If you have been vacationing off the planet, you may not realize that the world’s largest trade show for shooting enthusiasts was held in Las Vegas last week. The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show is one of the largest trade shows in Las Vegas every year.
In pre-pandemic times, 70,000+ shooting industry professionals attend the show where every major hunting and shooting company has booths and displays. This year attendance was estimated at about 53,000 people.
The show is massive. There are are so many booths that it ends up being somewhere around 15 total miles of aisle space every year. It generally takes me at least three full days just to see all the booths.
Early in my firearms training career, I attended the show every year for about seven years straight, but haven’t been back for more than a decade.
I like seeing all the new gear and meeting my friends from around the country, but I’ve lost a little of the excitement I once had for new gadgets. It’s truly mindset, skill, and tactics that will get help you win the fight. The gun and ammunition you carry doesn’t matter all that much. I like cool new guns and gear just like everyone else, but I don’t care for them so much that I need to spend thousands of dollars flying to Vegas every year to see their inaugural debuts. I’ll buy the new guns I like when all the bugs are worked out of them at least a year after their SHOT Show introduction.
With all that said, I still like seeing new innovations. The new items reported below from a variety of sources on the ground at SHOT are the products I am most excited about. Keep your eyes on these items in the coming year.
As always with SHOT show, the release dates on these items are NEVER what the manufacturer promises. Add at least six months to the publicized estimates for when these things will actually arrive on the market.
Let’s start with this introduction to what happens at SHOT.
SHOT 2026: The Experience
SHOT Show 2026 Facts and Figures
My friend John Farnam attends SHOT every year and posts daily updates. Here are links to his observations:
2026 SHOT Show, Range Day
2026 SHOT Show, First Day
2026 SHOT Show, Second Day
2026 SHOT Show, Third Day
2026 SHOT Show, Last Day
Recoil Magazine’s SHOT Show roundup articles:
Staccato Vegas Range Day 2026 Roundup
SHOT Show 2026 Day 1 Roundup
SHOT Show 2026: Top Brass Awards!
The HOTTEST New Guns & Gear at SHOT Show 2026 [VIDEO]
SHOT Show 2026 Day 4 Roundup [THE FINAL DAY]
Dr. David Yamane’s SHOT impressions
Dr. Yamane is a friend. I really value his unique take on the nature of “Gun Culture.” If you like the articles he wrote (linked below), you should subscribe to his Substack page and buy his book.
Here are his thoughts on SHOT.
Building Bridges in Las Vegas: Why This Year’s SHOT Show Matters
19 Acres of Gun Culture(s)
Suicide Prevention on the Gun Culture Agenda
Gun Culture 2.0 is Alive and Well in Las Vegas
It’s About the Personal Relationships in the End
Law Enforcement Range Day – 2026 – American Cop
Erick Gelhaus’ discoveries in the LE section of the show.
Range Day 2026: It’s On
Travis’ thoughts about the guns he fired during range day.
Silenced Bond Arms Derringers
This might be the most ridiculous firearm I saw discussed during the show. Despite its lack of utility, I still think it would be a unique gun to have and play with on occasion.
14 Rounds in the Palm of Your Hand – KelTec’s PR-3AT
Continuing on the “cool, but ridiculous” theme, who wouldn’t want a 14-shot .380 that loads via a stripper clip from the chamber and weighs less than 10 ounces? Although KelTec’s execution is often lacking, they do come out with some very innovative firearms. For more info, you might want to check out The PR-3AT: KelTec’s Magazine-Free .380.
For those of you who have been in the game as long as I have, you might recognize that this pistol had its origin in a pistol called the Grendel. We had a Grendel at the police department that we took off a criminal in the early 1990s. It was a terrible gun. I hope the execution on this one is better.
RETURN OF THE NIGHT GUARDS!
These are slightly less ridiculous than the derringer I posted above. I have zero use for either, but I still want them both. I have a couple big .44 magnum revolvers, but I don’t currently own a .44 special wheel gun. Although I would probably never carry it, I’ll still probably end up buying the 396. For more information, watch The Night Guard Returns!!!!
New Ammo Coming in 2026 | NSSF SHOT Show 2026
All these new guns aren’t any fun without ammo to shoot.
Beretta Introduces Two Models of 80X Cheetah in .32ACP Exclusively Tuned by Langdon Tactical Technology
Do you realize that the .32 acp was the premier self defense and military handgun cartridge of choice during the turn of the 20th century? I actually enjoy the caliber. It did way better than I thought it would in actual shootings.
I’ve always liked the Cheetah. In .380 it’s very popular in South America where citizens can’t own “military” caliber handguns. If the biggest caliber you can own is .38 spl/.380 acp, would you rather carry a five-shot snub or a .380 semi auto that holds 13 rounds?
I think this new .32 version will really appeal to the recoil shy. Just last week, I picked up a Savage 1907 in .32 acp. I was amazed at how fun it was to shoot when I took it to the range. I expect the new Cheetah will shoot even better than a pistol that is 110 years old.
My “new” 1907 .32 acp. This one was from a WWI French military contract made in 1915.
If the .32 Cheetah intrigues you, please read The Beretta 81: The Original Low-Recoil King.
A300 Ultima Patrol 20 Gauge | SHOT Show 2026 ⋆ Primer Peak
This one looks really promising for folks who don’t want the weight or the recoil of the 12 gauge. For more info see [SHOT 2026] Beretta Introduces the A300 Ultima Patrol in 20ga!
SHOT 2026: Mossberg’s New 590RM Chisel…I Love It
While we are on the topic of shotguns, Mossberg has some cool new guns. While I’m not super excited about the box magazine, I think the 590 is the best pump shotgun on the market right now. I’m excited to see how this one does.
They also introduced a new short barreled stockless semi-auto. It appears to run OK in its factory configuration. With the former $200 tax stamp now being free, some of you might want to pput a stock on it and register it as a short barreled shotgun. That may not be the best idea. See The 990 Aftershock has an issue.
GLOCK GEN 6 COA First Look[SHOT 2026]
The Gen 6 Glocks look to have some useful modifications over the Gen 5 guns that I currently carry. Once all the bugs get worked out, I’ll probably get a Gen 6 model 45 with the Aimpoint COA package. Here is another useful article about the new Glocks Hands On With The Gen 6 Glocks.
If any of my readers made it to the show, I hope you got back home safely and avoided the legendary Shot Show viral crud!