SHOT Show 2023

Among the many interesting people Pete was able to talk to at SHOT Show 2023, Clark Aposhian is probably one of the most interesting to me. Clark’s list of certifications and accomplishments within the political sphere of the gun world is quite impressive and he was one of the people who helped spearhead the case to have the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the federal bump stock ban. In addition to that, Clark also holds numerous certifications for firearms training and handling and frequently offers his services, through his company FairWarning Training, to all levels of shooters ranging from basic level to advanced tactical firearms training and weapons handling.

This latest episode of the TFB Behind The Gun Podcast comes once again from SHOT Show 2023 with our returning host Pete. Open Source Defense is an organization much like TFB in that we’re both not interested in the culture war – just the guns. Open Source Defense is a gun rights organization completely working from and inside of the online sphere where most modern gun owners also do most of their shopping and discussion on firearms. Today Pete meets with BJ Campbell, Kareem Shaya, and Chuck Rossi to discuss the state of American gun ownership in 2023.

That’s all until next year.

One of my favorite stories to write each SHOT is a summary of all things throwback. The Retro Roundup gives me an excuse to snoop around the show looking for anything new in the world of the old. This year’s offerings were so plentiful that I split the article into two parts. This is the non-AR portion. Here are a few of the standouts from SHOT Show 2023.

At the start of SHOT Show 2023, the news broke that Australian defense company NIOA had purchased Barrett Firearms.  Rob Nioa, the new owner of Barrett Firearms was in attendance at this year’s SHOT Show.  I was given the rare opportunity to interview Mr. Nioa about his history in the firearms industry, and about the future of Barrett Firearms under his leadership.  Without further ado, the interview with the new Barrett owner, Rob Nioa.

There were a lot of really great optics, soft goods and gear, thermals, night vision, muzzle devices and more at SHOT Show 2023. James Reeves walks you through what he thought the 10 best accessories were from SHOT Show and why. What did you think of the list?

In this episode of TFBTV, @JamesReeves is at SHOT Show 2023 to talk with the guys at PTR Industries about the new PTR-63, which is, functionally, a clone of the Heckler & Koch G41.

In this episode of TFBTV, @JamesReeves is at Sons of Liberty Gun Works’ SHOT Show 2023 booth to talk about a new option they’ve added to the SOLGW lineup in order to make nearly any AR sold by SOLGW California Compliant, even with those “scary” features typically banned in the state.

There was a time, more than two decades ago, when 5.11 gear was only associated with “fishing” vests and baggy BDU pants. Back then I was both the giver and the recipient of tactical fashion shaming. Thankfully, those days are but tiny specks in the rearview mirror of life. 5.11 Tactical has developed tasteful, fashion-forward designs that blend utility with style for everyone from urban NOLA James Reeves to Northwest rainforest Hop. Some of the TFB and TFBTV crew were outfitted with new 5.11 boots – the A/T Mid Waterproof Boot  to be specific – for two industry range events and a week on the SHOT Show floor. How did the boots and other 5.11 gear perform? Let’s ask the team.

In this writer’s opinion, one of the coolest firearms of SHOT Show 2023 was the XR338 rotary machine gun which was displayed at the Radical Firearms booth. This machine gun is designed by Kris Paulson and Matthew Steinhauser of DTV Tactical Innovations (Radical Firearms is their manufacturing partner). It is chambered in .338 Norma Magnum and at a minimal weight increase over the M134 Minigun, it is a huge force multiplier with about twice the effective range and much higher energy of the projectiles at any given distance.

Last year, we published an article about the prototype guns seen at SHOT Show 2022 one of which was the 5.56 Gun concept by JL Billet. Well, the company has been working on refining the design of the gun during the year and they brought several pre-production samples to SHOT Show 2023.

««« GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO »»»
• Apparel: All TFBTV apparel is sponsored by 5.11 Tactical. Click below to check out their new products:
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Ikon Weapons produces 5.56 Galil variants including the Mirco and ARM. At SHOT Show 2023, they also displayed their new .308 versions. These included wood and polymer furniture models and even one with a California-complaint grip fin.

Armament Technology Incorporated, the OEM manufacturer of Tangent Theta Long Range Precision Optics, unveiled a new model at SHOT Show 2023. The Canadian company who are also the OEM for Tenebræx and master distributor for ELCAN, SAI Optics and XOPTEK, had the new Tangent Theta TT735P out at SHOT Show’s Industry at the Range Day and on the show floor.

On day three of SHOT Show 2023 we visited Shield Sights who ran us through their host of new and upcoming models. Shield have four optics on the way, the CQS2, the AMS, the SIS2 and the RMSd.

