This year was my first year at Shot Show. To say I was excited was an understatement. I started with Accura Outdoors a little over 1 year ago. I liked guns and liked going shooting but the information that I had learned from when I started till now made my experience at Shot Show 2020 so much better. I felt like I knew what I was looking at, and what I was talking about and could hold myself a little better. I made a few connections with the business for giveaways and influencers, but I have goals for next year to hopefully make bigger connections to meet bigger people.

It was so much to take in and really took a few days for me to process everything I saw. Jared our COO has been going for the last 13 years and was my tour guide for the week to make sure I saw as much as I could during the week. It was amazing seeing so many different companies in one location and still not being able to stop at each booth.

Day one of Shot Show started on Tuesday for us. We flew in on Monday, walked around, and called it an early night. All day Tuesday we stayed on the second floor or the main floor with all of the larger companies. The displays, the new products coming out, and the trends were pretty insane. The biggest trend I saw was a short barrel of everything. ARs’, Bolt Action Rifles, shotguns, everything was a short barrel with some type of pistol brace. As long as ATF rules stay the same, I expect to see more short-barrel offerings in 2020. If you ever go to Shot Show the second floor or the main floor as they call it is just amazing. The size of the booths, the amount of product they have out, everything is just over the top. If you’re looking for free swag this is the floor to get it. I want to say I had a favorite booth but almost all of them are just cool in their own way. SIG had the biggest booth and everything there was just crazy. If you go pack water, snacks, and great walking shoes. I was so glad I brought my backpack to Shot Show for carrying anything I picked up along the way for all three days of Shot Show.

Days two and three of Shot Show for us were filled with meetings, classes, and trying to see everything from the first and second floor as well as the supplier showcase. This year for Shot Show there really wasn’t much that we didn’t see prior to Shot Show on social media. Getting to touch and hold some of the products we had seen online was really nice. It’s hard when your local gun store doesn’t carry something, you’re wanting to buy so that you can see in person you like it. So, as a consumer, it was nice to be able to see products in person. Some cool tech I saw was ODIN Works 9mm PCC barrel. It is a 5” barrel with a sleeve over it to make the overall length 16” so you don’t have to SBR it. I thought this was a cool option for people who like to customize their guns with the option of choosing their barrel color. Along with color options, Timber Creek has a package now that you can get all of their items in one package with matching colors. I know not all manufacturers of the same anodized colors, so this was cool to see. Me, I’m always interested in customizing stuff to make it yours so those were the booths I spent more time at.

On day four of Shot Show we flew out around noon. We had walked around 60,000 steps over the last few days, so we wanted a lazy day and chose not to go to Shot Show early and go to the airport after. It was nice to spend the rest of the day going over 2020 strategies with what we want to accomplish for the rest of the year and things we plan on changing. As I write this, I’m still going over things and putting them into action that we discussed for this year and the following years.

Shot Show was a great experience and I’m excited for 2021 when we go back. I have more plans for covering it and making a video of the whole experience. Sorry, I didn’t go more into detail, this was my first year, so I was honestly overwhelmed with how big it is.  I am greatly appreciative of Accura Outdoors for taking me to this amazing event, it really is something I will never forget.