Opinion
The 2026 SHOW Show is on at the Venetian Expo (formally the Sands Convention Center) in Las Vegas, NV all this week.
The Official SHOT Show Industry Range Day at the Boulder City Gun Club Range Complex in Boulder City, NV was Monday, January 19th, 2026.
Firearms Industry vendors are there to give us the opportunity to actually shoot their wares, not just look at them.
Unlike past years, weather this year was warm, with scant wind and no rain. I admire all vendors who show-up there and are not afraid to let us shoot their guns!
My interest is confined to “serious” guns, intended for serious protective purposes. Guns intended for recreational, competitive, or other non-serious purposes are of scant interest to me.
Here is what I found at the 2026 SHOT Show Industry Range Day that I think deserves mention:
I handled and shot the new Glock Gen Six pistols. Feel, trigger, and handling are all virtually indistinguishable from Gen Five Glocks, but there is no parts interchangeability. There are a few cosmetic upgrades, but from the user standpoint, little has changed. I continue to recommend Glocks for serious purposes, just as I have before.
- QA Defense, a relatively new company, makes a 9mm double-column 1911, designed to compete with Staccato. Nice trigger. Plain-vanilla version uses SIG 320 magazines, retails for $1.8k.
- H&K’s VP9A1, retailing for $1k, is the latest edition of H&K’s popular VP9. The lever magazine-release takes a little getting used to. Trigger is nice. Pricy, but very acceptable.
- Manufactured in FL, Diamondback’s SDRA Snubby 6-shot Revolver (38Spl) makes an excellent carry-gun for revolver fans. Smooth trigger, full-length ejector rod, but pricy at $1.6k/copy.
- CZ’s P10C is a “sleeper” among the many G19-sized carry-pistols. I carried a copy for most of a year, and the pistol continues to enjoy my recommendation. At $600.00/copy, it’s hard to beat!
- FN’s 309 is their new plain-vanilla version of their 509. Hammer-fired (internal), articulated trigger (rather than a trigger-tab), the pistol’s magazines are all-plastic (no metal skeleton), and light! Retail for under $600.00.
- FN’s SCAR Rifles (223 and 308) now feature a non-reciprocating bolt handle, making the rifle appealing to Western militaries. At $3.5k/copy, it’s an investment!
- Caracal’s “Enhanced F” Pistol (G19-sized) is functional and well-suited to concealed carry. Caracal also makes M4s and PCCs. The pistol’s signature “Quick Sight” (similar to the old “Guttersnipe” system) is surely usable, but makes mounting an optic impossible. Several years ago, the Caracal Pistol got off to a rocky start, but the one I shot today was very acceptable.
I shot a VP9 equipped with a Huxwrx suppressor, along with an attached “Nielsen Device,” which enables the pistol to cycle normally, even with the suppressor attached.
Many pistol manufacturers are offering, and had on display, pistols with integral barrel-vents, ostensibly there to attenuate muzzle rise. But, they become dangerous to the shooter when the pistol is fired while being held close to the body (which sometimes happens when we’re actually fighting with the gun). Highly not recommended, for obvious reasons!
Another highly-not-recommended “feature” on some pistols are shaped holes cut into the slide. Supposedly there to reduce weight, these holes function as entry-points for mud and airborne grit (which one may well encounter when, once again, actually fighting with the pistol).
The SHOW officially starts Tuesday.
More to come!
/John
Live Inventory Price Checker
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H&K VP9A1 F OE 9mm 4.53" 15rds, Black | Palmetto State Armory | $ 1266.99 $ 1150.99 |
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H&K VP9A1 F OE 9mm 4.53" 10rds, Black | Palmetto State Armory | $ 1266.99 $ 1150.99 |
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H&K VP9A1 K OE 9mm 4.09" 15rds, Black | Palmetto State Armory | $ 1201.99 $ 1091.99 |
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H&K VP9A1 K OR 9mm 4.09" 10rds, Black | Palmetto State Armory | $ 979.99 $ 881.99 |
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About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor, John Farnam will urge you, based on your beliefs, to make up your mind about what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to ensure that its students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
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“… these holes function as entry-points for mud and airborne grit (which one may well encounter when, once again, actually fighting with the pistol).”
Shades of the WWI French Chauchat.
“The magazines in particular were the cause of about 75% of the stoppages or cessations of fire; they were made of thin metal and open on one side, allowing for the entry of mud and dust.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauchat
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it“. — George Santayana.