The Top 10 Most Interesting Pistols of SHOT Show

If you’ve never been to the SHOT Show (Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade), I highly recommend it.  It’s the world’s biggest gun show, and will be held in Vegas every year for the foreseeable future, so you can see all the latest and greatest stuff while being in a city which gives you every opportunity to make bad decisions—what’s not to love?  SHOT Show is huge, and with hundreds if not over a thousand different manufacturers all showing off their wares, so it’s impossible for one person to see everything.  Here’s a short list of what I thought were the most interesting handguns I saw there, but please don’t think they were the only noteworthy guns there:

1.  Elysian Eagle

Ever hear of Craeperion?  Me neither.  They are apparently a custom gunsmith house in the Czech Republic, and their new pistol, the Elysian Eagle, will be exclusively imported by CZ Custom, which is based in Mesa, Arizona.  This hand-built stainless-steel pistol looks like something out of Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, very old-school sci-fi.  It’s a 9mm, with a triangular barrel, lattice grips held on by magnets, a trigger stop which can be moved to function as a trigger lock, sports a frame-mounted optic platform…and internally is just as unique as it is on the outside.  The only “common” thing about it is it uses CZ 75 magazines.  These pistols will be imported only in small amounts, and one can be yours for the low low price of…$11,999.00.

2.  KelTec

Last year KelTec broke everyone’s brain with their PR57, a 20-shot stripper clip-fed 5.7x28mm pistol, the smallest/lightest handgun in that caliber on the market.  This year they’ve introduced the PR-3AT, a stripper clip-fed .380 ACP.  The thinking is that the lack of a detachable magazine will make these pistols legal in some restrictive states, and so their double-digit capacity (otherwise a no-no) skirts around capacity restrictions.  The PR-3AT holds 13+1 rounds of .380 ACP and has a 2.85-inch rotating barrel.  Empty it weighs just over 14 ounces, and is purpose-built for concealed carry.

3.  Beretta B22 Jaguar

This is one of the funkiest-looking guns introduced this year, which is especially interesting considering it is coming from Beretta, a company celebrating its 500th anniversary.  The B22 is a full-size .22 Long Rifle handgun, meant for target shooting, competition, and just plain fun.  There’s a standard model and a model meant for competition equipped with a lot of TandemKross accessories.  This is a modular gun, with M-LOK accessory slots on the handguard, bilateral controls, and the ability to switch between right- and left-sided ejection, which is really cool.  The pseudo-scifi looks of this gun, combined with the features and the Beretta name, will probably mean huge sales.

4.  Beretta 80X LTT .32 ACP

Since we’re on Beretta, we can’t forget the new(ish) 80X in .32 ACP.  Beretta introduced the 80X in .32 ACP at the 2025 SHOT Show, but then it never appeared.  It is now available, but for the foreseeable future it is going to be an LTT (Langdon Tactical Technologies) exclusive.  LTT are wizards at customizing Berettas, and the .32 ACP 80X will be offered in several different configurations:  different finishes, with a carry bevel, with a threaded barrel and/or optic, etc.  I shot these and the recoil in .32 ACP is very controllable, and these 13+1-shot guns are eminently shootable, which is a big selling point.  No, the .32 ACP isn’t as powerful as the .38 Special, but I’d carry a 13+1-shot .32 with near-zero recoil before I’d carry a five-shot snubnose .38.

5.  Steyr ATC/ATD

Steyr introducing a new pistols was not on my bingo card, but that’s the great thing about SHOT, you are sure to be surprised.  Steyr’s ATC and ATD pistols appear to be rebranded and upgraded Arex Alpha pistols out of Slovenia, which have been around for almost a decade (first introduced as the Arex Zero 1) but never gotten any real traction in the states.  They started out as kinda-sorta SIG P226 copies but have since expanded, and the Steyr models look…good.  They look darn good.  You’ve got your choice of a shorter, aluminum-framed model meant for carry (the D), and an all-steel five-inch gun meant for competition (the C).  A little research showed me that Steyr is now owned by the same company that owned Arex, and Steyr is a much more well-known name in the firearms industry, without any handguns currently in its catalog, so it makes sense.

These pistols have frame-mounted safeties, good looks, and with Steyr’s name and logo on the slide they should get the necessary attention.  MSRP on the carry version should be under $1000, with street price perhaps closer to $800, so look for these at your local gun store.

6. Shadow Systems AXIO

Shadow Systems Corp (SSC) has been making improved versions of Glock Gen3 pistols for most of a decade now, and it perhaps the most successful G-clone company, with big commercial sales and taking LE contracts away from Glock (although PSA, with their Dagger, and Ruger, with its RXM, are hot on SSC’s heels).  For years people have been trying to produce a gun which combines the best aspects of the Glock and the 1911…and with their new AXIO, I think Shadow Systems has done it.

There are two versions, the AXIO and the AXIO 4.4, both available in standard or Pro configuration.  Externally, the AXIO has the looks and dimensions of a very high-end Glock 45, and the AXIO 4.4 is sized like a Glock 17.  But the resemblance ends there, as about the only internal similarity is that they are both fed by Glock-pattern magazines.

