Here’s the second installment in “Cool things that caught our attention at SHOT Show 2025.”
Once again, we’re walking miles and miles of SHOT Show booths to see what’s new and exciting, and here are five things that, for one reason or another, really stood out.
MAGA Magnum Research Desert Eagle
Yes, it’s gold-plated. Yes, it’s in the obligatory .50 AE. Yes, it has phrases and iconography of our 45th and 47th president all over it. It just wouldn’t be SHOT Show if the folks at Magnum Research didn’t roll out an over-the-top Desert Eagle, and this year’s offering showcases our newly inaugurated 47th president, Donald Trump.
Heckler & Koch Branded Boker Knives
Here are a couple things that go really well together: Excellent, quality Boker knives with H&K branding. Fixed-blade, push-dagger and automatic knives are now available with Boker quality bearing the Heckler & Koch name. Each knife is constructed of quality steel and allows your EDC pocketknife or fixed-blade to match your HK carry pistol.
DNT Optics ThermNight TNC635R Thermal/Night Vision Scope
One thing that was abundantly clear at SHOT Show 2025 is increased interest in thermal and night vision optics. Newcomer to the thermal and night-vision game DNT Optics has both covered in its TNC635R Thermal/Night vision scope, which offers a standard 1.5X magnification and digital zoom up to 6X. It also has a ballistic calculator that uses a built-in laser rangefinder to accurately measure distance to target and then provide a ballistic solution. This is some amazing technology in a scope less than $3K.
Streamlight TLR-1 HL-X Pistol-Mounted Light
With 1,500 lumens of retina-searing white light at the push of a button, that’s not the most impressive thing about Streamlight’s newest TLR-1 variation. That it can use either a USB-C rechargeable Li-ion battery or 2 CR123A batteries isn’t the neatest thing, either. What caught our attention was the way the batteries are replaced: Simply twist a lever and the front of the unit drops down, allowing you to change the batteries without taking it off the pistol. Neat!
Falco Holsters Carbon-Fiber Holsters
Here’s some outside-the-box thinking. Not just content to offer leather, kydex and hybrid holsters, Falco has started working on having carbon-fiber holsters for many popular pistol fits. Lighter than kydex and significantly stronger, there’s no denying the visual appeal of these striking holsters, either. Falco hopes to roll the line out officially in Q2 2025.
Again, the items in this roundup are hardly the only cool things we’ve seen—we’ve been posting roundups of various firearm and accessory categories throughout our time at SHOT. These are the items that stood out and caught our attention. Stay tune for tomorrow’s installment!
