SHOT Show 2025: New Defensive Handguns With Sales Potential
Announced just before SHOT, the GLOCK Aimpoint COA Combo release had dealers swarming
the GLOCK booth to see it in person.
We can’t cover all the new stuff available in this space, obviously, so we’ll touch on the new defensive handguns that will be getting the most attention in the gun press and online, and will hopefully have the most useful sales potential for your defense-minded customers. Auto pistols first.
Top Autos
We’ll start with GLOCK, a perennial top seller, which has recognized where the carry optics market is going and done something smart: their new COA series done in conjunction with Aimpoint, who describes the key feature as GLOCK’s “new A-CUT interface that neutralizes movement of the optic while providing a lower mount with iron sight index.”
A while back, SIG led the way for gunmakers to sell pistols with red dot sights already mounted. GLOCK doing the same is big, with options from service size to slimline 9mms. My pre-shot test gun is a G19 Gen5, and came already sighted in and co-witnessed with the iron sights. One-stop shopping. The ACRO sight has closed emitter to protect against the weather, and big window that makes the red dot easy for the customer to find on first try. These are gonna sell.
GLOCK clones are everywhere and increasing in number. It may not be long before there are as many “Mock 19s” as there are 1911 clones. One such is the Shadow Systems MR920, sufficiently popular that the company has introduced a California-compliant version for 2025.
The one that leads the list this year, though, has to be the Ruger RXM. Released just before SHOT, as the model name describes it’s a Ruger top end, G19 size, crossed with a Magpul lower that has a straight front and a flared mag well like a Gen5 GLOCK. It takes GLOCK magazines, as well as the Magpul ones it comes with, comes with a $399 MSRP, and is already selling in some gun emporiums for less.
I swapped a Gen3 upper onto my RXM frame and vice versa, and both worked fine. It will fit some – but not all – GLOCK holsters; try the empty gun in a holster before you sell the latter to the customer. While there are some functional clones out there, none have Ruger’s reputation for quality and factory backup, so trust me: the Ruger RXM is gonna sell! (I liked mine enough I bought the test sample.)
One of the standout products during SHOT Show 2025, the HK CC9 impressed Mas during his
pre-SHOT range testing.
Exciting Entrants
Heckler & Koch came late to the micro-compact/higher capacity carry 9mm market established more than half a decade ago now by SIG with its still-best-selling P365, but it’s here now. The HK CC9 (Concealed Carry 9mm) is sweet. I enjoyed shooting my pre-SHOT sample and was satisfied in all respects. It lived up to the high reliability and quality standard that HK fans have come to expect, and the legion of HK fans alone are reason enough to put one or more CC9 in your showcase. Price is in range, too!
Perhaps the most intriguing new carry pistol of the year, and certainly the most unique, is the KelTec PR57, the “R” standing for its rotary barrel design. Beyond that, however, is a pistol that is super-light (13 oz. range), holds 20 rounds and carries the low MSRP of $399.
Design genius and KelTec founder George Kehlgren harkened back to his first pistol, the P10, and made this new PR57 load through the top like a Broomhandle Mauser with 10-round stripper clips. The 5.7mm has not become a top defense cartridge yet, and wound ballistics experts are still debating on whether the cartridge is effective for fighting, but the intriguing design alone will sell it to the gun collector who has to have one of everything. (If a customer looks at the radical design and says, “That’ll never catch on,” my suggested answer is “If you’re right, it will become a rarity and will be a good investment gun to collect.”) One downside that you’ll have to warn the customer about, though: to unload it, the user has to rack it 20 times to get the cartridges back out. (I confirmed that with KelTec.)
1911s continue to proliferate, the new hotness being the high-cap 9mm by Staccato, whose earlier iteration gave the concept the name 2011. Staccato itself has a new HD series, which I’m told now includes a passive firing pin safety to make it drop-safe. The HD is available with 4.5″ barrel or 4″. It is high priced, but the quality is commensurate. One way to save money is to order the P-series of the HD, which works with full size GLOCK 17 mags.
Other 2011 type pistols newly introduced go progressively downward in price: Kimber’s 2K11, Springfield Armory’s Prodigy DS Compact, a new Tisas from Turkey and more.
Speaking of 1911s, originator Colt hasn’t introduced a double-stack version yet, but has joined the rush to red dot sights with optics-ready 1911s as of 2025.
And a new company aptly called P7 Pro is bringing out a clone of HK’s iconic P7 9mm squeeze-cocker. Don’t expect it to be cheap. Fortunately, P7 aficionados don’t expect them to be cheap, anyway.
Developed in tandem with Magpul, the Ruger RXM — on display at the Ruger
booth during SHOT Show — drew expansive interest from buyers.
Revolver Action
There is a wave, though not a tsunami, of renewed interest in revolvers for self-defense.
Taurus’ well-thought-of Model 856 line expands this year with a deluxe model that has one cylinder for (increasingly expensive and hard to find) .38 Special and .357 Magnum self-defense loads, and another for inexpensive 9mm ammo for practice. They quickly interchange. If your clientele includes wheelgunners who are serious about practice and training and may not roll their own ammo, at least one of these should probably be on display.
Lipsey’s has followed their recent introduction of special-run Smith & Wesson Ultimate Carry hammerless J-frames in .38 Special and .32 H&R Magnum with a three-frame line-up this year of classic Smith & Wessons without the internal lock that S&W purists absolutely despise.
This Classic line includes a J-Frame Chief Special (with the suboptimal round front sight of the original 1950 version), a slim-barrel K-Frame Model 10 and N-Frames in .357 and .44 Magnum. These include a .44 Magnum Mountain Gun with tapered 4″ barrel — my personal favorite S&W .44 Mag. If your customer base includes a lot of S&W fans, or even one collector who just has to own everything that hallowed company makes, well, you can get ’em from the Lipsey’s team.
Diamondback has expanded their line of small double action revolvers, as well.
Defensive Handgun Ammo
CCI announces a new economy line of jacketed hollow points to compete with Winchester’s white box JHPs.
Blazer Brass Hollow Point, the company promises, will give adequate penetration and expansion in the common self-defense calibers. They’ve also expanded their Uppercut .22 Long Rifle defense load line to include .22 Magnum, for which they state, “The new round features a 40-grain jacketed hollow-point bullet with nose skiving that initiates full and reliable expansion through all platforms.”
Federal tells us, “HST’s new .44 Rem. Mag. load has been optimized for personal defense. It provides more energy than 10mm Auto and .357 Magnum with a larger diameter, 230-grain projectile. However, it has better control and less overpenetration than a full-magnum .44 Rem. Mag. hunting load.”
They add, “Hydra-Shok Deep will now be offered in .45 Colt and .32 H&R. The modern defense projectiles in these new loads are optimized to offer the best terminal performance for these specific cartridges, with controlled expansion that perfectly balances expansion size and penetration depth.”
Finally, their American Eagle line of economy priced training ammo will now include .32 H&R Magnum, which seems to be undergoing a definite surge in popularity among those who prefer small, lightweight revolvers.
I’m out of space here, but SHOT 2025 has brought you many more exciting new products. Stay tuned to SI for additional SHOT coverage.
