Written by Randy Mays
The 1998 SHOT Show was held in Las Vegas, Nevada in late January. This was the 20th anniversary of the SHOT Show, and this year's show was estimated to be the second largest in history. The 1999 SHOT Show will be held in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Las Vegas Convention Center
I didn't get to see every booth this year, but did make the rounds looking for new items. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order. Smith and Wesson now approves most of their current airweight snubnose .38 Special revolvers for +P ammunition. During the past year there have been a couple of "5,000 rounds of +P in a Snubnose!" articles in the gun magazines. It was not apparent what, if any changes, had been made to the current production guns so that shooting +P is ok. If you've ever shot +P in a snubnose airweight revolver, you'll know that it's not a lot of fun, so even though these guns are approved for it, I don't imagine a lot of people will be changing their ways of practicing with lighter loads, and shooting the heavy loads just often enough to make sure they know the point of impact.
Smith and Wesson also reintroduced the Model 60, 640, and 649 in .38 Special caliber. When these revolvers came out in .357 Magnum, the .38 Special versions were discontinued for awhile, but now they're back.
S&W also did something I asked them to do (and I guess a few others asked, too). They're producing the Model 610 revolver, a large frame 10 mm/.40 S&W caliber revolver. So far it's available in a 6 inch barrel model for hunting, but if they're smart (and they seem to be) it won't be long before a 10 mm version of the Mountain Gun series becomes available. Speaking of Mountain Guns, there is a 686 Mountain Gun now (.357 Magnum).
I like CZ guns. I just wish it was easier to find a distributor in the U.S. This year there were several new models on display, including a nice .22 LR version of the CZ-75. Best of all, if you like this sort of thing, is the CZ-75 BD with a de-cocker lever in place of the safety. If you want to carry the traditional DA/SA CZ-75 with the hammer down, you have to be very careful as you lower it. This has kept a lot of law enforcement agencies away from the CZ-75. Now with the de-cocker option, more people might take a look at the CZ-75...if they could find the distributor.
Ruger had several new items. The P-94 pistol is available in a blued slide now. I'm not sure why anyone would want one, but then I just bought a P-90 with a blued slide so someone must have done a little market research. The PC-9 Police Carbine has a ghost ring sight option.
In the next few months there will be article after article on the new guns from the SHOT Show. I'm sure there were many interesting rifles and shotguns, but I didn't may as much attention to those since I'm more interested in pistols that can be used for IPSC, IDPA, and concealed carry. There was one rifle that caught my eye, however. Winchester is marketing a long barrel version of the Model 94 with a black synthetic stock. The last time I checked, it tends to rain during deer season so a synthetic stock might be a good deal under those conditions. Since you're going to read all about the new models in the magazines, and since I've already mentioned the ones that caught my eye, I thought I'd write instead about the show itself.
First, the show is for dealers and "the trade," and journalists and "gun writers" (whatever that means). Like more than a few others, I was able to attend courtesy of a local dealer. In return, I brought back tons of literature for him to read.
Las Vegas itself is an interesting town. Since 1990 or so Las Vegas has grown by 40%. I've been going to Las Vegas every year for over 20 years and it's been fun to watch the growth and change. Most people arrive in Las Vegas by air, either from the east or from the southwest. There is a steady line of planes on a line that points from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon, and another line of planes coming up from San Diego and Los Angeles. It's not quite the Berlin Airlift, but at night when you see the landing lights it's obvious a lot of people are coming to visit. Many of those are coming to gamble and see the shows. There is always a convention in town and a lot of people are there for their business. In November, for example, the Comdex computer show attracts over 200,000 people from more than 100 countries. In January, the Consumer Electronics Show draws about 100,000 people. The SHOW Show, with close to 20,000 isn't the smallest convention during the year, but it's not considered one of the big ones.
When you land at the Las Vegas airport and get off the plane, the first sound you hear comes from the slot machines in the terminal. Slot machines are designed to attract people. The machines make interesting noises, and have all kinds of flashing lights. Slot machines are the equivalent of the envelopes you get from Publisher's Clearing House. You want to walk by, or throw the envelope away, but the promise of riches slows you down just long enough for the optimistic parts of your brain to take control of your actions. If you make it past the slot machines, the next stop is the baggage claim area. At both ends of the baggage area are giant screen television sets showing previews of the different shows at the casinos.
If you rent a car at the airport, all you have to remember is to take three left turns: one out of the lot, one at the stop sign, and one onto Paradise Road. Paradise runs north to Tropicana. Tropicana takes you to The Strip (always capitalized). The first big intersection has the Tropicana hotel on one corner, Excaliber on another, the MGM Grand, and New York New York on the other two corners. The Tropicana has been around for several years, but the other hotels are new. New York New York is the newest of the four, and it's very fancy. A right turn onto The Strip (real name: Las Vegas Boulevard South) and all you see as far as the eye can see are hotels and casinos. There's no point in mentioning all of them, although after 20 years I guess I could. Highlights include the Mirage with it's volcano, and Treasure Island with the pirate ship battles that start at 4 p.m. If you keep going along the trip, the hotels tend to get older. The Sahara is an older hotel, but they've fixed it up in the last year or two. It's very fancy now.
Las Vegas Boulevard continues into the downtown area. In the old days, in countless movies and the television show "Crime Story," the downtown area was defined by Fremont Street, which runs by casinos with names like 4 Queens, Binion's, Golden Nugget, and stops right in front of the Plaza Hotel. The Plaza used to be called the Union Plaza. The back of the hotel was next to the railroad tracks and the Amtrak station was inside of the hotel. If you see "Biff's" hotel in the second version of "Back to the Future," it's the Plaza with another name superimposed on the top.
Today, Fremont Street is closed to cars. People walk down the street under a giant canopy. At night, the canopy lights up like a giant four block long computer screen. Starting at 6 p.m., there are three different shows that run on the hour.
If you like steaks, there are many steak houses in Las Vegas. If you like steaks and a great view, then Binion's Horseshoe has a steak house on the 24th floor. Very recommended. Not cheap.
Many visitors to Las Vegas go from one buffet to another at the different hotels. Buffets are inexpensive. You can eat a lot of good food in Las Vegas without paying a lot of money. It used to be the buffet at Circus Circus was pretty bad, but not anymore. That's a good place to go for breakfast. The best buffet in town, in my opinion, is at the Rio Hotel. The Rio is on Flamingo Road west of The Strip. You can't miss it. Many visitors to Las Vegas try to eat two or three meals a day at buffets. This is a mistake. If you are at a trade show, it is a big mistake.
Speaking of trade shows, the Las Vegas Convention Center is an attraction all by itself. There is a pretty big exhibit hall to the left, and a Real Big hall on the right. There are smaller rooms off the side of a main concourse that runs down the middle. There is a business center and cafeteria inside of the convention center. The food is expensive.
I should mention that I try not to stay in Las Vegas itself, but instead head out I-15 to Jean or Primm, two small towns that consist of little more than hotels on either side of the Interstate. Jean is closer to Las Vegas. Rooms there are $25. Primm is on the California-Nevada border. Rooms there are $18. My favorite hotel is Whiskey Pete's, right on the border.