SHOT Show 2026 – Report

As every year in January, the world’s largest firearms trade show, SHOT Show, takes place in Las Vegas, and as every year Jammas actively participates in it. Contrary to the worn-out slogans about major contracts, new releases, battles of importers over manufacturers and manufacturers over distributors, our presence is focused primarily on making use of the moment when, in one place, we can meet, talk, have dinner together or grab a beer – if not with all, then at least with most of our foreign partners and friends.

Of course, this is also the time and place where we conduct business talks, prepare tenders, sign new contracts and “browse through” new products. However, this is not the primary objective. What gives the “biggest drive to action” is the exchange of ideas and shared goals, mutual motivation, both in relationships with globally operating manufacturers and with smaller workshops. Behind every large and small company there are people. Individuals with great passion, who join forces with the best in the industry to create products, projects and a community – not just to look at Excel spreadsheets.

SHOT Show 2026 began for us on Monday, January 19, with the so-called Range Day. This day is filled with events organized at shooting ranges in and around Vegas – which in the United States always means driving dozens of miles. Therefore, despite several invitations, we spent this day at only two ranges: Staccato Vegas and American Shooters.

About 50 miles west of the famous Strip, right near the border with California, there is a beautifully located, enormous shooting range – Staccato Vegas. The facility makes an impression from the very first moment. It is massive! It allows thousands of shooters to shoot at the same time without getting in each other’s way.

The firing lanes are vast, long and wide, and at the same time very diverse: from dynamic canyon stages, through long-distance targets in the open desert, to organized ranges with full infrastructure – a shop, a bank, “roadworks,” or entire housing estates prepared for specific training for services. We move from point to point by car; otherwise, there would not be enough time in a day to see all its corners. Everything is clean, fresh and perfectly organized, and the visual effect is enhanced by the view of beautiful mountains all around.

The event that day gathered a huge number of exhibitors. Each of them had their own stations on the ranges, allowing visitors to test firearms or accessories. Shooting full-auto or with .50 BMG might seem like an attraction in itself. But what if I add that the range has a helicopter landing pad and that shooting takes place, among others, with a minigun from the deck of a helicopter at targets hidden in the desert? And what is most interesting: this is not a “SHOT Show attraction,” but a regular item in the range’s portfolio.

A few hours spent there and only one thought in our heads: how to import all of this to “LAS JAMMAS” in Łomianki 😉

The second part of the day we spent with Sons of Liberty Gun Works at the American Shooters facility. This place combines a store, a shooting range and a shooting club. The store’s offer was focused on proven, good-quality, well-known brands. About 90% of the assortment overlapped with what we have at Strefa Celu, and after a few sentences it was clear that the owner, like Jammas, follows a simple rule: he keeps on his shelves only what he himself recommends. He does not experiment on customers, does not chase trends without verification, and does not give in to the temptation of low prices at the expense of safety and his own reputation. Especially since, having his own range, he looks every day into the eyes of customers who naturally shoot what he sold them.

The range itself: indoor, target carriers, funnel-type bullet trap, good soundproofing and excellent ventilation. Clean and tidy. A standard comparable to good Polish and European indoor ranges. And the atmosphere? Open, without pretension, authentic.

Sons of Liberty Gun Works, thanks to transparency, has built a community of people who identify with the brand, its products and its creators. The manufacturer genuinely interacts with users. It gathers ideas, tests, implements and verifies solutions in practice. This could be felt at the range, and then even more strongly afterwards, when at SOLGW’s invitation we went to a nearby veterans’ bar. A great time spent among interesting people, and the place itself like a museum: full of symbols, photos and stories. If you are in the area, it is worth visiting the American Legion Paradise Post 149 & The Leatherneck Club.

Eight o’clock, Tuesday, January 20. Crowds on the Strip, and all pedestrians are heading in the same direction. This is what the first day of SHOT Show looks like. We pick up our badges and start an avalanche of meetings.

When collecting the badges, we also experienced a small trade-show classic. We have been attending SHOT Show for years on invitations from the United States Embassy, but we also receive additional invitations directly from manufacturers, and sometimes the system gets confused by this. This year, one of us ended up in the system as… a 5.11 exhibitor from Costa Mesa, California. It sounded proud, and looked even better on the badge, but of course we quickly corrected it and returned to the proper version. The photos exist 😉

The next point on the agenda was a meeting with IWI US.

