SHOT Show Review
I was afforded the opportunity to attend the 2012 shot show here in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. 630,000 sq ft of convention space to browse through, 61,000 attendees, and roughly $60 million in revenue for our fine city.
I had always heard that the shot show was “everything guns” and it definitely didn’t disappoint! My product expo experience has, in the past, been solely related to the golf business, as I was a country club golf professional in the St Louis area for 20 plus years, and I regularly attended the annual PGA merchandise show in Orlando Florida.
But that experience was always such a grind for me, since I did most of my buying for my pro shop for the upcoming year in those 4 short days, I didn’t have any time left to “ smell the roses” and just enjoy the show.
That was not the case at this years SHOT Show, not even close. I didn’t have to buy merchandise for my gun store or price shop or compare like items or any of the other tasks that a lot of the attendees had to do. My job was to take it all in, and see what else this expo had to offer!
My first exposure to firearms was shooting pistols, and I just started doing that a few years ago, but I was able to do some local pistol competitions in the USPSA and IDPA disciplines.
That being said, and the fact that the handgun national matches are held here in Las Vegas each year, I was able to watch and in some cases “meet the pros” that compete at that national level. What a treat it was to watch, and meet these same competitors at the show show.
These personalities were giving demos and signing autographs and handing out prizes at their respective sponsors booths. Jerry Miculek, Rob Leatham, Katie Harris, Mike Voigt, just to name a few. And make no mistake about it, they were all there, doing quick draws and reloads and other feats of speed. It was awesome to watch and especially fun to see them do this in such a relaxed setting, as opposed to when I would watch them shoot in the national matches where it was all business, etc.
Another fun fact of attending the SHOT Show was that I was able to pick up, free, actual catalogs from the manufacturers. I wish i would have picked up a few more. I would much rather have the actual catalog in my possession rather than having to go to a website to see an item I may be researching. So picking up those catalogs was also a big deal for me.
I guess the other thing about the show that is unique is that on Friday, the last day of the show, a lot of the vendors and exhibitors will sell some of their wares outright at the show instead of shipping those items back to their respective companies. In most cases the buyers can save quite a bit of money on a particular item by buying it at the show, saving the shipping costs is just one example.
To all you springfield armory xd and xdm lovers out there, there is a new pistol on the horizon. The XDs (not a typo), it is a compact (3.1 inch barrel) short frame single stack 45 cal. I would label it the “find of the show”. check it out when it starts showing up at gun stores and gun shows in the coming months.
So to summarize my experience at the 2012 SHOT Show, in a phrase, “i was able to smell the roses”
Also, seeing Lee R. Emery (who played the drill instructor in full metal jacket) at the Glock booth, with a extremely long line of people waiting for his autograph, seemed to put the entire SHOT Show into perspective!
Hope i can attend the show again next year!
jdub702
