Shotshow 2024

I didn’t make one of these for the previous Shot Show years as they were usually incorporated into my daily blogs but this year, I’m making an exception even though there really isn’t that much to talk about. Other than Palmetto State Armory and a few other noteworthy things I noticed, most of the major firearm manufactures had nothing to really show this year that made me go basedboy face while holding a CZ 75 in the air and a Playstation 5 controller on the other. Not suprising considering all industries from vidya, tech, and firearms are all suffering from a shitty economic environment although nowhere nearly as terrible as the film, triple A vidya, or journalism fields. At the end of the day, I just want ammo prices to be affordable again. What good is a new gun if the ammo isn’t going to available or cheap. But with that said, let’s get on with this.

You like lever guns? Well I hope you have deep pockets and a fetish for Starfield aesthetics because those were supposedly the “BIG” announcements from the likes of Aero Precision , and Smith & Wesson off the top of my memory. I was kind of disappointed because S&W teased us all with that “going back to our roots” and showing off a Volcanic Pistol that they used to make back in the 1800s. I would had loved to see a modernized take on a Volcanic Pistol but I guess the market has to have another Marlin 1894 clone with barely any price difference. I guess they are preparing for the eventual ban on all semi-autos in the year of 2025. Oh well.

Now time for me to jerk off PSA and rightfully so because they are once again, the only ones doing anything interesting when it comes to the firearm market. We got updates on the STG44 clone they have revived years ago and it seems to be making some progress. It probably won’t be cheap and I probably won’t be able to obtain one because they will probably be a limited run but it’s cool to see something that isn’t just another AR. Their AK74u clone is gonna come out real soon and it’s gonna be in 5.56mm. Heretical but considering you can’t get 5.45mm anymore, I kind have to let it slide. But the big announcement that nobody saw coming was that they were working on multiple new projects. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but SEVERAL concept designs raging from an MP7 clone in 5.7mm which seems to be winning the popularity vote in their poll along with the VULK which is a very cool AK AR18 hybrid that looks like an AK12, a bullpup JAKL, a modular shotgun that mixes mossberg 500 and Remmington 870 bits that you can build from the ground up like an AR, A .308 JAKL that looks like a SCAR 17, a couple of Dagger (glock clones) in various calibers like .22lr, 10mm, and .45 ACP, a customizable bolt action rifle, and so much more that I’ll be here all day talking about them. They aren’t releasing them this year exactly but they are letting the community vote on what they would prioritize on working on. Pretty cool if you ask me. Personally I want that .308 JAKL or the bullpup JAKL because it would make a great platform to 3D print some furniture to make it look like an L85. So once again, PSA is the only gun company out there doing something interesting.

Oh yeah and there was a bunch of retro guns being brought back too. Mainly some ARs from H&R, Bushmaster, and none of which are particularly cheap but I guess is sort of neat eitherway. For all of you Columbine fanboys and fangirls, HiPoint is bringing back the Original HiPoint Carbine 995. Now you can listen to Marilyn Manson, E1M1, and dawn your black trench coat at the range with only the slight chance of getting put on a list. Honestly, I do like the original HiPoint carbine over the current one that has all of those shitty rails. And if I am not mistaken, there used to be an old stock kit for the original HiPoint carbine (which makes it look like a Beretta CX4 Storm) that never seemed to work with the “new” design with all the picatinny rails so now those old kits aren’t obsolete anymore. Poorfags rejoice!

Some honorable mentions I have to….uh mention. There was a polymer AR from Wrath called the WARP 15 (Jesus how unfortunate for a name) which is an all polymer AR with a KP15 lower matched up with a “reinforced” upper and the rifle as a whole is supposed to be extremely lightweight and also affordable. While I am not interested in another AR rifle, I would like to see the upper sold separately because I think I would like something like that on my KP15 lower that I already own. It probably won’t be as durable as a normal AR upper but I think it would make a nice scouting rifle where you’re not going to be magdumping mags one after the other. Kind of like a light use and lightweight rifle you can carry on an ATV, a bush plane, or something like that. There were also a few decent looking optics from Holosun and Primary Arms but I’m not interested in buying any optics at the moment as the ones I have are just fine. I honestly wish there was something more from Walther. I would like a PPS M3 but with an optic cut and maybe doublestack magazines while keeping the slim profile of the original. You know, like a Walther version of the SIG 365 or Springfield Hellcat. Now that I think about it, other than Beretta, there weren’t a lot of new announcements for European guns companies. I believe they have their own industry show later this year but it’s a little disappointing. Nothing from HK or CZ either at least as far as I know. Glock didn’t really show anything that wow’d me either. Overall, kind of a shitty shotshow.