The AXIO has a modular frame, a polymer grip module which attaches to a metal frame on which the slide rides, similar to a 2011.  The barrel lockup inside is different from a Glock, and the slide of the AXIO cycles so smoothly you won’t believe it.  The trigger system is completely different.  Trigger pull on the AXIO is a crisp 4.0 pounds, and trigger pull on the AXIO Pro is 2.0 lbs.  Trigger reset on both is 1mm.  And, having had hands on both at the show, those numbers seem pretty accurate.  A gun with the ergonomics, capacity, and reliability of a Glock, but with the trigger pull of a 1911?  That’s been the holy grail…

Replaceable backstraps, and on the Pro replaceable side panels on the grip.  Metal (removable) mag wells.  Great looks, and of course optics ready.  They ship with Mec-Gar’s metal 18-round Glock magazines.  Available in black and FDE.

Ultra-light crisp trigger that is the envy of most custom 1911s, smoothly-cycling slide, and the low bore of a Glock so minimal muzzle rise?  Yes please.  MSRP (I believe) will be $1995, which is more than a high-end Glock but less expensive than most quality 2011s.

7. Q Boombox

Q is a fun, funny, funky company with perhaps the best product names on the market.  Started by Kevin Brittingham, who when he was at AAC helped produce the Honey Badger and the .300 AAC Blackout cartridge in tandem.  Q offers unique firearms and a full line of suppressors.

Their Boombox is available in SBR or pistol form, and it is a short-barreled AR variant chambered in Q’s interesting 8.6 Blackout cartridge.  It’s not new, but I wanted to mention it, as right at the start of SHOT the 8.6 Blackout became a SAAMI-approved cartridge and no longer a wildcat.  This means more ammunition companies will start making 8.6 Blackout ammo.  And more gun companies will be making SBRs and AR-based pistols chambered in 8.6.

If you think of the 300 Blackout as a .223 case shortened and necked-out to .30, think of the 8.6 Blackout as a shortened .308 Winchester case necked-out to .338 (technically it’s a necked-out 6.5 CM).  Supersonic loads feature +/-190-grain bullets, and subsonic loads feature 300-400-grain bullets.  Unlike the 300 Blackout, it actually has enough muscle to be used to hunt large game, and hits hard out past 200 yards.  An 8.6 Blackout Boombox with a 12-inch barrel basically looks and acts like a 300 Blackout Honey Badger on steroids.

8. Kimber 2K11 Pro Stainless Comp

Last year Kimber came out with the 2K11, their high-end iteration of the double-stack 1911, and this year they’ve followed it up with some new variations. The Pro Stainless Comp is stainless steel, but it also features an integral compensator.  From a distance it just looks like the barrel/slide is ported, but there is an actual expansion chamber machined into the barrel, which makes it a compensator.  It looks sexy, and is available in a number of different calibers.  Kimber is even offering extended 20-round magazines in 9mm, and if you don’t live where those are legal, this seems a perfect reason to move….

9. Smith & Wesson M&P Metal w Aimpoint COA

This entry isn’t specifically about S&W pistols as it is acknowledgement that the one-year exclusivity of the Aimpoint COA and it’s A-Cut mounting system with Glock has expired, and several companies introduced/announced versions of their pistols at SHOT with the A-Cut, including Smith & Wesson with their metal-framed M&P and Springfield Armory with their Echelon.

From an engineering standpoint the A-Cut is superior to standard mounting as there are no screws taking the recoil impulses, they are directed into the slide itself, making it far stronger.  Aimpoint has struggled to keep up with demand for the COA, which is probably why the S&W M&Ps with the COA are, for the moment, restricted to law enforcement sales.  Springfield Armory has announced they will be offering 1911s, Prodigys (Prodigies?), and Echelons with the A-Cut, available sometime in early spring…with sales NOT restricted only to LE.

10. Canik Prime Radian

Last year CANiK USA got a lot of press with their Prime, which is basically a version of their Mete MC9 maximized in every way possible.  And, unique to their pistols, it was 100% made in the USA.  The Prime offered everything you needed and wanted in a sexy, high-performing pistol, including all sorts of accessories, extra magazines, and a lockable case, for hundreds of dollars less than you might expect.

This year, CANiK USA announced a new version of the Prime—the Prime Radian.  A collaborative effort between CANiK USA and Radian Weapons (a true first for Radian), the USA-made Prime Radian features Radian’s Ramjet barrel and Afterburner compensator, styled specifically to match the Prime’s slide, plus their metal backstrap and magwell, to make the pistol an even better shooter.  In addition to the holster, spare magazines, lockable case, etc. Pricing hasn’t been announced but I heard it will probably be $849ish, making this an incredible deal.

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Top Selling Semi-Auto Pistols Sold in January 2026

Source: gungenius.com/top-selling/

To learn more or shop for any of the guns listed, visit Gun Genius at www.gungenius.com/top-selling.

Editor's note: In the report, guns are rated from one to five within each category, with the number one gun being the most popular that month. The numbers are color-coded to show any changes in the ranks from the previous report.

Black = Steady
Green = Up
Red = Down

Source: gungenius.com/top-selling/

To learn more or shop for any of the guns listed, visit Gun Genius at www.gungenius.com/top-selling.

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