We’ve already looked at the new VENT 3D printed Titanium suppressor range coming from PTR but another exciting upcoming product they had on display at SHOT Show 2023 was the PTR-63.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves visits the Radical Firearms booth to see the new caliber convertible XR338 minigun manufactured by DTV Arms. James speaks with Matt, one of DTV’s engineers, about this amazing and powerful system.

KRISS USA has been most well known for their Vector which over the last couple of decades has turned into an icon in the gun world. Even people who don’t know firearms will recognize the Vector from movies and video games. The Vector line has had a couple of additions as well as a new addition to their 22LR rifle line. Let’s take a closer look at KRISS USA’s newest products.

At SHOT Show 2023, PTR unveiled their range of monolithic 3D-printed Titanium suppressors. The VENT range uses additive manufacturing to avoid the possibility of weaknesses caused by welding. It has internal geometries designed to reduce blowback into the operator’s face and produce less wear and tear on the weapon system.

At this year’s SHOT Show, Cool Fire brought along their newest models of their CO2-powered training system. The system will soon be available for the Springfield Hellcat and Hellcat Pro, SIG Sauer P365 and P365XL, the Glock 43 and Glock 43X.

Folding guns, a cool concept that we are continually drawn to. SHOT Show saw Magpul and ZEV’s joint venture, the FDP (Folding Defense Pistol) and FDC (Folding Defense Carbine), move closer to reality. During a visit to their booth, the guys at ZEV ran me through the FDP’s features. The FDP will launch in 9x19mm and weighs in at 3 lbs unloaded. The folding pistol is based on a chassis similar to ZEV’s OZ9 (though not the same). It will have an ambidextrous charging handle but the FDP won’t be threaded for a suppressor on launch but that may be something that’s in the pipeline. The carry handle position can be adjusted

At SHOT Show 2023, Fostech introduced a new generation of magnesium/aluminum alloy AR-15 receivers called FLITE Elite that are now made of forgings. These receivers are advertised to be 30% stronger and 30% lighter than their counterparts made of 6061 aluminum. In ounces, that’s a 2 oz weight reduction in the case of the FLITE Elite upper receiver (4.92 oz vs 6.92 oz). Also new from Fostech is a .22LR rifle called FLITE Phantom.

The Ohio Ordnance Works SHOT Show 2023 booth had a range of their civilian semi-auto weapons out on display including the HCAR. Alongside the HBAR was the Ohio Ordnance Works manufactured M240 fitted with one of their 240 Patrol-SLR Conversion Kit. The kit is something they have offered to the military and law enforcement for a number of years but recently, in November of last year, they made the kit available commercially to the M240-owning public.

Last year Armasight came back from the dead. They had been acquired by FLIR a few years ago and then FLIR shuttered them when they decided to no longer offer weapon-mounted thermal or night vision anymore. Well, Armasight is back and they have even more to offer the nighttime hunter. Their Jockey is a small thermal clip-on. The Armasight Sidekick is a thermal monocular perfect for helmet use and they have analog night vision for those interested.

SHOT Show 2023 is in the books, and guess who didn’t die in Las Vegas? In this episode of TFBTV, Hop makes up some fake awards for SHOT Show and preemptively reviews products that didn’t exist two weeks ago. Welcome to TFBTV’s First Annual SHOT Show Awards (we will probably never do this again)!

Leupold has added a new scope to their Mark 5HD line. The 2-10×30 is a low magnification scope perfect for close to reasonable distances like 800 or even 1000 yards depending on your caliber. They are also coming out with their BX-4 Range HD binocular, a laser range-finding binocular, and they have a new laser rangefinder with flight path.

SHOT Show 2023 could be called the year of the Turbo for SureFire. SureFire has been a juggernaut in the handheld and weapon light market. With various companies making weapon lights for intensity over distance, it’s good to see the new Surefire Turbo weapon lights.

In this episode of TFBTV, @JamesReeves is at the SHOT Show 2023 Sons of Liberty Gun Works booth to talk about the new collaboration between SOLGW and the Tactical Games to build out a ready-to-run AR that meets all of the criteria for competing in the Tactical Games. SOLGW gives TFBTV the run down on this build.

What do you want on your Tombstone?  POF-USA gives you plenty of options with their new Tombstone 9mm lever action.  Featuring a 10.5-inch receiver rail, M-LOK slots all along the forend, and a threaded barrel, this new short-throw, mag-fed 9mm lever gun has plenty of space to put whatever you want on your Tombstone.

New for 2023, Desert Tech has rolled out a number of small improvements to the MDRX platform. These changes apply to all models of MDRX and are incorporated in all rifles ordered going forwards, and in some cases can be retroactively applied to older models as well. Unlike James Reeves’ 60 year old bullpup of choice, the MDRX is still getting tweaked and improved… (but if anyone asks I didn’t say that).