IWI, as a “parent company,” has Israeli roots, and in Poland this can today be a controversial topic. There is a narrative about “not buying Israeli weapons,” as if it had any real meaning for what a given product actually is and who really manufactures it. All the more so since some models are produced 100% in the United States and have nothing to do with Israel anymore in production terms, just as the brand itself has no influence on government decisions regarding war.

In fact, IWI US has just completed the construction of a new factory, roughly three times larger than the previous one, and is clearly communicating its direction: moving most of its production to the USA, also in order to become independent from the instability of the region. For us, this has a very practical dimension: it will streamline imports to Poland, because in many cases we will bypass lengthy procedures related to re-export licenses. The American branch is also much more focused on the civilian market, which opens space for designs that were previously less emphasized by IWI. We saw a prototype of a model that will most likely appear later this year, although for obvious reasons we cannot reveal more at this stage. In addition, interesting topics are emerging, such as the potential of platforms in .22 LR.

The American branch of IWI knows how to make a military product for the civilian market. A perfect example is the Zion-15: a fully American project, built on military know-how, but with civilian priorities. Instead of “beautifying,” they increased the strength reserve where it really matters: material, thickness and reinforcements in critical points. The result is one of the most durable and reliable AR-15s in this price segment. A sales success in the USA, Poland and several European countries.

What we can already announce today is the raising of the competence level of selected Polish IWI dealers. A visit is planned by a delegation of gunsmiths and instructors from IWI Academy, who in our gunsmith workshop, CSJ training rooms and shooting range will pass on as much practical knowledge as possible, increasing awareness and quality of service on the dealer side. Taking the opportunity, we also do not exclude basic user trainings and meetings for fans of the brand and current users of IWI products. Be ready for this in the coming summer.

As for product novelties, on our radar for sure are the Mafteah shotgun, the Zion-25 and the Jericho J941 FS ORP. Some of these items should be available in Poland already in the first quarter of 2026.

The next stop was the 5.11 booth. Talking about what 5.11 offers in the United States is a bit like licking a candy through a glass pane. European regulations, certifications and the entire bureaucratic layer of “market adaptation” mean that a large part of the offer simply has no chance of legally and reasonably reaching Europe. Limited series, such as products branded with the title of the cult game Battlefield 6, look great, work well visually and marketing-wise, but for us at this stage they remain mainly material for photos and inspiration.

Not everything can be overcome, but 5.11 is one of those companies which, despite its corporate scale, builds its real strength on people and communication. And you can feel it in the conversations. Even the single voice of a Select Premium Dealer from Poland is listened to attentively, and the CEO can sit down at the table with Jammas and discuss, as an equal partner, projects of changes that are meant to be beneficial for everyone – and above all for our customers. For now, it would not be appropriate to reveal details, but lovers of 5.11 and long-time customers of the brand will most likely notice the difference themselves as soon as it is implemented.

The Sons of Liberty Gun Works booth was in the same place, of the same size and with a very similar number of visitors as in previous years. And I have the impression that attendance would be even higher if only it were possible to “fit” more people in there. Seriously: getting through the crowd to the rifle display is a real challenge. And it is precisely in such situations that the popularity of SOLGW on the domestic market can be seen best.

The MK1 rifles have been available for about half a year, and they still generate interest as if it were the day of their premiere. For Sons of Liberty, this is of course a success, but at the same time a huge challenge. At this stage, they are even facing illegal airsoft copies from Far East Asia, but this is still a minor issue compared to what hurts the most: production backlogs. You cannot double output overnight if at the same time you want to maintain the same, extremely rigorous quality control. Today we are talking about several hundred rifles in delay, and looking at the crowds at SHOT Show, it can be assumed that orders will rather increase than decrease.

Referring to relationships and friendships in business, it is impossible not to mention Rounded by Concealment Express. In our case, “business” has become completely secondary and is happening somewhat on the side. Basically, we are having fun rather than working. Unless someone associates the word “work” with something pleasant – then very much so.

From the very first steps together, it was clear to us that this manufacturer’s holsters go beyond the standard of so-called “pancakes.” And importantly: even though they were already at a very high level, they keep improving. They listen to suggestions, draw conclusions and refine details that make a real difference for the user.

