Shot Show Daily Report - 23 January 2024
American business at work
Shot Show 2024
I suppose every first report from the Shot Show must acknowledge how big it is. It is huge. It is more than 2,500 exhibitors spread across 18 acres of exhibit space with 13.9 miles (yes miles) of aisles.
One thing that is often overlooked is that the companies at the Shot Show are small and medium businesses. Even the largest businesses here are medium-sized businesses. As an example, Hornady is here and they are one of the larger companies. According to ZoomInfo[1] Hornady’s annual revenue is 270 million dollars. That is a very substantial business of course but Tesla brings in that much in just over one (1) day. IBM needs almost two days to bring in 270 million dollars in revenue.
One more example: Daniel Defense is privately held so their revenue is their business but ZoomInfo[2] estimates their revenue at around $40 million dollars annually. It is probably more than that but they, like Hornady, are an American company and not a multi-national conglomerate. There are some multi-national companies here but nearly all the companies are small and medium American companies.
Most of the exhibitors at the Shot Show are much smaller than Hornady and Daniel Defense. The exhibitors at the Shot Show are the kinds of businesses that make America great. Small businesses employ nearly half (46.4%)[3] of Americans. Medium businesses employ about another 25% of Americans[4]. 7 out of 10 Americans work for companies the size of the companies at the Shot Show. These companies are the backbone of the American economy.
In short, the Shot Show is a massive festival of American business vitality.
NSSF[5] (the sponsor of the Shot Show) does a lot of other good work beyond hosting this celebration of American business. Visit the website (in the footnotes) to learn more.
A company that perfectly illustrates this business vitality is Beyer Barrels[6]. A few years ago, I built a couple of AR-15 uppers in .22 LR. I bought match-grade barrels from Beyer Barrels for the builds. This morning, I had the privilege of meeting Clint Beyer in person (see the picture at top). Clint Beyer IS Beyer Barrels. He is a retired veteran who started a company making rifle barrels. The AR-15 uppers in .22 LR that I built using his barrels are consistent one-inch performers at 100 yards. They are so consistent that we used one of them in a marksmanship assessment stage in the recent Sawmill FTX. We knew that the variable would be the marksman and not the equipment. There is a detailed explanation of that assessment at the bottom of this post.
The companies at the Shot Show are the companies that make America great.
Radios and Radio Networks
I also visited several radio companies exhibiting here. Over the next couple of months, I am going to write about radios and radio networks for prepared civilians. There are several solutions available at the Shot Show. The available solutions range from budget-conscious to “budget is no object.” The tradeoff, as always, is capability. When I get back and have time to organize my notes, I will spend more time on the radios and networks.
Sub Caliber Marksmanship Assessment (from the 7 January Sawmill FTX)
The picture below shows the marksmanship assessment we ran as a stage at the Sawmill FTX using the AR-15 upper with the .22 LR Beyer barrel. The equipment is good and that lets us find how how good the marksman is.
[1] https://www.zoominfo.com/c/hornady-manufacturing-co/18137188
[2] https://www.zoominfo.com/c/daniel-defense-inc/41719499
[3] Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2023 – SBA's Office of Advocacy
[4] United States business firms and employees by company size - Paradoxes (paradoxesinc.com)
[5] NSSF | The Firearm Industry Trade Association