Preface: My SHOT 24 posts here are essentially just backup/archives of my main coverage platform over on IG, so the formatting isn’t perfect for the site here.
Let’s start off with what not to buy (as an individual).
5.11 is bringing out the V.XI combat uniform in Multicam, retail is around $240 for the combat pant in MC, I believe solids are around right now for sub 200. For an agency buying new on a budget I could maaaybe see it.. maybe. There’s some weird looking features to say the least (hence why I took the below picture of the knee cap) but compared to an earlier 5.11 combat uniform I remember from a few years ago this isn’t the worst design ever. A lot of zips but honestly a bit better than UF-Pro and lighter from my quick feel. The shirt is a basic combat shirt and has pattern matched loop, it’s probably *fine*.
As an individual who could buy slightly used Cryes for around the same money no there’s nothing to see here. The fabric is a 2 way stretch like G4, but I can’t comment on durability or breathability.
For the private citizen the headline options of mil surplus or Crye probably aren’t going to change much during this SHOT Show.
Las Vegas Metro PD range event today. A lesson for me in being careful what I wish for (soaked).
1. Colt apparently has their IAR in production (probably just available for production though right?) and I got to put a mag through one, which I never expected to tbh. What I can say for sure is person after person was dumping mags through it and at roughly 2pm the handguard was just warm to the touch, no glove on. Some mild desert rain doesn’t cool a barrel that much.
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2. I wasn’t allowed to take a picture but I put a few rounds through a CZ that said BREN 3 on the side. MLOK handguard means it now looks like an MCX and everything else. Better trigger, new gas block and more.
3. Battle Arms Development had the famous 4.5lb OIP out along with the new SBR variant of the same and their new SMG. I’d always wondered about the OIP and the brake is very brakey (as it were), but it was running and it’s impressively light on recoil, same for the SBR variant as well.
4. This competition variant of Lancer Systems AR is the truest incarnation of a recoil deleter that I’ve personally fired in a real chambering. The brake is like getting a little slap inside your skull every time but the thing does not move at all.
5. Keeping up the clear mag theme there’s a Gen 2 lancer mag which I’m told has improved feed lips and base plate which make it simply better at doing all the things a mag is meant to do. If this L5 logo is visible on the left side of the feed lip reinforcement you know it’s G2.
6. Another gun I’d always wondered about in the form of the Maxim Defense PDX with 5.5″ barrel. It runs and it doesn’t kick like there’s any compromise in how it runs, again a soft recoiling rifle despite the dwarf sized gas system and low mass.
7. Tried the Noveske Irregular Defense which is what it is, but oh boy their .308 is very legit. Feels like (at worst) a commercially over-gassed AR15 shooting mil surp M855, far easier to control than anything else I’ve personally fired in the calibre.
8. B&T cans are going all in on 3D printed and flow-through, which is as one would expect in 2024. The new Rotex is slimmer now 👍 also I’m very glad the APC 223 has a non-reciprocating cocking handle as the old APC is the only gun that’s ever bitten me.
9. This particular H&K MP5SD literally has less recoil than a propane powered airsoft gun. I thought the first round I fired was some sort of squib. Hope they weren’t feeding it subs, but I doubt it was expensive ammo at any event like this. Just an amazing design of firearm.
10. The S&W FPC is a strange one for sure, I had to seduce it a bit to even let the bolt go forward. Jumps a bit being a very light blowback gun, but not bad at all in the shoulder. If you own an M&P and need a folding bag gun this might be your thing and it costs less than a lot of mid range handguns. Quicker deploy with a red dot mounted than even the latest generation of Kel-Tec sub 2000.
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