cosmetic features. This includes the stock flush-fit 8-round magazine capacity that C9 owners have always been limited by.
At SHOT Show 2019 in Las Vegas, the Ohio-based company introduced their latest pistol offering – a higher capacity 9mm with a few new features that will be appreciated by those who don’t immediately turn up their nose at the inexpensive firearms. Hi-Point is quick to point out that the new handgun is not just a tweaked version of their existing pistols but, rather, is an entirely new firearm with a more contemporary design that they say will stick with the company’s affordable pricing structure.
Currently in what they are calling a “stealth prototype” phase, the company had 3D printed rapid prototypes on display in their booth to demonstrate the size and features of the new pistol, which boasts a higher capacity magazine, threaded barrel, improved slide and grip geometry. Continue reading
Range Time with Mossberg’s Centennial Gift to the Shooting: The Company’s First Pistol in 100 Years
To celebrate their 100th year in business, Mossberg is releasing a new pistol, only their second in the company’s history.
Don’t feel bad if you are unfamiliar with the shotgun powerhouse’s first foray into handguns. The Mossberg Brownie was the company’s very first firearm – a four-barreled .22 caliber pistol marketed toward hunters and trappers – was only produced from 1919 to 1932, during which it sold for a mere $5.
The prodigal pistol producer’s latest handgun, dubbed the Mossberg Carry 1 Sub-Compact (MC1sc), is more on-point for one of the hottest market segments today: the sub-compact single stack 9mm carry gun. The GunLink team went hands-on with the MC1sc at SHOT Show 2019, including getting some trigger time with the new pistol during Industry Day at the Range the day before the show officially opened.
My first thought when Mossberg announced the new handgun was that they were late to an already crowded party. A party already attended by a pretty popular in-crowd, including the Glock 43, Smith & Wesson Shield, Springfield XDs, and the newer Sig Sauer P365. Stiff competition for a company with a sparse track record in the handgun arena. Good luck, Mossberg.
My first thoughts when we met the MC1sc at SHOT Range Day were that it was remarkably well executed and Mossberg has a real shot with this pistol. Continue reading