A new standard of holsters will appear in the Rounded lineup, which will push a large part of the currently available models into the background. It is to combine the characteristic features of inside-the-waistband and outside-the-waistband holsters and give the user the ability to adapt it to different needs, for example through the possibility of using various mounting systems, including Safariland QLS, Bladetech’s Tek-Mount or G-Code’s RTI. The novelties were complemented by the presentation of Level 2 and Level 3 holster prototypes and various options for users of pistols with weapon-mounted lights.

In several previous editions of SHOT Show, Mantis had been presenting successive stages of prototypes that were meant to lead to training in a mixed-reality system. And now it is finally here. The project has matured into the form of a “ready product,” at least according to Mantis itself. We will give our own assessment soon, when the system appears in our demo center. And here is the most important part: this is exactly what we managed to arrange during this year’s meeting – the first model intended for testing and sales in Europe will come to us, and it will also be normally available from us for purchase.n practice.

Honestly: this is rather a product for very demanding, well-funded, or organized training groups and clubs, because it is not a cheap solution. The good news, however, is that regardless of whether you plan to buy it right away, it will always be possible to come, see, test it and realistically assess whether this solution makes sense in your training.

It is hard to keep up with the pace at which Mantis develops its shooting trainers. We meet on average once a quarter. Alternately, we go to them, they come to us – and still it feels like it is too rare. The dust has not yet settled after the absolute success of the TitanX premiere in November 2025 (Mantis promises to ship replenishment at the beginning of March), and they are already showing something which, in our opinion, has the potential to become another hit. We saw a pre-release prototype and it works great. At this stage we cannot reveal anything more. Keep your fingers crossed for its premiere at Enforce Tac and IWA 2026.

At the same time, Mantis is also adding small but very sensible updates to the app – things that in practice make a difference in everyday use. Details? If you want to learn them, just drop by our demo center at CSJ Łomianki.

Since we are already talking about short updates and news from our closest distribution channels, we must mention BUL Armory. Admittedly, their booth in the USA was prepared mainly for the American market, and our “proper” meeting is planned only for IWA. Nevertheless, it is the same people, the same relationships, and it is impossible not to stop by, say hello and talk. After all, we have known each other and worked together for ten years.

As with SOLGW, the BUL Armory booth is always crowded. These pistols continue to make a strong impression, and not because of a passing fashion, but because of what you feel in your hands: the quality of the fit and the smoothness of the slide’s operation. At SHOT Show 2026 they presented modular triggers. The variant with a cut-out trigger shoe for a single finger especially caught our attention. In photos it does not look spectacular, but under the finger the sensation is really interesting. The best part is that if we want a different profile, we do not have to disassemble the pistol. From the perspective of a 2011 user: a great solution.

If everything goes according to plan, we expect deliveries of the Tac and Blaze models in the first quarter of 2026, and there is a good chance that these modular triggers can be added to this batch. In pistols manufactured in 2026, they are already supposed to be included as standard equipment.

And one more thing that is easy to forget when describing only the halls and booths: a large part of SHOT Show happens after the show. Banquets, dinners, meetings “without an agenda” – this is often where you meet people with whom the best projects are later created. We attended a 5.11 banquet and met many interesting people. There was a lot of laughter, a relaxed atmosphere and conversations that simply cannot be had while standing between the aisles. With Rounded by Concealment Express we went for dinner at a Brazilian BBQ, and as if that were not enough, in the same restaurant we met the guys from BUL Armory. And this is exactly what Vegas is like: hundreds, if not thousands, of places to choose from, and in the end you still end up at the same table with people you know from the other side of the world. Coincidence? Maybe. But such “coincidences” at SHOT Show happen suspiciously often.

SHOT Show 2026 means nearly 2,800 exhibitors, over 77,000 m² and more than 22 kilometers of aisles. Four days in which it is impossible to see everything, and even more so to talk with everyone as much as one would like. It is an intense time – positive, but demanding.

This short report is only a small glimpse behind the scenes, meant to take you for a moment backstage and to dispel the myth of “business in suits and ties.” Behind brands there are people. And it is relationships with people – not banners, not slogans – that build the things which later end up on the shelf, on the shooting range and in your hands.

Did we bring something new? We brought good energy and several really interesting projects to develop. And sensations? There will probably be some, but this is not the address for that. With us it will be as always: specifics, tests and implementations when they are ready.