The Top 5 Budget Guns at SHOT Show 2025

SHOT Show 2025 was a blast and is officially in the books. Although I personally felt like it was a slower year for firearms releases, that didn’t stop the entire TFB and TFBTV team from flooding you guys with hundreds of articles, and over 100 videos. Since I’m mostly attached to TFBTV for video duties throughout the week, I don’t get to see everything at the show. Between filming, interviews, and demo sessions, it’s a bit of a whirlwind, so I’m not covering every gun that dropped that fell into this category. But with that in mind, I’ve pulled together five firearms that I think fit the "budget" category. 

Now, a little caveat: if your idea of “budget” is just grabbing whatever new cheap garbage gets pushed out every year, this list probably isn’t for you. I’m not here to point you toward guns that’ll fall apart in a few months. Instead, I’m highlighting firearms that I think either offer some serious potential as a great value or that give you something you can’t get anywhere else for a pretty solid price. There are a few picks that might stir the pot, but hey—sometimes the best budget options aren’t the obvious ones and at the end of the day everybody’s idea of “budget” is a bit different. 

More SHOT Show 2025 Coverage @ TFB:

• [SHOT 2025] Shining Some Light on Holosun's Latest!
• [SHOT 2025] Brownells Shows BRN-180 Gen 3
• [SHOT 2025] RCBS Launches New Matchmaster Powder Funnel System

We covered it last year and normally I wouldn’t make a repeat of it but the PSA 570 Modular Shotgun Concept made its way back to my heart this year with the announcement that semi-auto operation is now a feature and an option. This one’s interesting because the new semi-auto version of their 570 is still fully compatible with the original 570 receiver, which means it keeps all those modular capabilities we know and love while giving you something to tinker with on the weekends. You can swap out parts and play around with commonly available shotgun furniture, and PSA is estimating it’ll land in their usual budget category, so we’re talking very affordable and also available as a complete shotgun setup or as parts kits or even individual parts and receivers. 

As it usually does, Glock will always ruffle feathers whenever it’s mentioned and that’s why my #4 pick is the Glock COA. The Glock COA starts at $800, which is a pretty hefty price for a Glock, but you’re getting an ultra-reliable and consistent Glock pistol and Aimpoint’s newer smaller ACRO P2 footprint red dot optic COA. If you break it down, you’re essentially paying $500 for the Glock and $300 for the optic. Considering how pricey red dots can get, this is a pretty good deal if you’re looking to pick up both a pistol and an optic at the same time and don’t want to fiddle around with finding compatible optic plates or co-witness iron sights.

The 8.6 BLK pistols are made entirely in-house with US-made parts, and the side-charging upper has some nice gas mitigation features for suppressed shooting, which is always a win, especially with gassy, big-bore subsonic loads. At around $650 for a complete gun chambered in 8.6 BLK, this is a budget-friendly way to dive into a new cartridge that’s gaining some serious traction. If you want to play with the 8.6 BLK without breaking the bank, this one is a no-brainer.

Titus Arms VZ61 Skorpion Clone

These pistols are just as reliable as the PCCs Hi-Point is known for but in a more compact package. Sporting new high-visibility sights, they’re going to be available in all the calibers that Hi-Point currently makes PCCs for, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from when they start getting all of them out there. The pistols naturally have a Picatinny section on the rear for mounting folding stocks or braces, but what’s extra cool is that Hi-Point also included a threaded rear that takes mil-spec AR-15 buffer tubes so you can attach any AR-15 stock you want. If you’re after an affordable, customizable pistol with some real potential, this one’s a solid choice. Plus, it’s a Hi-Point—reliable and cheap.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, the term “budget” means different things to different people, and in my video on this topic, a lot of people 100% disagreed with me about the Glock COA in particular. Some might think of it as “cheap” or “low-end,” but for me, it’s all about finding value—getting something that punches above its weight without costing an arm and a leg and that really provides the end-user with a feature or a convenience that they won’t get anywhere else. That’s what these five guns are about: offering solid performance, decent build quality, and a little something extra that makes them stand out from the usual budget offerings. 

Whether you’re looking to experiment with a new cartridge, add a classic piece to your collection, or just find a reliable shooter without breaking the bank, any of these firearms could be a great fit. So, take your pick, and remember that getting a good deal doesn’t mean you have to settle for something that’s just “good enough.” Of course, there are a lot of other cool items from SHOT that I’m now just learning about almost a month later, so if you guys have seen anything cool that would fit into the “budget” category let me know in the comments and thanks as always for reading! 

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