Beards were the hot thing this year at SHOT Show. Actually, beards have been popular for a few years now, and the shooting community has taken it to a whole new level this past year. The tacticool beard, popularized by Chris Costa and special operations units currently operating in Afghanistan doing operations (not everyone will get this joke), seems to have reached a peak. If you were at SHOT then you know that there were a lot of beards…and a few new guns. My friend put it best: “It would be cool if I did not see another beard for six months.”

So what were some of those few new guns and products at SHOT Show 2015? The show was so big that it would be impossible for me to cover every booth, but here are some of the booths that I hit.

SilencerCo: Wow. What a booth. This has got to be one of my favorites, if not my favorite, of the whole show. SilencerCo’s setup consisted of a faux walk-in bunker with graffiti all over the walls and silencers on display inside. The walls inside of the bunker were lined with posters of people wearing duct tape over their mouths, with #fightthenoise on them. In the center was a pool of shotgun shells, artfully lit up by a soft white light underneath.

Young and hungry to be the best in the business, SilencerCo didn’t mess around with their marketing. Capitalizing on what I’ve been telling people is the “changing landscape” of the shooting community, SilencerCo went for the kill with their marketing and directed it towards the young, modern shooter. Their marketing and communications team looked to be in their 20’s and early 30’s, which certainly influenced their direction. SilencerCo’s Salvo 12, introduced last July, is the first full production shotgun suppressor. The .30 cal Omega is also new for SilencerCo this year. I got a video of Jason explaining the two products:

Glock: We all expected a single-stack 9mm from Glock this year, but it didn’t happen. Glock probably wants to milk the 42 as much as they can, because it’s still selling like crazy. Instead, what we got was the Glock 40, a new 10mm longslide. Dubbed “The Hunter,” this model is aimed towards taking down big game. Glock was also heavily pushing their MOS (Module Optic System), as red dots on handguns have become increasingly popular. Here is my video on the Glock 40:

Sig Sauer: I’m a big fan of Sig’s handguns. I could say that I’m a big fan of their rifles, but I’ve never had the opportunity to shoot the ones that I want to (the Swiss made 550 series). So what was Sig pushing this year? Swiss made Sig 553’s? That’s what I was hoping for, but it didn’t happen. Sig was all-American this year as they are hoping to move all handgun production out of Germany and into the US in the next year. The Sig MPX looks interesting, and it hearkens back to the glory days of the submachine gun. Naturally, Sig announced a few new twists on their already-released handguns, such as a Combat version of the P226, a P220 in 10mm, and a subcompact P320.

Sig was also heavily pushing their line of Sig Silencers, which offer competitive pricing and easy attachment.

Condor Tool & Knife: I’m really digging this company. Their knives are rugged and unique, designed to be used as daily tools. They recently teamed up with Matt Graham from Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival to build a custom knife, the “Primitive Bush Knife.” (http://www.condortk.com/)

Joe Flowers, who also runs the survival training company Bushcraft Global (http://bushcraftglobal.com/), gave me some of the history of CTK and their offerings.

Knight’s Armament: The M110. What an incredible piece. If only I could. Also, contrary to internet rumors, Knight’s is still producing the M4 RAS and has no plans to stop.

A Knight’s SR-15 after 20,000 rounds through it. No cleaning.

Heckler & Koch: Perhaps as a move to keep up with the full cerakote trend, HK will be producing full-color versions of their HK45 handguns in OD Green and Desert Sand. It was also nice to fondle some of their otherwise off-limits machine guns IRL. The 416 is a sweet gun, and so is the MG4. How do I go about getting one? Jk, I’ll just have to keep watching The Town and dreaming about a brighter tomorrow.

The Heckler & Koch MG4.

FNH: These guys definitely took the cake for coolest catalog. The thing is like a book…complete with all of the guns we can’t own. I believe their new announcement was a compact version of the FNS, but I don’t follow their line of handguns too closely. I was too busy holding the SCAR SBR.

CMMG: These guys have a mini-monopoly on the California .308 market. Because the Knight’s Armament SR-25 is banned by name in Cali, consumers have to choose other brands for their .308 AR builds. CMMG sells a stripped lower receiver, so that you can custom build a .308 from the ground up. Neat! A lot of companies won’t sell lowers by themselves, and I don’t understand why. CMMG has earned a very good reputation over the years and it’s about to get better. This year they announced the Mutant: the first truly functional AK/AR hybrid.

Colt Firearms: The USMC M45 is going into regular production, so you should see a lot more in stores soon. (I always wanted one). Their line of 1911 Rail Guns will all be utilizing the strengthened frame of M45 from now on. Colt is also selling “stripped” versions of their 6920 M4 for around $700. This way you can customize the gun whichever way you want, since a lot of people don’t like the standard furniture that comes with it.

Colt Gatling Gun reproduction. So much want.

Colt has also teamed up with Ohio Ordnance (http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/) to bring a faithful reproduction of the 1918 BAR. This is really badass. Someone asked me, “Well why would you want a semi-auto .30-06?” Is that even a serious question? Who DOESN’T want a BAR? They are a part of American history, used all the way up until the Vietnam War, and they are beyond awesome. Besides the 1911 and the Tommy Gun they are the only gun that goes well with a combover haircut and a cigar. Ohio Ordnance will be the only company producing BAR’s, and if I’m not mistaken I think they’re the only ones to ever produce them since the original. Your only other option is to buy a vintage full-auto model. Good luck with that.

DSA Arms: The only company producing FAL’s full time, these guys are the business if you want anything related to the “Right Arm of the Free World.” One thing I didn’t see however was an FNC reproduction. Why is that? Perhaps some of the FAL experts can chime in. DSA will also be making semi-auto versions of the famous RPD.

These RPD’s are looking serious.