More 2019 SHOT Show information

The is the last of a two-part series about the 2019 SHOT Show.

The SHOT Show is a trade show for firearm-related items, held in Las Vegas and is open to exhibitors, buyers and the media. It is a huge show.

The exhibit area at the Sands Expo and Convention Center totals more than 692,000 net square feet, equal to nearly 16 acres. If a person was to walk straight down each aisle, the distance would total 12.5 miles. A person trying to visit every booth at the show would only be allowed 22 seconds at each booth.

More than 2,400 professionals in the shooting, hunting, outdoors and law enforcement industry attend the show. In addition, more than 2,400 members of the outdoor media are there.

The show is economically prudent for Las Vegas. The 2018 show brought over $88 million in non-gaming revenue to the local economy.

While the show is expanding each year, the law enforcement section is the fastest growing. This segment began 16 years ago covering 7,000 square feet, but this year it covered 170,000 square feet of the show.

There are guns everywhere. More than 15,000 firearms were inspected and tagged by the SHOT Show Safety team.

Stop by the Glock booth and the firearms are in a row, ready to pick up and inspect. The Mossberg booth is filled with shotguns. Many booths are as large as a three-bedroom house and two are the size of a three-story house.

Garnet and I study the exhibitors every year and target the ones we want to visit. While this is a fun show, it is tiring, too.

An exciting find for me this year was TSS shot. TSS stands for Tungsten Super Shot. Tungsten is super dense, which allows it to fly further. This makes small gauges appealing for hunting.

Remember, I’m a .410 guy. My first firearm was an under-and-over .410/.22, received when I was 12 years old. A tom turkey has fallen to this shotgun.

Turkey loads in .410 were nonexistent until a TSS load was developed. Now, Federal is making TSS turkey loads for 12, 20 and .410 shotguns. A .410 turkey load? Yes, because it is loaded with No. 9 tungsten shot. The No. 9 tungsten shot is hard-hitting and equal to a load of No. 5 lead shot.

The trouble with TSS is the cost. Five Federal .410 TSS shells can be purchased for around $30 or $6 a shell. This is why these loads are marketed as turkey loads, where one or two shells are used. While they would be legal for duck hunting, the economics would prohibit such a hunt.

This show is tiring yes, but Garnet and I plan to attend next year.