2014 Will mark my first SHOT Show attendance. While I did get an invite last year, unfortunately I was out of the country for an extended period of time and was unable to attend. This year however I have my boots on the ground here in Vegas so far it has been a blast! As a first time SHOT attendee I figured I would gather my impressions and post them here so you guys and gals get a feel for what it is like. The experience starts at the airport too, with banners and signs welcoming SHOT attendees!

At the Media shoot there are dozens of tents, all with manufacturers showcasing their wares.There is a distinct pistol, long rifle, shotgun, and kind of a misc. section. There are also large mobile trucks that the manufacturers use to showcase their wares (they are like rolling showrooms):

The booths and range are also neat!

I got to shoot a lot of cool guns that I will probably never get to shoot again too, like the famous Tracking Point rifle:

Also on the long rifle section was some of Barrett’s new gear including their suppressed M107:

I was a bit shy at first, but the manufacturer’s reps are very welcoming and eager to answer any questions you may have about their products.

One thing that is interesting to note is that older folks will look at my badge that says “The Firearm Blog” and say “what is a blog”, while younger people will remark “oh cool, I have read some of your articles!” which is very humbling (I really appreciate it when readers let us know we did something right, haha).

There are also a bunch of famous folks in the gun community. I saw Colion Noir, James Yaeger, Jeff from Gunblast, and my favorite youtuber, Iraqveteran8888:

Eric was a stand up guy and we chatted for a bit. Very courteous man and if you have time, check him out on youtube for some great videos about machineguns and other stuff.

I also met up with the guys from KRISS with whom we teamed up for our series on the Vector SMG:

Also SHOT is not just a show for the small guys to show up and try to make a name, large European outfits were there letting us shoot their new fangled wares:

All in all the media day was great, and that night we got the group together for a nice dinner together. Despite communicating with these folks on a daily basis, this trip is the first time I have met any of them!

Your TFB SHOT Shot 2014 crew!

All in all I have had a great time so far. The shoot was a lot of fun and it was great to meet new people, reconnect with old friends, shoot awesome hardware, and really be able to ask reps the hard questions about their products!

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for “A Noobie’s Perspective on the SHOT Show”!