So I spent the afternoon at NRA Annual Meeting - for the first time - and it’s an entirely different vibe from SHOT show.
I wasn’t planning on going - because it’s a trade show open to the public and nobody is releasing anything (kind of). Then like 7-8 industry contacts insisted I showed up so I took the afternoon off and went down.
So the crowd is a lot different from SHOT. The average gun knowledge at SHOT may be some arbitrary value - let’s call it 30. The average show goer’s firearms knowledge is probably closer to 0. That’s a very elitist comment to make - I totally get that - but that’s coming from my perspective as a content creator / someone in the “industry”. How can I say that? Let me give you an example.
I show up at the show and come in right next to the SIG booth - so I go try to talk to my friends at SIG. Everybody is talking except for one of the media guys and Max Michel. So I talk to Max and we’re chatting about stuff. Max is dry firing a P320 AXG legion. Eventually a dude wanders up and asks to see the gun from Max. The guy has no clue who Max is whatsoever based on the conversation they proceed to have. I could be biased - and probably am - but I figure Max’s status should be high enough to cross into the “normal” realm to where they recognize him.
What was amusing about the SIG booth was they just signed Mason Lane as a factory shooter. Mason was doing his absolute best to NOT talk to anybody. I don’t think he was intentionally trying not to but his body language wasn’t super inviting - in fairness to him - it’s his first show working a booth. It’s really cool Mason got a gig with SIG - he’s a beast.
Next I chatted with Nils at the Canik booth next to SIG - we talk shop about the TTI Combat and the Canik MO3. We both agree the MO3 is super legit - and he said he’s been shooting one for over the past year and has easily 30k rounds on one. The MO3 and the Swampfox Justice II are probably two of my favorite open reflex sights.
I chat with some of the dudes at Global Ordnance about what they’ve got going on and are seeing from the show. They are pushing the Grand Power lineup in the show. There’s a woman who has like 5 of the GO stickers in her massive SAR Firearms bag - and she asks for more stickers. That’s a thing at SHOT too - there are people who just want the swag and take an unreasonable amount of it. Asking after it he mentions that they bring a ton of swag because the swag hawks are apparently even more brutal at NRA.
I wander back to the other side of the show floor and stop to speak with Live Free Armory. The CEO is there and he’s chatting with a dude. The dude is trying to sell him firearm parts from his shop. Live Free Armory makes a TON of firearm parts - they build OEM stuff for a LOT of big name brands - a bunch of aftermarket Glock slides are made by them. So this dude is trying to bring seashells to the beach.
I get to see a sneak peak of what’s coming over at Springfield Armory - they’re doing well these days.
I go over to the guys making my new eye pro I wear in videos (Warbird Pro) and the owner is there - there’s a video of him in his booth where he takes a 44 MAGNUM REVOLVER and shoots himself in the vest point blank. He filmed it 2 days before the show and edited the video - they have the light armor there with the slug embedded in it still. He showed me his chest where the welt was. Obviously it was pretty gnarly. If you want some soft armor - I tried on their lightest weight Level III stuff and it weighs nothing - is super comfortable and a dude shot himself with a 44 magnum point blank and is there to tell the tale. I do have a discount code of “humble” with them for 10% off - they make great eye pro and apparently legit soft armor. The video is insane - they need to post it to their social media. What was funny was the wife of the dude was talking to me and I noticed the video playing
“Wait - is that dude gonna…”
“Yes that’s my husband he shot himself”
“WHOAA WHAT THE HECK MAN”
It’s insane. Truly impressive - If I was the kind of guy who bought soft armor - I’d buy that soft armor for sure.
Talked to the guys over at Stealth Arms about the Platypus. They’re still getting caught up and have lead times longer than they want. I held their new production “prickle” texture - and it’s pretty much ideal - you could shoot it all day and not get sore hands. I asked Tim what’s going on and he’s kind of dreading being at the show because he doesn’t need to create more customers right now he wants to service his current ones. They have some fun stuff coming. They did change their 2 piece guide rod so it performs more like a one piece and added a high heat o ring so it won’t come apart.
Chatted with the Alpha Foxtrot guys about the S15 gun. Sounds like they’ll provide a T&E gun for a video - so that was good news.
Went and saw the dudes at ACE and watched several people play ACE - one dude did the “hold the wrist of your strong hand” grip on the pistol to shoot. So that was interesting.

Ultimately - it was a pretty cool show - but nobody “recognized” me except for the cameraman from AR15.com. If it’s local to you and you can attend without burning serious travel dollars or a hotel or you just want to see what a show is like it’s pretty cool. most people’s booths were close to the size of their SHOT booths. I spent from about 2:00 to about 5:30 at the show. It was a solid use of the afternoon.