World's Largest Gun Show Opens on the Range

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There was a lot of activity at the SHOT Show's 19th annual Industry Day at the Range gathering Monday at the Boulder City Rifle and Pistol Club. There was a lot of discussion about the weather as Las Vegas and its hotels filled with travelers battling airline issues and some surprisingly chilly temperatures as desert wind howled through the nearby Eldorado Mountains and the Mount Wilson Wilderness Area not far from Hoover Dam.

Some attendees ventured to the Range Day event a little later than usual because they stayed inside to witness the inauguration of President Donald Trump at high noon in Washington, a ceremony moved indoors due to cold and snow in the D.C. area.

”What do you think about 47?" queried Michael Joyner, president and CEO of Town Line Technologies, LLC in Cortland, New York. "This should be a fun ride with Trump in the White House again.”

Many others were eager to talk about Trump, widely considered to be a gun-friendly politician, who was sworn in around the same time as Range Day began. Others wanted to discuss new products being seen and handled for the first time with temps in the 40s and strong winds gusting to nearly 40 mph at times. Lines were long at Range Day booths as media in the morning and buyers in the afternoon lined up to see first-hand what they had heard about in some instances, and in others, were learning of new product launches for the first time.

Those long lines included the GLOCK booth, which is introducing at this SHOT Show a handgun configuration with an Aimpoint COA optic already pre-attached. According to GLOCK, this is possible since a unique and patented cut "enables the sight to be mounted deeper into the pistol slide for extreme stability and durability--ensuring long-lasting, rugged performance in any condition.”

With dozens lining up throughout the day to dent some primers and put a few rounds through these new handgun models—which the company says includes Glock's 9mm pistol lineup of the G43X, the G48, the G19 Gen 5, the G45, and the G47—it wasn't the rainfall of two years ago, or the cloudy and cool conditions of last year’s event that impacted the day. Instead, it was wind chills making many wish they had bundled up a bit more, howling winds that blew brochures and information spec sheets around, bright sunshine necessitating some sunscreen, and a whole lot of dust in the air that left a coating on everything—meaning EVERYTHING—at Range Day.

While the crowds seemed good for Range Day, there was a noticeable absence on the gun club’s south end where in the past, various shotgun makers had assembled to let attendees take a few cracks at bright orange clay targets being floated on the Nevada wind.

This year, there wasn’t much in the shotgun section of Range Day—particularly when it comes to new scatterguns themselves—but there was a unique new product from Caldwell, maker of the shooting rests and bags that many hunters carry to the rifle range. Now, thanks to the Caldwell CLAYCOPTER Launcher, a handheld electric shotgun target launcher—and two different sizes of the CLAYCOPTER Targets—shotgunners can take a portable sporting clays range to their upland bird hunting or waterfowl hunting camps in the fall.

As Range Day attendees sought good truck lunches and some mid-day warmth—many booths had warming towers or gas-powered fire pits going—back in town, it wasn’t the thermometer, dust and wind being battled. Instead, as the final day for booth setup arrived at the spacious Venetian Expo and Caesar Forum trade show halls arrived, it was the clock as company workers and union employees in Vegas all worked feverishly to have the show floor ready for Tuesday’s opening bell.

But not far from the famed Las Vegas Strip, already it was business as usual with the annual SHOT Show Week Supplier Showcase drawing a crowd as more than 600 suppliers of materials and solutions showcased their products for company’s needing to figure out the distribution end of their business.

The day featured plenty of other pre-SHOT Show events—many attended by our Outdoor Sportsman Group crew assembling in Vegas for the 46th annual event that began in 1979 with the first SHOT Show in St. Louis—and a building sense of excitement that was noticeable as the day wound down with company sponsored dinners and more than a few watching the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Ohio State and Notre Dame (won 34-23 by the Buckeyes).

The crowds seemed good on Monday’s unofficial kick-off day, and with a slew of new product announcements coming on Tuesday’s official first day, it seems like once again, the outdoors industry, and especially the hunting and shooting end of it, is in a good place as a New Year rolls on.

• Stay tuned all week long as Game & Fish staffers cover SHOT Show from start to finish.

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