First Look: Potential Hot Sellers
From SHOT Show 2024

The NSSF’s Annual SHOT Show always sees more new introductions than can possibly be covered in a 1,000-word column. It reassures some customers to know they’ve bought the most expensive gun to protect their families, and of course more of your clientele will be looking for features: capacity, size and weight, and overall “shootability.”

We’ll look here at the new models with the most sales potential in their particular niches, the ones customers will have most been reading about.

Standout Handguns

In alphabetical order:

Beretta debuts an upgraded series of .32 ACP pocket pistols, called 30X, with lighter trigger pulls, more capacious magazines, and better sights. There are even versions with muzzle brake, threaded barrel for suppressors, and optical sights. On the other end of the size scale, Beretta adds a double action with frame-mounted decocking lever, the 9mm Model 92XI GTS. It’s optic-ready, too.

For your upscale customers, Cabot introduces what may be the fanciest “2011” out there, a double stack 9mm with MSRP of about $6,000. This is one of the hottest pistol types on the market right now. (At the other end of the price scale, Hi-Point now offers their Yeet Cannon in .380 ACP.)

Colt’s 2020 series Python has hitherto been in stainless, and purists pined for the exquisite old Royal Blue finish. Colt has answered this year with blue Pythons, beginning with the 4.25″ barrel variation. I haven’t had a chance to compare it to a legacy Python yet, but it sure looks good.

The Daniel Defense DANIEL H9 is a re-imagining of the short-lived 9mm Hudson Mfg. H9 with low bore axis to reduce muzzle rise between shots. Daniel Defense says they spent almost a million 9mm rounds in T&E to make it more durable and reliable than the original, while only 1″ thick in the slide. The original Hudson I shot was sweet indeed.

Diamondback Firearms introduces the SDR (Self Defense Revolver), a .357 Magnum, 6-shot snubby. Externally, it looks like a clone of the exposed hammer version of Kimber’s successful K6 series. Features include “a fixed orange fiber optic front sight, dovetail fiber optic green rear sight, and a fully captured crane link and cylinder assembly,” according to the manufacturer. Weight is a bit over 21 oz., and it comes with Hogue rubber Hogue grips. MSRP will be $777, high for a brand that has previously made its bones with low-priced handguns, but time — and the product — will tell.

GLOCK’s big news for the year is the model 49, a 9mm with G17-size 4.5″ barrel but a short (15-round) G19 size frame and optics compatible. And, for your customers who find bigger bullets reassuring, the compact G29 10mm and G30 in .45 ACP get the Gen5 upgrade treatment, though not optics-compatible as yet.

SIG wasn’t at SHOT again this year, but introduced an upgraded M17 9mm pistol with advanced features, and in .22 rimfire, a competition version of their P322 which looks like it will do great in Steel Challenge matches or just make a plinker look really good.

Smith & Wesson introduces an “Ultimate Carry” Airweight snub in 5-shot .38 Special or 6-shot .32 Magnum, exclusive to the distributor Lipsey’s. No lock, blue or stainless, with VZ “boot grips,” humongous XS Big Dot Tritium front sight and U-notch rear. Lockwork has been modified by S&W for smoother DA pull, and those big sights are registered for 135 grain Speer Gold Dot and trendy-for-defense .38 Special wadcutters. S&W wisely sought out input from some sharp, modern revolver instructors: Darryl Bolke and Bryan Eastridge. Priced between the standard models and the top-of-the-line 340 M&P, these are going to garner orders from your serious, hard-core self-defense wheelgunners.

Springfield Armory introduces a series of 1911 .45s that “refreshes” and updates their TRP (Tactical Response Pistol) built originally for FBI special units in the 1990s. They got a very positive review from 1911 expert Hilton Yam.

Stoeger, celebrating 100 years this year, has introduced a shrunken version of their well-regarded economy-priced striker pistol to compete in the Micro-9 market, with 10-, 11- and 12-round magazines available.

Stacatto replaces their double stack 2011 9mm CS with the C model. Short butt for concealment, optics compatible, four inch barrel and shipping this summer. $2595 MSRP. Barrel is thicker and heavier than its predecessor’s.

Taurus’s top-selling Judge series of .410/.45 revolvers gets the carry optics treatment with a T.O.R.O. variation.

Walther may have noted the good sales of S&W’s metal-framed M&P to serious shooters, and has introduced an all-steel version of their sweet PDP pistol. Its features work for home defense as well as match shooting. Their PDP-F series, also in 9mm, continues to be a best-seller among female shooters and smaller-handed males.

Defensive Long Guns

A plethora of AR15s were in evidence at SHOT, of course. One standout is the Wraithworks WARP-15, an ultra-light plastic lower rifle built to sell for $500. It will definitely be of interest to your customers.

Diamondback introduces the DB9R TG-Nine, a 9mm carbine styled to somewhat resemble a Thompson submachine gun, with an MSRP of $1,699.

Lever-action rifles are trending around the country. Many are selling to customers who are hedging their bets against a ban on autoloading rifles for home defense. Henry introduces their Lever Action Supreme, with traditional wood and blue steel motif but designed to work with AR15 magazines.

Smith & Wesson surprised us all with their first lever action since the 19th century Volcanic. Their Model 1854 is quite Marlin-esque, and chambered in .44 Magnum.

Ruger now offers its LC carbine in .45 ACP. It features a folding stock and threaded barrel, and accepts GLOCK .45 Auto magazines: expect light weight, mild recoil, and confidence-inspiring power.

Kahr is offering a pistol-caliber carbine that looks like a cross between a Thompson submachine gun and an AR.

Kel-Tec debuts the KSG410 shotgun, expanding their bullpup styled pump gun line. Chambered for the .410 shotshell, its dual five-shell magazine tubes put eleven rounds at the shooter’s disposal counting one in the chamber. Mild recoil and maneuverability in a home defense shotgun are selling points. They’ve also brought out a third generation of their folding 9mm carbine, the Sub 2000, with a twistable handguard that allows it to fold with an optical sight mounted.

This column hits the tip of the iceberg — there are hundreds more products that were released by SHOT Show 2024’s 2,500+ exhibitors. Stay tuned for more standout products in future columns.